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Liberty University School OF Divinity Written
Assignment
Discipleship Ministries (Liberty University)
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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Written Assignment 1
Spiritual Formation and Discipleship
Submitted to Dr. Johnathan Geukgeuzian,
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the completion of
DSMN 500-B02
Discipleship Ministries
By
Walfredo L. Tirado
Casado March 26, 2022
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Spiritual Formation..................................................................................................................................3
The Impact of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Development.........................................................................4
Three areas Related to Spiritual Growth..................................................................................................5
Strong and Weak Points from the Personal Growth Assessment.............................................................6
Disciplines to Work on............................................................................................................................7
Love for God (Up)...............................................................................................................................7
Love for One Another (In)...................................................................................................................7
Love for Our Neighbors (Out).............................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography 9
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Introduction
Spiritual formation is the process where a person is in accordance to the image of
Christ for the glory of God and others. Discipleship, is to be a follower of Jesus Christ and
learn from His life, sacrifice and example. The Disciple centers himself on all that is Jesus
Christ and accepts Jesus Christ as his God and Savior. 2 Corinthian 3:17-18 tells us in
summary that Spiritual Formation is to be changed to be more like Jesus, In Matthew 28:19,
Jesus calls upon people to follow Him; be His disciples and to make disciples of men.
Spiritual Formation
The Bible defines Spiritual Formation, as being conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ for the Glory of God and for the sake of others (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Paul explains in
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 that “spiritual transformation is a gradual process of glorious transformation
into the image of Jesus by the Spirit of God that is available to every believer as a result of honestly
and intentionally seeking the face of God.” So in short the goal of Spiritual Formation is becoming
more like Jesus. To not grow in the Word of Christ, is to not experience this process. Spiritual
formation is meant and required for all believers, it’s a result from willingly seeking God through
the Holy Spirit. Spiritual formation can be seen in believers who are filled with the glory of
the Lord and truly manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Christians glorify God when they
start serving using the Holy Spirit fruitful gifts, once we see this in a believer, he is on the
road to be a disciple for Jesus Christ and living through God’s Will. Transformation is
available for all believers, walking in the Spirit, Truth, and constantly seek the face of God
but some are in the stagnant process.
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A Christian is stagnant when Christ-likeness isn’t being achieved, for example, he isn’t
changing, growing in Christ or receiving His nourishment through his Word. Reading the
Word of God, praying is essential to create a communion with Christ and to serve for Christ
is important on any believer’s spiritual transformation.
The Control and Impact of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Development
Spiritual formation is the Holy Spirit working inward all believers, by guiding, restoring,
gifting, and empowering them through faith in Jesus Christ. When a believer is filled with
the Holy Spirit, God empowers them to go out to the world to make disciples and leaders.
The church can’t grow without a leader that serves to God and truly search for Him. When
believers are truly filled with the Spirit of Christ, we can be instilled with authority to
proclaim God’s love for the World but this includes the fulfillment of three purposes of the
Christians which includes the relational, transformational and vocational purposes which are
key in a Christian spiritual formation. These purposes are to help Christians acquired a goal
for the purposes of Christ. Through this processes Christians acquire the likeness of Christ
on a personal level, they become people for God in a community level and they establish the
Kingdom of God at a missionary and vocational level in which they use the gifts God has
blessed them with. In these three stages, the Holy Spirit establishes believers, for the
personal aspect, it convicts and establishes believers as Children’s of God and sanctifies
them so they can be transform individually into a Christ-like image. When this process is a
success, the Holy Spirit proclaims God’s glory through that person so they can reach their
community, that be it churches, shelters, ministries, missions, etc.
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Through this process completion, the Holy Spirit guides that son of God forward through
his gifts, using the vocation God wishes to use with the individual. The believer achieves
full release from sin thanks to the Holy Spirit by achieving all these purposes through
Christ, the Holy Spirit has transformed them by delivering the sin in their lives, having
grown into Christ-likeness while acquiring a close perception of God. Believers are giving a
holy life through the Holy Spirit and they have peaceful lives filled with faithfulness and
dedicating themselves to constantly reach Christ.
A Christian who lives by a divine will does not feel the stress of temptations by Satan or
the failures life will hand out to them, they know the Word of God, by which they stand
firm in faith and submission for Christ. Those filled with the Holy Spirit not only are strong
in divine character, but also are able to enjoy the benefit of being capable to share that shine
in their lives. Moses is an example of this shine, whenever he spoke to God in private his
face would shine. The Holy Spirit provides the believer with this shine as well when they
accept Him in their lives. The believer also become more empathic and graceful to his
fellow brother, they live a holy life and their love for his community increases each day. In
summary the Holy Spirit guides the believer to be holy like Christ, they surrender to Him
and let God guide them in the life He intended for them.
Three areas of Spiritual Growth
The process of spiritual growth, involves three stages in the believers’ life. These are as
follow although not necessarily in that order, purgative stage, illuminative stage, and the
unitive stage. Spiritual Growth resembles the process of human development.
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In the purgative stage, the believer experiences his own conversion and responds to grace
by moving away from sin and pursues a life with Christ. In the stage of illuminative, the
believer processes a state of recollection, here the person stays in constant attention of the
mind and affections of the hearts in which elevate him or her to God. The believer starts
taking the mind, heart and character of Jesus. Last stage is the unitive stage, in which the
person experiences union with God by love and putting that love to action, by prayer,
service and communion. In these stages is wise to have a spiritual leader who can help
guide the new believer in to a mature Christian to make others leaders and disciples.
Strong and Weak Points from the Personal Growth Assessment
My strengths rely on loving my neighbor, I mostly shine on this area due to have been
more focused on helping others and listening to their problems due to the fact I never
focused on myself. Helping others to build themselves always brought me a warm that I
could never feel, I find this warm through Christ and His grace. For a believer like myself to
focus on social relations is quite normal and expected, Christ had called me to teach at a
young age and while denying this call, He prepared me for the future. I am grateful that I
have this opportunity.
I know I can improve this in the long run. God is blessing me with undeniable knowledge
and testimonies to help build the devotion required to continue spreading His Word. I must
focus on reading on a daily basis His Word to build the leader qualities He is instilling in my
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heart. God’s work will continue to bless many others and myself, I will pray dillegently that
I continue His way and road.
Disciplines to Work on
Love for God
This is one of the disciplines I must focus on rising the numbers, I do stick to bible
reading plans, devotional with my partner and study the Word on this lectures and on a
personal basis with the ministries I serve. I am rigid on my daily life, which pushes me to be
rigid with my reading schedule. I know I could add more Bible reading and prayers. I rely on
God on my personal decisions, this is true, but I do know there could be room for
improvement for God’s glory.
Love for One another
To improve my love for others took me years in my Christian growth, God has filled
me with love for .my fellow brothers and sisters. I do believe it can improve, for I distance
myself from those I care for most times due to the many duties I go through on a daily basis.
Serving is one of my favorite things, not for the glory but for the warmth a person feels when
God is touching them, that feeling of loving others truly and not selfishly is an aspect we must
pray upon daily for they are our brothers.
Love for Our Neighbors
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I am hoping to play an important role in my fellow brother’s life for Christ glory.
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I pray that I could grow even more on this area for it will be my focus as teacher and ministry
leader of Media and Youth group. Helping others is a key aspect of being a Christian, one
God has blessed me with, I wish to glorify Him on a daily basis and to only spread His
knowledge to other believers like me with love and grace.
Conclusion
Spiritual formation is the process of becoming more like Christ and carry on His
example. We must be aware that through Christ we can be saved and redeemed. Redemption
implies our renewal as their Son. Christ promised He would never leave us, He has been true
to that promise since He spoke them in Genesis. Spiritual formation is the process us
Christians need to embrace and let God guide us through His wisdom in order to understand
Him, for without a bonding relationship with God we can never truly become who we are
meant to be in His name.
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Bibliography
Dowd, Ed. “Three elements of Spiritual Growth.” (September 11, 2010).
https://www.ucg.org/ sermons/three-elements-of-spiritual-growth
Early, Dave & Dempsey, Rod. “Spiritual Formation is how to grow in Jesus with Passion and
Confidence.” (2018). Rod Dempsey and Dave Early Ministries. B&H Academic,
Nashville, Tennessee.
Peace, Richard. 2016. Spiritual Transformation: Taking on the Character of Christ.
Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Teo, Wilson. “Christian Spiritual Formation.” (2017). https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/
publications/elj/vol10iss1/christian-spiritual-formation.pdf
Divine Mercy University. 2022. The Stages of Spiritual Growth and Freedom - Divine Mercy
University. [online] Available at: <https://divinemercy.edu/the-stages-of-spiritual-growth-and-
freedom/> [Accessed 27 March 2022].
