Dwelling in Christ

From Transactional Faith to Transformational Life in Christ

Are you tired of feeling stuck in your faith? Do you long for real, lasting spiritual transformation that feels relational rather than formulaic?

Like many Christians, you may feel as if you're living in a cycle of fits and starts, seeking to grow closer to God but feeling disillusioned in your faith. In a culture of hustle and hurry, maybe you long to trade a transactional faith for a transformational relationship with God.

In Dwelling in Christ, Jonathan R. Bailey reintroduces the Threefold Way—an ancient, time-tested path of Christian spirituality. Moving beyond quick fixes and performance-based faith, this well-worn path offers a practical movement through three stages for growing in Christlikeness over a lifetime.

Discover anew how to walk the Threefold Way:



- Purgation: Learn to release the harmful and unloving things that pull you away from God.

- Illumination: Dwell more deeply in God's presence as you intentionally and gradually align your heart more and more with his.

- Union: Experience an ever-deepening friendship with God that increasingly transforms you into Christlikeness from the inside out.



Aided by the wisdom of ancient monastics, contemporary theologians, and thoughtful reflections on his own spiritual journey, Bailey invites you to trade the illusion of control for the reality of love. In continuity with spiritual voices such as Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, this book offers a hopeful and practical way of life through retrieving a framework reaching back into the earliest centuries of the church. With Dwelling in Christ, be free from chasing quick fixes and enter the steady, lifelong journey of becoming like Christ.



Jonathan R. Bailey is the cofounder of Dwell, an audio Bible app helping people rediscover the ancient practice of listening to Scripture. He writes Three Weekly Nights, a newsletter that helps readers participate more deeply in their transformation, and he also serves on the ministry team at Renovaré. Jonathan lives in Frisco, Texas, with his wife, Kori, and their three children.



1. From Walking the Aisle to Walking a Path: Awakening

Part 1: Purgation: From Performing for God to Participating with God



2. Abandoning Quick Fixes for a Long Journey: Training



3. Giving Up Certainty to Embrace Mystery: Affliction



4. Releasing Perfection for Progress: Temptation

Part 2: Illumination: From Trying to Be a Christian to Becoming like Christ



5. Replacing Inspiration with Intention: Rule of Life



6. Letting Go of Bargaining for Breathing: Prayer



7. Surrendering Pretense for Patience: Humility

Part 3: Union: From Religious Maturity to Relational Intimacy



8. Relinquishing the Need to Be Seen for the Gift of Seeing Others: Glory



9. Trading the Illusion of Control for the Reality of Love: Charity



10. From the Status of Arrival to the Joy of Endless Becoming: Ascent



Acknowledgments