Summary: The scriptures teach, and Christians believe that God’s aim is to have us sinful creatures “be conformed to the likeness of his son.” but what does that mean? It is common to hear Christians talk about being Christlike, but in what way are we to become like him? Does it merely mean to imitate his behavior, or does it mean something more? This article looks at what the Bible has to say about this subject.

The apostle Paul taught, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Roman 8:29).

In speaking of this verse, one Christian pastor has explained, “Becoming more like Christ is the desire of every believer, and it is encouraging to know that God has the same desire for us. In fact, the Bible says that God ‘predestined [believers] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.’ Making us Christlike is God’s work, and He will see it through to the end.”

The scriptures teach, and Christians believe that God’s aim is to have us sinful creatures “be conformed to the likeness of his son,” but what does that mean? It is common to hear Christians talk about being Christlike, but in what way are we to become like Christ?

Christians believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and since the Bible tells us there is only one God, therefore Christians believe that Jesus is God. They also believe that when Jesus lived on earth, he lived a perfect, sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) and because of that he was able to give his life as a ransom for our sins (1 Timothy 2:6).

Then, does being Christlike mean living a sinless life, giving ourselves as a ransom for others, and becoming a god like Jesus? Nearly all Christian would say this is not what it means to be like Christ because no one but Jesus can live a sinless life and only Jesus had the ability to sacrifice himself for our sins, and since there is only one God, composed of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, then it’s believed it is impossible for us to become a god ourselves.

Since most Christians teach that the Bible is our ultimate source of knowledge about God and his salvation, then we should find the answer to this question by seeing what it has to say about this subject.

Jesus told his followers: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). However, nearly all Christians say that is impossible to do, because if we could be as perfect as God, then that would make us equal with God. Yet, it was Jesus who said, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). Therefore, if Jesus has told us to be perfect and we believe what he said, then it must be possible for us to do.

Even so, Christians point to the scripture that says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and it is a fact that everyone has sinned in the past and will continue to sin in the future as long as we live in mortality. Therefore, they say it is impossible for us to live a perfectly sinless life as Jesus did. For this reason alone, they say we could never become perfect like Christ, even if we were given a million eternities to do it. But if this is true, then why would Jesus tell us to do something that is not possible?

In several places in the New Testament we’re told that Jesus sits on the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; 2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 1:20; 1 Peter 3:22, etc.). Such a position is clearly understood by Christians as making Jesus equal with God. However, Christians don’t believe that becoming like Christ means that we will also sit at the right hand of God and be equal with him.

If being like Christ doesn’t include any of these things, then what does it mean to be like Christ? The answer Christians give is that we should emulate his qualities of being kind, loving, caring, and serving others. However, doing those things doesn’t make us perfect in the same way that God is perfect.

The answer that most Christians give is that the word “perfect” in this case doesn’t really mean being “perfect.” They say that the Greek word we translate as “perfect” also means “complete.” Thus, they say that Jesus told us we should be as complete as our Father in heaven, but in what way are we to be as complete as God? Unfortunately, Christians don’t have an answer to that question.

But if God’s word doesn’t mean we’re supposed to be perfect like God, then this creates a problem for Christians. It is their firm belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, meaning there are no mistakes in it, and that every word, and every jot and title (punctuation marks) are exactly what a perfect God caused to be written. In other words, Christians believe that every word in the Bible is the exact word God wanted to use, and that also applies to when his words are translated into another language.

If that is true, then we have to believe that God wanted the word “perfect” used rather than the word “complete.” If this is not correct, then for over four hundred years Christians who have been using the King James version of the Bible have been reading something that God didn’t intend to be written. in which case it cannot be said that the Bible is the inerrant word of God.

But what if Jesus did indeed mean that we should become just as perfect as our Father in heaven? In other words, what if the word “perfect” is the exact word God deliberately intended to be written? To find out, let’s see what else the Bible has to say about us becoming like Christ.

The apostle Paul taught the believing Christians in his day saying, “dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). According to Paul we should strive to become perfectly holy by ridding ourselves “from all filthiness of the flesh,” and the apostle Peter likewise taught, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy” (1 Peter 1:15). What we see is that the apostles taught that we should become just as holy as God is, and since God is perfectly holy, then we should become perfectly holy ourselves. And if we were to do that, would we not become like Christ?

The apostle John wrote, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Jesus is known as the Son of God, but John tells us that those who believe in Jesus are also the sons of God.

Is there a difference between us being a son of God and Jesus being the Son of God? Christians would most certainly say there is because the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. But if that is true, then it can’t be true that we are, or can become sons of God because then Jesus would not be God’s only Son.

However, what the Bible says is that Jesus is the only “begotten” Son of God. The word “begotten,” especially as used in the scriptures, refers to a person being birthed by a woman after conceiving a child by a man. Jesus was indeed born of a woman named Mary and he was born the same way all other humans are. However, no other child was ever conceived whose father was God. This is why Jesus is known as the only “begotten” Son of God. (How Jesus was father by God is not explained in the Bible but the Bible clearly states in numerous places that Jesus referred to God, not Joseph, as his Father.)

When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus at the empty tomb and went to embrace him, “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17).

There are three significant words in this statement we need to take note of. The first is that Jesus told Mary to go unto his “brethren.” That word means, “brothers.” Jesus referred to his disciples as his brothers which indicates a family relationship where Jesus and his followers have the same father. However, some will interpret the word “brethren” as referring to those Jesus feels close to, such as in a band of brothers.

But Jesus then told Mary to tell his brothers, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father.” The second significant word we need to take notice of is “father.” The scriptures tell us that Jesus has a Father who lives in heaven, and here Jessus tells us that his Father is the same one we have. In fact, Jesus taught us to pray to “our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11:2). But that is the same Father Jesus prayed to. In that case, Jesus is our brother in the sense that we are family because we both have the same father.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to say that he was ascending “to my God and your God.” The third significant word we need to take notice of is “God.” If we worship and obey our Father in heaven as God, and Jesus says that that’s the same God he worships and obeys, then that means Jesus has a God over him just like we do, and that God is our Father in heaven. What this again shows is that all of us are literally brothers and sisters of Jesus.

But Jesus was more than just a physically begotten Son of God. He was a spiritual son of God in the sense that he did everything his Father in heaven asked of him. In that sense, we are not spiritual sons of God because we don’t always do what the Father asks. However, because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sins, God will adopt us into his family. As Paul says, we “have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).

In Hebrew, the word “Abba” is a very personal and intimate word only used by children when referring to their biological father. What Paul is saying is that when we are adopted into the family of God, we will have the same personal and intimate relationship with him that his Son Jesus has. The only difference is that he will be the real Son while we will be adopted sons and daughters. But for all practical purposes, that is a difference without a distinction.

This same John also said, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Right now, while we live in mortality, we struggle to be like Christ, but John says that in our present condition we can’t see what we will be like when we leave this world and are with Christ. However. Paul tells us that we know this much: when we do see him “we shall be like him.” He didn’t say we shall act like him in the sense that we will imitate his qualities, but rather we will be exactly like he is. But is this what he meant?

After Jesus had finished eating his last supper in mortality, He gave the eleven disciples who were with him, one last word of counsel, instruction, and comfort before leaving that upper room and going to the garden of Gethsemane. And after he had spoken to them, he then prayed to his Father in heaven asking, “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:21,22).

We say that the Father and the Son are one, yet Jesus pleaded with his Father that all those who believe on him should also be one in the same way they are, even to having the same glory. If we can never become exactly like Jesus or as perfect as the Father, then it is impossible for us to be one with them because there will forever be this difference between us.

On the other hand, in order for us to be one with them, that would require us to become exactly as they are. If this is not true, then it cannot be said that we are one with them in the same way that the Father and the Son are one.

Someone may argue that we can be one with the Father and Son and still not be exactly like them. For example, we can be one in the sense that we all work for the same company, but that doesn’t mean we are all equal in power, authority, and prestige to the president of the company, and that’s what it would take for us to be one with the company president.

Yet, that is exactly what Jesus prayed for. In this prayer, known as the intercessory prayer, where Jesus intercedes for us before the Father, he specifically asks the Father that all those who believe on him “that they all may be one; [in the same way] as thou Father are in me and I in thee.”

Christians believe that Jesus is God because the Bible tells us he is one with the Father, and since there is only one God, and Jesus is one with the Father, then that makes Jesus part of this one God. Therefore, if Jesus prayed that all those who believe on him might be one in the same way the Father and Son are one, then the only conclusion we can come to is that Jesus wants us to be equal with him and his Father.

Jesus then clarified this point when he asked the Father “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” In other words, the way we will become one with the Father is by receiving the same glory that the Father gave Son, Jesus. Since believers in Christ are also sons of God, it cannot be said that if we have the same glory as Jesus, which is the same glory the Father has, and if that makes Jesus equal with the Father, then how can we have the same glory and not be equal to Jesus?

While John was living in exile on the island of Patmos, the resurrected Jesus appeared and told him to write down what he heard and saw. Part of what Jesus told John at that time was “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21).

The Bible tells us that Jesus sits on a throne located next to and on the right hand of God and all Christians understand this to mean that Jesus is equal in power and authority to God, the Father. What Jesus told John was that he promises that those who overcome the temptations of the world and remain faithful to him, that they too will sit in his throne, just as he overcame all things and was exalted to sit in his Father’s throne (Acts 2:33).

In many places we’re told that those who are saved will wear crowns, and kings wear a crown and sit on thrones. If we are destined to become kings, who wear a crown, and sit on a throne, just as Jesus does, then we too will become just like he is.

The great Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis wrote “What is God’s purpose for His people? … Granted that we have been saved and received new life in Jesus Christ, [but] what comes next?… where my mind has come to rest as I approach the end of my pilgrimage on earth, it is—God wants His people to become like Christ. Christlikeness is the will of God for the people of God.”

C.S. Lewis went on to say, “Romans 8:29 reads that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son: that is, to become like Jesus… 2 Corinthians 3:18 [states]: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness… 1n Philippians 2:5-8 [we’re told]: Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God…. God’s purpose is to make us like Christ.” (from his lecture entitled “The Model” Becoming Like Christ.”)

If our Father in heaven is God, who sits on a throne as the king of heaven, and Jesus Christ is likewise a God who also sits on a throne, ruling alongside of his Father, then it cannot be said we are like Christ if we, as sons of God, do not sit on thrones as a god ourselves. As the scriptures point out, Jesus didn’t think it robbed God of his glory to count himself as being equal with God, and neither should we. This is what it really means to be like Christ.

 

 

Related articles can be found at The Nature of God