Input/Output
Spirit, community and mission
A biblical theology of spiritual formation
It has been rightly argued that the essence of Christian theology is spirituality1. That being the case, the purpose of spiritual formation is to promote a truly Christ-like spirituality in the lives of genuine Christians. Admittedly, spiritual formation is not a biblical expression, but neither is the term Trinity. Nevertheless, both designate truth complexes that are essential to the faith and, in fact, are interrelated biblically.
Unlike the term Trinity, however, spiritual formation has a New Testament linguistic basis in the Greek adjective pneumatikos (“spiritual,” appearing 26 times in the Bible) in combination with various forms of the Greek root morph- (“form, shape”). The best way to begin defining spiritual formation is to start with passages that refer to the Holy Spirit in the context of (trans- or con-)forming one’s life toward Christ-likeness (Galatians 4:19).
Spiritual formation is often taken to be a synonym of, or at least somehow related to, spiritual growth, sanctification and discipleship, and is sometimes used interchangeably. From a biblical point of view, however, spiritual formation focuses our attention on the dynamics of how the Holy Spirit works in us, among us and through us—carrying out the will of God the Father, for the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:27-29, 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Spiritual formation truly is a Trinitarian project.
There are basically three dimensions of the spiritually forming work of the Holy Spirit. Each has important implications for any biblically based “spiritual formation” ministry, practice or program.
First, the Holy Spirit works dynamically in the human spirit of those who know Christ in order to transform them into the image of Christ. Second, the Holy Spirit inhabits Christians individually and corporately as His holy temple in order to manifest His presence and exert His influence in and through their lives. Third, the Holy Spirit uses those who are in Christ to reach prophetically into this lost and dying world. So the Holy Spirit is concerned about our personal spiritual transformation, our practicing of His presence in community, and our ministry as prophets speaking God’s Word into our contemporary world.
Personal spiritual transformation
As every first year Hebrew or Greek student knows, the major terms for both the human spirit and the Holy Spirit are also the common words for “wind” or “breath” in both the Hebrew Old Testament (ruakh) and the Greek New Testament (pneuma; cf. the English word “pneumonia”).
The same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1 with 2 Peter 1:20-21; cf. also theopneustos “God breathed” in 2 Timothy 3:16) brings the truths of that very same Scripture to bear upon us, especially the truths about “what God has freely given us” in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:12).
Thus, it is the gospel that transforms us as the Holy Spirit brings its various truths to bear upon us—even if we are already true believers.
When we engage in the process of true spiritual formation, we by nature engage with people’s sins and frustrations, seeking to bring the impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear upon these realities.
Therefore, spiritual formation is a messy process. We ourselves cannot actually “do” spiritual formation, but the Holy Spirit can. He does it by working deeply and powerfully in the believer’s spirit, thereby transforming every aspect of the believer’s life.
Love replaces things like hatred, jealousy and envy in a person’s character (Galatians 5:20-21). Joy replaces things like selfish ambition and envy. Peace replaces the tendency to engender discord, dissentions and factions amid groups of people. The list goes on.
One of the bottom-line questions spiritual formation intends to confront in us is whether or not the formative work of the Holy Spirit is becoming manifest through such fruit in our lives.
Practicing His presence
Our western culture has become overly individualistic. The fact is, the various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are primarily relational, not privatistic. They are worked out in ministry within the body of Christ (see, e.g., Galatians 6:1 in relation to 5:20-21, referred to above) and, to some degree at least, they are worked into a believer’s life through the Holy Spirit’s work in the context of community.
That being said, solitude and private devotion with the Lord are essential for the Christian’s spiritual growth. Our Lord needed personal private communion with the Father (e.g., Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16), and so do we (e.g., Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6-7). After all, the real battles of life and spirituality are fought in the heart (Matthew 15:18-19).
As an individual “temple of the Holy Spirit,” the Christian is part of the community “temple of God,” the Church (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Private devotion is important, but it is not an end in itself. God sent Christ to love people, and He sends Christians to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:1-8; etc.). If people do not love people better as a result of our efforts at spiritual formation, then our efforts have failed miserably.
How can a person contribute to the spiritual formation of another person? How can or should the community of faith as a whole contribute to the individual’s spiritual formation? How does each one of us, in turn, contribute to the spiritual growth of our community of faith? These are important questions. Our emphasis on the Holy Spirit in spiritual formation is not meant to deny the importance of the way He uses people in the process.
Perhaps we can use the analogy of the inspiration of Scripture. The words of Scripture are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Moreover, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21; compare 2 Samuel 23:2).
In general, God did not dictate the words but used the vocabulary, background and concerns of the individual human writers, making sure that their words and sentences communicated the errorless truth He intended them to carry.
Similarly, the energy or driving force of spiritual formation is the Holy Spirit who, like a wind, “drives us along” into and out of people’s lives with the intent of using us to influence their hearts and lives. The corporate body of Christ influences individuals in the same way, and so it is also with the influence that individual Christians can have in the body of Christ.
The more we manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives, the more we will affect other Christians and whole churches spiritually (Galatians 5:21-22). The Holy Spirit uses individuals and groups of people who live like this to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” and to “encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25). It is a spiritually transforming community.
Our ministry as prophets
Our relationship to the Spirit of God is like that of the Old Testament prophets. We are all called to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) as the Old Testament prophets were when they prophesied.
Jesus anticipated this when He said, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:38; cf. Isaiah 44:3).
“Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), and spiritual formation must take this perspective and calling seriously. We are to stand out and stand up for God and His kingdom in this world, just as the Old Testament prophets did in theirs.
Devotion to evangelism and discipleship are part of our being salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Another part is the testimony of how we live in the world, committed to the qualities of character, principles and practices of the kingdom in our own lives and in interaction with others. Like Jesus, we need to be concerned about the injustices and inequities that stand in opposition to the ways of God’s kingdom.
The Spirit of God shapes each of us differently as He transforms our human spirit. Nevertheless, we each also have a personal mission for the Lord, which is tied to, among other things, the special giftedness that the Holy Spirit has granted us. We need each other in order to grow well spiritually and function properly in our mission.
It remains important to take the spiritual gifts of a person fully into account in the process of spiritual formation. We cannot force diversely gifted individuals into one monolithic mold.
Therefore, I define spiritual formation as the ministry through which we stimulate and support the ongoing, transforming work of the Holy Spirit in and through the personal lives, relationships and ministries of genuine believers, so that we all progressively become more conformed to the image of Christ according to the will of God the Father. 
Adapted from the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Biola University, 2008 Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 27-53. Copyright 2008, Richard Averbeck. Read Dr. Averbeck’s full article.
1See, for example, J. I. Packer, “An Introduction to Systematic Spirituality,” Crux 26:1 (March, 1990) 2-8. For some helpful descriptions, explanations and warnings regarding spirituality as understood today, see Gordon R. Lewis, “The Church and the New Spirituality,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36 (1993) pp. 433-444; and D. A. Carson, “When is Spirituality Spiritual? Reflections on some problems of definition,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37 (1994) 381-394, republished in a slightly expanded form in D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity confronts pluralism, pp. 555-569.
Richard Averbeck is director of the Ph.D. program in Theological Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as well as professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages. He cares about spiritual formation because it brings focus and intention to living a Christlike life on a moment-by-moment basis, in whatever setting we find ourselves.
Spirit, Community and Mission
It has been rightly argued that the essence of Christian theology is spirituality1. That being the case, the purpose of spiritual formation is to promote a truly Christ-like spirituality in the lives of genuine Christians. Admittedly, spiritual formation is not a biblical expression, but neither is the term Trinity. Nevertheless, both designate truth complexes that are essential to the faith and, in fact, are interrelated biblically.
Unlike the term Trinity, however, spiritual formation has a New Testament linguistic basis in the Greek adjective pneumatikos (“spiritual,” appearing 26 times in the Bible) in combination with various forms of the Greek root morph- (“form, shape”). The best way to begin defining spiritual formation is to start with passages that refer to the Holy Spirit in the context of (trans- or con-)forming one’s life toward Christ-likeness (Galatians 4:19).
Spiritual formation is often taken to be a synonym of, or at least somehow related to, spiritual growth, sanctification and discipleship, and is sometimes used interchangeably. From a biblical point of view, however, spiritual formation focuses our attention on the dynamics of how the Holy Spirit works in us, among us and through us—carrying out the will of God the Father, for the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:27-29, 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
Spiritual formation truly is a Trinitarian project.
There are basically three dimensions of the spiritually forming work of the Holy Spirit. Each has important implications for any biblically based “spiritual formation” ministry, practice or program.
First, the Holy Spirit works dynamically in the human spirit of those who know Christ in order to transform them into the image of Christ. Second, the Holy Spirit inhabits Christians individually and corporately as His holy temple in order to manifest His presence and exert His influence in and through their lives. Third, the Holy Spirit uses those who are in Christ to reach prophetically into this lost and dying world. So the Holy Spirit is concerned about our personal spiritual transformation, our practicing of His presence in community, and our ministry as prophets speaking God’s Word into our contemporary world.
Personal spiritual transformation
As every first year Hebrew or Greek student knows, the major terms for both the human spirit and the Holy Spirit are also the common words for “wind” or “breath” in both the Hebrew Old Testament (ruakh) and the Greek New Testament (pneuma; cf. the English word “pneumonia”).
The same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1 with 2 Peter 1:20-21; cf. also theopneustos “God breathed” in 2 Timothy 3:16) brings the truths of that very same Scripture to bear upon us, especially the truths about “what God has freely given us” in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:12).
Thus, it is the gospel that transforms us as the Holy Spirit brings its various truths to bear upon us—even if we are already true believers.
When we engage in the process of true spiritual formation, we by nature engage with people’s sins and frustrations, seeking to bring the impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ to bear upon these realities.
Therefore, spiritual formation is a messy process. We ourselves cannot actually “do” spiritual formation, but the Holy Spirit can. He does it by working deeply and powerfully in the believer’s spirit, thereby transforming every aspect of the believer’s life.
Love replaces things like hatred, jealousy and envy in a person’s character (Galatians 5:20-21). Joy replaces things like selfish ambition and envy. Peace replaces the tendency to engender discord, dissentions and factions amid groups of people. The list goes on.
One of the bottom-line questions spiritual formation intends to confront in us is whether or not the formative work of the Holy Spirit is becoming manifest through such fruit in our lives.
Practicing His presence
Our western culture has become overly individualistic. The fact is, the various aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are primarily relational, not privatistic. They are worked out in ministry within the body of Christ (see, e.g., Galatians 6:1 in relation to 5:20-21, referred to above) and, to some degree at least, they are worked into a believer’s life through the Holy Spirit’s work in the context of community.
That being said, solitude and private devotion with the Lord are essential for the Christian’s spiritual growth. Our Lord needed personal private communion with the Father (e.g., Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16), and so do we (e.g., Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6-7). After all, the real battles of life and spirituality are fought in the heart (Matthew 15:18-19).
As an individual “temple of the Holy Spirit,” the Christian is part of the community “temple of God,” the Church (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Private devotion is important, but it is not an end in itself. God sent Christ to love people, and He sends Christians to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:1-8; etc.). If people do not love people better as a result of our efforts at spiritual formation, then our efforts have failed miserably.
How can a person contribute to the spiritual formation of another person? How can or should the community of faith as a whole contribute to the individual’s spiritual formation? How does each one of us, in turn, contribute to the spiritual growth of our community of faith? These are important questions. Our emphasis on the Holy Spirit in spiritual formation is not meant to deny the importance of the way He uses people in the process.
Perhaps we can use the analogy of the inspiration of Scripture. The words of Scripture are “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). Moreover, “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21; compare 2 Samuel 23:2).
In general, God did not dictate the words but used the vocabulary, background and concerns of the individual human writers, making sure that their words and sentences communicated the errorless truth He intended them to carry.
Similarly, the energy or driving force of spiritual formation is the Holy Spirit who, like a wind, “drives us along” into and out of people’s lives with the intent of using us to influence their hearts and lives. The corporate body of Christ influences individuals in the same way, and so it is also with the influence that individual Christians can have in the body of Christ.
The more we manifest the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives, the more we will affect other Christians and whole churches spiritually (Galatians 5:21-22). The Holy Spirit uses individuals and groups of people who live like this to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” and to “encourage one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25). It is a spiritually transforming community.
Our ministry as prophets
Our relationship to the Spirit of God is like that of the Old Testament prophets. We are all called to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) as the Old Testament prophets were when they prophesied.
Jesus anticipated this when He said, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:38; cf. Isaiah 44:3).
“Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), and spiritual formation must take this perspective and calling seriously. We are to stand out and stand up for God and His kingdom in this world, just as the Old Testament prophets did in theirs.
Devotion to evangelism and discipleship are part of our being salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Another part is the testimony of how we live in the world, committed to the qualities of character, principles and practices of the kingdom in our own lives and in interaction with others. Like Jesus, we need to be concerned about the injustices and inequities that stand in opposition to the ways of God’s kingdom.
The Spirit of God shapes each of us differently as He transforms our human spirit. Nevertheless, we each also have a personal mission for the Lord, which is tied to, among other things, the special giftedness that the Holy Spirit has granted us. We need each other in order to grow well spiritually and function properly in our mission.
It remains important to take the spiritual gifts of a person fully into account in the process of spiritual formation. We cannot force diversely gifted individuals into one monolithic mold.
Therefore, I define spiritual formation as the ministry through which we stimulate and support the ongoing, transforming work of the Holy Spirit in and through the personal lives, relationships and ministries of genuine believers, so that we all progressively become more conformed to the image of Christ according to the will of God the Father.
Adapted from the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, Biola University, 2008 Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 27-53. Copyright 2008, Richard Averbeck. Read Dr. Averbeck’s full article.
- See, for example, J. I. Packer, “An Introduction to Systematic Spirituality,” Crux 26:1 (March, 1990) 2-8. For some helpful descriptions, explanations and warnings regarding spirituality as understood today, see Gordon R. Lewis, “The Church and the New Spirituality,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36 (1993) pp. 433-444; and D. A. Carson, “When is Spirituality Spiritual? Reflections on some problems of definition,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37 (1994) 381-394, republished in a slightly expanded form in D. A. Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity confronts pluralism, pp. 555-569.
Richard Averbeck is director of the Ph.D. program in Theological Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as well as professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages. He cares about spiritual formation because it brings focus and intention to living a Christlike life on a moment-by-moment basis, in whatever setting we find ourselves