A Theology of Habit
Each person practices habits in daily life. Habits formed, often under the influence of others, account for a large percentage of our behavior, sometimes estimated to be nearly seventy percent. They exert themselves unconsciously and instinctually from various cues, routines, and circumstances, saving our brains from working at full capacity for each activity. So, they are quietly powerful, controlling much of what one does and says.[1] Christians are no different, we are creatures just like other human beings. But Christians are set free from the power of sin and death by the work of Christ. Yet, we’re not set free from our creatureliness nor from a habitual nature. Christians, therefore, ought to be more self-conscious about the habits we practice; because habits tell forth in action what we believe and what we love.[2] Maturing in Christ, in part, means that in faith we offer our members for habits and practices that, by the Spirit, form holiness in us by faith (Rom. 6:12-14). We call this sanctification.
How else do we see the work of sanctification, if not in tangible habits and actions? James the Just, the half-brother of Jesus, discusses the habit of speech and the hypocrisy of speaking blessings and curses simultaneously (James 3:10). He argues that one cannot speak both blessing and curses because the words must be consistent with their source, namely, the heart. If the heart is, to keep with James’ analogy, a freshwater pond then the water of the mouth is sweet and a blessing. If the heart is salt water, then the words are bitter and a curse. But this whole system can be traced backwards too. If what comes out of the mouth is cursing––or curses with a sheepskin of blessing––then the true heart is revealed. Here’s the point we derive from James’ wisdom: habits reveal the heart, and the heart informs the habits.
As Protestants, we have trouble moving into the practical outworking of sanctification and habit formation. Why? It often feels like works righteousness. But this is only true if we neglect our theology and conflate justification and sanctification. So, let’s remember that those who profess Jesus Christ as their savior are justified by an act of God’s free grace received by faith alone (Rom. 3:24-25).[3] In God’s act of justification, salvation is guaranteed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14) and will never be lost (Isa. 55:11; John 10:28; Rom. 8:35; Phil. 1:6).
Our behavior and habits––while they tell the truth of our hearts at the present––do not determine our eternal destiny. Immature behavior in a Christian is possible in various seasons of life, often due to ignorance or indwelling sin.[4] Or in another case, those who profess faith in Christ later in life or on their death bed may not grow nearly as much as those who profess belief at an early age and live their whole lives as Christians, although the exceptions to this are always humbling to me. To put it clearly, our assurance of salvation and our justification rest on the finished work of Christ alone, not on anything we can do, even our habits.
Francis Schaeffer discusses the finished work of Christ as the foundation for our freedom from the bonds of sin in his important work, True Spirituality. As he establishes this foundation, he writes that Christ’s “…physical resurrection is the proof of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, proof that the work is really done, that nothing need be added to his glorious substitutionary work for our justification.”[5] Later, Schaeffer reminds us again that any growth or maturity “rests upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, not upon ourselves, not in ourselves…if there is any real victory in my life, it must not be thought of as my victory or my perfection…it is always Christ’s victory.”[6]
Upon the finished work of Christ, Christians are called toward “active passivity.”[7] We “raise the empty hands of faith moment by moment and accept the gift” of new life in Christ, as Schaeffer puts it, because Christ has overcome the world, not us.[8] After the act of justification, we are then worked on to grow in godliness by a work of the Spirit through faith, which is sanctification.[9] Growth in holiness is in one sense active and in another sense passive. We are active in the sense that we follow the imperatives of scripture dutifully and expect them to bless us, only through the grace of God in Jesus (e.g. 1 Cor. 6:18; Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Peter 3:1; James 1:22). We are passive in the sense that all these good works only come from Jesus Christ, received by faith alone and as we walk by faith in him (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 2:20).
Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12-13 help us on this very point: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We are called to actively “work out” our faith. The Greek word here, katergazesthe (κατεργάζεσθε), is in the reflexive voice, meaning it is a verbal action we do to ourselves. This is the active part in our active passivity. Yet, notice what follows this. We “work out” our salvation (v. 12) because, paradoxically, God is ultimately the one working in us (v. 13). In other words, God desires to use our working for his purposes. Or again, our working is the instrument by which God does the actual work.
Electricity travels more easily along conductive lines. Cutting wood with the grain is far simpler than against the grain. Swimming in calm water is easier than in choppy water. It is the same with habits and the work of the Spirit. The Spirit is infinitely able to apply the benefits of Christ’s work to sinful people for their salvation. Of course, he is also able to work holiness in you even when you fight him. But we are instructed not to fight him, especially as redeemed Christians. We are called into a life where the Spirit’s work is more easily applied, seen, acted upon, and believed as we offer up our lives (Rom. 12:1-2). Right and godly habits, in the Christian life, help us grow more easily because we have submitted our habits to the work of Christ in us by faith. If we are routinely neglecting worship on Sundays, fellowshipping with other believers, and prayer, the ministry of the word in our lives is short-changed, not that God cannot do something miraculous. But, if we practice these Biblically commanded habits, we can expect that the Spirit will use them over the course of time to convict, convince, and persuade us in the way of Christ (Rom. 10:14).
Right and godly habits are not always comfortable, though. We submit to the work of God in us by denying ourselves, like Christ (Mark 8:34). Habits that constrict us, bind us, or encourage difficult resistance against sinful patterns are often where we should be in the Christian life.[10] Saying no to the “dominance of things and of self”[11] can only derive from the cross-shaped work of Christ in our lives, it certainly does not come from any habit or maxim in our world. Schaeffer warns that “…there are splinters in the Christian’s cross as we are surrounded in this present life by an atmosphere alien to the kingdom of God.”[12] Even the desire to orient your habits toward righteousness will be painful at times because we live in a fallen world that is not conducive to that work. It will always cost you something. But we do this by faith in the work of Christ alone, which gives hope and joy during trial.
Why should we focus on habits? Habits reveal what we live for. They tell us what really matters to us. Do we know God? If so, we will keep his commandments (1 John 2:3). Do we love Christ? Then we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). Habits do not save, but they do reveal the life of the heart. So, Christians should not shy away from habit formation but lean into it with a right theological perspective, that God may use it to fight against remaining sin in us, maturing his blood-bought people after the image of his Son by faith.
Adapted from the Spring 2025 course Christian Ethics taught at Westminster School at Oak Mountain by the author.
[1] See Justin Whitmel Earley, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, expanded edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2023), 1-10.
[2] James K.A. Smith’s various projects direct us to see the liturgies we practice as forming what we love. Augustine of Hippo, seemingly one of Smith’s main influences, also called us to practice ordo amoris, or “rightly ordered loves,” in several of his chief works.
[3] See WSC, 33.
[4] See WCF, 17.3.
[5] Francis A. Schaeffer, True Spirituality: How to Live for Jesus Moment by Moment (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2011), 33.
[6] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 85, italics original.
[7] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 52.
[8] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 86.
[9] See WSC, 35.
[10] Earley, The Common Rule, 28.
[11] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 16.
[12] Schaeffer, True Spirituality, 24.
