First, is it RIGHT to have a spiritual father?
Second, is it NECESSARY to have a spiritual father?
Let’s Think!
I mean, Jesus said, “Call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Matt 23:9, so….? If it is not wrong, how should one choose a spiritual father?
Is spiritual fatherhood biblical?
READ ALSO: CHURCH DISCIPLINE (PART 1)
What the Scriptures Say
1 Peter 5:13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.
1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord…
Philemon 1:10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I fathered in my imprisonment…
2 Corinthians 12:14-15 Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children. I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me.
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.
1 Corinthians 4:14-16 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me.
“… And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” – Jesus Christ.
The apostles Peter, Paul, and John, referred to different believers, collectively and individually, as their children. They saw themselves as spiritual fathers to them.
Were they despising the words of the Lord? Were they prideful and disobedient? Or did the Lord mean it differently from how it appears on the surface?
The word father comes from the Greek word ‘pater‘ which means the originator, progenitor, generator, or the source of a thing. It is the root word for paternity, patricide, patron, patriarch, expatriate, patriot, and so on.
READ ALSO: CESSATIONISM
Roles of a Spiritual Father
A spiritual father is known by the role they play in a person’s life. A spiritual father’s role can be summed up as one who:
- provides,
- instructs; and,
- circumcises.
Follow the link below as we examine these in detail.
READ ALSO: ARE SPIRITUAL FATHERS PERMITTED? (PART 2)
