Step 4: Faith

BEcome like jesus

The first goal of the Christian life was to be with Jesus. Now, let's take a look at the second goal of a disciple: to become like Jesus. In other words, disciples want to walk like (live like) Jesus walked.

1 JOHN 2:6

“...whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he (Jesus) walked.”

Have you ever learned from following the steps of an instructor? For example, choreography, calligraphy, martial arts, or driving?

When following a master teacher, you attempt to follow in his or her steps. When you make a mistake, the teacher will likely point it out, and you will try again.

Imagine Jesus living your life, in your family, at your job, interacting with your co-workers, driving your car, getting cut off in traffic, or being treated poorly by your co-workers. How do you imagine he would live in these situations that you experience each day?

Now imagine yourself trying to follow in his steps in each of these situations. How do you think you would do?

Of course, there are many times each day when we fail to live like Jesus. Though we may be tempted to feel discouraged or defeated, the reality is Jesus knows our weaknesses. Like a good instructor, he is here to walk with us and teach us how to walk like him.

When we walk with Jesus, we are formed into his likeness, and formation into Christlikeness happens through a process of repentance, faith, and following him. This is the everyday job description of a disciple.

MARK 1:14-18

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

Let’s look at how these three actions—repent, believe, follow—make up the daily job description of a disciple that forms us into the image of Jesus.

ACTION 1

REPENT

ACTION 2

BELIEVE THE GOSPEL

ACTION 3

FOLLOW

ACTION 1: REPENT

To “repent” means to change your mind. It essentially means to make a mental U-turn. This U-turn affects your heart and actions. This U-turn first occurred at your conversion—when you became a Christian. Repentance at conversion has to do with allegiance. By default, we all live as the master of ourselves. Repenting, believing, and following Jesus is surrendering our autonomy and submitting to Jesus as our Lord.

But repentance was not only something we did once when we became a Christian. Church reformer Martin Luther famously wrote:

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Therefore, every day, when we misstep from the way of Jesus—we respond to a coworker out of anger, give into greed, or any other ways of not loving God and others—we repent.

How do you know when you have stepped outside the way of Jesus? Usually, the Holy Spirit tells us by convicting our hearts. 1 He may show us as we read the Bible, hear Biblical teaching, or reflect on our day.

Often, when we mess up and sin, we are prone to respond in unhelpful ways. When you realize you sinned:

Don’t hide it

This is what the humans did in Genesis 3. They felt guilt and shame and hid from God and one another. Sometimes, we may try to hide our sins instead of repenting. God has removed our guilt and shame through Jesus.

Don’t justify it

You will sometimes have the impulse to seek to justify or defend your sinful misstep. “I spoke rudely to them because they spoke rudely to me.” We don’t need to do this because we are already justified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Don’t condemn yourself

Sometimes you will condemn yourself or listen to the condemning voice of the devil. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. 2 The Holy Spirit never condemns us; he convicts us, which leads to repentance.

Don’t try to make up for your sin by doing good deeds

Sometimes, we will try to do good works in order to make up for our sin. Good deeds done from this motivation are unhealthy and do not lead to formation into the image of Christ. We can do nothing to make God love us more or less. He loves us perfectly in Christ.

Instead, true repentance involves:

Acknowledge the sin

The first step to repentance is recognizing and identifying what you did that was wrong. Oftentimes, we are tempted to say things like, "I struggled," rather than saying, "I yelled at my spouse out of anger." Acknowledging the actual sin is important.

Confess the sin

Next, you should confess your sins to God; 3 he will forgive you. The Bible also teaches that confessing your sin to others is important. If your sin affected another person, you should especially confess it to them as well. 4

Mourn your sin

Next, you should respond appropriately to your sin. Godly repentance and mourning draw us closer to God, not further. 5

Understand your heart

Consider what underlying motivations, idolatries, fears, or pride lie at the root of this sin.

WHAT DOES DAILY REPENTANCE LOOK LIKE PRACTICALLY?

When you realize (by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, through the Bible, or while reflecting on your actions in light of Scripture) that you have sinned (have done, thought, felt, or said something contrary to God’s way), you should pause and repent of this sin.

For example, if someone cuts me off while riding my bike or driving my car, and I yell or honk the horn in anger, I may immediately or later feel convicted. Before too much time passes and I forget what has happened, I should pause, quiet my heart, and prayerfully repent before God.

PSALM 32:1-5

1 “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Selah)

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Selah)”

ACTION 2: BELIEVE THE GOSPEL

After repenting of sin, the next action step is believing the gospel. If we do not turn in faith to the good news (which is what “gospel” means) of Jesus, repentance becomes merely a hopeless admission of guilt. And without faith in the gospel, we are powerless to change ourselves. The key to stop sinning and start obeying is faith in the gospel.

Believing the gospel isn’t something we only do once when we become Christians.

COLOSSIANS 2:6-7

6 “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

We became Christians by believing the gospel, and we continue to walk (live) as Christians by believing the gospel. Just as we were justified by faith, we are also sanctified by faith. 6 In other words, we are formed into the image of Jesus by faith in the gospel of Jesus.

We are formed into the image of Jesus by faith in two ways:

First, believe the grace of the gospel.

After acknowledging and repenting of a sin, you need to believe the gospel, which is the good news that God has already forgiven all of our sins through the death of Jesus. Jesus has fully paid the penalty of our sins and removed all our sins, so we do not need to feel guilt or shame.

If we try to stop sinning in order to earn forgiveness, we might become changed on the outside, but our hearts will remain distant from God. However, when we believe that we are forgiven and accepted by God just as we are in Christ, even before we actually stop sinning, we are transformed on the inside, and our outward actions will follow.

Second, believe the goodness of the gospel.

The gospel tells us not only that our sins have been removed (something bad subtracted) but that we have gained a relationship with God (something good added). We were once enemies with God. 7 And now we are not merely neutral before him, but we are now in a right, positive, beloved standing with God. In Christ, God has given us “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” 8

Here is a trick question: What is the simplest way to take out all the air from a glass jar?

One might think of a powerful vacuum seal machine that creates an airtight seal. But the simple answer is to fill the jar with liquid. Instead of trying to extract the air, it can simply be displaced by adding a different element. So, likewise, believing in the gospel—that God has saved us to an all-satisfying relationship with himself—will satisfy our hearts with a new and powerful affection for God and force out our previous love for sin.

After repentance, when you turn in faith to the gospel, focus on believing the goodness of God that he has given you in Jesus.

ACTION 3: FOLLOW

As we live as Jesus’ disciples in our everyday lives, there are many times that we will step out of line from the way of Jesus (that is, we will sin). When we realize we have not acted, spoken, or thought according to the way of Jesus, we respond by repenting and believing. The final action step is to get back to following Jesus.

Have you ever had to learn a skill that required many attempts and failures?

Learning to ride a bike or speak a new language is like this. So is the lifelong process of being formed into the image of Jesus. You will speak sinfully to your family. You will sin against a coworker. You will think sinful thoughts. But after you repent of these sins and believe the gospel, you will return to work the next day. You will have more interactions with your family. You will have more opportunities to live, act, speak, and think like Jesus.

Following Jesus in life is possible because Jesus is with us through his Holy Spirit.

GALATIANS 5:16 & 25

16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ... 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

Walking by the Spirit and keeping in step with the Spirit refers to living our lives each day by following the way of Jesus as the Spirit directs our every action, word, and thought.

In this way, the Spirit is like a life coach. What kind of coach is he? Well, Jesus called the Holy Spirit our “Helper,” which is a word that literally translates to “someone who stands next to us and speaks to us.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is not someone who walks in front of you and pulls you forward, saying, “Let’s go!” Or someone who walks behind you and prods you forward, saying, “Get going!” He walks alongside us, helping us follow the way of Jesus one step at a time.

Becoming like Jesus is a process of formation. It is not instant. It will not be fully completed in this lifetime. 13 But as we continue in this cycle of repentance, faith, and following day after day, we will grow to be more and more like Jesus.

Because we will never become perfectly and sinlessly like Jesus in the present age, we should not think that Christian maturity is merely measured by sinning less. Instead, a metric of Christian maturity is that when you sin, you learn to turn to repentance, faith, and following more quickly and instinctively.

Which of these three actions (repent, faith, and follow) is new for you? Which is hard for you? Which is easier for you?

1 John 16:8-11

2 Romans 8:1

3 1 John 1:7

4 Matthew 5:23-24, James 5:16

5 James 4:8-10, 2 Corinthians 7:10

6 Being made righteous before God is called "justification" and being transformed and made holy is called "sanctification.”

7 Romans 5:10

8 Ephesians 1:3

9 Hebrews 13:5

10 Matthew 18:21-35

11 Psalm 23

12 Romans 5:8

13 Philippians 1:6