“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”—Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
Jesus commanded us to go outside of the safety and comfort of our church meetings and make disciples, but how do we do that?
The most common description of discipleship that I hear from Christian leaders today is “just do life together.”
Can that be it? Is that all there is to making disciples?
Gang members do life together, but they don’t seem to become models of Christian living.
Prisoners do life together. Some of them are *literally *serving life sentences together, but that usually only makes them into more hardened criminals.
There must be more to discipleship than “just doing life together.”
As with any issue, if we want to know the Truth, we have to search the Scriptures. We have to return to the Word of God.
Jesus repeatedly told us to replace the opinions of men with the Truth of God in our minds and in our hearts. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly addressed issues by saying, “You have heard this … but I tell you this … .”
So, if we want to know what discipleship is, we have to look at what the Bible says it is, and not rely on what we have heard from others.
On the subject of “just doing life together,” the Bible tells us that “One who walks with wise people will be wise, But a companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20 NASB)
So, there is more to it than just “doing life together.” If you choose wise men and women as your companions in life, then you will become wise yourself, but if the buddies you “do life with” are foolish, even if they are Christians, then that will only lead to trouble in your life. You will most likely not become a true disciple of Christ yourself, and you will have no idea how to make disciples of others.
“Doing life together” provides a good setting for discipleship to take place, but that alone does not produce Christian disciples.
To learn what it really means to make disciples, we have to go back to Jesus’ Great Commission and look closely at what He actually commanded us to do.
“Jesus came and told his disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. **Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. **And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”—Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)
That’s it! The commands that Jesus gave us are the basis for all true discipleship. We make disciples by teaching people to obey all of the commands that Jesus has given us in the Gospel accounts of His ministry. Jesus gave us the textbook. Now, it is our responsibility to teach this curriculum to others.
This is our goal. We know that we have accomplished our goal and made a disciple when we have taught a person to obey all of the commands that Jesus has given us.
Did you realize that this is one of the ways that you can improve your rank in the Kingdom of Heaven?
Jesus is very clear about this in His Sermon on the Mount:
“Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”—Matthew 5:19 (CEB)
The commands that Christ has given to us in the Gospel accounts of His ministry are the foundation of life, not just Christian life, but all of life. That was how Peter responded to Jesus when Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to leave Him.
“Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life.’”—John 6:68 (CEB)
Jesus’ commands are the central teaching of all of Scripture. Every other book of the New Testament is written to support and help us to understand these commands of Jesus. Every word of the law and prophets in the Old Testament is given to prepare us to receive the commands of Jesus. Jesus said this Himself.
“Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them.”—Matthew 5:17 (CEB)
“Do for other people the same things you want them to do for you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets.”—Matthew 7:12 (ICB)
Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) This is the first and most important commandment. And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) Everything that is written in the Law and the Prophets is based on these two commandments.”—Matthew 22:37-40 (NIRV)
Keeping the commandments of Jesus is the only way that a person can build his or her life on solid ground. Jesus Himself told us this at the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount:
“So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish (stupid) man who built his house on the sand.** **And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great and complete was its fall.”
“When Jesus had finished [speaking] these words [on the mountain], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one who had authority [to teach entirely of His own volition], and not as their scribes [who relied on others to confirm their authority].”—Matthew 7:24-29 (AMP)
How Do We Start?
Start by learning and obeying the commands of Christ yourself. Then you will be able to teach others from your own life experience. When you become a living example of the truth of Jesus’ commands, then you can teach others with authority that comes with life experience, and not just head knowledge.
When you truly live the commands of Christ, then your life itself will be a powerful teacher, instructing others by your living example. In fact, if your life does not exemplify the teachings of Christ, then it will not matter what you say. If your actions do not match what you say, then people will reject the hypocrisy of your words.
What Are the Commands of Christ?
All of the commands of Jesus can be found in the words that He spoke during His earthly ministry that we have recorded in the New Testament.
A young believer once came up to my pastor and said in an excited voice, “Pastor, I had a revelation! I feel like God told me to read the words in red!” That’s actually pretty good advice for all of us! The “words in red” are the words that Jesus spoke. It is these words that must become the solid foundation upon which we build our lives. Of course, all Scripture is profitable for us, and none of it should be neglected, but the commands of Christ are the foundation upon which everything else is built.
“All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]“—2 Timothy 3:16 (AMP)
One wise man has organized all of Jesus’ teachings into 49 general commands with 49 corresponding character qualities. This might be a great place for us to start as we also pursue our own personal study of Jesus’ commands in Scripture.
Resources based on these 49 general commands of Christ are available from Embassy University and the Institute in Basic Life Principles.
References:
IBLP Online Store: Commands of Christ. (n.d.). IBLP. https://store.iblp.org/commands-of-christ.html
Resources - Embassy University. (n.d.). Embassy University. https://embassy.university/resources
