Follow, grow, and become conformed

Meaning

Following, growing and becoming conformed describe the life consequent upon spiritual rebirth. Christians, called Christ’s brothers and sisters, should increase in humility and Christian virtues and be made like his body. The direction is towards participation in his life and glory, not independent mastery of a moral technique.

The final sentence explicitly denies that this following comes from human worthiness, merit or self-will. It comes solely through the Holy Spirit, active in baptismal regeneration. The English preserves both the obligation to follow and the denial of self-generated spiritual ability. Omitting either would turn the passage into either effortless passivity or a doctrine of earned regeneration, neither of which represents its argument.