Translator

08 April 2023

The Active Life of a Disciple of Jesus

1. We must be born again in Christ Jesus


Jesus said that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit (John 3:1-8).  That is, we must be born again to live a new life with a new heart and a new Spirit.  And this new life is given to us by God the Father when we repent of our sins and turn to him, are baptized in water into His Son Jesus who died and rose again for the remission of our sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit in us will allow us to serve God and testify of Jesus everywhere for the rest of our lives.  (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 2:37-38; Acts 1:8)


2. We must personally worship and know God the Father and the Lord Jesus


Once we have been born again, we must then fulfill the first commandment to love God with all our hearts.  This means that we must dedicate ourselves to spending intimate moments of daily communion with God our Father and with Jesus our Lord, meditating on the divine Word and praying in tongues of the Holy Spirit.  God gave us his Word so that we can strengthen ourselves spiritually and renew our minds in order to know his truth and his perfect will recorded in the Bible.  He also gave us his Spirit so that we can be in his presence to praise him and pray without ceasing, understand his Word and put it into practice, and be filled with his power and compassion for our neighbor so that we can do what Jesus did.  (See John 4:23-24; Matthew 6:5-13; 11:28-30; John 1:3; Joshua 1:7-8; John 8:31-32; 15:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 1:19-21; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 14:1-4; Jude 1:20-21; Philippians 4:6-7)


3. We must witness and evangelize the lost, heal the sick, and make disciples 


God's desire is that we can fulfill his second commandment to love others.  This is accomplished when at every opportunity we tell others about our new life in Jesus Christ and what He did to save mankind.  We must faithfully proclaim to others the Good News of salvation from the power of sin and reconciliation with God through the sacrifice of Jesus, and also what God expects us to do accordingly.  We must also heal the sick out of compassion, and do good to our neighbor.  The goal is to make disciples of Jesus among those who hear the Gospel, repent of their sins and turn to God, believe the Good News, are baptized in water into Jesus, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (See John 4:31-38; Luke 10:1-20; Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)


4. We must organize house churches and live as a family


Once we have managed to make disciples, we must take care of them and train them for the active life of discipleship.  We need to organize a house church of active disciples who meet regularly to eat together, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, sing praises, share God's Word, pray together, and team up to faithfully and regularly go out and evangelize.  It is recommended and necessary that the disciples agree to live together in the same house to reduce expenses and live as a family in order to help each other, and also to invest more time and united effort to be able to regularly and effectively witness and evangelize two by two.  (See Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:18-21; Colosenses 3:15-16; Acts 1:12-14; 2:42-47)


5. We must organize new house churches to advance the kingdom of God everywhere


When the house church has built a number of approximately twelve active members, then the disciples should be willing to organize other house churches as they evangelize abroad and gain new disciples.  The goal is to multiply and reproduce quickly, and for house churches to be small groups and easy to operate, so that the kingdom advances everywhere under the guidance and power of the Word and Holy Spirit of God.  (See 2 Timothy 2:2; Acts 4:32; 1 Thessalonians 1:8-10)


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