Tag Archives: passage

Supremacy

 

Jesus has supremacy – so what He says matters.

I have not looked at baptism for a while – baptism is the immersion of a believer to new life by faith.

 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. – Romans 6:3-7  ESV

This is a passage for those who want to follow Jesus and happens soon after repentance and declaration of faith.

Repentance is simple turning away from sin. A declaration of faith is publicly confessing your decision to follow Jesus. We start separated from God, and we end up loving and being in awe of Him. We start loving the things He loves and moving away from the things that do not glorify Him. So I ask God to forgive me every day and I ask Him to refresh the filling of the Holy Spirit. What has transformed me internally is expressed through baptism – I am, in baptism, buried with Christ and raised to walk in life as a new person.

By virtue of His power and grace, and because He is the Sovereign and my Saviour, I  become a disciple of Jesus and I make other disciples because that is what He has asked me to do.

The cross becomes another important passage for me. It keeps me being a disciple of Jesus. The cross is my message that as Christ died for me, I must die to myself.

 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23  ESV

It is a strong message and I am also aware this is not a hard thing because the essential truth of the resurrection comes with the cross. As I die to myself, I am equipped through grace to serve others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Follow me

 

Casting Crowns – Follow Me

 

The words “Follow Me…” is what discipleship is all about.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19  ESV

If we were to put a job description together so that a potential disciple or disciple-maker could see what they signed up for, I think these words would describe best what a committed relationship with Jesus looks like. Simply put, I am a person who has made a decision to follow Jesus with my head, am open to being changed by Jesus in my heart and am serving Jesus in mission with my hands.

“We point our people to the definition of a disciple found in the familiar passage
of Matthew 4:19. In this verse, Jesus gives an invitation to His future disciples, who are fishing at the time … we believe that this invitation describes the definition of a disciple and that to follow Jesus will mean a life change at the head, heart, and hands level of our beings.” – Jim Putman

I wrote about this as a guest writer in Sixty-six Books in a Year as a key building block in the life of a disciple and a disciple-maker.

David Platt goes further. He states we actually cannot be a person of such a mission unless we understand our identity as a disciple of Jesus. He believes there are six primary marks from this passage of scripture that identify a disciple – a transformed heart, a transformed mind, transformed affections, a transformed will, transformed relationships and a transformed purpose. Implication – every disciple should be aware of, depend on, and seek to grow in God’s transforming work of making us more like Christ.

When I really come to terms with this, I know it will change and continue to change my life completely. Becoming a disciple of Jesus, and I know it sounds so simple, is obeying His call to follow.

I think it is fair to say that it might be impossible to be a disciple of someone and not end up like that person.

 

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