The Character of the Perfect Christian - Christ Expressing His Life Through the Believer
Not I, but Christ—ordinary moments become worship.
In the eighteenth century, John Wesley described the “perfect Christian” as one who loves God wholly and keeps His commandments from the heart. Though Wesley spoke of striving toward this divine likeness, he humbly confessed that he had not yet attained it. His vision was scriptural and sincere—an echo of Paul’s own longing to be conformed to Christ. Yet what Wesley sought is now revealed to us through the indwelling life of Christ: perfection not achieved by effort, but expressed by union. The “perfect Christian” is not one who climbs toward holiness, but one in whom the Holy One lives unhindered.
Not I, but Christ lives in me.
And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.
A perfect Christian is not one who has refined the self-life, but one who has exchanged it.
Through the cross, the old man has been crucified,
and through the resurrection, the spirit has been made alive and joined to the Lord.
From this union His life flows—quietly governing the heart, renewing the soul, and directing the body.
Every motion begins in Him and returns to Him.
• • •
Christ Himself dwells in the believer’s spirit.
From that inner sanctuary His love rises, turning the heart toward the Father.
The soul—mind, will, and emotions—comes into harmony with that love,
so that the believer no longer tries to love God but simply participates in the Son’s own affection for His Father.
• • •
Peace and joy follow.
They do not spring from discipline or circumstance,
but from the Spirit’s overflow through the soul.
Fear melts away as the heart rests in perfect love.
Joy becomes the quiet echo of Christ’s own rejoicing within.
• • •
Gratitude fills all seasons.
The spirit trusts the Father completely,
and the heart agrees—Your will is good.
The soul learns thanksgiving in everything,
for every path has been arranged by the One who lives within.
• • •
Prayer becomes breath.
The indwelling Spirit whispers, Abba, Father,
and the heart responds in unbroken fellowship.
Whether at rest or in motion, in solitude or among others,
the believer abides; the heart trusts; the soul communes; the body serves.
• • •
Love flows outward.
The compassion that once moved Jesus to forgive His enemies now moves through His vessel.
It intercedes, blesses, and serves without calculation.
The believer does not strain to be kind;
it is Christ loving through a yielded humanity.
• • •
Purity takes root.
The holiness of the indwelling Christ cleanses the heart and renews the soul.
Pride yields to humility, anger to gentleness, resentment to mercy.
The self-life loses its strength where the heart consents to the cross
and the soul bows beneath the Spirit’s quiet rule.
• • •
The will of God becomes the single aim.
From the spirit outward, the heart fixes its gaze upon Him,
the mind is renewed, the will agrees, the emotions settle, and the body obeys.
Obedience is no longer duty; it is delight—
the life of Jesus animating the whole person.
• • •
Because the root is holy, the fruit is holy.
The commands of God are fulfilled by the life of God within:
“I will cause you to walk in My statutes.”
Desire and power flow together;
the body carries out what the spirit initiates.
• • •
The believer offers the body as a living sacrifice—
not to become holy, but because the Holy One inhabits him.
Thought, word, and deed become instruments of His righteousness.
Nothing is withheld; all is available for His ongoing ministry.
• • •
In every task—working, resting, speaking, eating—
one intention remains: the Son glorifying the Father through a yielded vessel.
Ordinary moments become worship,
for the motion of life now begins in God and ends in God.
• • •
The heart treasures Christ above all.
The soul refuses bitterness and idle words.
The body acts with gentleness and truth.
Thoughts dwell on what is pure and lovely;
choices aim at what edifies;
emotions are stilled in His peace.
This is not withdrawal from the world but participation in the mind of Christ,
made visible through a whole person.
• • •
And this is perfection in the Christian sense:
not human maturity polished by effort,
but the fullness of Christ manifest through union.
The spirit joined to His Spirit,
the heart resting in His love,
the soul renewed to His likeness,
the body offered for His glory.
We do not strive to become like Jesus;
we yield for Jesus to be Himself in us.
Every virtue is His—
every good work His expression—
every glory His alone.
Resting in the Perfect One
The life Wesley longed for is not beyond reach—it is within, because Christ Himself is within. The “perfect Christian” is not the result of a lifetime of striving, but the revelation of a life already given. We are invited, not to achieve, but to abide; not to imitate, but to yield. When we rest in Him who is perfect, His life expresses all that God requires. In that resting, the Father sees not our effort, but His Son—complete, holy, and glorified.
“And we, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18
Credits:
Adapted from John Wesley’s A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1759).
Rewritten and interpreted through the lens of the Exchanged Life theology by Believing Thomas.
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