Page 102 - Discipleship Ministries Student E-Book

He said this in the context of a warning to be careful whom you choose as your teacher, because if “the
blind lead the blind . . . they [will] both fall into a pit” (verse 39). So, if you want to be godly, find
teachers who are themselves godly.

The Bible also has warnings about hypocritical teaching (Matthew 23:3; Romans 2:21) and false teaching
(Acts 20:28–31; 1 Timothy 6:3–4). In fact, whole books of the Bible are devoted to countering false
teaching in the early church (2 Peter and Jude). “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1
John 4:1). The test for any teaching is whether or not it aligns with the teaching of Jesus and the
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apostles.
The Bible says that as a discipler and teacher, you have a grave responsibility to teach the truth of
Scriptures. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that
we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” You will be held responsible for what and how you
teach your disciple.

Stages of Spiritual Growth

Just as a human being matures from infancy to parenthood, so believers mature spiritually. And as
there are stages in life where certain characteristics are expressed, so also believers at various stages of
their spiritual growth demonstrate various characteristics which give us a clue where they are in their
spiritual maturation process. Here is a chart that explains that concept further.

36 https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-teaching.html (used by permission)

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