THE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING
TRANSFORMATION AND DISCIPLESHIP
“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23
If we desire to follow the Lord Jesus and be
conformed to His image as disciples, the denial of self
and the carrying of the cross must come into operation in
our lives. We see aspects of these expressed in
Philippians 2:3-8:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves. Each of you should look not only to
your own interest, but also to the interests of
others. Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus who, in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man he
humbled himself and become obedient to death –
even death on a cross!”
Humility, self-giving and other-centeredness were
clearly expressed in the attitude and life of Jesus Christ
when He went to the cross, in obedience to the Father.
Christ is our supreme example and we are exhorted to
have the same attitude as that of the Lord Jesus.
The denial of self, humility, other-centeredness and
obedience to God – all these are qualities to be
increasingly seen and realized in the lives of disciples of
the Lord Jesus as they are being transformed into His
likeness. These can perhaps be best expressed by three
principles manifested at the cross.
(A) DEATH LEADING TO LIFE
The Lord Jesus put it in this manner in John 12:24:
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
Here is an illustration of life and fruitfulness
coming forth out of death. At the cross, the death of
Jesus leads to His resurrection and His exaltation as
Savior of the whole world. We who believe in Him died
with Him at the cross as a spiritual reality and we are
born again to a new life in Him (Romans 6:3-5). At the
cross, Christ’s death ended the reign of sin and death.
The reign of the old self also ended for those who
believe in Him. His death brings life to us and effects a
right relationship with God, when met with faith.
We cannot fully appreciate deeply the meaning of the
cross unless we recognize and acknowledge the depth
and vileness of our sin, and the glorious and awesome
holiness of God.
In the outworking of our Christian life and
sanctification (which involves spiritual formation), we
need, by the Spirit, to put to death the old self and put on
the new self. Christians have already died with Christ (as
the basis of their new creation) and they continue to die
and be raised with Christ (as their daily experience).
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 5:24
In other words, the sinful nature (old self) has been
put to death at the cross. In actual outworking, this
spiritual reality must be expressed in the mortification of
the flesh, in daily living, putting to death the deeds of the
flesh, in order to live by the Spirit, saying ‘no’ to the
sinful nature and saying ‘yes’ to the Spirit of God.
‘Death leading to life’ is also seen in the sacrifice
for others, being ‘others-centered’, looking to the
interests of others and being prepared to deny ourselves,
for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of others, in
Christian love. In this case, ‘dying daily in our lives’
brings spiritual life to others. This is what Paul meant
when he wrote, ‘I die daily’ (2 Corinthians 4:12).
Paul knew that suffering for the good of others can
be an experience, not of God’s absence and displeasure
but of God’s presence and love. He also realized that
suffering for others is ultimately suffering for Christ,
who Himself suffered for others.
(B) WEAKNESS LEADING TO STRENGTH
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions,
in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Here is a paradox that is ever so true in Christian
living. After becoming Christians, how often we are
taught that while we are justified by grace, we grow by
our works and human effort. If we try to grow in our
own power and strength, it will not be long before we
crawl back, in weakness and defeat, to the cross and
remember that it is only by His grace and His enabling
that we grow to be like Him. To depend on our own
strength and power to grow spiritually and to minister to
others would invariably lead to exhaustion and failure. It
is only when we realize how weak we really are in
ourselves that we are in a position to avail ourselves of
God’s power and strength. We can then appreciate why
Apostle Paul wrote that for Christ’s sake, he delights in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecution, in
difficulties. Paul knew that when he was weak in
himself, he could be truly strong in the Lord.
Paul also acknowledged the reality of hostile
powers in the universe and spiritual warfare. These
powers include the evil one, demons, rulers and powers,
sin and death. The liberating power needed for victory
has been provided by God through His Son on the cross
and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. We cannot battle
these forces on our own; we need the life-giving power of God to experience victory.
(C) SUFFERING LEADING TO CHARACTER
FORMATION AND GLORY
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings
because we know that sufferings produce
perseverance; and perseverance, character; and
character, hope.”
Romans 5:3-4
Suffering is closely connected to hope. It leads not
to despair but to a deep assurance of future salvation and
glory. Hope is in fact the certainty that the ultimate fate
of the humiliated crucified Messiah will also be the fate
of all those who are co-crucified with Him. The future
for such ones would be resurrection, exaltation and a
sharing in the glory of the Lord!
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you
face trials of many kinds, because you know that
the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may
be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of
trials. These have come so that your faith – of
greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire – may be proved genuine
and may result in praise, glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 Peter 1:6-7
Scriptures clearly reveal that for genuine believers
and disciples, sufferings and trials produce perseverance,
character and maturity in Christ. In other words, God
allows sufferings and trials to mold His children to
become mature in Christ. Suffering for the Lord God is
part of the Christian calling and it contributes
significantly to the making of true disciples of Jesus
Christ. Denying ourselves and carrying the cross are part
of the expression of suffering in the life of the disciple.
We live in a hostile world and we have a formidable
enemy; persecution and trials are to be expected. In
sharing the gospel, this aspect must be shared clearly.
We cannot give the impression that the gospel is all
about material blessing, healing and prosperity here on
earth. Those who respond positively to the gospel must
be prepared for genuine discipleship and this would
include denying the self, taking up the cross and
following the Lord Jesus on the road to ‘Calvary’.
To the Apostle Paul, suffering is a manifestation of
love. It allows him to identify with and express to others
the self-sacrificial, forgiving love of God in Christ – that
is in Christ’s death. Especially in suffering, Paul
experiences the love of God in Christ, by means of the
Holy Spirit. Hence suffering can be joyful and
meaningful even though it may be painful at the same
time ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
THE CROSS AT THE CENTRE
The three principles demonstrated at the cross:
‘death leading to life, ‘weakness leading to strength’ and
‘sufferings leading to character formation and glory’
would be in operation in the process of making disciples
and being disciples. The cross is at the centre of the
gospel message and it is only through the cross that
death and the evil one have been defeated. Discipleship
and transformation cannot take place apart from the
cross of Jesus Christ.
As we evaluate whether we have missed the mark
in fulfilling the Great Commission, we need to ask
whether the cross has been at the centre of our gospel
message and whether the cross has been highlighted and
taught at the heart of disciple making. The history of the
church has been defiled by many who chose power over
love, control over the cross, reputation over servanthood
and self over God’s glory. This kind of defilement is not
what disciples are made of. Discipleship is ultimately
measured in terms of surrender to God, humility,
obedience to Him in love and the character of godliness.
It is also expressed in sacrificial love for others for
Christ’s sake. All these are in line with the principles of
the cross and they are contrary to self-love, pride, selfcenteredness
and self-glory.
The cross manifests Christ’s suffering love, His
non-retaliatory forgiveness and grace, and His selfgiving,
self-emptying sacrifice for us. The cross also
expresses Christ’s enduring, steadfast faithfulness and
obedience to God. The cross reveals not just how God
achieved salvation for us; it demonstrates the way that
God works. The Lord God works in accordance with the
pattern and principles of the cross. For disciples of Christ
Jesus, these qualities and pattern are to be expressed in
increasing measures in our lives as we work out the
principles of the cross in our vertical relationship with
the Trinitarian God and in our horizontal relationship
with our neighbor, through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit in our lives.
There is no place for pride, self-glory and selfrighteousness
in the cross. Instead, in the cross, there is
power to become self-giving love; there is the power to
be weak and humble, the power to serve, the power to
endure and to sacrifice for the sake of others and for the
glory of God in Christ.
In the cross, suffering is not the last word; death
gives way to resurrection and suffering leads to glory in
God.