Free Bible study on Christian growth

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple—Luke 14:26

As we consider this passage, let us remember that Jesus is making reference to our coming to him spiritually with a willingness to submit to his authority and his authority only. If we are going to be a disciple of Jesus we must love him more than anything in this world whether it be parents, spouses, children, siblings, personal comforts, possessions or anything else that we have a tendency to pursue or surround ourselves with in this life. If we are not willing to submit totally, completely without reservation to him, then there is no way for us to be his disciple (Acts 4:12, Col. 3:17, 2 Thess. 1:7-9, 2 John 9).

I sometimes find myself wondering if perhaps many are the people who have come to think of discipleship as consisting of only two things: baptism and attending one worship service on Sunday morning. Certainly without a doubt, baptism and church attendance are a “must do” 1 Pet. 3:27, Heb. 10:25) but my friends they are not an “only do”. We need to be concerned with words found in the bible such as:

                   1.  Grow          1 Pet. 2:2    2 Pet. 3:18    Heb. 5:12-14    2 Tim. 2:15

                   2.  Work          Titus 3:1   1 Cor. 11:57   Gal. 6:10   Phil 2:12

                   3.  Purity          1 Tim. 5:22   2 Tim. 2:22    Matt. 5:8

                   4.  Love           Mark 12:30   1 Pet. 1:22

                   5.  Affections    Col. 3:1-2   Matt. 6:33   Matt. 6:19-21   1 John 2:15-17

                   6.  Seek           1 Pet. 3:11  Heb. 13:14  1 Cor. 14:12  Matt. 6:33

                   7.  Add                        2 Pet. 1:5-8   Prov. 30:6

                  

As disciples we need to be concerned about passages such as Romans 12:1-21 and Ephesians 4:14-32. I do not believe that we have come to the folly of teaching “baptism only” and/or “church only”  but I fear that far too many people have come to accept that practice as the badge of their discipleship.

We are living in a world in which sin is often winked at, worldliness is an accepted way of life, love of popularity is  strong, and the goal of many seems to be that of attracting men and women to be disciples of Jesus Christ through a remodeling of his gospel and thus modernize the church. All of this has only led to compromising attitudes toward doctrine and morality that do nothing more than make void the Lord’s requirements for being his disciple.

 The truth of God is fixed, unalterable and unchangeable. May we ever stand firm on that truth and be disciples indeed. To God be the glory forever and ever—Amen.

Charles Hicks