Paul as a model for practicePaul says to us, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1, NIV). He says, "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:9, NIV). We then, within our modern view of life, busily set to work explaining how, of course, we are following him as he follows his Lord. Don't we believe and say the same things he did? But our lives are not like his life at all. We do not do the things he did. Yet it is surely Paul's practice that alone explains his marvelously victorious life in easy yoke of Christ, for he in faith adopted his Lord's overall style of life. And as he did, he experienced the upholding of God's grace in it. This is the key to the understanding of Paul's life, teachings, and effect on history. From The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Copyright © 1988 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
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