Page 81 - Principles for Discipling Others-Student textbook

Study Section 16: Several Principles of Discipleship

16.1 Connect.

Paul, in Galatians 4:12, told the churches in Galatia (central Turkey today) that we wanted
them to grow up in Christ and become just like he was. Paul put himself up as the example
of what a believer should be like when they are mature in Christ. And in Romans 15:18 Paul
declared that He would not teach others anything that had not been accomplished in his life.
Looks like a person who disciples others has to qualify to do so by what God has achieved in
his life. In other words, you can’t teach someone else something that you don’t know
yourself!

Are you a person qualified to disciple others? Can you tell others, “Be like me, as I am like Christ?”
There is a saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” The person saying that has no real authority to demand
others to live in a way that he is not willing to live. Today we want to look into this truth further….

16.2 Objectives:

1. We will learn five principles of discipleship from Colossians 1:28-29 which will help us
become more effective in discipling others.

2. We then want to look as some important summarizing thoughts concerning discipleship.

16.3 Five Principles of Discipleship from Colossians 1:28-29 by Ali Zimmerman
(https://downlineministries.com/5-principles-discipleship-colossians-128-29/)

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” The command is as clear as day. Yet our
understanding of how to live out the command is often foggy.

Since becoming a Christian, I have lived in four different cities, and I have been involved in
numerous discipleship movements. Each of these sought to live out Jesus’s words above, but
each of them modeled discipleship in a different way. I have learned that there is not a cookie-cutter
approach to discipleship laid out for us in Scripture. The process should look unique to each of us,
depending on our strengths, our context, and our training. However, as we determine how to make
disciples in our unique situations, there are principles and examples throughout Scripture that we must
be careful to adhere to.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes two brief sentences from which I have drawn five fundamental
principles of discipleship. No matter how narrow or broad our definition of discipleship, we mustn’t
swerve from these principles.

In Colossians 1:28-29, Paul writes, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all
wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that
He powerfully works within me.”

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