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Christians and Salvation Overview - Discipleship Curriculum

Discipleship is a Lifelong Purposeful Concerted Effort to Become More and More Like Christ.

This website was created as a Discipleship Curriculum for Christians with special emphasis on obtaining Freedom from Spiritual Bondages.  It is designed to help Christians become and remain true disciples of Christ Jesus.  Why is this important?  Because Jesus himself says that discipleship is conditional.

Jesus never refers to His followers as Christians.  Jesus does refer to his true followers as disciples.  Therefore a true Christian must also be a disciple of Jesus Christ and true discipleship is conditional.  Christians need to be committed to being lifelong disciples of Christ because God is looking for children who will embrace a lifelong process of continually growing in maturity - the process of our sanctification (being made holy) in Christ.  We should be striving to continually become more and more Christ like, until the day we are called home - physical death but eternal spiritual life until the time our spirit is united with our new imperishable body in the physical resurrection.

What Jesus Says About Being His Disciple 

Luke 14:26 (ESV)
26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple [a true Christian].

He who wishes to follow Him must choose Him so unconditionally as Lord and Guide that he makes all other loyalties and ties absolutely subordinate to his loyalty and devotion to Him.  The Saviour, of course, does not mean that he who desires to follow Him must hate his parents and other loved ones as such, but certainly if loyalty to Him clashes with loyalty to them he is to treat his loved ones in this condition as though they are persons whom he hates. But even when he acts thus towards them for the sake of his absolute loyalty to Christ, he must continue to love them and all other people, in accordance with Christ's law of love.
Norval Geldenhuys. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. (Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), 398.

Luke 14:27 (ESV)
27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple [a true Christian].

Indeed, he who is not willing to die the most hideous death, by crucifixion, for the sake of his love and loyalty to Christ, cannot be His disciple. The general idea that these words of Jesus about "bearing the cross"  refer to passive submission to all kinds of afflictions, like disappointments, pain, sickness and grief that come upon man in this life, is totally wrong. The people to whom Jesus spoke those words fully realised that He meant thereby that whosoever desires to follow Him must be willing to hate his own life (verse 26) and even to be crucified by the Roman authorities for the sake of his fidelity to Him. So, in a wider sense this pronouncement of Jesus means that only that person who for the sake of His service surrenders all self-seeking and abandons all striving after his own interests can be His disciple.Norval Geldenhuys. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. (Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), 398.

Luke 14:33 (ESV)
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple [a true Christian].

Here the Saviour declares expressly what the indispensable requirement is for anyone who whishes to become a real disciple of His. He must relinquish all his possessions - not merely money and material things, but also his dear ones and everything that his heart clings to, yea, even his own life, his own desires, plans, ideals and interests. This does not mean he must sell all his possessions or give away all his money or desert his dear ones and become a hermit or beggar or wanderer, but it means that he must give Christ full control over his whole life with everything that hs is and all that he possesses, and that under His guidance and in His service he should deal with his possessions in a manner that is best. In some cases it has meant, or will mean, that a man will have to take leave of his worldly possessions and go into distant lands to work for Christ. In most cases, however, it means that man in his ordinary life places his all at Christ's disposal to such an extent that, while still remaining in possession of his goods, he honours and serves Him thereby.  The important thing is that whosoever desires to follow Him must be inwardly free from worldly-mindedness, covetousness and selfishness and wholly devoted to Him.Norval Geldenhuys. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. (Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), 398-399.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)

Instructions

The "Overview" tab is meant to be read in the order shown in the right side bar (or bottom of the page for mobile devices) because each page builds on the information from previous pages. Each page should be read and hopefully understood before proceeding to the next page. Most of the pages have a side bar menu on the right side of the page (or bottom of the page for mobile devices), like the one on this page with the title "More Overview Pages...", and "Next/Previous" page names at the bottom of the page just above the footer. Some pages have a "More..." button just above the "Next/Previous" navigation links that will take you to a more in depth discussion of the current subject.

First Stop...

The Children

 

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