The content of the Great Commission...

— 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

God’s call to manhood includes the fulfillment of the Great Command to make disciples of Jesus Christ. This is done by

The delegated authority of God and...

This is done by the delegated authority of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

The empowerment of the Holy Spirit...

Discipleship is shepherding people towards a submissive faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and training them to walk in daily obedience to His Word (v20).

Look at these words from Jesus: — A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.

We see many professing “Christians” that are

Weak

Self-indulgent

Superficial

Concluding that much of the evangelical church has not been thoroughly discipled by Christ (through believers) but discipled by its culture around us!

This is solve by the church obeying the Great Commission to “make disciples” to teach Christians to obey everything Christ commanded.

Obedience to Christ is the very heart of the content of our marching orders. And obedience is the product we are called to reproduce!

So let’s define two terms: disciple and discipleship

What is a disciple?

The Great Command at the end of Matthew’s Gospel contains one main action: “make disciples” of Jesus Christ (28:18–20). But what is a disciple? A disciple (mathetes) is “one who follows one’s teaching … not only a pupil, but an adherent.”

This is probably why F. Wilbur Gingrich chose the word “apprentice.” Therefore, a disciple of Jesus Christ is not merely one who confesses Christ, though that certainly is true (), but one who intentionally attaches him- or herself to Him and adheres, or submits, to His commands as the new standard for living, and consequently becomes like Him. There can be no doubt that this is exactly what Jesus means in .

In the ancient world a “disciple” was a person who became totally disciplined to the life of his master-teacher. He shared the master’s life-message as well as his didactic message. Jesus required His disciples to abide in His word (), meaning they were not only to listen to His message, but to adopt it as their way of life.

To the ancient Greek the disciple was bound to his master by the ideas of the teacher, whereas, to the Jewish disciple, he was bound to the rabbi by his knowledge of the law (Torah). In contrast to both, Jesus (cf. ) bound His disciples to Himself!…

Since it is Christ who decides who will enter discipleship, it is also He who lays down the conditions for discipleship. They obey His words because of their commitment to Him personally and renounce all material comforts which may hinder their allegiance to Him () … A “disciple” (mathetes) is synonymous with a “servant” of Christ.

Thus, a disciple has bonded himself willingly to the Master-Teacher for a lifetime relationship … The disciple does not attempt to make Christ his Lord through a lifelong struggle. Christ is already his Lord, and he must learn to obey Him as such.

A disciple of Jesus Christ is one who is committed to a lifelong process of growing in obedience to his Master’s commands and, by doing so, becomes like Him.

What is discipleship?

Jesus’ command to His followers was nothing short of a mission of spiritual reproduction. The verb form of mathetes means “to instruct with the purpose of making a disciple.

The task of the church is to lead others not merely to acknowledge the Son of God as having come in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (though that is an essential point in a doctrinal system that is truly biblical; see ), but to lead them to become submissive Christ-followers who are willing, by faith, to live and die for Him and for His message.