Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Everything We Need To Live Like Christ

Everything We Need To Live Like Christ

Last updated on: July 30, 2018 at 11:16 pm by Keith Giles

Everything We Need To Live Like Christ 2018-07-30T23:16:37+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us….He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the Divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)

What’s holding you back from living like Jesus today? Is it your sin nature? Is it your addictions, or your temptations, or your brokenness?

Is this why you don’t believe that it’s possible to actually put the words of Jesus into practice? Is this why you hardly ever attempt to love your enemy, or to forgive those who have hurt you, or to turn the other cheek whenever you’re insulted?

Do you read things like “Be holy even as your heavenly Father is holy” and just say, “Yeah, right!”?

Do you doubt completely the idea that anyone could ever actually walk like Jesus did?

If so, you are not alone. Most Christians I’ve met are in the exact same place. They fully and aggressively deny that anyone could ever do the things that Jesus did, or love like Him, or live a life in the here and now that is marked by holiness and humility and sincere compassion for others.

It just can’t be done!

He was Jesus and I’m an imperfect sinner!

I’m broken!

I’m a worm!

Let’s sing those songs we all love about how God’s Amazing Grace has “saved a wretch like me” or how we are all “…prone to wander” (Lord I feel it!)

A Christianity like this loudly proclaims that the death of Christ on the cross was only capable of providing me with a ticket to heaven, but it was not nearly powerful enough to transform my life into one that resembles His own.

The real trouble with this sort of Christianity is that it can’t be found anywhere in the New Testament.

Nope. I’ve checked. It’s not in there.

What we do read about is how God’s Amazing Grace has not only saved us, it’s gone on to do something most of us doubt could ever be true: Saved us – AND – empowered us to live a holy life like Jesus did!

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” (Titus 2:11)

Yep, there’s the salvation part, but look at what he says next:

“…instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age…” (Titus 2:12)

See that? Grace not only brings salvation to all men, it then goes on to “instruct us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously and godly – IN THE PRESENT AGE.”

But wait, that’s not all!

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to be in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:5)

Yowza!

Are you in Christ? If we claim to be in Christ we must do one thing: “live as Jesus did”!

How can we do that? Isn’t that impossible?

Alone, yes, it is impossible. We can’t even come close to obeying the words of Jesus apart from His indwelling presence in our daily lives.

That’s why Jesus said: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

But what if we abide in Him? What if He abides in us? Then, and only then, can we “bear much fruit.” (John 15:5)

This is why Jesus can promise us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light even as he calls us to do things that seem impossible, like love our enemies and forgive those who hurt us, and turn the other cheek.

How can Jesus say that? Because we’re not expected to do it alone.

Remember, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)

When Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you…” (Matt 11:29) he’s saying that He will be right beside us – all the way – and that we won’t have to do everything in our own strength, but in His!

Jesus expects you to put His words into practice.

He empowers you to do exactly that.

He filled you with His Holy Spirit to enable you to do the things that He did.

All we have to do is to trust in Him and daily allow Christ to live and breathe in us by His Spirit.

So let me encourage you today: If you are in Christ, you have everything you need to live a godly, Christ-like life right now!

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Keith Giles new book “Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible”, is available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.

JOIN ME IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Sept. 15 at “Proactive Love: How Loving Our Enemies Changes Everything”. Register HERE>

I also co-host the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean and I live in Orange, CA with my wife of 28 years and our two sons.

BONUS: Unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more on my Patreon page.

Cosmic Christ

Following Jesus

Theology

Previous Post

July 19, 2018

Why Do Christians Deny the Power of Love?

Next Post

July 25, 2018 Why Is Love So Mysterious?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is Jesus' most famous sermon called?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Beatitudes The Last Supper The Parable of the Sower The Sermon on the Mount

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »