A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

Ses s i on 3: The Ce l ebrat i ons of a Di sc i p l i ned L i fe 93

3. Supporting commentary:

The image of the church as the people of God calls us to abandon our ahistorical and exclusivistic notions of the church for a broader perspective – putting us in touch with the church throughout history and around the world. The church as the new creation bids us make visible Christ’s victory over evil, to be new humanity in the midst of the old. This newness is concretized in the fellowship-in-faith, the visible form of God’s people who constitute the new creation. And this church is called the Body of Christ because in it and through it the presence of Christ in the world is mystically experienced and known . ~ Robert Webber. Common Roots . Grand Rapids: Zondervan Books, 1978. p. 52.

F. A rule that allows for gradual and incremental change over time (i.e., the sowing and reaping principle)

1. Exegetical evidence

a. The path of the righteous gets increasingly brighter each day, Prov. 4.18 – But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

b. God will cause greater grace to come upon the life of the righteous, Job 11.17 – And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

c. Even the worst trials work together for our good in Christ, Job 23.10 – But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold (see also Rom. 8.28).

d. We in Christ go on from strength to strength, Ps. 84.7 – They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.