Disciples Don’t Quit Until They Reach Maturity

Colossians 1:24-2:5

Disciples Don’t Quit Until They Reach Maturity

The goal of the Church is to present every disciple as complete in Christ.  Working with the power God provides, we are to disciple one another with the goal of spiritual maturity.
  • Christian suffering means that you are receiving the attacks that the world would give Jesus if He was still on the earth (Col. 1:24).
  • Personal ministry is the Kingdom work that God gives us to steward during our lives (Col. 1:25).
  • The simplest path of discipleship is to make the Word of God fully known to another (Col. 1:25).
  • The simplest goal of discipleship is presenting to God a follower of Jesus as completely mature (Col. 1:27-29).
  • If the work is easy, it’s probably not discipleship (Col. 1:29-2:1).
  • Discipleship cannot happen outside the context of relationships within the Church (Col. 2:2-3).
  • We fight against cultural, unbiblical delusions by our alignment with others in the Church and through our firmness of faith in Jesus (Col. 2:4-5).

6 Categories of Discipleship (Col. 1:27-29)

  1. Delight – Discipleship must be motivated by the wondrous delight of knowing Jesus.
  2. Disobedience – Discipleship must warn against disobedience in any sinful leanings specific to the person.
  3. Doctrine – Discipleship must wisely equip the follower to possess competent biblical doctrine.
  4. Development – Discipleship must address areas of calling with the intention to bring about ministry development.
  5. Discipline – Discipleship must train in areas of spiritual discipline for continual growth.
  6. Dependence – Discipleship must continually acknowledge the complete dependence upon Jesus for the believer’s maturity.