As strange as it may sound - JESUS NEVER ASKED ANYONE IF THEY WANTED TO BE A “CHRISTIAN”. Rather, His invitation can be wrapped up in 2 words: “FOLLOW ME” (Mt. 9:9). Those who followed and embraced His teaching were known as DISCIPLES. DISCIPLES devoted their lives to obeying the teaching of their Master and were commissioned to go and train others to live the same way (Mt. 28:19-20). Those who chose not to follow Him also had a name: they were known simply as “the CROWD”.
The move from CROWD to DISCIPLE entails at least 5 things:
R - Receive His Salvation
Every DISCIPLE must personally trust Jesus’ finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins. Each must believe that Christ’s sacrifice and not their own good works are the single path to salvation.
*for further study see: Jn. 1:11-12/3:16-18/Eph. 1:7/2:8-9/Rom. 10:9-10/1 Pet. 1:8-9
E - Enlist in His Body
Every DISCIPLE participates in Jesus’ church. The church (as defined by scripture) - is the community of God’s people who are committed to Jesus. Part of God’s plan for you is to be loved, taught, and served by His people and to reciprocate towards others. Over and over again Jesus emphasized to His DISCIPLES that “love” would be their distinguishing characteristic to the rest of the world ( John 13:35). He modeled this kind of loving community Himself by calling 12 disciples who might be “with Him” (Mk. 3:14). Church occurs where 2 or more gather in His name (Mt. 18:20).
*for further study see: Rom. 12:4-8/1 Jn. 3:14/Heb. 10:24-25/1 For. 12:12-27
A - Abide in His presence
When Jesus tried to describe the kind of relationship He wanted with His DISCIPLES, He used a metaphor in which He was a vine and each of His DISCIPLES were branches (John 15). He points out the branch’s complete reliance on the vine to produce fruit. If a branch gets disconnected from that vine- NO FRUIT ! Jesus wants intimacy with His DISCIPLES…a two-way conversation in which we listen to Him through studying His word, and He listens to us as we bring our prayers before Him. A DISCIPLE sees this “abiding” as the basic skill of discipleship- the FUNDAMENTAL of the Christian life.
*for further study see: Jn. 15:4-7/Jn. 8:31-32/Col. 3:16/Lk. 10:38-42/Acts 2:42/ Acts 6:4
C - Contribute to His cause
Following Jesus affects every area of a DISCIPLE’S life. This includes their wallet and their calendar! DISCIPLES give at least 10% of their incomes to Kingdom causes, and every DISCIPLE gives a sacrificial portion of their time to kingdom ministry - in an effort to proclaim the Gospel to all who need to hear it. Contributing to kingdom causes is how we show that we “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Mt. 6:33)
*for further study see: Prov. 3:9-10/Acts 2:45, 4:34-35/Mt. 28:19-20/1 Pet. 4:10-11/Acts 1:8
H - Heed His commands
Jesus was adamant- “if you love me, you will heed my commands” (Jn. 14:15), yet many Christians choose to stand in judgement over Jesus’ commands. They pick and choose those that they agree with, but they remain “lord” over the Bible - rather than humbly sitting under their Lord’s teachings. This means obeying- even when I don’t understand His commands. A DISCIPLE is under Jesus’ authority in every aspect of life.
*for further study see: Jn. 14:21/Mt. 7:21/Mt. 16:24-26/ Mt. 28:20/Rom. 6:16-18
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