The Only Way for a Christian to Become More Christlike

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (Is. 61:1-2).

Jesus lived every moment with the Holy Spirit.

When I tell people about meeting my wife, Grace on March 12, 1988, and that we have done life together every day since, it would be odd for me mention her every single time I say or do anything for the rest of my life. By knowing of our relationship, you should rightly assume she is involved in all my life whether I directly state that fact or not.

The Son and the Spirit have a similar relationship—they do all of life together, and the Spirit empowers everything Jesus does. For example, we read that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit,” “led by the Spirit,” and came “in the power of the Spirit.” In the synagogue after Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1–2, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,” He says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18–21). Luke continues by revealing that Jesus also “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Luke 10:21).

Former Wheaton College professor Gerald Hawthorne has also written on the subject of Jesus’ relationship with the Holy Spirit: “Not only is Jesus their Savior because of who he was and because of His own complete obedience to the Father’s will (cf. Heb. 10:5–7), but He is the supreme example for them of what is possible in a human life because of His total dependence upon the Spirit of God.”

Since Christ matured by the power of the Holy Spirit, it follows that Christians who take His name also mature by the same power. To put it simply: the only way for a Christian to become like Christ is by the power of the same Holy Spirit who empowered the life of Christ.

Where do you need to mature? What do you need to learn? What temptation do you need to overcome? Where are you weak and falling short? Where are you proud and needing to grow humble? Where are you foolish and needing to grow wise? Where are you lazy and needing to find discipline? You need the Helper, the Holy Spirit, in every area, every day, for every need. You cannot and will not mature as Jesus did without the help of the Spirit. The people of Jesus can live by the power of Jesus. {eoa}

Mark Driscoll is a Jesus-following, mission-leading, church-serving, people-loving, Bible-preaching pastor and the author of many books, including Spirit-Filled Jesus, which you can order here. He currently pastors The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his family. For all of pastor Mark Driscoll’s Bible teaching, please visit markdriscoll.org or download the app. You can download a free devotional e-book from Pastor Mark here.

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