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Feb 20, 2024

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Discussion Thread: Characteristics of a Follower Synthesize the readings from the Dempsey & Earley and Putman et al. textbooks and give 3 characteristics of a follower of Jesus Christ. Create your own definition of a follower of Jesus; use Scripture to support your definition. A disciple is a follower of Jesus Christ who is willing to commit their life to Him no matter what, fully committed to his holy will, love everyone as he loves and share God’s all-powerful love to everyone. Thus, discipleship is doing the work of Jesus Chris and primarily winning souls for the Kingdom of God. One must maintain positive characteristics to be a follower of Christ and the first and most important is to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. One must foster and have a relationship with Jesus Christ. A disciple of Christ will possess the gospel, with the fulfillment of God’s divine plan over everything. The passage let us when confessing our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, by putting our faith and trust in Him, we have become adherents of Christ. In the book of Roman 10:9-10, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 1 Verse 10 says, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” The book of Matthew 17:19-20, “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” (v20) He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. 2 Nothing will be impossible for you.” This scripture confirm a person of faith. Another characteristic of a follower of Christ is a person who puts Jesus Christ before everything. In Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters - yes, even their own life - such a person cannot be my disciple. 3 ” The passage is entirety clear of the characteristics of followers of Christ or a disciple who takes Jesus’ words sincerely: Matthew 28: 19-20 clearly says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 4 According to authors, Dempsey and Earley, we have to discern what it takes to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And we have to be fully obligated and give up the things that is of the world. “Being a disciple means undoing the effects of the world and pursuing Jesus.” 5 We have to give up the worldly things and are prepare to go where God leads us. In the book of Luke 14:26-27 explain the need and the atonement of a disciple. I tend to agree with the authors, Dempsey and Earley affirming, “We have to be prepared to sacrifice for Christ and his cost.” 6 Luke 14:27 let us know, “And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 7 In verse 27 telling us of the cost and the sacrifice associated with following Christ. We have to be 1 New International Version (NIV) 2 New International Version (NIV) 3 New International Version (NIV) 4 New International Version (NIV) 5 Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey. Disciple Making Is…: How to Live the Great Commission with Passion and Confidence. (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2013). 22. 6 Ibid, 7 New International Version (NIV)

ready to give up all things of the world and even our own life if necessary to be a good disciple of Jesus, to be totally committed and total surrender to God’s will. 8 It seem as if Putnam definitions were comparative to Dempsey and Early definition of a disciple of Christ. But Putnam had more clarity and directness than Dempsey and Earley. Putnam’s definition was easy enough to explain with scripture as his articulating of explaining what a disciple is, the book of Matthew 4:19 “He (Jesus) said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 9 Putnam share with us his framework and model for understanding discipleship by using three attributes to describe a disciple with three levels: “Follow Me”, “And I Will Make You” and “Fishers of Men.” 10 A true believer must accept who Jesus Christ and our Lord and Savior. The choice to follow Jesus Christ will not be easy but if we stand to learn and believe in the truthfulness of Christ Jesus. Jesus convert us to be better individuals and to be more like him and this conversion takes place within our hearts where the outcome is a spiritual response, with this we learn to be “fishers of men” by bringing souls to the savior by sharing the word and Jesus’s love for us that he died on the cross for all our sins. 11 8 Earley and Dempsey, 23. 9 Jim Putman, Bobby Harrington, and Robert E. Coleman. Disciple Shift: Five Steps That Help Your Church to Make Disciples Who Make Disciples. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013). 45. 10 New International Version (NIV) 11 Ibid, 46-47.

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