A novel is about the effect of time on characters
— Frank O' Conner - Mirror in the Roadway
A novel needs time because character is revealed by pressure, and pressure needs duration to do its work. A single scene shows you who someone is; years show you who they become, and whether they fought it or let it happen. That's why the advice works — change proves the person was real to begin with.
Concrete example: a character who lies easily in chapter one should find lying harder, or far too easy, by the final chapter. The gap between those two moments is the story.
The caution: don't confuse time passing with change happening. Aging a character ten years on the page means nothing if they think and choose exactly as they did before. Time is the pressure, not the point.
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