7 ESSENTIALS OF BEING A CHRISTIAN

A QUICK GUIDE FOR

THE DISCIPLE-MAKING DISCIPLE

1.      REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION -          From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Mt 4:17

Before a person becomes a Christian, he or she is a sinner. What makes a person a Christian is that he or she believes with his or her heart that Jesus died for sinners to be forgiven and set free from the power of sin. He or she must then declare in the presence of other believers that Jesus is now his or her Lord forever, and that he or she will no longer live under the control of sin. Jesus told a parable in Luke 15:11-21 to show the importance of repentance and confession in becoming a child of God.

You may also want to commit Romans 10:9-10 to memory.

2.      WATER BAPTISM – “Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mt 28:19 (MKJV)

Water baptism follows every true repentance and confession. It is a further step we take to show our commitment to totally obey Christ. When we are put in the water, it is a sign that we have died with Christ to our sins, because Christ died for our sins. Every consequence of sin has therefore been settled with that death, and every sinful desire too is declared dead or not worthy of satisfying. When we are brought out of the water, it is a sign that we have been given a new and powerful life in Christ: we are no longer under condemnation, and we have power to overcome sin and live entirely for Christ. This experience is so important that Jesus, though sinless, allowed himself to be baptised to emphasise that all those who believe in Him must go through it (See Mt 3:13-17, Mk 16:16).

In Romans 6:2-11, Apostle Paul throws more light on the significance of water baptism.

3.      HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM    “And behold, I send the promise of My father on you. But you sit in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high” Lk 24:49

The Holy Spirit baptism is an overwhelming experience of the power of God working in those who believe in Jesus, to do the will of God. The Holy Spirit is God at work in making a sinner realize his or her sinfulness and giving new life to those who believe. His baptism is experienced when in waiting on God we become aware for the first time of His activity or manifestation (signs) in His supernatural gifts such as speaking new languages (tongues), prophesying, working of miracles, etc. Holy Spirit baptism experiences in the Bible were usually followed by speaking in tongues, although the manifestations or gifts differ from person to person. This experience is very important because, apart from being an additional sign of the believer’s new birth, it also helps the church to know which roles to assign mature Christians. 

The story of how the house of a Roman soldier experienced the Holy Spirit baptism is found in Acts 10:34-48, and in 1 Corinthians 12, Apostle Paul writes about different manifestations of the Holy Spirit. 

4.      WATCHING AND PRAYING - “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation.” Mt. 26:41

As children who look to their parents to supply their needs show appreciation when they are supplied and make humble requests when they need more, so must children of God watch and pray. We watch out for what God is doing and give Him the glory. We also watch out for what may threaten us and seek refuge or provision in Him. Through the new birth, a parent-children relationship is established between God and us, and He wants us to keep it active through prayer.  Prayer, however is as old as humanity, and therefore assumed different forms before Jesus came. Some of these forms are no longer useful to us, as children of God and we must not indulge in them. For example, our prayer must consider the following:

       i.          The death of Christ paved the way for us to come to God freely. We therefore do not need to offer sacrifices and gifts in the hope of facilitating God’s favour towards us. We just come as we are, in faith, and He hears us. (See Heb 10:19-22)

      ii.          God’s main purpose now is to save every sinner, not destroy them in their sin. We must therefore forgive and pray for those who sin against us, rather than seek their destruction in the manner that was done by even some people of God before Christ came (see Mt 5:43-45, 1 Pe 2:9 cf. Ps 69:27-29).

Jesus taught His disciples a new way to pray in Matthew 6:5-14, and James 4:1-3 draws attention to prayer that God will not answer.

5.      MAKING DISCIPLES           “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” Mt 28:19 (NKJV)

Jesus made disciples: People who walked with Him, learnt from Him, accepted and committed to His mission of saving the world from sin, and lived and worked like He did. He asked them to make disciples throughout the world when He was gone. They did. Their disciples also made disciples, and so has salvation been passed on through the ages until we also have been saved and made disciples. It is our duty now to make disciples. Jesus’s disciple-making practices had three main activities:

       i.          Intercession: He prayed for and taught His disciples to have compassion on sinners and pray for even those who offended them. He aslo prayed for the disciples in their times of weakness.(See Lk 23:34)

      ii.          Interaction: Jesus lived among sinners, and spent time with them, giving them opportunity to experience and be convicted by His excellent conduct. He also went everywhere with His disciples, doing almost everything with them. This gave them the opportunity to watch and learn from Him at first hand. (See Joh 4:4-27)

    iii.          Interpretation: Jesus taught both His disciples and unblievers how the Scriptures were pointing to Him. He also explained to them how believers ought to live because of their new nature in Him. (See Joh 5:39, Mt 5-7)

The entire story in Acts 10, of Peter moving from prayer to entering a home Jews consider unholy, to explaining the gospel to Cornelius’s household, illustrate the key principles of making disciples.

6.      LOVING ONE ANOTHER “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”        Jn 13:34

Jesus wants all those who believe in Him to be one, as parts of one body of which He is the Head. The oneness  of believers shows the Lord to world in a unique manner, because the love that makes that oneness possible is unlike any that unbelievers are capable of. The love of Christ made Him suffer for our salvation. The Holy Spirit has planted the same love in our hearts, and Jesus commands us to let it flow out to bind His body together and show the world that He lives in us. His loved showed consistently in the following ways:

       i.          Jesus was concerned for the welfare of all His disciples and was accessible to them all the time.

      ii.          He always spoke in their defence and never gave any of them up for public ridicule. (see Lk 5:33-34; 19:39-40)

    iii.          When they stepped out of line, he rebuked, corrected and restored them. (see Lk 9:54,55; 22:31, 32)

    iv.          He shared His mission and support resources with them, offering them the opportunity to earn great rewards. (Joh 14:3)

In 1 Corinthians 13 the nature of Christian love is described in detail.

7.      TAKING UP YOUR CROSS - Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.   Mt 16:24

To take up your cross is another way of saying to prepare to suffer even death in following in the steps of Jesus. Quite some time before He died, Jesus made His disciples aware that following Him would involve some serious suffering. They were therefore to make up their minds to go with Him all the way. Jesus suffered insults and rejection at the hands of His own people; He was handed over to the Romans, who denied Him justice, flogged Him and crucified Him. When the apostles preached in Jesus’ name, they were threatened with death and beaten. Some were even killed. In all these, they neither gave up nor fought back with weapons or curses. Rather, they prayed for strength to carry on with the commission in the full awareness that they exposed themselves to rejection and shame.  The apostles prepared for suffering in three major ways:

       i.          Mentally: They accepted that their faith in Jesus could demand up to their very lives any day. Paul, for example, declared, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”, (Php 1:21)

      ii.          Communally: When they were first threatened, they called up the other believers, shared their challenges and prayed together. (see Ac 4:23-31)

    iii.          Morally: They lived righteous lives all the time so that they could face persecution boldly, assured that they were suffering for no wrong done. (See 1Pe 4:15-16)

Paul outlines some of his sufferings for the gospel in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33.