In a way, spiritual theology is the discipline that aims to fill the gap between the spiritual ideals of the believer and the reality in which he finds himself. Because of this, spiritual theology considers, to a great degree, spiritual formation through the prism of the individual experiences with the Holy Spirit. The meeting point between the Holy Spirit and the believer’s everyday life allows him to discover the nature of the formation in Christ and the knowledge he gains through living in Christ. But often, the more people grow in theology and Bible knowledge, the less they pray.
In the same vein, spiritual theology looks at the process that takes the believer, as being deformed by default due to his Adamic nature, to being reformed in Christ. But what does this reformation look like? What does it mean to be in Christ? What does Paul mean by “all things become new” for anyone who is in Christ? Does one change automatically, and will his fruits be noticeable once he is in Christ? If yes, is there evidence that shows up through his activities, desires, passion, goals in life, etc.? Does this new nature come to manifest itself? Spiritual theology takes a closer look at these questions. Here, however, the believer does not remain passive in the transformation process but instead engages in activities that help contribute to his wellness throughout this new journey called Retraining of the Soul, in which he finds himself.
The emphasis is now on the discipline the believer needs to partake in God’s works. In the words of Dr. Coe, “Spiritual theology is necessary if we are to understand the meaning of the text, the fullness of the meaning of these texts.” In short, we need to understand what the text refers to in real life to get a whole meaning. Moreover, in its fundamental nature, Spiritual Theology unfolds itself in two forms: Spiritual Theology as an Application and Spiritual Theology as a Theological Discipline.
The Nature of Spiritual Growth
From an application angle, the sermons, training, admonishing, and discipleship have no ultimate goal or should not lead to anything other than the Love of God and neighbor because though theological knowledge is good itself, however, as with all knowledge, it finds its ultimate goal in servicing the love and neighbor.” The Preacher at the pulpit on Sunday morning that quotes Paul, 1 Cor. 10:13, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God,” must have in the back of his mind the ultimate end of his enterprises, encapsulated in the two greatest commandments, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…And Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).
As a Theological Discipline, Spiritual Theology has its own body of knowledge and, consequently, must not be taken for other disciplines of Theology with their distinct methodology, data, content, and scope. However, unlike other Theological disciplines such as Hermeneutics and exegesis, with an orientation of looking for textual evidence, Spiritual Theology, in addition to that, seeks to tap into the Pneumatological Realism (Dr. Coe’s concept) by shedding light into the ministry of the Spirit in the person’s heart. Here, the person is observed along with the cause and explanation in question to the state of the soul to bring forth spiritual growth along with his maturity in Christ.
As such, the preliminary part of Spiritual Growth is nonetheless rooted in integrating a theology of sanctification with what is relevant to understanding spiritual growth in the real world. For someone who struggles with self-acceptance while being a believer who confesses Christ as his Savior and Lord, for instance, Spiritual Theology can help in reminding us that he is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14). The correct image of ourselves is grounded in who we already are in Christ, not in whom we pretend to be or not.
The Process and Directives of Spiritual Growth
In the sermon on the mount, the Lord commands that we“love our enemies” (Matthew 5:43). For the novice, or even for the long-time believers alike – since the spiritual growth is not equivalent to the number of years spent at church-, the question remains: how does the Christian ought to love his enemies? Note that the emphasis (mine) on the word “Christian” here is made to differentiate the type of spiritual formation process, which is fundamentally different from a Vodouist subjected to the same undertaking akin to Vodou religious practices. However, unlike other religions or ancestral practices, the process of Christian spiritual formation points towards the heart.
Moreover, this is not a slow process. Here, the believer is not necessarily the doer but the cooperator of someone else’s doing –The Spirit of God dwelling in the believer’s heart. When Paul commands the Romans to be transformed by the renewing of the mind (12:2), the message is conveyed in a sense to remain open to God in matters to be aware of the Spirit’s works in us, though yet we still need to be also responsible in our endeavors by self-examination. As Kyle Strobel puts it in his book, “Formed for the Glory of God,” “God wants to transform us and cannot transform the people we pretend to be.”
In other terms, the believer who was once deformed, given his Adamic heritage, is being now transformed in the life of the Spirit by having, not through an autonomous effort and power of human effort, where the flesh is being praised, but by being transformed through True Spiritual Formation, where the flesh is crucified in Christ (Gal 3:1-3). All argue that regardless of where someone is in his journey of faith, he will at a moment nearer to God and another moment very far from His presence. Spiritual Theologians warn about any hastening assumptions about the maturity or immaturity of the believer as if it is correlated with his level of Sanctification.
Spiritual Theology helps us discern
To the contrary, in times of desolation, Spiritual Theology helps us discern that that time is an attempt to grow in character and love for God and neighbor. Dr. Coe would argue that “These dark nights” or seasons of dryness and desolation are not the absence of the Spirit but His drawing nearer to expose sin in love and truth.”
In like manner, obeying the Lord’s command to love our enemies will wait not in a shift on a feeling that is named love that we experience towards our enemies, but on the willingness to obey God through the action and for the sake of love. Thus, one could ask, what does love for their enemies resemble? It occurs in sharing your food, clothes, resources, and yes! Love with your enemy in time of need. Which begins with praying for your enemy’s good at all times. As Robert L. Saucy asserts, “The doing of an action of love from our heart can incite the emotion of love in the heart.” Thus, the command of the Lord, “Love your enemy,” finds its most total sense in doing action, coming from a character being transformed by God’s love.
A character under the constraint and training of love, where the believer puts off bad habits of the heart to gain new habits destined to be practiced in love. As Bonhoeffer puts it, “Spiritual love does not desire but rather serves; it loves an enemy as a brother. It originates neither in the brother nor the enemy but in Christ and His Word.” The command to love, the spiritual training, actions, disciplines such as meditation and Lectio Divina, loving your wife, exercising charity, and habits must lead to the resulting application-praxis with in mind the essential and ultimate ends of love (1 Cor. 13:1).
The Scriptures encourage us to visit those in prison and hospital. While exercising is a good thing, the Lord does not tell us how often we ought to do that a month. Therefore, Spiritual Theology can attempt to fill this gap of details and directives by providing relevant directives that should be embedded with wisdom, good motive, and love.
