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By James WaddellChapter 12: Developing Personal Wisdom
Introduction “Jesus died and rose again” (1 Thessalonians 4:14 English Standard Version). This central belief of
Christianity means that restoration is already happening in God's creation. As the previous chapter
explained, the Kingdom of God continues to grow and spread its influence, in which people and all
created things can experience restoration now, though it is not yet fully realized. God will one day
restore all creation by renewing it through what the Bible calls the "new heavens and the new earth."
Yet, restoration is also happening now because Jesus rose from the dead, and people begin experiencing
this restoration whenever they believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for sins and rose again. This
chapter focuses on the development of personal wisdom through the process of living out redemption
and restoration by faith.
As the textbook has addressed wisdom and worldview, it has emphasized the importance of faith. To
briefly review the theme of faith, Chapters 1-2 covered the role that faith plays in worldview, namely
that people commit to certain worldview assumptions through reason and faith. Chapters 3-4 reviewed
the first two acts of the biblical story, the creation of humanity and their lack of faith as demonstrated in
the fall of humanity. These chapters also emphasized the biblical theme of “the fear of the Lord,” which
corresponds to faith. Chapters 5-6 introduced Jesus Christ's life and ministry and explained why faith in
Jesus brings about redemption, which is the third act of the biblical story. In Chapters 7-10, the reader
encountered various obstacles to faith. Chapter 11 returned to the biblical story, covering the fourth act
of restoration and the importance of faith during the current period in which creation exists between
what God has already done and what has not yet happened. This chapter will now turn to address what it
means to live by faith in light of the biblical story.
Belief and Behavior As Chapter 6 explained, faith serves as the channel through which one receives redemption and
restoration. Believing allows one to receive the blessings and benefits of what God has done through
Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Faith also serves as the way a Christian lives after he or she first
believes in Jesus. Through the power of Christ’s resurrection, Christians live a new life “by faith in the
Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). Yet, many people struggle to believe the claim that Jesus rose from the
dead; in fact, one of Jesus's own disciples, Thomas, struggled to believe it. The story of Thomas in John
20 illustrates the importance of belief and it emphasizes how faith leads to action, or how belief leads to
behavior.
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Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, c. 1602. Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to Mary Magdalene and to 10 of his disciples; however,
Thomas did not see Jesus when he first appeared. According to John 20:25, he refused to believe that
Jesus had risen until he could see and touch the wounds of Jesus himself. Then, when Thomas himself
saw the resurrected Jesus, Jesus invited him to “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and put out your
hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27). The idea of a resurrected
Christ came to Thomas in the form of seeing and touching real wounds. The pursuit of wisdom demands
that Thomas make a determination as to whether what he was seeing and touching was, in fact, real. Was
putting his finger in Jesus’ side enough to convince him that Jesus had risen from the dead?
Astounded by the sight of Jesus before him, Thomas worshiped Jesus, declaring “My Lord and my God!”
(John 20:28). Amazingly, this disciple who had doubted Jesus’ resurrection gave the most direct worship
of Jesus as God. In seeing Jesus standing before him, Thomas truly saw Jesus as divine. The faith that
Thomas had in Jesus led to the action of worship; Thomas’ belief in Jesus brought about worshipful
behavior. Belief leads to behavior; faith leads to love.
As grotesque as this story sounds, its beauty lies in the gritty, ordinary, everyday reality of the power of
faith to change one’s perspective. In other words, Thomas believed in Jesus not because he could see
Jesus, but rather, he saw Jesus clearly because he believed. Jesus himself emphasized the importance of
faith as he blesses all “those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Believing thus leads
to a way of seeing and living.
The stated purpose of the Gospel of John itself emerges through the story of Thomas, namely “that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”
(John 20:31). A worldview frames beliefs that shape certain behaviors, and previous chapters have
focused on the formation of the core beliefs of worldview in general and the Christian worldview in
particular. Through a focus on “faith working through love,” this chapter will address the practical level
of considering what beliefs and what behaviors lead to wisdom, specifically examining the Christian
worldview’s approach to wisdom in daily life.
Faith Working Through Love The way of Jesus offers an objective perspective on wisdom to which one must subscribe individually. In
other words, Jesus has laid out a way to wisdom, but a person must commit to Jesus’ way in order to
follow Jesus’ way. The Apostle Paul explains this commitment that leads to wisdom as “faith working
through love” (Galatians 5:6). Using the concept of discipleship explained in Chapter 11, the rest of this
chapter will explore that what “counts … [in the Christian life is] … faith working through love” (Galatians
5:6).
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Faith working through love expresses itself as the continuing faith of the Christian life, or what Chapter
11 described as discipleship. Discipleship is the process of following Jesus Christ and moving into
Christian maturity by imitating Jesus’ example and implementing his teaching in a community of
believers, in relationship with Jesus himself, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. If conversion describes
the moment in which a Christian comes to believe in Jesus and experiences salvation, discipleship
describes every moment thereafter. It is an ongoing reality of living out the work that has already been
accomplished by Jesus. Jesus accomplished all that was needed to make human beings right with God by
his death and resurrection; therefore, when a person places trust in Jesus, he or she is actually made
right with God. By faith, God has transformed the Christian into a new person. Discipleship then relates
to the life lived after being made right. It is, in this sense, a process of maturing into what is already true
of a Christian.
Yet, the transformation that comes through faith must also take into account the life of faith. In other
words, true faith in Jesus results in a life of following Jesus. The story of Mark 8:27-38 captures this
emphasis on faith and discipleship in the words of Jesus himself. This story reveals the significance of
faith working through love as it relates to following Jesus.
The Example of Jesus This story begins with Jesus on a walk with his disciples. He asked them two questions about perceptions
of his identity. The first question involved others: “Who do the people say I am?” (Mark 8:27). After the
disciples gave the people’s answers of a prophet, Elijah, or John the Baptist, Jesus directed the question
to them: “Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:29). Peter was blessed with the chance to reveal Jesus’ true
identity: “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:30). Here Peter revealed his faith in Jesus by declaring Jesus’
identity. Matthew’s Gospel states that Peter’s words of faith would serve as the foundation for the
church (Matthew 16:18).
Following Peter’s statement of faith, Jesus revealed that he would “suffer many things and be rejected …
and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). Unable to accept this, Peter rebuked Jesus, to
which Jesus responded strongly: “Get behind me, Satan! You are not setting your mind on the things of
God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). The way Jesus would love others matters. Jesus did not come
as a king to be served, but rather he lowered himself to serve (Mark 10:45) and demonstrated the
greatest love by laying down his own life (John 15:13). Faith works through love in Jesus’ life just as in
the Christian’s life. Because Jesus trusted his Father and trusted who he was, Jesus was able to love
through a humble and sacrificial death. His faith worked through love.
Jesus opens this same path to all who follow him. Jesus invites all people, “the crowd … with his
disciples,” to follow him by saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Christians thus follow Jesus’ example in humility, sacrifice, and love.
First, Jesus’ followers deny themselves; they come “not to be served, but to serve,” just as Jesus did
(Mark 10:45). Denying oneself means a life of humility. Though Jesus would have had a legitimate claim
on serving himself or on others serving him, he denied himself, “taking the form of a servant” (Philippians
2:7). Discipleship thus means following Jesus’ example of denying oneself.
Next, Jesus’ followers take up their cross. The language of a cross emphasizes the sacrificial work that a
Christian does daily. Taking up one’s cross means believing that he or she has died with Jesus to his or
her sin and, therefore, now lives a new life of sacrificial love (Romans 6:2-4). A person must surrender his
or her way of living in order to discover true life. In this way, following Jesus means losing one’s life in
Jesus’ question to his disciples reveals the journey of faith and reason that each disciple, and
indeed each person, must travel. Remarkably, Jesus was content to let his disciples steal the show
here. Rather than revealing himself as the Christ, Jesus asked his own disciples to name what they
believed to be true. Perhaps even more remarkably, Jesus based his foundation for the church on
what his disciples said. The testimony of Peter, whose name means “Rock,” became the rock and
cornerstone for what Christians have believed ever since. The question has great power because it
moves past the structures that people create to make sense of reality and gets to the heart: “Who
Jesus’ question remains powerful as one applies the question to his or her own beliefs. In a way,
this book can help a person address this question. Each person must find an answer for how he or
she would describe who Jesus is; and yet, Jesus is who he is, independent of what a person might
believe. The power of the question lies in the faith that is revealed by the person’s answer. There is
an answer given in Mark’s story that points to Jesus’ revealed identity, but people do not believe in
Jesus until they have wrestled with his question.
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order to save it, as Jesus states: “whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark
8:35). “Such grace … is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the
only true life” (Bonhoeffer, 1995, p. 45). Discipleship thus means following Jesus’ example of taking up a
cross.
Third, Jesus commands his disciples to follow him. It sounds a bit strange for Jesus to say, “If anyone
wants to [follow] me, he must … follow me” (Mark 8:34), but the simplicity of the saying reveals the need
to follow Jesus intentionally by loving as he loved (John 13:34). The statement as a whole also speaks to
following Jesus in a particular way, namely through self-denial, cross bearing, and emulation of Christ’s
life and character. Discipleship thus means following Jesus’ example of loving God and loving others
through humility, a new identity, and love.
Faith at Work in Following Jesus Because there is such a high cost to discipleship, Jesus is careful in his ministry to emphasize how his
disciples should follow him. One common misunderstanding of the Christian life revolves around the
concept of good works. Christians themselves can place emphasis on doing good works without giving
proper attention to the basis for good works. Using the words of Paul that form the theme of the
chapter, what counts in the Christian life is not good works that earn God’s pleasure, but rather “faith
working through love.” In fact, when pressed by the crowd to define what God’s work is, Jesus replied,
“This is the work of God, to believe in him whom [God] has sent” (John 6:29). The only “work” of
discipleship is to believe in Jesus and to trust in Jesus’ work that has already been accomplished. All
Christians’ good works flow out of faith that works through love.
Discipleship thus involves faith that works to rest in what Christ has already done. This work to rest is
characterized by denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus. Denying oneself means
setting aside any selfishness, agenda, or hindrance that gets in the way of knowing Jesus. Taking up one’s
cross means living in the death of Jesus, remembering the resurrection of Jesus, and defining oneself
according to Jesus. If Jesus, his identity, mission, death, and resurrection, becomes the center of one’s
worldview, following Jesus leads to wisdom through a life of love. Following Jesus, then, means living out
a "faith working through love."
Such faith emphasizes the importance of losing one’s life in order to save it. The way of Jesus demands
that people remove themselves from the center of the worldview and let Jesus become the new center.
True wisdom comes from removing oneself from the place of determining rules and justifying behavior,
for “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Jesus’ way presents a God-centered
approach to wisdom, which clearly states that losing one’s life in service and love for others, even one’s
enemies, is the means to human flourishing. What "counts ... [is] faith working through love" (Galatians
5:6). Alternate worldviews tend to place oneself or one’s community at the center of worldview, which
can lead to a near-sighted view of reality. For example, a human-centered worldview might determine
wisdom by what makes humans happy, an idea reflected in statements such as “whatever makes you
happy is right; whatever harms another is wrong.” Yet, this approach lacks a clear definition of what
human flourishing is, and, therefore, provides no objective reason for loving another person (unless it
makes every person happy to do so). A human-centered worldview tends to result in control: control of
one’s circumstances, control of one’s choices, and even control of others’ choices. The God-centered
approach of the Christian worldview follows Jesus’ way to wisdom, which tends to result in surrender:
surrender of one’s priorities, surrender of one’s agenda, and even surrender of one’s life. Even though it
is a paradox, Jesus teaches that living abundantly comes from laying one’s own life down and that finding
wisdom comes from laying one’s own bias down. Thus, true happiness comes from surrender and
following Jesus. If happiness is one's goal in life, he or she will live life chasing happiness, never quite
finding satisfaction. If trusting God becomes one’s goal, true happiness through the process of sacrificial
love will be discovered. This point echoes Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things [food, clothing, and other needs] will be added to you.”
Discipleship is the process of following Jesus’ way of laying down life in love; thus, discipleship is a
pathway that leads to true happiness and to wisdom.
This path of wisdom means following the example of Jesus, living out faith working through love.
Through denying themselves, Christians practice humility. Through taking up one's cross, Christians live
a new identity. Through following Jesus, Christians love God and others. In these ways, Christians live a
life of faith working through love.
The Humility of Denying Oneself Discipleship, like salvation, is God’s work. From start to finish, God is working in each Christian
(Philippians 1:6). God works to save, transform, and mature people. In each case, the work of the
Christian is the simple and demanding task of trusting and receiving God’s work. A Christian can only
accomplish this work through humility. As Jesus’ example reveals, the humility of resting in God’s work is
difficult because it costs a person his or her life. Yet, God rewards those who take the risk of trusting his
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work by giving them the Holy Spirit to dwell in them. In order to understand how denying oneself
through humility leads to love, one must understand the work of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy
Spirit.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who carries out the work of the Father in creation. “The Holy
Spirit is God’s empowering presence, and what he empowers in us is a life of blessing and salvation, a life
of resurrection” (Peterson, 2010, p. 202). For the work of salvation, the Holy Spirit works within
Christians to grow them up as followers of Jesus Christ. The New Testament often refers to the
metaphor of a child growing up to describe this process of salvation. Jesus called the beginning of
salvation being “born again” (John 3:3), Peter spoke of drinking “pure spiritual milk” to describe early
growth in the Christian life (1 Peter 2:2), and the author of Hebrews longed for Christians to be mature
enough to eat “solid food” (Hebrews 5:12-14). In other words, salvation is pictured as a new birth, a
stage of growing up from infancy, and a stage of maturity.
This process of maturing in the Christian faith is referred to as spiritual formation, which is the Holy
Spirit’s gradual and ongoing work to form a Christian into the image of Jesus Christ. Formation reminds a person that the process shapes and molds one into the likeness of Jesus himself. Spiritual reminds a person that the process is accomplished by the Spirit of God rather than by human work. Like clay in the
hands of a potter, Christians are formed by the Holy Spirit into “little Christs” (Lewis, 1952, p. 199),
reflecting more and more the new creation that they became through trusting in Jesus. Thus, the Holy
Spirit’s work in the Christian’s life can be described as “maturing into who I already am” (Lynch, McNicol,
& Thrall, 2011, p. 40). Humility acts as the way that Christians receive and experience the Holy Spirit's
work in their lives.
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
The Christian life is a new life that is lived by faith. Christ’s death and resurrection redeems those
who believe from an old life of darkness and self-defeating patterns into a new life of light and
victory. This new spiritual life reflects the physical life by similar patterns of birth and growth.
Being “born again” is perhaps the most famous of these similarities. The image of a new birth refers
to the transformation that God works so that a Christian becomes a new person. God has acted to
renew and re-create those who trust in him, which parallels human birth. Just as a baby’s birth
marks the beginning of new life in the world, a Christian’s initial faith marks the beginning of new
life in the Spirit. Just as an infant reflects God’s work of creation in this world, a Christian reflects
God’s work of renewal in the spirit. Just as the DNA for a fully grown adult is present in a newborn,
The new birth into the Christian life marks the first step of maturity for a Christian. Though God’s
work is complete and sufficient for renewing a person into a new creation, the process of growing
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Fruit of the Spirit
The Bible calls the results of this work the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the list of
characteristics or attributes of the Holy Spirit’s work in a Christian’s life, which include love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The sense of
the term refers both to the gradual, hidden work of the Holy Spirit to form Christian character and to the
evidence of that work. The fruit is the Holy Spirit’s influence that manifests in a Christian’s life. The New
Testament contains multiple lists of virtues, but the focus on this particular list is critical because the
phrase “fruit of the Spirit” reveals significant insight into the operation of the Spirit. The emphasis lies on
the means and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The phrase “fruit of the Spirit” speaks to the nature of the growth that occurs in Christians because of
the work of the Holy Spirit. Like the growth of fruit, a Christian matures through an ongoing and largely
hidden process involving life-giving nutrients. Even though the Holy Spirit’s work happens gradually and
A brief overview of the Holy Spirit’s role in the Christian life is needed. In the work of spiritual
Lives in each Christian. Because each Christian is holy, his or her body is the temple of the
Comforts, teaches, and reminds Christians concerning the truth of Jesus’ words (John 14:26);
“Convict[s] the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8);
Frees Christians from bondage by reminding them that they are God’s children who can cry
Gives words to prayers that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:27);
Empowers the Christian by battling the remaining sinful nature and freeing a Christian from
the bondage of the Law (Galatians 5:17-18); and
Seals Christians with the promise that God will complete the work that he started (Ephesians
In these ways and more, the Holy Spirit works to mature Christians and to form them into the
image of Christ. After being united to Christ, Christians have the Holy Spirit living and working in
them. This presence and power of the Holy Spirit has the gradual effect of producing certain
virtues of character in Christians, referred to in Scripture as the fruit of the Spirit.
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beyond sight, the presence of the Spirit can be witnessed through the presence of the fruit, just as the
tree’s growth from nutrients can be tasted through the quality of fruit. Thus, fruit of the Spirit also
speaks to how the Holy Spirit works because it focuses on the quality of virtue produced by God.
The phrase in Galatians 5, therefore, expresses the need to recognize the work of God in the work that
Christians do. There is much to do in the Christian life, but much has already been done. Without the
work of the Holy Spirit, being formed into Christ’s image would be severely hindered, if not impossible.
Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power, the Apostle John wrote, “[God’s] commandments are
not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). God’s commands certainly seem burdensome as one tries to obey them,
but a Christian can trust and rest in the work that the third person of the Trinity is doing in him or her.
The Holy Spirit grows the fruit, and the Christian lives by faith working through love to manifest the
fruit. This faith then works in the Christian to do good works in light of what is true about him or her,
namely that he or she bears fruit of love and the other virtues. Certainly, Christians can help or hinder
the process of spiritual formation as they either trust or mistrust God, because, again, what a person
believes in has great consequence, as the example of Thomas illustrated. Belief comes before behavior
and influences it; therefore, God must be the one who starts and finishes the work of saving and
maturing Christians, and Christians must be the ones who humbly receive God’s work by faith and let
faith work through love.
Taking Up One’s Cross and Living a New Life Christians also follow Jesus by dying with him and rising with him, since Christians are united to Jesus.
While this language can confuse, it will become clear why the statement is expressed in this way. God has
loved humanity by sending his Son (John 3:16) and offering eternal life in God (John 17:3, 21). Faith
opens a person’s heart to receive God’s love through trust, and so faith allows a Christian to have eternal
life in God. The biblical writers called this reality being united to Jesus.
Union with Jesus occurs through believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection, what Jesus called “taking up
one’s cross.” The New Testament uses the language of a cross to emphasize the death of Jesus, which also
implies the resurrection of Jesus. Paul explained the process of union with Christ’s death and
resurrection in Romans 6:2-4:
How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too
might walk in newness of life.
In other words, Paul pictured Christians as dying with Jesus, being buried with Jesus, and being raised
with Jesus. Consequently, the Christian has died to sin and now lives a new life by virtue of this union
with Jesus.
Thus, the Christian life emphasizes Christ’s finished work of salvation as the objective reality on which
belief and behavior are formed (Peterson, 2005, pp. 184-186). The phrase, “Christ’s finished work” refers
to the work of salvation resting solely on Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to accomplish all that is
needed for salvation. If Christ died for sin and was raised to life, then Christians have all sin (past,
present, and future) forgiven and live a new life. Thus, “Christ’s finished work” reminds Christians that
“[nothing] will be able to separate [them] from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39), since all
sin, failure, shame, and guilt has already been overcome by the cross and resurrection.
Therefore, the proper response of humanity is, through trust and obedience, to rest in Jesus’ work to
transform people; however, this rest is not passive. The life of faith results in a person who actively does
good works for the right reasons, as explained in the discussion of justification from Chapter 6. The
degree to which one is following Jesus by faith is the degree to which he or she will live out the wisdom
of Jesus.
The process of a Christian becoming united with Jesus Christ finds perhaps its best description in
the language of 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake, [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In this verse, Paul explained that Jesus,
who had not sinned and is “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), took on the punishment for human sin,
which is death. Paul also noted that Christians, who place their trust in Jesus’ death and
resurrection, can become the righteousness of God. Though they were sinners, Christians can
become righteous with Jesus’ own righteousness. In this exchange, then, Jesus took on the
punishment of sin and human beings take on the righteousness of Christ. Being united to Jesus
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A New Character At the foundation of how a Christian lives out faith working through love is the formation of character.
Character formation is God’s work in a Christian to develop godly, holy, and righteous character traits.
While there is certainly some overlap in scope with the term spiritual formation, character formation distinctly refers to the development of character as both a one-time reality and an ongoing reality.
Whenever Christians are united to Christ through faith, they are new creations and fully receive the
character of Jesus himself infused with their own characters. In God's eyes, the Christian has died to sin
along with Jesus dying on the cross, and the Christian rises to live a new life along with Jesus rising from
the dead. In this way, character formation is a one-time reality; it happened when Jesus died and rose
again, and Christians receive God's work through faith today. Yet, as Christians mature into the image of
Christ, their characters are gradually being formed to become more and more like that of Jesus. In this
way, character formation is an ongoing reality; it still happens by the Holy Spirit’s work in Christians
today. The already and not yet language from Chapter 11 emphasizes this dual reality well. Christians
are already righteous and holy because of Christ’s death and resurrection; however, Christians do not
yet fully express this righteousness and holiness most of the time. Character formation is already true
and is also becoming true; it has happened and is also happening now. In order to express how the claims
of character formation apply to the new life of faith working through love, it is necessary to turn to
Ephesians 4:20-24.
Old Self, New Self
Free from condemnation (Romans 8:1), and
Made equals with each other (Galatians 3:28).
In essence, all that is true about the character of Jesus becomes true for the Christian because God
Already and Not Yet Applied: Hebrews 10 Chapter 11 outlined the point that the Kingdom of God is already and not yet. It is already
experienced, but not yet fully realized. In Hebrews 10, there is a beautiful expression of the
already and not yet reality of salvation. Within the span of five verses, the author seems to
communicate differing emphases on the theme of sanctification, or making someone holy. The
difference in language reveals the power of the already and not yet emphasis for the Christian life.
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all” (Hebrews 10:10). The linguistic emphasis is on the past nature of the sanctification. Because of
Jesus’ death on the cross, Christians have already been made holy. “For by a single offering he has
perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). This verse emphasizes the
present nature of the sanctification. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, Christians are being
made holy. The language speaks of sanctification as a tension between what has happened and
How one resolves this tension in verbiage is critical for how one lives the Christian life. Will the
focus lie more on the need for present holiness or on finished holiness? Many Christians navigate
toward present holiness and believe they need to live a better life because of what God has done
for them. Yet the author of Hebrews emphasizes the once-and-for-all nature of Jesus’ death, which
frees a Christian from the need to better oneself, and which has ongoing effects in the lives of his
followers. With this freedom in mind, a Christian can rest in what has already been accomplished
by Jesus and work to manifest what is not yet finished.
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In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul emphasizes living out of the reality of what God has done to transform a
Christian. Verses 20-24 fall into a broader theme that God has saved Christians by grace through faith
(Ephesians 2:8), thereby allowing Christians to live a new life because they are, in fact, new creatures (2
Corinthians 5:17). The passage addresses two ongoing actions of faith working through love.
Taking O! the Old
Paul begins the passage by focusing on the old with which God has done away. He encourages Christians
to remove the old person from themselves like they would take off a dirty shirt. While this exhortation
sounds like something that Christians do themselves, it is actually God’s work. In Ephesians 2, Paul
famously states that salvation is “not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9).
Thus, the taking off of the old self does not come as a result of works, but rather as a result of grace. The
process is hard work, but it is human work that manifests Christ’s finished work. It is a process of
working out the reality of what God has already accomplished. The removal of the old self has already
been done, but is now lived out and realized through practice.
This process is realized gradually, like peeling back layers of an onion one section at a time. The process
of taking off the old person is also like handling an onion in that it brings tears; the old way of life has
brought with it a great deal of shame, pain, fear, and failure. A follower of Jesus must face the pain and
shame, the fear and the failure of each layer of the old self. Practically, the process can be done by
intentionally bringing all of the baggage and disappointment of the old and trusting it with Jesus and
with trusted others. Whenever the old self rears its corrupt face, Christians can remind themselves that
Christ’s death and resurrection are enough to forgive all sin. In this way, the transformation of being
united to Christ changes the patterns of belief, which impacts thoughts and actions.
Putting On the New
Paul’s first ongoing action of taking off the old is now contrasted and completed with the opposite action
of putting on the new. Christians take off a dirty shirt and put on a clean one; they take off the old self
and put on the new self. What is new gets described as “the new self, created after the likeness of God in
true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Again, Paul’s focus lies on God’s work to transform
people into new creatures. These new creatures are all those united to Christ, all those created truly
righteous and holy, all those called to follow Jesus. In each case, it is God’s work to make a new person;
even more, it is God’s work to make a new person truly righteous and holy, with the very righteousness
and holiness of Christ.
Thus, the work to put on the new self cannot be the work of human beings for themselves, rather, it is
work that has already been done by God and is now realized through trust. Putting on the new does not
make one righteous or holy, but instead covers one with what is actually true about him or her. In other
words, if a Christian fails “to put on the new self,” God has already created the new self, and, therefore,
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the new self describes a Christian more than the old self, no matter how much a Christian’s life might still
reflect the old self. The transformation creates new patterns of action stemming from a belief in Jesus’
death and resurrection.
Identity What has been written about Ephesians 4 can be summarized in the term identity. Identity is the true nature of a person or the being who a person truly is. For Christians, identity involves living out of the
new self that was created truly righteous and holy. Therefore, no matter how much a Christian sins or
how little change he or she experiences, he or she is, in fact, new in Christ. Jesus lives in a Christian
because of trust in him, not because a Christian lives a perfect life. The spiritual DNA of a Christian is
that of Christ, even if it does not appear to be so, just as the DNA of a caterpillar is that of a butterfly,
even though it does not look very much like a butterfly. In both cases, all that is needed is time to grow
into what is ultimately true.
Therefore, because it is Christ’s death and resurrection that unites Christians to Christ, makes them
new, and gives them identity in Christ, a Christian’s work is to rest in Christ’s work. A wise life comes
about through living out the character of Jesus. In fact, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:30: “you are in
Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
Jesus himself is the wisdom of taking up one’s cross and living a new life. The Christian life thus involves
a daily battle to live out Jesus’ example by faith, which, as Galatians 5:6 notes, results in love.
Developing Wisdom, Faith, and Love
Carl Bloch. The Sermon on the Mount, 1877. The Museum of National History, Hillerød, Denmark.
Finally, Christian wisdom means faith working through love by following the example of Jesus. Christians
love as Jesus loved (John 13:34). Because they are redeemed, righteous, holy, and wise, Christians now
follow Jesus’ way of love in the power of the Holy Spirit, by the work of Jesus Christ, through the love of
the Father. Through Jesus’ teachings, the concept of developing wisdom will examine how specifically to
follow Jesus by faith working through love.
Jesus emphasizes love as the center of his way of wise living. When asked what the greatest command
was, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind … And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matthew 22:38-39).
Loving God and loving others forms the core of Jesus’ teaching on what it means to follow him.
The classic ethical teaching of Jesus for his followers is Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. In this
section of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addressed faith working through love by emphasizing radical
love, authentic prayer, and wise foundations. A very brief overview of these specific teachings in the
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Sermon on the Mount will demonstrate the characteristics of faith working through love according to
Jesus.
Radical Love Wise living first means a focus on loving others in radical ways. Matthew 5 addresses this theme of
radical love through Jesus’ focus on the spirit of the Old Testament Law. Faith works through love as love
goes beyond the letter of the Law and meets the needs of others.
Jesus revealed the spirit of the Old Testament Law by expanding the scope of selected commandments
from the Law. In Matthew 5:17-48 Jesus stated his purpose to fulfill the Law and then proceeds to fill up
the meaning of laws on murder, adultery, retaliation, and love. By the end of this section of Jesus’
sermon, a clear picture of radical love emerges.
Jesus focused on the spirit of the Law by picturing a life of love. This picture of love actually originates
from the Old Testament Law itself; Jesus merely applied the explicit commands of loving God
(Deuteronomy 6:5) and loving others (Leviticus 19:18) as a means of interpreting the Law. In Christ’s
fulfillment of the Law, the life of love first focused on love for one’s neighbors. Jesus expands the
command against murder to become a command against hatred itself. Even though it is internal, anger
against one’s neighbors that leads to hatred is inconsistent with a life of love.
The life of love also means love for one’s spouse or for the opposite sex. Jesus expanded the command
against adultery to include lust as well. Lust, or using another person for one’s own pleasure only, is the
opposite of love, but protection of one’s spouse or of the opposite sex is a consequence of love.
The life of love takes a more radical turn when Jesus addressed love for one’s persecutors. The Old
Testament Law gave provision for retaliation, but Jesus taught a way of love through peacemaking. “Turn
the other cheek,” the most famous command in this section, means taking a stand and refusing to let
one’s persecutor win. It means being willing to love in the face of hatred, which “overcome[s] evil with
good” (Romans 12:21).
The life of love becomes most difficult when trying to live Jesus’ final instruction in this section of the
sermon, love for one’s enemies. Loving one’s neighbor is established by the Old Testament Law, but the
term neighbor had come to be defined narrowly in order to justify hating one’s enemies. Jesus called for a life of love consistent with the Father in heaven, who loves his enemies. In fact, living out the love
taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is presented by Matthew as being perfection (Matthew
5:48). Thus, following Jesus’ way means living a life of radical love.
Authentic Prayer Centrally, Jesus’ way is a way of prayer. Prayer aligns one’s heart with the love of God. The life of
following Jesus “consists of things to do and ways to think; however, if there is no prayer at the center
nothing lives. Prayer is the heart that pumps blood into all the words and acts” (Peterson, 2008, p. 167).
To define it, prayer is a form of communication between God and humanity, with the implicit belief that
God hears and answers human requests.
Jesus’ teaching on prayer reminds Christians that prayer is primarily for the individual coming before
God and not for the individual coming to impress others (Matthew 6:5-6); prayer is conversation with
God, not the crowds. He then provided a model prayer called the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). In this
prayer, several important themes emerge that describe the wise living of following Jesus. The prayer
proves so central to the Sermon on the Mount that the following sections of Matthew 6 and 7 could be
explained as expressions of how to live out the Lord’s Prayer through love (Guelich, 1982, p. 8-9).
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the prayer is the beginning, as Jesus invited his followers to call
God “Our Father” along with him. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that Christians pray with Jesus, and,
therefore, get the privilege of calling God their own Father in heaven. The love that one experiences
from God then becomes love that one gives to others. Prayer functions as the hub of the Christian life;
therefore, Jesus’ way takes intentional and spontaneous time to pray authentic prayers.
Throughout the Bible, prayer has taken various forms. Prayers sometimes involve specific
language, such as a generic “in Jesus’ name,” according to John 14:13-14, or a more specific
Trinitarian formula from Matthew 28:19 of “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit.” Some prayers that would later serve as models for ways to pray were preserved
carefully by the biblical authors. Here are two of the more significant of these prayers:
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Wise Foundations The Sermon on the Mount ends with three either/or images to prioritize living wisely. The metaphors of
a gated pathway, fruit from a tree, and a building foundation reveal that each person must decide the
trajectory of his or her life, whether that orientation involves following Jesus’ way or not. From these
three metaphors one can understand the importance of Jesus’ teaching for the Christian worldview.
The Wise and Foolish Builder story recounts the different results that two house builders experienced
when they built a house on some beautiful beachfront property. One built his house on the foundation of
a rock, and it stood firm even in the midst of a storm. The other built his house on the sand, and it fell
down in the midst of a storm. As emphasized in Chapter 1, foundations make a significant difference in
supporting what is built on top of them. The Christian worldview rests its foundation on Jesus, his
identity, mission, teachings, death, and resurrection; according to Jesus, it will hold up in the midst of
even the strongest rain, flood, wind, or trouble.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also
have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the
humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for
those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he
has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty
from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good
things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in
remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring
Though these prayers provide helpful forms for saying personal prayers, much prayer is
spontaneous. That is to say, a person prays to God on the spot, expressing whatever is on his or her
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What is the foundation? In Matthew 7:24 and 26, the foundation is described as “everyone who hears
these words of [Jesus]” and either does them (wise) or does not do them (foolish). Thus, believing and
living out Jesus’ teachings is the foundation for building wisely. Hearing alone is not enough to build a
reliable foundation; the wisdom of Jesus’ way is discovered as it is trusted and tried out. In other words,
following Jesus requires faith working through love.
It is vital to examine worldview because it is the foundation of belief, behavior, and life. Everyone must
form their beliefs stemming from their worldview, just as builders must build structures upon
foundations. Whatever is built or believed succeeds or fails based not on the beauty of the design, nor on
the functionality of the space, but on the strength of the foundation. The wisdom of any worldview might
have parallels to the Christian worldview, but the foundation from which a person believes and acts
matters much more than the particular beliefs or actions themselves. Yet, the foundations of this love
must be examined in order to determine whether it is wise or not.
It is vital for Christians to rest on the foundation of Jesus’ teachings and to remember Jesus’ emphasis
on radical love to others in Matthew 5 and faith expressed by prayer in Matthew 6. Christians can easily
miss the point of Jesus’ teaching and understand it as a new sort of law that must be kept in which good
works become a sort of litmus test to evaluate whether one is really even a Christian or not. Yet, such
thinking ignores an essential point: All of Jesus’ teaching stemmed from the reality that “God is love” (1
John 4:8). “As the assurance of God’s love allows us to cease striving to please him for our own benefit,
our good works will begin reflecting more of the selfless righteousness that is truly holy” (Chapell, 2001,
p. 11). God’s great love is the foundation upon which the Christian worldview is built; all beliefs,
thoughts, and actions flow from the cornerstone of “the breadth and length and height and depth” of
Christ’s love (Ephesians 3:18). God loves and therefore God works; God works and therefore Christians
receive by faith; Christians receive by faith and therefore become new people; these new people follow
Jesus by faith working through love.
Because Christians have been united with Jesus and transformed by Jesus, they follow the example of
Jesus. This way is the way of discipleship, which is the process of growing up into what has already been
accomplished by God’s work. This way is the way of imitating Jesus in belief and behavior. This way is the
way of humility, sacrifice, and love. In all its expressions, Jesus’ way means resting in what God has done
to save the world. The more one works to live wisely according to his or her own system, the less power
he or she will have to follow Jesus. Conversely, the more one works to trust Jesus’ death and
resurrection, the more power he or she will have to follow Jesus. Paradoxically, it is in resting that
Christians find the power to follow Jesus by faith working through love.
Conclusion As this chapter has outlined, following Jesus develops personal wisdom. For Christians, Jesus himself
became their wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), and this wisdom is reflected in faith working through love.
The wisdom of God often appears as foolishness to humanity (1 Corinthians 1:22-25), but as Jesus
taught, “wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19). Every person has need of wisdom in his or
her life, and each person possesses the ability to determine wise ways of thinking or wise courses of
action. From life-altering decisions to daily choices, worldview affects belief and behavior. Jesus’
teaching of “wisdom … justified by her deeds” reminds each person that thoughts manifest themselves
and actions have consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to navigate the path of wisdom carefully.
What people believe will shape who they become. In the case of the Christian worldview, by faith
working through love, who one believes is Jesus Christ and who one becomes like is also Jesus Christ.
Chapter Review
Main Ideas Practicing wisdom in the Christian life requires a life of discipleship, a relational intimacy with
Jesus that follows his example by faith working through love.
The Holy Spirit lives in Christians, and that reality causes them to grow up into the image and
character of Jesus himself.
Continuing faith for the Christian life entails remembering God’s work and taking an active part in
the passive work of transformation.
Wisdom for the Christian life requires a life of love and prayer that is built on the wise foundation
of Jesus’ teachings.
Key Terms Character Formation: God’s work in a Christian to develop godly, holy, and righteous character
traits.
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Fruit of the Spirit: The list of characteristics or attributes of the Holy Spirit’s work in a Christian’s
life, found in Galatians 5:22-23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control; the sense of the term refers both to the gradual, hidden work of the
Holy Spirit to form Christian character and to the evidence of that work.
Identity: The true nature of a person; being who a person truly is; for Christians, identity involves
living out of the new self that was created truly righteous and holy.
Prayer: A form of communication between God and humanity, with the implicit belief that God
hears and answers human requests.
Spiritual Formation: The Holy Spirit’s gradual and ongoing work to form a Christian into the image
of Jesus Christ.
Application of Knowledge A person could use the information in this chapter to begin, revive, assess, or renew his or her own
spiritual life. Praying the Lord’s Prayer with Jesus and practicing the steps of “taking off the old”
and “putting on the new” can become practical steps for revitalizing one’s faith commitments.
This chapter can be used to bolster an understanding of what the Christian life means. Much
misunderstanding exists surrounding what discipleship is, and so the chapter can help both
Christians and others understand what has happened and is happening in a Christian’s life and
experience.
One can use the themes of this chapter to remember that God is love and that he is already pleased
by a Christian’s faith rather than through good deeds. The fruit of the Spirit reminds Christians
that God’s work is gradual, and Christians can be patient and forgiving toward one another.
Re!ection Questions 1. From what foundation do you draw wisdom? After reviewing the chapter, how does this
explanation of Christian wisdom compare to your own pursuit of wisdom?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the premise of the chapter that, throughout the Christian life, God
initiates his work and humanity responds by faith working through love? Why?
3. After reviewing the fruit of the Spirit, what have you observed about people who demonstrate
these character traits in their lives?
4. What do you believe about the claim that Christians are truly righteous and holy, as the chapter
summarizes Ephesians 4:24? Does this match your experience? Why or why not?
5. From the perspective of your worldview, how might you incorporate the principles of Jesus’
teaching in the Sermon on the Mount into your own life, experiences, and interactions with others?
Resources for Further Reading Chapell, B. (2001). Holiness by grace: Living in the joy that is our strength. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Lynch, J., McNicol, B. and Thrall, B. (2011). The cure: What if God isn’t who you think he is and neither are you. San Clemente, CA: CrossSection. Peterson, E. (2005). Christ plays in ten thousand places: A conversation on spiritual theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
References Bonhoeffer, D. (1995). The cost of discipleship. New York, NY: Touchstone.
Chapell, B. (2001). Holiness by grace: Living in the joy that is our strength. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Guelich, R. (1982). The Sermon on the mount: A foundation for understanding. Waco, TX: Word Books.
Lewis, C. S. (1952). Mere Christianity. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Lynch, J., McNicol, B. and Thrall, B. (2011). The cure: What if God isn’t who you think he is and neither are you. San Clemente, CA: CrossSection.
Peterson, E. (2005). Christ plays in ten thousand places: A conversation on spiritual theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Peterson, E. (2008). Tell it slant: A conversation on the language of Jesus in his stories and prayers. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
Peterson, E. (2010). Practice resurrection: A conversation on growing up in Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
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