Normally, Paul uses the term brethren to refer to his fellow Christians. He never used the term disciples in his epistles, but just once he used the term believers to refer to the Christians of the church in Ephesus. The term believers, much like Christians, had apostolic approval. He is popularly known today as the Buddha and he was a philosopher and a religious leader who founded Buddhism.
So I believe that the Buddha once existed. But I am not a believer in the Buddha, for I do not believe in him; as in I do not call upon his name, nor pray to him, nor follow his teachings, nor consider him as my savior or God or teacher like how Buddhists do.
Would you call me a believer in Buddha? Certainly not. I also believe that for some time in the past, people like Muhammed, Nanak, Joseph Smith, etc. However, I am not a believer in them, for I do not believe in them nor follow their teachings. I have met a lot of people who admit that Jesus once existed and was a good and wise man, yet they do not acknowledge Him as their Savior, nor keep His word, nor call upon Him as Christians do.
Would you call such people believers in Jesus? I have also met people who even admit that Jesus is the Son of God, etc. This should not come as a surprise to you at all for even demons admit that Jesus is the Son of God Mark ; Mark Even Muslims believe in Jesus: they believe He is a prophet, a miracle worker, etc. However, we do not count them as believers in Jesus at all. It is because, they follow the ways and teachings of Muhammed. Finally, a couple more slipped out into the anonymity of the night.
After a few moments of complete silence the soldiers closed and locked the door. We too are Christians, and we have learned to not trust anyone who is not willing to die for their faith.
But, there are a very few disciples of Christ among them. There are many Christians in Juniata and Mifflin counties. Jesus wants disciples. Jesus wants all his believers to become disciples.
Let us become the Disciples of Christ. And, let us help our friends and neighbors also to become the Disciples of Christ. Jude church, Mifflintown. This being Pastor Appreciation Month, we would like to give thanks. We have been a station church for 4 years, He will never force us. Jim Richards combines spirituality, energy medicine, scientific concepts and human intuition into a philosophical approach that aligns spirit, soul and body, resulting in incredible health, emotional, financial and spiritual breakthroughs.
Jim is a life coach, consultant, teacher and motivational trainer. Richards is an entrepreneur who has built several successful businesses ranging from contracting to real estate to marketing.
As a national best-selling author, Dr. Richards has written several books that have sold several million copies around the world. Your email address will not be published. A person would follow and learn from a master teacher or craftsman in order to become like him and do what he did Matt ; Luke Second, he watches the master perform the action.
Fourth, he is able to perform the action on his own, and starts teaching it to others. A student who never progressed past the classroom would not be considered successful. While learning was important, putting into practice what had been learned was the most important.
A true disciple not only learns what the teacher knows, but also practices what the teacher does cf. Luke All of this means, of course, that true discipleship is a lifelong process, especially when we think of being a disciple of Jesus.
Since no person can ever fully learn everything Jesus has to teach, and no person can ever fully resemble and practice everything that Jesus leads us to do, all who are disciples of Jesus will spend their entire lives learning from Jesus and following in His footsteps. Since this is so, is should be immediately obvious that there are major differences between believing in Jesus for eternal life and being a disciple of Jesus.
For example, once a person receives eternal life through faith in Jesus, they have eternal life forever. They receive the free gift of eternal life immediately upon believing in Jesus, and nothing they can say or do in the future will cause God to take away this eternal life from them.
Discipleship, however, is not instantaneous, is not a free gift of God, and has numerous ongoing conditions. While a person cannot lose their eternal life, they can stop being a disciple if they fail to meet the conditions.
Therefore, as you can see, it is possible to believe in Jesus for eternal life, but fail in several aspects of discipleship. Such a person is still part of the family of God, but they are not properly participating in the activities of the family of God. God will not kick them out of His family for such inactivity, but will continue to seek to teach, train, call, and maybe even discipline these children so that they will grow up from infancy and become productive members of His family.
Just as it is quite possible for someone to believe in Jesus, but not become a fully-committed follower of Jesus, it is also possible for someone to follow Jesus as a disciple, but never actually believe in Him for eternal life.
Judas Iscariot might be one example, but there are other examples in the Gospel accounts, such as those who follow Jesus for a while, but then leave Him when the going gets tough cf. John 6. Even in modern times, we all know people who consider Jesus to be a good moral teacher, and try to follow His example and teaching, and yet who still believe that their own good works and moral living is how they will earn eternal life for themselves.
Such people are certainly disciples of Jesus, for they listen to much of what He says and follow His example, but they do not have eternal life because they have not believed in Jesus for eternal life. Mahatma Gandhi repeatedly said that he did his best to follow the teachings and example of Jesus, especially what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. It is too bad we Christians do not follow the example of Gandhi in this regard!
However, as far as we know, Gandhi never believed one of the main things that Jesus taught, which is that God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus for it. Sadly, there are probably many who call themselves Christians who do their best to follow Jesus, and yet who have not believed in Jesus for eternal life but instead continue to trust in their own good works and effort to earn everlasting life for themselves.
If you want the full experience of the Christian life, you should not only believe in Jesus for eternal life, but also seek to follow Jesus in the path of discipleship. This way, you not only have eternal life from Jesus, but the abundant life with Jesus. You not only get to be part of the family of God, but also get to join in the thrilling adventures that God goes on with His active family members.
Matthew contains several more costly and difficult conditions for the person who would be a disciple of Jesus. In the previous context, Jesus said that His teachings would create division and strife between family members Matt Jesus says that if this happens, His disciples must choose to follow Him rather than stay committed to their family.
0コメント