Walking in the Way of Jesus

A few summers ago, my three oldest kids and I discovered a great hiking trail just a few miles from where we live. It’s a trail through the woods that winds in and out of several parks just on the east side of the St. Joseph River, complete with a river shelter and several picnic areas and playgrounds just off the trail. The kids were enthralled, and our little hike led into a natural conversation about walking the right path or way in life.

The word walk is one of the main biblical metaphors for living the Christian life. Sometimes I think its significance is lost on us today. In the ancient world, walking was the ordinary person’s primary mode of transportation. The best way to get from here to there was to walk. They didn’t have trains, planes, and automobiles—even the bicycle wasn’t invented until the nineteenth century! Horses, at least in ancient Israel, were scarce and primarily used in battle. So most journeys were taken on foot by walking. We see this especially in the life of Jesus. As someone once noted, Jesus is the most persistent pedestrian in the Bible!

So the idea of walking in a way was the perfect picture for an ancient person to understand the moral and spiritual life. We find the metaphor early in Genesis where God walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8), picturing God’s active presence with humanity in their original created state. That fellowship was interrupted, of course, by the Fall. But as the redemption story unfolds, God once again walks with his people. “I will walk among you and be your God,” God says to Israel (Leviticus 26:12).

He not only walks with us, but we walk with him. Both Enoch and Noah are commended for walking with God (Genesis 5:22, 24; 6:9), and the Lord said to Abraham, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). The New Testament has many instances of this imagery as well. John and Paul describe Christian behavior in terms of walking in light rather than darkness, walking as Jesus walked, walking in wisdom, walking in newness of life, walking in good works, walking in the Spirit, and so on.

But to walk, one must have a way, a road, or a path. The Scriptures are full of this imagery, and it is especially obvious in Old Testament poetry, wisdom literature, and the prophetic books. The first psalm contrasts the ways of the righteous and wicked, commending the man who “walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers” (Psalm 1:1). The first verse of Psalm 119 echoes that commendation, declaring the blessedness of “those whose way is blameless who walk in the law of the Lord,” while Proverbs 4:18 says that “the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Later, Jesus taught about discipleship and salvation by contrasting the hard way that leads to life with the easy way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13–14), and Luke describes the early Christians as followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).

This brief survey of walk and way imagery in Scripture (and there are dozens and dozens of other texts—I encourage you to search them out!) suggests several insights about Christian living:

(1) First of all, it involves effort, movement, and action. Walking requires motion, and so does following Jesus. The Christian life is not a passive or static state. Ours is an active spirituality.

(2) But it also involves choices. You must choose a road, a path, a way in which to walk. The Scriptures variously describe this path as a way of life, light, love, truth, righteousness, etc. But what is clear is that there is a way that leads to salvation and a way that doesn’t.

The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan’s classic allegory about the journey of faith, vividly captures this reality. I love this book and think it is worth repeated readings. Spurgeon reportedly read it over a hundred times! I haven’t read it a hundred times, but I do keep coming back to it. I recently realized that Bunyan not only describes the Christian’s journey through life with all its attending obstacles, detours, and dangers, but also provides a startling array of characters to illustrate defective faith. It’s a study in apostasy every bit as much as it is a portrayal of the perseverance of the saints. When we meet Obstinate, Pliable, Ignorance, Hypocrisy, Worldly Wiseman, Talkative, Formalist, Legality, and all the rest, we’re not just encountering transparent examples of unbelievers and apostates. We’re also seeing in detail the kinds of spiritual problems that get people off track. The one thing all of these characters have in common is that they didn’t continue walking in the way to the Celestial City.

(3) Therefore, we must keep walking in the right way. Whenever we realize we’ve gotten off the path, we must by God’s grace find the way back on. Bunyan’s Christian does this again and again, and he makes it all the way home only with dogged persistence. So must you and I. The most fatal thing is to stop walking.

(4) Finally, both Scripture and Bunyan remind us that walking often involves companionship. We must walk with the Lord (Genesis 5:22; Revelation 3:4), but we must also walk with others who follow him: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Proverbs 13:20). Christian met numerous cases of dubious character and doubtful faith, but he also had companions like Faithful and Hopeful who helped him in the journey.

Like Christian, we also need good spiritual companions, which reminds me to ask—have you found a good church yet? Don’t underestimate the importance of true Christian fellowship for your life. It will make a huge difference in your spiritual progress.

This post is a lightly edited excerpt from my book Active Spirituality: Grace and Effort in the Christian Life.

7 Errors to Avoid in Following Christ

What you believe makes a big difference in your Christian life. Even if the categories of formal theology seem remote and unfamiliar, you have a theology. Everything you think about God, Jesus, law, sin, salvation, holiness, the Spirit, the church, human nature, life, death, and eternity is theological. We are all theologians. The real question is whether or not our theologies are true to Scripture.

One of the most important areas of theology is sanctification: the doctrine that concerns our consecration to God, the restoration and renewal of God’s image within us, and our practical progress in holiness. I’ve seen a number of common errors that Christians make in this area. In fact, here are seven errors to avoid in following Christ.

1.     Looking to your sanctification for your justification 

Justification and sanctification are related, but not to be confused. Justification concerns our legal status before God. Scripture teaches that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. If you believe in Jesus, your sins are pardoned and God already accepts you as righteous – even though you still struggle with sin.

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness… (Rom. 4:5)

God justifies the ungodly! Full forgiveness is freely given through faith in Jesus crucified and risen alone. The verdict is in: “not guilty.”

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.       Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Rom. 8:33-34)

Don’t measure your acceptance with God by your progress in holiness or apparent lack thereof. Sanctification depends on justification, not the other way around.

2.     Adding rules to Scripture

Make no mistake: there are commands in Scripture and we must obey them. Even Christians, who are freed the law (Acts 13:39; Rom. 7:4; 8:2; Gal. 5:1-13), are commanded to walk in love, work out their own salvation, bring holiness to completion in the fear of God, and more (Eph. 5:2; Philip. 2:12; 2 Cor. 7:1). While obeying God’s commands does not justify us, obedience is an essential part of sanctification.

But sometimes people require more than God requires. When Paul warned of those who would forbid marriage and require abstinence from certain foods, he said it was demonic (1 Tim. 4:1-3). That’s pretty strong language! But it underscores the absolute sufficiency of God’s word for training us in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).

If the Bible doesn’t forbid it or require it, neither should you. Doing so won’t help you or others become holy. It will only undermine confidence in Scripture. Beware of adding rules to the Bible.

3.     Focusing on behavior to the neglect of the heart 

Behavior is important. But our words and deeds always flow from the heart.

For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45)

If you want to change the fruit, you have to change the root. This doesn’t mean we either can or should neglect behavioral issues until we feel different. You should do what God says, even when you don’t feel like it. But if you don’t go after the underlying motives, passions, and desires that drive your sinful behavior, your efforts to change will be short lived and superficial.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.(Gal. 5:24)

4.     Thinking you can go it alone 

One of the most overlooked facts about the New Testament letters is that almost all of them were written to churches. Even Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus were written with a church context in mind. This means that most of the exhortations and commands given in these letters are given to churches, not individuals.

It was John Wesley who said, “The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” But when it comes to holiness, too many of us try to go it alone. It won’t work. You need the church. You need the church because you need the means of grace: the preached word, prayer, and the sacraments. And you need the church because you need other people. Even the Lone Ranger needed Tonto. Holy living is a community project. 

5.     Neglecting the ministry of the Holy Spirit 

Sanctification is part of the Spirit’s ministry (1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Thess. 2:13). The Spirit is the one who fills us (Eph. 5:18), strengthens us (Eph. 3:16), and reproduces the character of Christ in us (Gal. 5:22-23). And while the Spirit indwells the heart of every believer (Rom. 8:9), we are responsible to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25) and to put sin to death in his strength (Rom. 8:13).

Neglecting the Spirit’s ministry is a sure recipe for stunted spiritual growth. We therefore need to cultivate continuous, conscious dependence on the Spirit. And Paul’s writings indicate that the primary ways we do this are through the word and prayer (study, for example, the parallels between Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-20, and Paul’s many references to the Spirit in his prayers).

6.     Failing to put effort into the pursuit of holiness  

Sometimes an emphasis on the Spirit has led believers to spiritual passivity – the old “let go and let God” approach. But the biblical path leads in the opposite direction: the greater our dependence on the Spirit, the more active we become. Dependence on the Spirit is fully compatible with fighting the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12) and running the race set before us (Heb 12:1). Effort is an essential ingredient in spiritual growth (2 Pet. 1:5-10).

7.     Forgetting the reality of your union with Christ

But we must never forget the reality of the new identity we already have through union with Christ. In fact, in Paul’s fullest teaching on the Christian life, this is always how he starts. We see this pattern in Romans 6 where he argues that continuing to live in sin is deeply incongruous for those who are already dead to sin through their faith union in the death of Christ.  This is also the focus of Colossians 3, where all Paul’s commands (imperatives) rest on the realities (indicatives) that we are already dead, raised, and hidden with Christ.  Or consider Ephesians 4:17-32, where Paul admonishes us to holy living, because we’ve already put off the old man and put on the new, in learning Christ. As Paul says in another familiar verse:

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. (Gal. 2:20)

This post was originally written for Christianity.com. 

Love and Spiritual Transformation

The most famous chapter in the Bible on love is 1 Corinthians 13. We often treat this chapter like a poem about love, printing it on greeting cards, reciting it at weddings, and placarding it on the walls of our homes. But this chapter is much more than a sentimental poem about warm fuzzies. In its original context, it is a heart-searching, gospel-drenched, portrait of Christianity in its highest ethical dimensions. It is a call to an immature and divisive congregation to prioritize the virtues of Christ over self-centeredness. It is a beacon shining the light of the eschaton into the darkness of this present age, showing us the more excellent way: the way of Christ, the way of love. As such, this chapter does nothing less than beckon us to a deep transformation of the heart – a radical reorientation towards Christ and the character he is forming within us.

The Formation of Character

In his thoughtful commentary on 1 Corinthians, Richard Hays observes that love “requires the formation of character.”

Love is not just a matter of feelings: feelings come and go, while love abides. Paul's description of the attributes of love [in 1 Corinthians 13] offers a picture of habitual actions and dispositions. One cannot merely decide in a day's time to start doing these things. They are learned patterns of behavior that must be cultivated over time in the context of a community that models and supports such behavior…the church should be a school for the cultivation of these habits and practices.[1] 

In other words, 1 Corinthians 13 isn’t just about doing loving deeds, but forming loving character. There are a couple reasons for thinking Hays is onto something here. 

First of all, Paul describes love in terms of its actions, using present tense verbs, which express “habitual as well as present actions.”[2] And habitual actions are indications of character. 

But secondly, Paul calls love “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). The word “way” (hodos) denotes a road or path along which someone walked. Walking along a way was a euphemism for following a set of teachings or living according to particular code of ethics.

The Old Testament frequently spoke of walking in the ways of God (Deut. 8:6; Psa. 25:4; Psa. 11:1). And Jesus adopted the same image as he contrasted the easy way that leads to destruction with the hard way that leads to life (Matt. 7:13-14). In fact, this “way” language was so common, that the early Christians were known as followers of “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 22:14, 22).

When we see Paul describe love as the more excellent way, it’s helpful to remember this background. It reminds us that we’re on a journey, walking towards a specific destination. And this journey involves many slow, plodding, repeated steps along the way. Our destiny is the eschaton, the last day, when we will enter into the full consummation of our salvation in the eternal kingdom of God, where his grace will restore our fallen world once and for all. But the journey there is gradual, requiring us to take lots of steps (walking) and stay on the appointed path (perseverance). And the road, the path, the way, along which we walk, is the way of love. 

How is Character Formed?

So how is this character formed? Last year I read N. T. Wright’s excellent book After You Believe. It’s all about the formation of Christian character. In fact, the subtitle of the book is “Why Christian Character Matters.” Wright helpfully summarizes how character transformation happens, saying:

Character is transformed by three things. First, you have to aim at the right goal. Second, you have to figure out the steps you need to take to get to that goal. Third, those steps have to become habitual, a matter of second nature.[3]

Then Wright gives some helpful illustrations. He says forming character is in many ways like learning a second language. That, of course, involves serious intention and really hard work. You have to learn vocabulary words. You have to go over it again and again. You slowly have to learn to speak the language, read it, and so on. And the goal is to get the place where you’re no longer translating in your head (this German/French word means this in English), but instead you’re actually able to think in the other language. It becomes second nature. 

Or think of learning to play a musical instrument. You of course have to learn the mechanics of the instrument, how it works and so on. You have to play scales or cords – a lot. You start with simple pieces and move on to more complex pieces over time. And you have to practice – a lot. Some research says that it takes about 10,000 hours to really develop competence in this kind of complex skill.

As Wright points out, both learning a second language and learning to play an instrument help us understand how the formation of character works. It takes time. It takes intentionality. It requires regular, repeated practice. You will make lots of mistakes along the way. But over time you develop fluency, competency.

And this is the way it is with love. With time, intention, and sustained effort, and in conscious reliance on the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, you learn the language, the music of love. 

Putting Love into Practice

Now, to be practical, this is how you might go about it. If you have a serious intention to follow Jesus in the way of love, consider doing the following exercise. Take 1 Corinthians 13 line by line and try to visualize what it would look for you to be this kind of person. “Love is patient, love is kind” – what would it look like for you to be patient and kind in you relationships? Think about your roommate, or siblings, or if you’re married, your spouse. Consider the members of your small group or church.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where this isn’t true in your life. Where are you failing to be patient and kind? Ask him to show you specific ways, times, and places when you’ve been impatient and unkind. Think specifically of the people with whom you have poor relationships: where there is conflict or difficulty or unhappiness? Where are you returning evil for evil? Is there anyone you need to forgive? Have you harbored hurt? Are you nurturing the slow-growing seeds of resentment? Have you been cruel to anyone? Are you withholding good from someone?

Then ask God for the grace to repent and change. Ask him for both the ongoing desire and sustained energy to behave in different ways. And then seriously commit yourself to acting in just those ways, and change will begin to happen.

As C. S. Lewis describes the process in a well-known passage from Mere Christianity:

Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.... This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction…. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become—and so on in a vicious circle for ever. Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.[4]

The Personification of Love

But finally, we must remember that the highest example, the greatest demonstration of love, is Jesus himself. In one of his sermons on 1 Corinthians 13, Tim Keller observes that Paul doesn’t just tell us to be patient and kind. Paul doesn’t really even command us to be loving people. In fact, “love” is the subject of the verbs. He is showing us what love looks like. “No, he says ‘Love must be…’ He personifies love.”[5] 

Don’t you see? 1 Corinthians 13 is a character description of Jesus. And we must see this, or trying to live by 1 Corinthians 13 will become just another law, as crushing as trying to earn salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments.

But if we read this passage and see in it the portrait of our Savior: the face of Love himself who was crucified for our lovelessness, the One whose resurrection ushers us into the power of age to come, and into whose image we are now being remade, then the passage functions not as a crushing burden to be borne, but as a warm and inviting light towards which we walk. As Keller says, “Before love is a behavior to a Christian, love is an experience. You have to meet love before you can ever do it.”[6]

Have you met Love?

No one described this encounter with Love Incarnate more eloquently than the English poet George Herbert. So, I’ll give him the last word.

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lacked anything.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:

Love said, You shall be he.

I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on Thee.

Love took my hand and smiling did reply,

'Who made the eyes but I?

Truth, Lord; but I have marred them: let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.

And know you not, says Love, Who bore the blame?

My dear, then I will serve.

You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat.

So I did sit and eat.[7]

This post was published by Servants of Grace. Be sure to check out the many helpful resources for spiritual growth at their site. 

Notes

---

[1] Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians (Louisville, John Knox Press, 1997) p. 232-233.

[2] David Garland, 1 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2003), p. 617. Garland is quoting Peter O’Brien.

[3] N. T. Wright, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters (New York, Harper One, 2010) p. 29. Overall this is a great book, but ignore everything Wright says about Martin Luther.

[4] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2001) pp. 131-132.

[5] Timothy J. Keller “Love’s Way with God,” April 28, 1996. The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

[6] Ibid.

[7] George Herbert, “Love (3)” in The Complete English Poems (New York, Penguin Books, 2004), p. 178. 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Self-examination and Justification by Faith Alone

Do you ever struggle with assurance of salvation, especially when examining yourself? Here are some wise words from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the importance of grounding our self-examination in the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

I must never start upon this process of self-examination without reminding myself at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the cardinal doctrine of justification by faith only. I mean this. If I start upon the process of self-examination without reminding myself that I am justified by faith only, there can be but one result of my self-examination, and that is, that I shall feel that I am not a Christian at all. I shall feel utterly hopeless and shall be thrown into a state of morbidity. Now this, of course, is the danger that confronts us when we read certain well-known and famous manuals of devotion. Take the famous Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis, in many ways a very valuable book, and yet in many ways an extremely dangerous book, because it tends ultimately to teach justification by works. It tends ultimately to give the impression that we make ourselves Christian by what we do. And, I say, if we start with that idea, this self-examination can but drive us to despair. There is only one safe way of examining ourselves, and it is to start by reminding ourselves that we are saved solely by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and that if we move heaven and earth, or ascend into the depths, we can never make ourselves righteous before God. Nothing can save you and me but the fact that Christ died on the cross for us - there is our salvation!

--D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Expository Sermons on 2 Peter, Banner of Truth, p. 244.

"Man or Rabbit?": C. S. Lewis on Spiritual Transformation

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

A great quote on the radical moral and spiritual transformation that is promised by Christ, from C. S. Lewis's essay "Man or Rabbit:" 

The people who keep on asking if they can't lead a decent life without Christ, don't know what life is about; if they did they would know that 'a decent life' is mere machinery compared with the thing we men are really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear - the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.

 --God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, p. 112.