Appropriating Christ as Life: Moving from Head to Heart
Reflections on Dr. John Woodward’s Grace Fellowship International Workshop
The Need for a Miraculous Answer
As beings created in God’s image, we possess ultimate needs—love, acceptance, worth, and belonging. For women, this often manifests as a longing for security; for men, a pursuit of significance. In Genesis 1-3, Adam and Eve experienced these needs fully met in God before the Fall. After the Fall, humanity began striving to fill these needs through inadequate substitutes, often relying on relationships or achievements.
The world’s solution to this dilemma frequently turns to self-help or self-esteem, but God’s ways are infinitely higher (Isaiah 55:8). Through the Exchanged Life (Galatians 2:20) and the freedom found in Christ (John 8:32), God provides a miraculous solution. He becomes our ultimate source, heals our deepest wounds, and grants us a new identity and resources for living a victorious life.
How do we appropriate this divine provision and move from head knowledge to heart assurance? Dr. John Woodward outlines key steps in this transformative journey.
Steps Toward Appropriating Christ as Life
1. Be Convicted of Flesh Patterns
When we were saved, God revealed our sins and Christ’s atoning work. To experience abundant living, the Holy Spirit now convicts us of self—our unique flesh patterns that oppose the Spirit.
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17).
The remedy lies in understanding our spiritual union with Christ: we were crucified with Him, buried, and raised to newness of life (Philippians 3:3-10).
2. Be Broken of Self-Will, Self-Sufficiency, and Pride
Full surrender is essential for exchanging our life for Christ’s life. This surrender entails acknowledging the futility of self-reliance and yielding entirely to Christ’s sufficiency.
Paul’s testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:9 illustrates this principle:
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
3. Learn the Truths of Identification with Christ
Believers are united with Christ in spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). We share in His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension (Ephesians 2:4-7). As the true Vine, Christ invites us, the branches, to live in constant connection with Him (John 15:1-8). This spiritual union is both legal and experiential, granting us righteousness and life in Him (Romans 5:12-21; Colossians 3:1-4).
4. Be Illumined by the Holy Spirit
Only the Holy Spirit can move the truths of our identity in Christ from intellectual understanding to heartfelt conviction. As Paul writes:
“The Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God … These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Corinthians 2:10, 13).
This divine illumination enables believers to personally experience the reality of their union with Christ.
5. Appropriate Christ as Life by Faith
Just as salvation comes by grace through faith, so does the abundant life. Romans 6:11-12 describes this act of faith as reckoning—considering what is biblically true as personally true.
Count yourself as crucified with Christ and alive to God. Trust Him to live His life through you. As believers walk in this faith, they enter the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10).
The act of appropriating Christ may occur as a singular moment of surrender or a gradual process. Either way, the focus remains on Christ as Life, not on a specific experience.
Living Out the Exchanged Life
The journey from head knowledge to heart assurance is a daily walk of faith, trust, and dependence. Like the priests who stepped into the Jordan by faith, we trust that God will part the waters before us as we step out by faith (Joshua 3:13-16). As we abide in Christ, we experience the truth of Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
A Prayer of Surrender
Lord, thank You for uniting me with Christ in His death and resurrection. I acknowledge the futility of relying on my flesh and self-effort. I choose to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to You, trusting You to live Your life through me. May Your Spirit illuminate the truths of my identity and empower me to walk in Your abundant life. Amen.
A Final Thought
Dr. John Woodward reminds us that abundant living is not about striving, but surrendering. As we appropriate Christ as Life, we experience the freedom, joy, and peace that come from living out our spiritual union with Him. Let us step forward by faith, trusting in the One who lives within us to be all that we need.