The Essentials of Discipleship

The Essentials of Discipleship

Living Life Bible study progress – Today’s passage 《 1 Corinthians 4:9-21》

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The Essentials of Discipleship

  1. First thing that a discipler does is begets

  • You are the agent that God uses to give life to someone.

  • Be the human instruments through whom you beget people by the gospel. Just like how God uses Paul has a human instrument to preach the gospel, bringing people to salvation through the gospel.

  1. Secondly, loves

  • Love others as much that you open your heart wide to them, even though they don’t return that love.

  1. Admonishes (v14)

  • v14, the purpose is not to shame a person, but the purpose is to lead a person to righteousness, to lead a person to holiness, to lead a person to repentance and sanctification. 

  • When we find somebody in a sin, we pick them up and then we bear the burden, and we express our love, and we call them back with the love of Christ.

  1. Set a godly example, live a model life (v16)

  • Live an open life with no compromise so people can see the work of Christ in every aspect of your life. We need to be among the people, with the people, in and around the people so that they can look at and say, “I want to follow that life.”

  1. Teaches (v17)

  • Teach the Word of God. Don’t try and develop your own style of ministry, focus and teach the truth.

  1. Discipline (v18-21)

You beget children, you love them, you set an example, you admonish them, you teach them, and you discipline them. v17 sets it all in place: Paul has discipled Timothy when in the most serious situation he can send Timothy and know that he’s a duplicate of himself, and this is the joy of ministry. The point of ministry is to be as much like Christ as possible, not as individual as possible. 

 

We have a stewardship that needs to be poured out. We are to feed the flock of God, live an exemplary life, train them in ministry, edify them so they can grow to the fullness of the stature of Christ. The Great Commission – “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” Matthew 28:19.