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What About Discipleship?

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What to do AFTER salvation
Discipleship is the term used to describe one's growth as a Christian believer after salvation.  It is distinct from salvation in that while salvation specifically denies association with works, discipleship is all about works.
 
However, it's not what you may think.  To understand what discipleship is all about we must first examine how God created you.
 
How you were created

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You were created by God as a being with three distinct components.  They are as follows:
BODY:  This is the flesh and blood portion with which we are all familiar.  You share this aspect of your creation with animals. It is your body that carries out your actions, thoughts and intents.
LOWER MIND:  This is the home for the soul and the sin nature.  The soul is that part of you from which are derived feelings (or emotions) and instinctive behavior. Yes, animals were also created with a soul. 
The lower mind is also home for the sin nature. The sin nature was inherited from your father all the way back to Adam (after the fall of man). Consequently, animals have no sin nature (their behavior being learned or instinctive).  The sin nature is a filter for all of the thoughts and intents of our heart.
UPPER MIND: Home for the human spirit. The human spirit is that portion of our mind that asks the questions like, "Why am I here" or "What is life all about."  It is that portion of you that seeks communion with God.  Animals do not have a spirit.
The upper mind is also home to the Holy Spirit after one is saved.  Prior to salvation, this portion of you was empty and available on a temporary basis for possession by Satan (or his minions). From this spot, Satan could influence you in a manner that would appeal to your sin nature to act as he desired. Once saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residence here and further possession is not possible.  Only outside influence by Satan is possible after salvation.
 
Why you behave the way you do
 

First, let’s define “sin.” Scripture describes the steps to sin in James chapter 1.

(1)    A person is enticed. Something that is appealing to a person’s unique sin nature (resident in their lower mind) catches their attention. [Not a sin, yet. Wait for it…]

(2)    Next, their sin nature conjures one or more sinful activities (mental or behavioral) related to the enticement and passes possible activities up where the upper mind may then dwell on the possible sinful actions related to that enticement. [Not a sin, yet. Wait for it…]

(3)    Then, the upper mind decides to break from the ongoing guidance of God provided through the indwelling Holy Spirit and embrace the sinful activity as a course of action. Once embraced (not yet performed, but only embraced), it becomes sin. The person has not yet engaged in the sinful activity, only embraced it as a course of action. THIS IS WHERE SIN HAS OCCURRED. It is not the embracing itself that defines the sin, but that the upper mind must deny God’s leading to embrace the sin.

(4)    The consequence of this going-your-own-way is a break in the on-going relationship/fellowship a believer enjoys with God. Not a break in the "positional" relationship—you are still a child of God destined to heaven, but a strain in the practical relationship not unlike that of a parent and child (a disobedient child, but still your child). This strained relationship is referenced in Rev.3:20, where God seeks to re-establish something the believer has interrupted.

Now, let’s describe “faith.” For the believer in this age, faith is also defined as the antithesis of sin (Rom.14:23). Just like sin:

(1)   We can discern that faith begins with a belief about something God has said (like the enticement in the sin process). 

(2)   After consideration, the belief is then personally embraced as a course of action—this is faith. Faith is not a verb, mind you; it is an internal embracing of a belief as a standard for later behavior. The behaviors result from the faith, but are not faith.

(3)   The result of this faith is spiritual life (and growth)—the opposite of spiritual death described as the consequence of sin in James 1. This is why it is said that one can be a believer, but weak in faith (Mat.8:26; Acts 14:22; Rom.12:6; 2Tim.1:5). They believe, but have not embraced the belief as the genesis for a behavior.

Can you see now how faith and sin are mirror images?

Now, a word about your old sin nature (OSN).  The OSN was inherited from Adam and—while not sin itself—is your autopilot toward sin. If left to itself, it will always tend to guide you toward sin. However, it is subservient to direction from the upper mind. That is why Scripture says that God will never allow you to be tempted beyond that which you can withstand. That is, the OSN is easily enticed and very good at recommending sin to the upper mind, but it is still the upper mind that must make the unencumbered decision to embrace the sin as a course of action . Both prior to and after salvation your sin nature acts to produce two kinds of mental or physical behavior (or works) as directed by the upper mind. One is human evil while the other is human good.  The evil output of the OSN is easily recognizable.  Human good is represented by those thoughts and actions that, while on the surface appear to be noble, true and righteous, but actually are self-directed. As self-directed, these thoughts and actions deny God's guidance and fall short of God's perfect holiness and, thus, are still deemed as sin. Recall that "holiness" means "set apart for God's use." Denying God's guidance to engage in a self-directed, apparent act of righteousness leaves God out of the equation and, therefore, must be sin. This is why all of our 'works' when we are unsaved—even the noble ones—are considered "filthy rags" to God (Isa.64:6).  All of these works by a less-than-holy human spirit are sin when compared to God's perfect holiness and guidance.

 

As an immediate consequence of salvation, each believer is permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the upper mind and effectively locks out "possession" by Satan or his minions. External Satanic influence is still possible, but the indwelling Holy Spirit never allows the external influence to force itself on you.  Remember, the Holy Spirit will never allow your OSN to be externally tempted beyond your capability to resist. [That's not to say, that you won't routinely give in far short of your capability to resist.]

 

Once on board, the Holy Spirit acts to provide an available (yet never forced) option to control by your human spirit. For someone who is saved, there is the option by the human spirit to yield to God's sovereignty and direction as provided by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Yielding to God—while probably not your first or natural inclination—allows the Holy Spirit to impose God's will through your human spirit to your lower mind and body so that the resulting 'work' or effort produced is divine good. Or, one could elect never to yield control to the indwelling Holy Spirit and, thus, never produce any divine good. 

How to get and stay in fellowship

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As a saved individual, how does one 'yield' to control by God?  Beginning at point 1, this is enabled by the desire to confess your known sin(s) to God (1Jn.1:8-9).  Now, as we have seen above, it's not the actual confession that restores the fellowship, but the belief that was embraced (faith) that led you to confess that actually restores the practical relationship. This places you back into fellowship with God (via the indwelling Holy Spirit)—sometimes referred to as "walking in faith" or "guided by the Spirit" (as opposed to the flesh) (point 2). From this point forward, God can direct your behavior toward the production of divine good (DG) by working through you to impact others (Rom.5:5) at a rate dependant with your individual faith. This continues until you break the fellowship again by electing to purposely ignore the Spirit’s guidance and commit a sin (point 3). At this stage (points 4-5), you are back to producing either human good (HG) or human evil (HE).  One could as easily replace the y-axis labels as "faith" and "sin" or "in-fellowship" and "out-of-fellowship." Practical fellowship with God is again restored by the faith that leads to confessing your known sin(s).
 
You can see from the illustration that there is no middle ground. The fruit of the believer is very dichotomous (2Tim.2:20-21).  One is either producing divine good (the product of divine guidance through faith), or, a combination of human good/evil (a product of the OSN and self-guidance). In Scripture, the faith that produces divine good is rewarded with "gold, silver, and precious stones" while human good/evil is rewarded with "wood, hay, and stubble."  Notice that there is no middle ground. There is no "polished brass," or "shiny quartz," etc. (1Cor.3).
 
You want to listen to God's guidance, but how will you know what God is leading you to do in a given situation? The usual method of discerning God's direction comes from recognizing that God has already provided you with much of that direction—Scripture. As you study God's Word, you will learn truths (beliefs) that (when embraced) will lead to a growing faith. This faith becomes a predisposition (or template) to Godly action.
 
What does it mean to grow in Christ?
 
The believer who is growing in Christ is asked to be Christ-like. This is only possible under the dichotomous view illustrated above.  We are Christ-like when we are in fellowship and are conduits for the production of divine good.  When we have sinned and fallen out of fellowship then our conduit is severed and all efforts are being produced in our own strength.  The expression "growing in Christ" is shown in the illustration by the increasing time spent in fellowship.
 
What are the results of becoming more Christ-like?
 
Grace is not a doctrine that is placed on a shelf after salvation. It is the means through which God enables us to grow each and every day.  As we spend time in fellowship (walk in faith) our faith becomes stronger resulting in an increased desire to remain in fellowship.  Thus, God is able to use us as instuments of His will for the production of divine good on a more frequent basis, as illustrated above.  We are never the producers of the divine good, mind you.  God performs the devine good while we are simply the yielded instrument. However, God pours out His grace on us as yielded instruments. Thus, your Christian "experience" is not really yours, but is God's experience shared with you as the "vessel unto honour."
 
Yes, there are future rewards for having yielded ourselves as vessels for God's use (see the study on Dispensations, particularly the Judgment Seat of Christ), but that's just the icing on the cake. God's daily grace is more than you can contain. It will fill you with contentment and spill out on everyone around you as fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) and as fruit of the vine (new believers).
 
SUMMARY
 
During your studies, please remember that as important as the correct doctrine can be in your walk with God (2 Tim. 2:15), you are not saved by the doctrine, but by the person and work of Jesus Christ.
 
Okay, that's it in a nutshell.  You may not be a shining example of Christianity (neither am I), but you know what it is really important and that is your on-going relationship with God.  That means your goal—your primary goal—in life is to focus on believing, seeking, and embracing God. If that process is in good shape, everything else will fall into place. Never focus on your efforts. Never focus on what others think. Focus only on your relationship and God will take care of the rest.
 
Imagine you are piloting a boat across the lake toward your destination. The boat produces a wake, but you do not steer by studying and trying to produce the perfect wake (religion, self-effort). To do so would invite a wreck because your focus is misdirected. Rather, as you seek God's face (pointing your craft in the right direction), He will draw you closer. His drawing will produce the motion. His drawing will result in a 'wake' of grace directed toward you that will abundantly overflow and impact others in and near your path as you go through life.
 
Folks, it's THAT wake that matters. And, it's the ONLY wake that matters. The one you have been diligently producing on your own may have required great effort and looked very impressive, but it has profited you nothing in the sight of God (Isa.64:6).
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