Thank you for this, Kyle. The statement that stood out was,
"This is why spiritual formation is always more than simply a strategy of growth, or a series of spiritual practices, but is an entire theology of life with God, in Christ, by the Spirit to be shaped increasingly in Christ’s likeness."
Equating spiritual formation with spiritual disciplines eventually led me to resign to defeat about the possibility of deep change. Yet, I barely noticed what had happened. Willard's Renovation of the Heart and your articles here have greatly helped.
Oh. And if I were reading my reply which says I find it coherent but also says it lacks grounding, that would be confusing to me. Its coherence is, I think, intuitive. I have an intitutive sense that it aligns coherently with how I understand the biblical story. But I'd love to see made explicit what intuitively resonates and lands as coherent.
I mean by "the account" exactly what you describe. That is, as you say, every Christian has an account of spiritual formation. So, how would you ground yours biblically? That's the question I had in mind. From what I understand of your account, I find it coherent and compelling. However, I find in some ways I have to take your word for it (I find this equally true with similar accounts- the new spiritual formation course, for instance, at Biola). Again, I find lots of scripture attached to them, but I'm missing a cogent macro-level biblical grounding. Maybe it's there! But I've not found it. I get the challenge when you are drawing together themes running through the whole message and movement of Scripture, but it seems to me this is an important piece for helping the church (re)discover (at least where it's been lost or distorted) a faithful (non-pelagian, grounded in Christ's finished work and the Spirit's continued application of it, all the things) account of spiritual formation
That's helpful Chad. Yes, that is the difficulty, especially with spiritual formation since it cuts across every major doctrine. For the macro-level grounding, I have a book that is due Sept. 1 on sanctification, and I hope that this provides that. But I am also working on 2-3 other words on holiness that I hope will do so as well, if I can get to them. Lord willing I'll be able to. You are right to note that when I write I try to saturate scripture throughout, which I do because I share this concern with you. But you are also right that I haven't just paused and said, "Here is the biblical story." I'll email you something though that might help.
Kyle, as I read through the different ways you refer to an account of spiritual formation, they are full of scriptural references. Can you provide or point me to a (robust) scriptural argument for the account? Something that wouldn't require me to sort through all of the books, podcasts, and substack posts to construct it myself?
What exactly do you mean by “the account?” It is important to remember that “spiritual formation” isn’t an account of a view, but is a category that every Christian must flesh out in one way or another. Every Christian has an account of spiritual formation. The tightest biblical material I can think of is Col. 2-3; John 15; and Eph. 2-3. But we have to go beyond verses and even chapters to the whole message and movement of scripture.
Thank you for this, Kyle. The statement that stood out was,
"This is why spiritual formation is always more than simply a strategy of growth, or a series of spiritual practices, but is an entire theology of life with God, in Christ, by the Spirit to be shaped increasingly in Christ’s likeness."
Equating spiritual formation with spiritual disciplines eventually led me to resign to defeat about the possibility of deep change. Yet, I barely noticed what had happened. Willard's Renovation of the Heart and your articles here have greatly helped.
Thank you Mark! I’m so glad it was helpful!
Oh. And if I were reading my reply which says I find it coherent but also says it lacks grounding, that would be confusing to me. Its coherence is, I think, intuitive. I have an intitutive sense that it aligns coherently with how I understand the biblical story. But I'd love to see made explicit what intuitively resonates and lands as coherent.
I mean by "the account" exactly what you describe. That is, as you say, every Christian has an account of spiritual formation. So, how would you ground yours biblically? That's the question I had in mind. From what I understand of your account, I find it coherent and compelling. However, I find in some ways I have to take your word for it (I find this equally true with similar accounts- the new spiritual formation course, for instance, at Biola). Again, I find lots of scripture attached to them, but I'm missing a cogent macro-level biblical grounding. Maybe it's there! But I've not found it. I get the challenge when you are drawing together themes running through the whole message and movement of Scripture, but it seems to me this is an important piece for helping the church (re)discover (at least where it's been lost or distorted) a faithful (non-pelagian, grounded in Christ's finished work and the Spirit's continued application of it, all the things) account of spiritual formation
That's helpful Chad. Yes, that is the difficulty, especially with spiritual formation since it cuts across every major doctrine. For the macro-level grounding, I have a book that is due Sept. 1 on sanctification, and I hope that this provides that. But I am also working on 2-3 other words on holiness that I hope will do so as well, if I can get to them. Lord willing I'll be able to. You are right to note that when I write I try to saturate scripture throughout, which I do because I share this concern with you. But you are also right that I haven't just paused and said, "Here is the biblical story." I'll email you something though that might help.
Kyle, as I read through the different ways you refer to an account of spiritual formation, they are full of scriptural references. Can you provide or point me to a (robust) scriptural argument for the account? Something that wouldn't require me to sort through all of the books, podcasts, and substack posts to construct it myself?
What exactly do you mean by “the account?” It is important to remember that “spiritual formation” isn’t an account of a view, but is a category that every Christian must flesh out in one way or another. Every Christian has an account of spiritual formation. The tightest biblical material I can think of is Col. 2-3; John 15; and Eph. 2-3. But we have to go beyond verses and even chapters to the whole message and movement of scripture.