Christians have long engaged in the kind of spiritual activity described in the Bible with varying success. But why do followers of Jesus do the peculiar things we do? Why practice things like baptism, prayer, worship, and works of mercy? Timothy Tennent reminds us that the purpose of the means of grace is to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. We pray because, in praying, we become more like Jesus. We worship and we do works of mercy because Jesus modelled this consistently and perfectly.

Seeking Jesus through the means of grace helps us fulfil our vocation to become the image of God in our world—not by self-striving but by allowing Christ to be formed in us. The means of grace therefore enable us to fully claim our inheritance in Christ, through which we are sharers in the full rights as God’s children. They move us from being alienated from God to being reconciled to God and one another.