LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

Writing Assignment 1 – Christ in Discipleship

Submitted to Dr. Buddy R. Lowman, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course

DSMN 500-D11
Discipleship Ministries

by

10/27/201

INTRODUCTION

Christ is the central person in Christian discipleship. Without Christ, Christianity would not exist and there would be no followers of Christ. To be true followers of Christ, believers must be willing to learn of the ways and teachings of Christ. Christ is central to Christian discipleship because He is the teacher of His disciples. Through the Holy Spirit and Word of God, Jesus Christ calls His disciples to Him and then
Disciples of Christ should put away all sin from their lives. They should not allow any type of sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, foolish talk or crude joking in their lives. They should put away all evil from their lives and submit to Christ in all areas of their lives (Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1995). Christians should submit to Christ by being obedient with their intelligence. We should find out what God’s will is for our lives and obey Him in this area. We should intend to know the will of God and submit to what God desires for our lives. It is important that followers of Christ report to God on a daily basis and ask Him what He wants them to do. Disciples of Christ should not be ignorant of God’s will. Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey: When we live and walk like Jesus, we bring glory to God.3 Christians must submit to God and set their hearts and minds to obey God and do His perfect will. It is crucial that followers of Christ submit their lives to Christ through immediate obedience. Disciples of Christ should never procrastinate in obeying God. When God speaks to our hearts and minds, we must immediately answer Him and obey His will. Our role as a disciple of Christ is not to reason whether or not the teachings of Jesus is correct, but to follow the commandments and commit ourselves to being obedient to God (Barna, George, 2001).
Three stages of discipleship
Early and Dempsey assert that three stages of discipleship are needed to help a