Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry
You are here: Home / Stop Living Like Jesus

Stop Living Like Jesus

By Jeremy Myers
9 Comments

Stop Living Like Jesus

Jesus RembrandtJesus is the greatest example in Scripture on how to live according to the will of God.

But notice that even though He is the greatest example, this still does not mean that we are to live and act exactly like Jesus. Aside from being impossible, any attempt is just foolish.

Why? Because we live in different times, with different cultures, and are facing different issues. The life of Jesus is the perfect way of living for a Jewish Rabbi in the First Century AD who lived in Palestine under Roman rule. If all this is true of you, then go ahead and try to exactly follow the example of Jesus. And while you are at it, check yourself into a mental institution.

Yet while we cannot exactly follow the example of Jesus, we can nevertheless learn from Him, and how He lived, so that we can follow His example and live in similar ways in our own times and places and cultures.

So I don’t believe we are to live like Jesus as much as we are to live like Jesus if He were living in our time and place and culture.

And, in fact, He is. If you are a believer in Jesus, then you are to be Jesus in the world.

The question then is not, “What would Jesus do?” but rather, “What would Jesus have us do?”

Jesus Rembrandt


God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Theology of the Bible

Advertisement

Learn the most essential truths for following Jesus!

Get FREE articles and audio teachings every week in my discipleship emails!


Comments

    Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Jennifer says

    August 15, 2011 at 11:32 am

    When you asked this question yesterday, my first thought was that of course there’s no way we could live exactly like him. If I tried to act like Jesus, I’d be demanding drinks from women at wells, I’d be telling dead people to rise, and I’d be telling people I was the son of God and man. I don’t think it’s just because of cultural differences that we can’t act like Jesus. That said, I like the turn of phrase at the end. “Like Jesus in the world.” Indeed.

    Reply
  2. Swanny says

    August 15, 2011 at 11:36 am

    Of course a person cannot live like Jesus, because it takes all of us to BE Him. Christ Himself IS the Church, and together WE can be Him.

    For any of us to try to live like Him by ourselves is futile.

    (I think we are saying the same thing, just felt like typing)

    Swanny

    Reply
  3. Esther says

    August 16, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    I like the Swanny’s addition.

    Jeremy, I know I’ve said this before, but it always seems to me like you would like those Viola books, because in essence you are saying many of the same things. (I’m still not clear on what you disagree about. Then again, sometimes I’m a slow learner.) His latest, Revise Us Again, indirectly hits on this topic. Finished it a month or so ago, loved-loved it!

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      August 16, 2011 at 6:56 pm

      Jennifer, Swanny, and Esther,

      Thanks for the input and the clarification. Yes, I agree. The church is the incarnation of Jesus in the world. We are Jesus.

      Thanks for pointing that out. Oh, and I have all of Viola’s books and am working through them. I think I have read 3 or 4 of them so far.

      Reply
      • Prasad Rao says

        July 18, 2016 at 12:14 am

        Church is not the Incarnation of Jesus, where it is in the Bible.

        Church is the Body of Jesus, He being the Head ( do not ignore the head )

        The purpose, definition and the result of Jesus Incarnation is quite different than what Church is assigned with.

        we are to live like or live in Jesus does not mean we the Incarnation of Jesus.

        Jesus dies FOR our sins ( the sole pupose of Jesus Incarnation )
        BUT
        we either die IN sin or
        die TOWARDS / UNTO sin.

        Reply
  4. Sam says

    August 20, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    If I were really living like Jesus then the religious authorities would be following me around, trying to entrap me. As it is, we rarely cross paths.

    I like to think in terms of trying to follow Jesus, using your idea of trying to live like Jesus might were He physically present today.

    Reply
  5. Liberty says

    July 13, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    “If I were really living like Jesus then the religious authorities would be following me around, trying to entrap me. As it is, we rarely cross paths.”

    Wow. so so true.

    Reply
  6. brentnz says

    November 23, 2016 at 8:58 pm

    “If I were really living like Jesus then the religious authorities would be following me around, trying to entrap me. As it is, we rarely cross paths.”

    Wow. so so true.

    i dont see it that way whose to say that the same battles Jesus fought we also face but differently because i dont separate my own self righteous tendencys which we all have pride still lurks within every believers heart.Until we surrender it all to Christ it will still try and take us from the path of Grace My interpretation of greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world is not neccesarily the devil but the devil that i am.Everytime i choose to live by the flesh i am becoming more like him and so i am an enemy to Christ if i live like that.That is why Jesus says if we love him we would follow his commands not legalistically as under the law but because of his grace and mercy towards us. brentnz

    Reply
  7. WR says

    November 30, 2019 at 4:02 am

    This is an exercise in true but superfluous semantics.

    Reply

Leave a Comment or Question Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Scripture with me
Subscribe to my Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to my Podcast on Amazon

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Take Online Courses
with N. T. Wright

Choose from Six Courses:
*N. T. Wright on Jesus
*N. T. Wright on Romans
*N. T. Wright on Galatians
*N. T. Wright on Philippians
*N. T. Wright on the Gospel
*N. T. Wright on Worldviews

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2023 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework