What if grace was God responding to us because he sees us whole and wants us to experience that wholeness?

My friend posed this question to me in the middle of a conversation while we were considering what it was to have Christ formed in us.

Oh, my dear children! I feel as if I'm going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. The apostle Paul wrote these words to the believers in Galatia. (Galatians 4:19) This is the heart cry of discipleship.

Oh, the joy of new babes! But they don't stay babies, they grow and develop, just like new believers in Christ.

Christ formed in me is to have Christ formed in ALL of me.

When Jesus took his last breath, the temple curtain tore in two, opening up a whole new way to God. It was God's way of demonstrating that a high priest was no longer necessary to go behind the temple curtain to intervene on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus did that for us on the cross. It wasn't about religious rules and regulations anymore. It was about a relationship with the resurrected Jesus, given once and for all, for all mankind, for all time.

Jesus died so we could be whole.

We are not only spiritual beings, but emotional, physical, and intellectual beings. Discipleship includes all of this. Christ formed in us means that it effects every aspect of life. Attitude. Will. Desires. Longings. Goals. Plans. Decisions. Past. Present. Future.

Over the next four blog posts we will be taking a look at what I call the four big questions to experiencing wholeness.

Join me as we explore the four essential elements of discipleship. The spiritual practices are one of those elements, but discipleship is so much more.