Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 3
The teaching connects Jesus’ authority and life-giving power in John 5 to the statement “I seek not mine own will… I always do those things that please him”; where do modern Christians tend to separate “Jesus as Savior” from “Jesus as the model human,” and what costs come from that separation?
Another way to ask: Where do Christians today treat Jesus mainly as the one who saves them, but not as the example for how to live? What do we lose when we split those two things apart?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The speaker suggests many Christians treat Jesus mainly as the one who fixes our guilt later, rather than as the human pattern to imitate now; this separation costs us the expectation of real transformation and Spirit-shaped obedience. In his view, it leads to a Christianity where people remain stuck while waiting for a future “wand wave.”
- He presents Jesus saying, “I am the way… the method. Do like me,” connecting imitation to “eternal life… real life.”
- In John 5 he highlights Jesus’ explanation of authority: “I can of mine own self do nothing… I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father.”
- He stresses the reason-word: “The Father hath not left me alone… for… I always do those things that please him.”
- He critiques a common view: Jesus paid for sins and then God did “magic resuscitation,” implying Jesus’ life-pattern is irrelevant.
- He caricatures an approach where people “just sit here and be sinners… because we said a prayer,” then get fixed later.
- He insists Jesus came “to show us as a human how to live as a… Son of God,” and that obedience is tied to life-giving power.