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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Profile of A Disciple | John 8:31 | DocTrinsograce | 153875 | ||
Dear Dr. Aixen, You wrote, "You seem to have found a distinction between a saved person and a disciple." I don't find that in the Scriptures. Christ gave the profile of a disciple, and He was quite clear. Indeed, I don't believe we should point to anything less than the example of Christ Himself. If we do, people may get the impression that they have the choice to stop at some "level" and rest. Scripture gives no such option. However, I do see the sentiments you express in the modern church. Christ gave the church very clear instructions on the process we are to follow. He said to go, and we try to figure out how to get the lost to come to us. He said to teach them to obey all things He commanded, and we try to figure out how little one has to change one's life to just get into heaven. If we do not follow His process, is it any wonder we do not end up with the product (i.e., disciples who love and look like Christ)? Evangelism and discipleship cannot be separated from one another. Every one of us must be involved in being mentored and in mentoring. We should each be working as hard as we can on ourselves and one another so that we will be a the kind of church that will please Him at His coming. Work, for the night is coming when no man works! Don't be discouraged, brethren. We are under the aegis of the Father, we have been redeemed by the Son, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Take each characteristics of a disciple -- as I do myself -- and compare yourself to them. Then devise a plan, in prayer, to mend those areas that are lacking. Work, for the night is coming when no man works! In Him, Doc |
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2 | Profile of A Disciple | John 8:31 | Aixen7z4 | 153881 | ||
There is a gap between the ideal and the actual, my friend. That is one reason we have the epistles. Many of them review the process of salvation again, and then encourage us to follow on and grow. They point out that many have not grown, but have been stagnant or have even regressed in the way. When we might have gone on to be teachers, we are still babes, in need of milk, etc. Some of us are weak and sickly, etc. Clearly, we need help as we seek to follow. But we should not ignore the question: Have we started out at all, if we have not forsaken all, to follow him? In that condition, he said, we cannot be his disciples (Luke 14:27). It is one thing to describe an ideal disciple. But we must first see what a disciple is. There are some who respond to the call and follow. Some go away sorrowful. Some say they will follow and don’t. Some start out and falter. Some go away and return to the path after many years. Some try to serve both God and mammon, (Surely you know some) and Jesus says it can‘t be done. Some, far from forsaking all, feel they have inherited all, and they seek to possess it. Some are satisfied to be saved and do not want to grow or to do anything, and they will even tell you so. It is not a matter of being discouraged, my brother. It is rather a matter of recognizing reality so we can deal with it. It is a matter of recognizing who the disciples are so we can work with them, whether to mentor or otherwise encourage them. Surely you know there are cases, John 12:42 being one in point, where people believe but do not wish to openly or actively follow the Lord. It seems that their faith renders them saved while their reluctance to follow makes them not disciples. Yes, we are called to make disciples, but even as we see the ideal heights to which we want to take them, we also need a realistic view of what they are. We need clearly to identify what a disciple is. | ||||||
3 | Profile of A Disciple | John 8:31 | DocTrinsograce | 153897 | ||
Dear Dr. Aixen, John Gill writes on John 12:42, regarding the chief rulers who believed: "[They believed] that he was the Messiah, though they did not believe in Him in a spiritual and saving manner, as their Redeemer and Saviour, only in their minds, being convicted by His miracles, gave an assent unto Him, as the promised Messiah. The two persons just mentioned may be thought truly to have believed in Christ." Your suggestion that there can be half-way, uncomitted, marginal, or "stealth" Christians is contrary to Scripture. Furthermore, Christ was not an idealist Who set standards impossible to attain. He was thorougly and continually a realist. More than that, He gives FULL provision for His own to do what He has commanded. The Scripture is clear that to be saved is to be a disciple of Christ. Further, it is very clear as to what a disciple looks like. If you find yourself coming up short in that perfect mirror of the Word, let us strive today to be what we ought to be. After all, "by His divine power [He] hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." (2 Peter 1:3) He didn't even spare His own Son for this purpose? (Romans 8:32) Am I denying that growth in holiness is not a process? God forbid! Clearly it is a process! Clearly some are behind and some are ahead of us. My call is for us to stop watering down the standards, either for ourselves or for others! All we end up doing by such things is making the lost more comfortable in their lostness and hindering the process of sanctification in the rest of the body. Shame, shame, shame on us! In Him, Doc |
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