You and the Gospel 5

The Discipline of Grace
by Jerry Bridges

Two Illustrations of Dependence & Discipline

To illustrate the concept of dependence and discipline, it is helpful to view them as separate wings on an airplane. One wing is dependence, the other is discipline. Which would you like to lose while you are in the air? Neither, of course! No plane can fly with one wing. In the same way, both discipline and dependence are completely necessary for living the Christian life. "We must exercise both discipline and dependence in the pursuit of holiness...God enables us to do the work, but he does not do the work for us." - Bridges

Another way of seeing this is by considering a farmer. There are things that a farmer must do in order to look for a harvest. But, in all there work, there are 2 things they cannot do. They must plow and plant and fertilize, and they must fertilize and till the ground and make sure the seeds are irrigated. But, he cannot control what the weather is going to do, or even if the plants will grow. He can exert all the energy in the world into his side of the farming, but without the life that makes things grow, his discipline is worthless. "God has ordained certain disciplines necessary to grow in holiness...[but,] we cannot make ourselves grow." - Bridges Only God can make us grow, and He grows us as we put into use the strength he has given us to do what he wants us to do.