What is a Christian? A Christian is one who has a right relationship with Christ. What is a spiritual Christian? A spiritual Christian is one who has not only a right relationship with Christ, but one who also has a right relationship with the Holy Spirit.
As far as a definition is concerned, that is about the best and simplest conclusion I have come up with in my time. Having read many, many men about these two subjects, I must admit that when we are dealing with spiritual things, it is not easy to be said. Too many times people just seem to get off-track when thy speak of what is spiritual. There are many dangers that accompany "spiritual" discourses. It is so easy to become too subjective when we speak of spiritual things, and then in turn get away from the objective Christ. It is His spiritual relationship with the Holy Spirit that teaches us the most about spiritual realities.
Another window of light, hopefully, is the time element we emphasize in spiritual realities. Do we believe this can all be accomplished in our lives in one glorious moment? That would be a mistake to believe. Certainly, and usually, there is some outstanding crisis of the flesh that brings one to the consciousness of the need of spiritual fortification for the Christian to become a spiritual Christian. Every benefit of the Atonement is by the gift of grace in the divine depositum of regeneration, but we must draw upon that divine depositum after our regeneration. But yielding to that crisis experience which urges our search in Gods grace for the spiritual for our lives, we should think of true spiritual realities as taking a long-term walk with the Lord Jesus.
In my own life, spiritual realities have been in need of considerable time in a number of scriptural truths. When we are considering the spiritual in the light of the holiness of God, there is a considerable time element involved. It takes time to be a spiritual Christian.
In the fifty years of my being a Christian, I must at least speak of this time as being a composite of two divisions of about twentyfive years each. I can only look back to see it, but that is better. Nobody can plan what it takes to be a spiritual Christian.