Making Disciples 2

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19,20—NIV)

To be one in faith is not referring to agreement in points of theology. Such agreement is relatively worthless in the Kingdom of God.

To be one in faith means that both of us have learned to look to the Lord Jesus for every detail of life. When two Christians are at the same level of looking to Jesus and interacting with Him they have a wonderful unity of spirit.

Whenever two Christians are not in agreement it is because one or the other or both are living according to their fleshly mind.

To come to the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God is to attain the same level of iron righteousness and integrity, of fiery holiness, and of stern obedience to the Father that is true of mature Christians.

When we have come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, then we are mature as measured by the full stature of Christ.

To disciple an individual is to teach him or her to keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles so he may come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to a perfect man, a perfect member of the Body of Christ.

Such perfection and maturity is impossible to us but it is ordained by the Lord God of Heaven. It shall come to pass in all of us, according to the Word of God.

Each gift and ministry of the Body of Christ is for the purpose of helping the disciple become like his Master. When he becomes like his Master he then is able to disciple other believers, helping them learn the righteous ways of the Lord.

When we come to the full stature of Christ we then can meet the need God has for an eternal abode, and also the need mankind has for a witness, and later for a deliverer, ruler, and priest. The ultimate role of each member of Christ, Head and Body, is to fulfill the needs of God and man.

Today we have three problems as far as teaching people and making them disciples of Jesus.

First, the incorrect understanding of the Apostle Paul has led us to believe that it is not necessary to keep the commandments of Christ. We think that Paul meant we are saved by believing that Jesus is Christ and how we behave is not critically important. You can never make a disciple with this kind of understanding.

This would be like a master carpenter saying all you have to do to be my disciple is to believe that I am a master carpenter. There is nothing you have to learn about the trade of carpentry. How ridiculous!

Think about this. Suppose in early times a young man was brought to a master printer, or perhaps he decided to come on his own. He was applying to be an apprentice (apprentice and disciple are the same thing). Let us say the master printer agreed to take on another apprentice.

Continued.Making Disciples 3