Exploring Discipleship in the New Covenant

Announcement 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ . Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform . You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom . And now here's Lenny . Welcome back to the podcast everyone .

Melissa 0:25

Good morning , Welcome back to the podcast everyone . Good morning , welcome back .

Lenny 0:27

We are waking up to grace a little more each day and we are complete in Christ the whole way . That's pretty cool , isn't it ? Melissa ?

Melissa 0:34

It's so cool . It's something to look forward to every single day for the rest of our lives .

Lenny 0:39

Exactly . Christ is risen . His holy blood shed on the cross has brought those who believe into a perfect and unbreakable fellowship with our Lord . We're in union with him , salvation is secure and we've been reconciled by a sacrifice that was fully satisfying to God . Yeshua gave us the spirit of life . It was a gift it is ours to keep . We have eternal life within us right now . Our new life in Christ begins now , not later . Don't get lost in your sin and miss this amazing truth .

Melissa 1:12

Amen Instead get excited .

Lenny 1:15

Absolutely . Our focus now can be on the Lord and pleasing him . We don't have to sit here and ponder all the stuff that we need to be forgiven for , because we're forgiven creatures .

Melissa 1:26

It's a beautiful thing that is awesome .

Lenny 1:28

We can pray for God to shape us the way he wants to , for his will , but we don't have to worry about forgiveness .

Melissa 1:35

We do not . We've been given his grace and that defined , is a gift . It's unearned approval and acceptance .

Lenny 1:43

Absolutely . Forgiveness was in Christ . We have Christ in us . Therefore , forgiveness is in us . We are forgiven .

Melissa 1:52

These are some important facts to realize .

Lenny 1:56

Yeah , pretty cool .

Melissa 1:57

Every day .

Lenny 1:58

So lately we've been talking about apostles , haven't we ?

Melissa 2:01

Yes .

Lenny 2:02

When you think of apostle Melissa , what's the first thing that comes to your mind ?

Melissa 2:06

When I think of apostle , I can't help but think of disciple , and I found myself needing to be certain that I understood the difference between the two .

Lenny 2:15

The disciples were apostles and they kind of start to merge into one another . You're like well , what made them disciples ? What made them apostles ? When did they switch ? What's the difference ? Is the main thing that we need to define in order to understand any of those questions . We already went through apostleship recently and we were talking about what makes an apostle an apostle . What is an apostle ? And by definition , it's basically one sent out . The apostles were sent out on a specific mission . They were chosen for that mission and they completed it . Christ gave them . They were chosen for that mission and they completed it . Christ gave them everything they needed to fulfill that mission and they fulfilled it . So what's disciple ? If you were going to look it up in Webster's Melissa , I know that you probably did .

Melissa 2:57

I did . Often when I've heard other teachers or pastors describe what a disciple is , I hear them say it's one who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of another , and that is one of the definitions . But I find that the other definition I found tends to get left out , and that's a convinced adherent or follower , believer , advocate . So simply someone who's a convinced believer is a disciple , and that says a lot to me , especially when you're hearing someone say that a disciple is different than simply a believer .

Lenny 3:40

So what you're saying is , the first definition was basically somebody who's helping spread this new message , but then it can also mean just somebody who really believes in that message . Yeah , so that would essentially be more like believing rather than actually doing anything , and that is interesting . Most of the time , I hear the first one that you mentioned . Right , that's the most common view , and so when we ask the question that we're going to be asking in this episode can we be disciples we're going to have to factor that definition in . Can we be disciples according to that first definition ? Can we be disciples according to that second definition ? Can we be disciples at all ? We're going to be looking at that and , if we can , what are the qualifications ?

Melissa 4:25

Exciting .

Lenny 4:26

What are the qualifications of being a disciple ? And then what is the purpose ? We want to see what the Bible says . You could be a disciple of David Koresh . You could . He had disciples . They all died and he died . So it's a little bit different story when you're talking about somebody who defeated death ?

Lenny 4:47

It certainly is , and rose from the dead and gave us their spirit , and we read in scripture we will make our dwelling within them . What is this all about ? Are we disciples ? Can we be disciples ? When you look at disciple in scripture , you find that the word disciple is used around 250 times or so throughout our Bibles . Only a few times in the Old Testament it's even mentioned .

Melissa 5:12

Okay .

Lenny 5:13

So your ancient Hebrews ? They weren't really going around saying we need to be disciples . Most of the time that it's used is in the Gospels . Almost all of that . 250 is all in the Gospels , but there is around 25 or 30 times it's used in the Book of Acts .

Melissa 5:30

Okay .

Lenny 5:31

Keep that in mind . So you have the Gospels before the cross , and then you have the Book of Acts , which is actually a storyline of the Acts of the Apostles , never meant to be a written doctrine . It wasn't a letter to the church on how to live by the Spirit , for example .

Melissa 5:47

Right .

Lenny 5:47

It was Acts of the Apostles . It was a storyline of what they did . You can learn from it , but it was never meant to be an apostolic letter . Important to note . How many times do you think the word disciple is used in our letters from the apostles , in all the epistles ? How many times is the word disciple used in those in the writings of the apostles ?

Melissa 6:09

Well being that there's a discipleship doctrine out there in the churches today , it would seem that it would have to be quite a bit .

Lenny 6:17

You'd think it's got to be all over the place . Right , you're going to say at least it's got to be a handful of times .

Melissa 6:23

Paul would have had to have hammered it home .

Lenny 6:25

Yeah , he would have to have , but similar to the whole thing that we talk about with 1 John , where we're supposed to confess and ask for forgiveness , not mentioned in a single epistle . There's not one use of the word disciple in our epistles .

Melissa 6:41

That knocks my socks off .

Lenny 6:42

Not one hint at being a disciple or discipling people or making disciples of all nations .

Melissa 6:52

So where is this doctrine coming from then ?

Lenny 6:55

Well Yeshua used the word all the time . You see him using it all the time , and so I think that's the biggest argument that somebody would have . Well , Christ Yeshua uses the word all the time , and so I think that's the biggest argument that somebody would have . Well , Christ Yeshua uses the word all the time , so we have to honor that right .

Melissa 7:09

Right .

Lenny 7:09

But you hear that kind of lingo going on with people that don't understand before and after the cross as well . So you have the time before the cross and after the cross and you have to discern because Christ was under law , he was teaching law , he was fulfilling law . Discern because Christ was under law , he was teaching law , he was fulfilling law , and we have to be able to understand what was law and what was grace with what Christ said .

Melissa 7:31

We do , or we will be very confused .

Lenny 7:33

Yeah , so is discipling people . Grace is the question . So where does it come from ? Would this be more of a before the cross and resurrection or more of a grace teaching ? That's what we have to look at . That's what we have to figure out . Is there context in the fact that Yeshua used the word all the time for us under grace ? Okay , so what I see in scripture to paint a picture of what I see is that he was using the word disciple to sway people into the new covenant , because we never heard the word in the old covenant when they had the law . But then Christ came in with a new teaching , this new grace teaching that was going to fulfill the law and reveal a whole new view of the law , but also fulfill it . So essentially it was going to be a new doctrine .

Melissa 8:28

Yes .

Lenny 8:29

So you have a new doctrine being established for the new covenant age , and so the word disciple is going to be being used . So it doesn't surprise me that with a change of doctrine and establishment of a new covenant age , you're going to hear that word being used , right , right , what is the purpose of a disciple ? What is the purpose ? Do we need to make disciples of all nations ? You hear people say that . So that's one of the primary calls to action for discipleship doctrine Go and make disciples of all nations . Our Lord told us this . This is our mission . We got to go out . That means we got to go on a mission trip , maybe . So we got to go out into these nations and there's a lot of people that have that idea in their mind when they go out on missions trips all nations , right , right . You hear that . How do you think that applies to us today ?

Melissa 9:22

I think that if you feel called to go and serve in another country , serve somewhere other than right in your hometown , go for it . But I also believe that that particular mission was fulfilled by the disciples at that time .

Lenny 9:38

Yes , and specifically at Pentecost . Amen , at Pentecost is where that mission was at least begun and it would have been completed . And I'm going to talk about Pentecost , but at one point in Paul's letter he mentions that the gospel has reached the ends of the earth . He says it in a way that it's already happened .

Melissa 10:00

That was the race he was running .

Lenny 10:02

Yes .

Melissa 10:02

So once it reached the ends , his race had been finished , right yeah .

Lenny 10:06

Yeah , and it sounds like I don't know which exact point that he's referring to , but a lot of people say that at Pentecost this was fulfilled , Because if you look at Pentecost , that was when the Holy Spirit came upon everybody and other nations were hearing them in their language . It doesn't even say they were speaking another language . It says the other nations were around and heard them speaking in their languages . They were speaking and all these people were hearing it in their own languages . Amazing . But when you rewind back , Christ sent out the 12 and then he sent out the 72 .

Melissa 10:41

Yes .

Lenny 10:42

It's really the 70 , but that's a whole nother topic . So he sends out the 12 , he sends out the 70 . What was their mission ? They were apostles at that time for a message . The message was the kingdom of God is here . Messiah is here .

Melissa 10:56

Yes .

Lenny 10:56

But then what happened ? Cross happened , the resurrection happened , and then , at Penteentecost , all the nations , just by chance , happened to be , you know where they were gathering , and all of a sudden peter's standing up . He's declaring the gospel of the risen christ , the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the dead , a whole new addition to the gospel that they were spreading before . This was reaching all the nations because they were all there . And they all went home with that understanding .

Melissa 11:31

Because they all heard it in their own language .

Lenny 11:34

Yes .

Melissa 11:41

I want to just quickly note . Isn't that amazing that Peter was the one to speak and deliver that message because he had denied Christ three times and he was so sorrowful about it and then he got to be the one to make that declaration that's cool .

Lenny 11:54

Yeah , for sure .

Melissa 11:55

You know that Christ saved that special moment just for him .

Lenny 12:00

So you have the three passages . You have Acts 1.8 , mark 16.15 , matthew 28 , and they all read a little bit differently . But the one that uses the word disciple says Go therefore and make disciples of all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit . This was right before Pentecost . Then Pentecost happened . You see Christ making a command to them which he fulfilled in them .

Lenny 12:28

How hard did they have to work at that , think about that . So he's telling them go out and do this . You know they're listening . He tells them where to go and they're there , they're present . And then the Spirit comes with tongues of fire representing God's presence . And then , all of a sudden , they're preaching the gospel and all the nations had been scattered at Babel with different languages , were hearing in one language . Talk about a sign and wonder .

Melissa 12:55

No kidding .

Lenny 12:57

I think that kind of answers the question of what is the purpose of the disciple , doesn't it ?

Melissa 13:03

Yeah , it does . What was their ?

Lenny 13:04

purpose , fulfill the command of Christ .

Melissa 13:06

And that happened .

Lenny 13:08

Yeah .

Melissa 13:08

So yeah .

Lenny 13:10

But what was their purpose of being disciples all that time ? It was learning , being taught by Christ , and how much of that did they really retain until the Spirit was given to them is the question .

Melissa 13:22

Well , Scripture shows us that they didn't understand most of what christ was saying yeah the whole time , those three years , they were living with him night and day , walking on the earth .

Lenny 13:33

They didn't understand what he was saying yeah , there's a handful of passages , one of them specifically saying that the truth was hidden from them and they didn't understand it because they haven't been given the spirit Right . You know , they're walking around , following him around , he's teaching them . So I guess , my point being , what did they do to become disciples ? And even more so , the next question I'm going to ask is can we be disciples by our own choice or our own works ? Can we just say I'm going to be a disciple or I'm a disciple ? If we were going to say I'm going to be a disciple , then we're going to talk about the discipleship doctrine , because that tells you salvation is here , but then discipleship is how you achieve holiness , that's how you achieve fellowship , that's how you basically love god in return for his love , kind of thing he'll be your friend he'll be your friend .

Melissa 14:28

He won't turn on you this is according to discipleship doctor yeah , that's not me saying this .

Lenny 14:34

So can we be disciples by our own choice or our own works ? I'm gonna spoil this . We can't . We can't choose to become disciples , can we ? No , we cannot okay , and we're going to get more into that , but I want to see what scripture says let's go for it so let's see if we can support that view in scripture all right if we can't become a disciple by our own works , then discipleship doctrine doesn't even apply anymore , does it ?

The Cost of Being a Disciple

Melissa 15:05

No .

Lenny 15:05

Because that doctrine , as we're going to speak about , is all based on works . It's based on our works making us holy . So if we can prove that you can't even become a disciple by your own works , then we can prove that discipleship doctrine is false .

Melissa 15:21

Is it our works making us holy that they're saying , or just our works making us obedient ?

Lenny 15:29

I've heard the word holy used specifically .

Melissa 15:33

Oh , okay .

Lenny 15:34

That's our way of achieving holiness . We can achieve holiness . I've heard it specifically said that way .

Melissa 15:39

Okay .

Lenny 15:40

By good teachers , ones that I hold in high regards , and it makes me sad .

Melissa 15:44

Yeah .

Lenny 15:45

But I still regard them as brother . They just don't see grace clearly .

Melissa 15:49

Right .

Lenny 15:50

Let's read scripture and see where they might be coming from . If there's any ground to stand on , we're going to look at where they're coming from so that we can try to better understand it rather than just throwing it under the bus .

Melissa 16:01

That's what spurred us to want to talk about this . Yeah , just throwing it under the bus , that's what spurred us to want to talk about this . Yeah , we have some favorite teachers that we've learned a lot from . We have a lot of respect for , like you said , brothers in christ , and we're trying to figure out because we know that they're genuine and we know that they are brothers in christ where are they coming from ? Yeah , so we're trying to break it down and more recently when we were talking .

Lenny 16:23

you know , as humans we get a little triggered , sometimes get a little amped when something is just not right and you don't like it . But you were mentioning earlier this week when we were talking about I'm starting to get a little amped . You were saying I'm just trying to see where he's coming from and I think that helps us a little to understand people and understand their error . Like they are coming from somewhere .

Lenny 16:48

We just have to help them get away from . That is the goal , not to tell them they're not saved . You're not my brother , you can't be Christian . If you believe that we should be thinking of ways to try to help them , Right . Even if not them specifically , help others that might hear the truth .

Melissa 17:06

Amen .

Lenny 17:07

Luke 14 , 25 starts out . Now great crowds accompanied him and he turned and said to them If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters , yes , and even his own life , he cannot be my disciple .

Melissa 17:27

Wow .

Lenny 17:29

Ponder that for a minute .

Melissa 17:31

Who could do that ?

Lenny 17:32

When you're thinking about yourself as a disciple . Just ponder that a minute . How did you get there ? How did you earn this ? Did you hate your mother ? Did you hate your own life ? Is that even possible ? Why would he say this Did ?

Melissa 17:48

you hate your mother , did you hate your own life ? Is that even possible ? Why would he say this and how could he even want that ? He tells us to honor our father and mother .

Lenny 17:52

It sounds like hypocrisy , right , but was it hyperbole ? Was it some kind of joke ? Was he just kidding around or was he serious ? Are we to take this literally , figuratively ? I don't see any area where we can make that discernment that he was speaking figuratively . I think he was dead serious . I think , he was too . Here's why I think that Because this is what he's trying to tell you you want to be my disciple ? You can't .

Melissa 18:20

That's right , it's impossible .

Lenny 18:42

You can't . That doesn't mean that you're not able to be , that's right . He's saying hey , you , right now , you want to follow me . Here's what you do . Look at yourself right now , if you're out there , can you do that ? You can't . It's impossible and he's not asking you to . He's not asking you to , he's just telling you this is what it takes . The heading on one of the translations says the cost of being a disciple .

Melissa 19:05

I like that .

Lenny 19:06

That's the price you pay . Are you willing to pay ? Can you pay that price ?

Melissa 19:12

So it's not that . That's what it actually takes .

Lenny 19:15

No , they didn't hate their families . Peter had his wife with him .

Melissa 19:19

Right , it's not that . That's what it takes . It was his way of showing people how impossible it was . And you know . Another part of that is that , for the Jewish people , they would understand that they would have to contradict the law in order to do it , because you're supposed to honor your father and mother , love your neighbor and love your neighbor . It was a total contradiction to the law .

Lenny 19:40

It was a contradiction to all logic . It just shatters your paradigm when he says that .

Melissa 19:46

So in other words , it's unnatural .

Lenny 19:48

Completely unnatural to be his disciple .

Melissa 19:53

Unable to be done on your own accord .

Lenny 20:00

Exactly so , then own accord , exactly so . Then he continues , says and so you've got to bear your own cross . Are you doing that ? Who out there is bearing their own cross ? Was he talking to them ? I mean , are they bearing their own cross to follow him ?

Lenny 20:14

For which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost , whether he has enough to complete it ? Otherwise , when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish , all who see it begin to mock him , saying this man began to build and was not able to finish . So he's talking about planning . If you want to calculate the cost of being a disciple , think about this , you guys , is what he's saying . Think about this , plan it carefully . And then he says or what king going out to encounter another king in war will not sit on first and deliberate whether he is able , with 10,000 , to meet him ? Who comes against him with 20,000 . Think about this . You're outnumbered here , guys , grossly outnumbered . And then he says and if , if not , while the other is yet a great way off , he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace . Who do you think that peace is ?

Melissa 21:05

none other than christ himself he's talking about christ .

Lenny 21:09

He's talking about himself . He's saying you'd look for terms of peace . It goes on to say so . Therefore , any of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple . So he's showing them they're up against an impossibility . So what would they do ? According to what he said , they'd send out a delegation , wouldn't they ? And ask for terms of peace . He was already giving them a little taste of what it means to follow him . I can't do it . I need you . Will you give me peace ? Would you expect that your enemy owes you peace , or would you be hoping that he gives you peace because you didn't deserve it ? You're his enemy .

Melissa 21:46

You would be hoping .

Lenny 21:48

So Christ was the peace . What does it mean to be a disciple ? Sounds like belief for their time . How are they even coming to that belief ? So that brings you to the next question . If they can't do it by their own works , all it is is a matter of saying I can't do it , help me . If they can't do it , you can't even become a disciple in the first place . That kind of messes up , that doctrine of discipleship . But then let's take it a step further . What are the qualifications ? But then let's take it a step further . What are the qualifications ? So how do you do it ? So John , chapter 6 , and the verse that Melissa is going to read , right after those crazy passages where Christ Yeshua is telling them they need to eat his flesh and drink his blood . All these disciples there's more than 12 around him .

Melissa 22:35

Yes .

Lenny 22:36

And all of a sudden they're all scattering Like . This is creepy . Eat his flesh , drink his blood . I'm out of here .

Melissa 22:44

I think he's a little cuckoo , cuckoo .

Lenny 22:45

Yeah , and who wouldn't have thought he was crazy , right ? I mean , let's face it . There's no way you're not thinking this dude's out of his mind .

Melissa 22:51

No .

Lenny 22:52

So this is what no avail .

The True Meaning of Discipleship

Melissa 23:24

The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life , but there are some of you who do not believe , for Jesus knew from the beginning who those were that did not believe and who it was who would betray him . And he said this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father . After this , many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him . So Jesus said to the twelve Do you want to go away as well ? Simon Peter answered him . Lord , to whom shall we ?

Lenny 24:17

go Okay , what are the qualifications ? The father has to grant it . And then what happens when the father grants you into the kingdom ? You believe ? What was Peter's response , Lord ? But we believe . So what made him a disciple ? What made all the other so-called disciples scatter ?

Melissa 24:37

Unbelief .

Lenny 24:39

They were really as Christ had said at one point . They were there for the food .

Melissa 24:43

Yes .

Lenny 24:44

They called him disciples as they walked away . That doesn't sound very close to Christ , does it ?

Melissa 24:49

No , it does not .

Lenny 24:56

Doesn't that sound more along the lines of somebody who's following along with a message and just kind of following somebody ? They're following him , they're listening , but does that make you any more Christian ?

Melissa 25:04

No , it doesn't .

Lenny 25:05

What made the disciples more Christian ?

Melissa 25:09

They've been chosen by God .

Lenny 25:11

They were chosen . And when they said Judas is a devil , we always think Satan . And when they said Judas is a devil , we always think Satan . And I know Satan entered his heart . It said but the word devil there could actually be deceiver , slanderer , false accuser it's just another word for that . So it doesn't have to mean he's Satan . He was just , he was false . And there again , he was considered a disciple . And so you're just thinking , okay , you know , you hear people say like oh , we can just stop being a disciple anytime we want . And it's like well then , what good is it ? What's the point ? Why is it not used in the epistles ? On top of all that , in John 15 , Christ goes on to say you did not choose me , but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide . I chose you , you did not choose me . He says we just have to believe it .

Melissa 26:04

That's right .

Lenny 26:05

We could argue that if we want to , but why ? What is there to argue ? Let's just be thankful for that right .

Melissa 26:11

That's right , right , so what I'm hearing you say is that to believe , to be a convinced believer of Christ , is to be a disciple .

Lenny 26:25

I don't see anything to build a doctrine called discipleship where we achieve holiness and fellowship with God . You could say you're discipling somebody by teaching Christ . You could say that it's not like , it's inaccurate . But how do you be a disciple ? If you were discipling somebody ? How do they become a disciple ? If you're going to use that scenario , how would they become one ?

Melissa 26:45

They would be chosen by God to believe .

Lenny 26:48

I do know what the scripture tells us , how the disciples became disciples and what the qualifications were it was impossible for them to do in the first place . It's humanly impossible to be a disciple of Christ on your own works . He chose them , he enabled them . They were able to believe , agreed , they believed because he chose them for belief . So all those things that he was saying about hating your mother , hating your father , he's saying you can't do it without me . The Father is going to grant you discipleship . If the Father has to grant it to you , how much can you work for ? How much of that discipleship , if you're going to apply it to today , are you working for ? How much have you earned ? How much of that are you contributing to ?

Lenny 27:35

Zero that are you contributing to Zero ? See , this is where predestination helps grace along , and this is why free will is a boon to grace . In my opinion , it is when you understand that God's the one choosing these guys . We've got to step up our game . If we're preaching predestination and discipleship , that's just a massive double talk , in my opinion . I can't see it any other way . What are you talking about ?

Melissa 27:59

I agree . I think it's trying to blend in human understanding . Shouldn't we be doing these things ? And yes , we should be doing good things .

Lenny 28:09

Well , what you're describing is you're saying that people's motives . They're trying to help people , they're trying to help people understand in a human way , but they're not accepting the reality in scripture that Christ just told you you can't humanly be a disciple , so why are you teaching in a human way , like it's possible ? The discipleship we see in scripture is not worldly discipleship , it's spiritual discipleship that is appointed to us by the Father .

Melissa 28:35

It is .

Lenny 28:36

That wipes out discipleship , doctor . And the funniest thing is is that most of the preachers of discipleship believe in predestination . I don't understand it . Paul never taught how to be a disciple . He taught that Christ Yeshua is our life force . He is our fellowship , he is our salvation , he is our righteousness , he is our holiness . His work is finished . You have been made perfect in him . You are as righteous as him now and you are as holy as him now . How many people understand that you're as righteous as Christ ? But the problem is is we get confused because of positional doctrines that divide that up . It's the same thing as discipleship . They're dividing it up . They're slicing it into categories . Discipleship and fellowship are like the same thing . They make that same category . Fellowship is basically discipleship and you can be out in and out in and out based on your behavior .

Melissa 29:29

According to that doctrine , According to that doctrine .

Lenny 29:32

But the problem is is that salvation when we read scripture with proper hermeneutics ? Salvation with Christ is fellowship with Christ , period . There is no dividing category for that . Scripture doesn't teach us to divide that .

Melissa 29:46

So would salvation be discipleship too .

Lenny 29:49

You could look at it different ways . I'd say , if you want to be a disciple , you can say well , yeah , I mean , I'm a disciple by identity . You could say that because you are and you're always going to be that way . That's your identity now , just like your fellowship with Christ . It's permanent .

Lenny 30:07

You're not in and out every day . You're not wondering if God's holding something against you , because punishment is based on the past . Punishment is payment and consequence for something in the past . God doesn't punish , he doesn't whip and scourge . We've gone through those passages . It's silly . He disciplines , and discipline is preparing us for the future . Right , it may feel like punishment , but it's not because he's preparing us for the future and he's not mad , he's not attacking us , he's not releasing his wrath on us . Those days are gone . What is justification if it's not being justified in your worldly life now ? What good is it ? What good is it if it's a category that only fits you in heaven ? Well , we're heading into our next part of the topic , which was actually digging into the doctrine of discipleship a little bit , seeing what makes it tick , seeing what it's all about and talking about it . But we're out of time for today , so we'll actually be continuing this one . Next week Looks like there's going to be a part two .

Melissa 31:11

All right .

Lenny 31:11

There's a lot to say about disciples and discipleship . In the beginning we asked the questions what is the purpose of a disciple ? What are the qualifications ? Can we be disciples ? I think we answered all those pretty . What is the purpose of a disciple ? What are the qualifications ? Can we be disciples ? I think we answered all those pretty well . A disciple of Christ was a spiritual thing . It wasn't like being a disciple of anything else on this planet , anything else in the world . It was nothing like it . True , it wasn't based on effort . The qualification was that you were chosen . But we're going to see where they're coming from in that doctrine and kind of dissect it next week and talk some more about this discipleship doctrine . Yes , have a great week out there .

Announcement 31:47

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