Living the Way Jesus Lived

Living the Way Jesus Lived (Transformed Character)

On December 11, 2012, I added a post to my blog titled ‘New Testament Model of Discipleship’ from the book ‘Choose the Life’ by Bill Hull. That post referenced the five dimensions of Discipleship. The piece that appears below describes the second of the five dimensions.

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Too often following Jesus has been limited to admiring the mystery of the God-man and resting in the finished work of the cross. While the basis of a relationship with God in Christ is both his person and his finished work, the ongoing nature of salvation, sometimes called sanctification, should not be ignored.

A pathology of the American church has been to disconnect belief from behavior. People think that if you say the right words and believe the right things, you will receive your get-out-of-hell-free card, and that’s it. In the meantime they manage their sin until heaven. Jesus calls us not to sin management but to transformation, where we experience one breakthrough after another and do away with sin in our lives. We are called to follow Jesus and be transformed into his image. We are called to take seriously the character description of Jesus in the Gospels and Philippians 2:5-8. We are expected to take on that same character and thus influence the people around us the same way Jesus influenced others. In short, the gospel connects belief and behavior.