True disciples grow
True disciples grow. True disciples bear the fruit of changed lives. They are becoming more like Jesus every year.
For true disciples this is inevitable. It begins immediately upon their repentance toward God and their faith in Christ, and it continues until their last day on the earth.
There are at least eight reasons for the certainty of growth in Christlikeness for his true disciples. Let’s look at just three today.
1. True disciples have the Holy Spirit living within
True disciples are actually united with the third member of the Trinity, with God himself. That will change you! This is not just you trying to make some resolutions and be a better person. This is not just you trying harder. This is not just you on a good day. This is almighty God, the Holy One giving you the thoughts, desires, motivations, feelings, understanding, and wisdom to live a good and godly life.
Therefore, you can do this, not because you can do this but because God is more than able to help you grow and overcome sin and take on the beautiful character and ways of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 5:22–23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Romans 8:13–14 says, “If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Application: So, if you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you should ask yourself: Am I walking in the Holy Spirit and seeking his guidance in my life, as is normal behavior for a true disciple?
A true disciple tries to walk in the Holy Spirit. A true disciple follows the leading of the Holy Spirit. A true disciple intentionally conforms to the character of the Holy Spirit as revealed in Galatians 5:22–23.
2. A true disciple has Jesus Christ living within
Scripture says that not only do you have the third member of the Trinity living within you and united with your human spirit, but you also have the second member of the Trinity living within you. That of course is Jesus Christ. You can be like Jesus in character because you have Jesus himself living in and through you! You’re not thinking this stuff up. You’re not trying to imagine what a Christian lives like. You actually have Jesus living his life through you.
That’s why growth in Christlikeness is inevitable for a true disciple of Jesus.
The apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”
Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I trusting in Jesus day by day? Am I trusting in him to live in me? Am I walking by faith? Am I through prayer carrying on my relationship with Jesus throughout the day? Have I died to sin and my flesh and this world, and am I alive instead to Jesus?
3. True disciples die to themselves and their sinful natures daily and renew their minds according to the Word of God
Romans 12:1–2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Here we see two of the powerful elements at work in the life of a changed person. All who choose deliberately to die to self and sin, will in union with Jesus in his death on the cross experience enormous change in their lives. In Romans 12:1–2 this is called presenting yourself to God as “a living sacrifice.” That is, you choose to die. You choose to say no to temptation and sinful habits and selfish desires and worldly ways. It is as simple and powerful as that: No!
Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
What gives you the power to do that is your union with Jesus in his death on the cross. Therefore, once again it is not just you trying to say no to something in the natural, but it is the power of the cross of Jesus mediated in your life by the power of the Holy Spirit; so that when you say no, your no has supernatural authority!
Moreover, compound that with the Word of God renewing your mind according to eternal truth and reality. We cannot fully grasp the power of God’s Word to change our mind, heart, and spirit.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
This again is a divine power at work in those who are true disciples. It is at work because true disciples are abiding in the Words of God, as Jesus said in John 8:31: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”
Application: If you look at your life and see no transformation happening, then you need to ask yourself: Am I deliberately and consciously dying to my sinful nature every day? Or am I letting my sinful nature rule my life? Am I deliberately renewing my mind through daily attention to Scripture, to think God-pleasing thoughts, or am I thinking in a worldly manner?
Continued next time