Discipleship
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In the New Testament we are shown a connection between salvation and discipleship that cannot be separated. So often the view of salvation is immediate while discipleship is taught as merely an option… I’m not talking about a salvation of works but salvation that produces a work of God! This of course is a topic of discussion that I have become very passionate about. Passionate though because it is very clearly a bible principle that is so often missed or maybe avoided all together.
I see discipleship as taking root with Lordship! The reason that I believe it is lacking is because being a disciple requires me to give up me and follow Christ, it requires me to give up maybe my dreams and follow Christ. Here is a simple Bible truth, I cannot be a disciple while I cling on to my life… With a lack of discipleship, we substitute the void left with something else.
Read: Luke 14:25-35
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
So how are we to know?
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
What does love look like? In a world that is entirely confused, love is taught to be an emotion or a feeling. Love is nothing more than in inward passion without any basis of intelligent thought or discernment and therefore it is without any moral obligation. It is why love is a word that is tossed around to the point where the meaning in the world today has become meaningless.
Our Lord gave us the measure by which we can test our love for Him.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
By this we see that the proof of our love for Christ is removed from feelings or emotions and is placed into the field of practical obedience. A study of the New Testament on this topic would teach this same truth time and time again!
So then, is this thing of discipleship and lordship wrapped up in just doing?
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
I call this legalism, (it could go by other names) but whatever you call it, it is a terrible thing. It is a life lived by the letter and not at all by the Spirit...
It constantly fails to see the inward intent of the words of Christ, and only calls for the external compliance of those words.
And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
So focused on the letter, that they actually missed the Lord altogether.
The Pharisees were people of “great” religious status...
This legalistic approach to discipleship produces a life that reads the Scriptures daily, involved in religious activities, attends church regularly, and carries out all common Christian duties, and these are good things… If fails however in the aspect of Christ’s lordship over our life, and the required crucifixion of the natural man. It is the attempt of building very holy temples on a foundation of shifting religious sand…
Us being the seed of Adam, carries more weight then just the obvious aspect of sinfulness. After Adam sinned he made clothing from leaves. Do you know what made it insufficient? Think out of the box, we are not required to wear animal clothing to cover our nakedness, nor would it be a command going forward… It was insufficient because it was a work done entirely with the hands and power of a sinful man. Adam failed in the are of lordship. So quickly I jump in to do when I should be throwing myself at the feet of my Saviour and seeking Him for what I should do… Another aspect in which Adam failed in the area of lordship, Here is the big one, he never denied himself… Even when confronted by God, rather than take responsibility for his own sinful actions, that he indulged in and enjoyed for the season, he blamed provision of God. It was the women which thou gavest me…
Christ and Christianity is not a project, to be promoted and worked on… He is the Lord to be obeyed.
Working for Christ is not doing what I want to do for Him and however I want to do it...
The what and how of Christian service can only come through the commands of a holy and sovereign God! It isn’t about being busy, or thinking up new ideas…
Imagine an army of men running out into battle without being sent or commanded…
This is a big study, it is a deep study, and it is a needful study!
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
How do we avoid this snare of unauthorized substitution?
We dig into a careful and prayerful study of the lordship of Christ and the discipleship of the believer.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.