Transformed By Grace

If there is a disciple I would want to be like, it is John. However, he did not naturally possess a lovely character. Before John met Jesus, by nature he was “forceful, short-tempered, proud, self-assertive, and resentful under injury.” (Acts of the Apostles, p. 540.1)

 On the day Jesus selected the twelve apostles, He nicked named John and his brother

James “The sons of thunder.” This reason is explained in Luke 9:54. When Jesus was denied passage through a Samaritans village, John and James requested Jesus, if they could call fire down from heaven to destroy them.

 Jesus rebuked the brothers and instead went to another village. The encounter revealed their lighting like temper.

How did the transformation happen?

You may not know, John and Judas, “each possessed serious defects of character…” (Acts Of The Apostles558.1)  

From Acts Of The Apostles, here are the four steps that made John different from Judas.

1.“He treasured every lesson and constantly sought to bring his life into harmony with the divine pattern.” (AA 544.1)

2. “John desired to become like Jesus, and under the transforming influence of the love of Christ he did become meek and lowly.” (AA 544.2)

3. “John warred earnestly against his faults;” (AA 557.2)

4. "Such transformation of character as is seen in the life of John is ever the result of communion with Christ." (AA 558.1)