The Gospel and Discipleship

For many believers, discipleship is fundamentally about duty.  A disciple is one who dies for Jesus—they are sacrificially committed to him—even up to the point of death.  That’s certainly true, but if that truth is isolated from the gospel, it will suck the life out of you.

That brand of Christianity is like a flower that’s been cut away from its roots.  It may look good for a while, but eventually it withers and many of you are withering today because your Christian life is not consciously lived in response to God’s grace—For you, Christ’s call to discipleship is a command in a vacuum.  A great example Tim Keller called to my attention of how Paul called believers to obedience is in Second Corinthians chapter eight.  As you probably know, Paul is taking up a collection for the Jerusalem church and in chapter eight he highlights the Macedonian church as an example of Christ-like giving.  Then he says in verse seven, “See that you excel in this act of grace also.” 

That’s important because he places the exhortation within the context of grace.  He doesn’t say, “Come on Corinthians, you can give much more than those destitute Macedonians—open up those purses—pony up--you KNOW God wants you to be generous.”  No, he makes it clear that giving is an act reliant upon the grace of God.  In verse eight, we see the heart of his appeal.  “⁸ I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”  First, notice that Paul makes a point of saying that commands to obey in this area of cheerful generosity aren’t appropriate.  He can command them to stop breaking the moral law, but that doesn’t work well here-“I say this not as a command…”  Then, what does he say to motivate them to give? “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ought he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”  

Don’t miss what he does there.  He compels or motivates the Corinthians to give sacrificially by reminding them of the gospel, that Jesus—who was rich became poor for them.  He’s saying, “In response to Christ’s self-impoverishment for you—by God’s grace give generously.”  Show me someone in the church who is stingy with their money and I will—every time, show you a person who has not grasped the truth of Jesus who was rich, yet became poor for them.  Once they get that—REALLY get that, the power of the gospel will change their hearts and they will want to give generously.  If you find yourself becoming more tight-fisted with your money, spend some serious time meditating on Jesus’, self-impoverishment in the gospel.    The moral imperative, “give” is rooted in the indicative fact that Jesus gave up everything to die for us.  I could take all day showing you how Paul does this so often—he cites the indicative—what God has done for us and later on, calls the church to obey IN RESPONSE to the indicative.  That is gospel living.  If that is not part of the way that you process your walk with God, then you spend a lot of time discouraged.