This is what it means to be a Christian: the very name we use to identify ourselves is “little Christs.”
Obedience is difficult. Certainly, there are some people significantly more inclined toward obedience than others, but for the most part, obedience seems to run counter to the arc of human history that has led us to where we are today. Disobedience of a clear command is how our first parents lost Paradise in Genesis 3. Most of the Old Testament is a painful retelling of disobedience, human failure, and a clear need for divine intervention.
It’s hard enough to discern the right thing to do, but discernment at least lets us bring our own judgment to the table. We may be able to affect the outcome in matters of discernment. Obedience, however, doesn’t account for our opinion. We are told to simply follow the command, like it or not.
We chafe against this as children. Anyone who has ever interacted with a child knows how difficult obedience can be. As a classroom teacher and headmaster, I have seen students continually push against the boundaries of a command to see how far they will stretch. It isn’t so much that these students lack the ability to be obedient, they lack the desire to be so. Obedience just does not come naturally.
As we grow older, we become more responsible and more willing to go along with certain commands, often because it is in our best interest to obey. But this does not seem to make the act of obedience any easier in our heart. Begrudging compliance and obedience are hardly the same thing.
The Bible is clear about obedience in two ways: obedience is absolutely necessary for the Christian life and the Christian cannot truly be obedient without the power of Christ. Our redemption in Christ makes the way for us to respond in true obedience, and when we are converted and convicted Christ Himself models the path for those who wish to be obedient to God: to put oneself under the authority of the Father’s will.
Discipleship is Divine Imitation
“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19
As the Son sees what the Father does, He does also. As Christ imitates His father, we are to imitate Him. This is what it means to be a Christian: the very name we use to identify ourselves is “little Christs.” We are made in the image of God. Our actions ought to reflect Christ so well that the relationship between us is unmistakable. Without our conversion, however, our attempts to obey Christ are worthless. Our conviction to be imitators of God comes from our knowledge of God’s sacrificial love as evidenced by the death of His own Son.
The gospel is the cause for our imitation, and Christ is the model. The Apostle Paul makes this clear to the Corinthian church when he writes, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). He says this immediately after writing, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” In everything we do, we are to be imitating Christ.
Children are great imitators, and they are especially adept at memorizing what they watch. They see an adult do something and immediately begin to mimic them. This is the picture we ought to have in mind as disciples. A mark of our discipleship is how well we are imitating Christ.
Discipleship calls us to die to ourselves
“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 5:30
Being a disciple of Christ is a direct extension of the gospel of Christ. The gospel is dying to yourself each day and recognizing - often painfully - that you cannot save yourself no matter how hard you try. Each of us knows intimately that this is the truth. We are like hand surgeons in need of hand surgeries: we cannot sew our own hands back together again. The gospel is good news precisely because there simply is no other way. All of our vain attempts to earn our own way and our searching for solutions to our own problems can be dropped at the foot of the cross. But we must drop off our own pride and submit ourselves there too. We must also admit, “not my will, but Thine.” This is a very difficult thing to do.
At the moment of conversion, we may submit ourselves to God, but often, we then want to prove how much we love God with our work. This can lead to burnout and frustration. It is a misunderstanding of our redemption and the biblical command to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Old natures die hard, and our old nature is one of rebellion against God while trying to prove ourselves to God with our own works. After our conversion, we often believe that since we have received God’s grace, now we are good to go. It’s all downhill from here, we think. How naive we can be. Even the conviction to follow Christ comes from the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. God must Himself work to remove our old nature and make us new.
To be disciples, we must die, and say like the Apostle Paul, “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 2:20-21).
Discipleship is Not a Checklist
Where mercy and grace are at the heart of the redemptive message, obedience is the fruit of the redeemed life. This means that in one sense, our commitment to discipleship is measurable by virtue of our becoming more like Christ each day. In another sense, a new law is not what disciples of Christ are meant to pursue. But when we are converted and taken from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and we begin to grow. This growth will not only transform our internal life, but also how we interact with those around us. We will grow in the knowledge of God’s Word. We will grow in our eternal perspective. We will also grow in our personal evangelism and service to the Body of Christ.
But just like physical growth, spiritual growth will not be identical for everyone. There is no exam that we need to pass to prove that our commitment to being a disciple is real. Sanctification is the process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Some areas of the mind get renewed faster than others. Change can come slowly. Remember how difficult obedience can be. We will be changed, day by day, and only by the power of Christ. So repent, believe the gospel, and follow Christ.
When we the redeemed of the Lord step forward with conviction to follow in His footsteps, we fulfill the Great Commission not only by preaching Christ crucified, but also by discipling others, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).