(Click here for an Overview of the 4 Levels of Discipleship.)
What are the marks of a mature believer in Christ?
This is a question that every leader in the Body of Christ should ask. We must find the answer in the Bible, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and apply it to the current setting in which we live. And then we must see this as the basis for our discipleship for new believers.
As I think through the question, there are many traits that come to mind. Things like knowing their identity in Christ, as well as running to God rather than away from Him when we sin. As we seek to answer this question, looking at those we deem strong men and women of God around us, we will begin to get a general picture of what a mature believer looks like.
As we turn our attention from leading people to Christ – Level 1 Discipleship – to helping them begin their new walk in Christ productively, we must keep these marks of maturity in mind, in order to impart them to the new disciples.
While it is true that every church and leader may place different levels of importance on different characteristics of a Christian, the goal of this post is to get you thinking about your own discipleship teachings, and to help you form a plan for your own church or ministry. What are the first steps we must lead new believers in, to get them started toward maturity?
I said in a previous post that one of the best ways to help a new believer start their walk in Christ is to lead them in some topical-based teachings, which is what I want to look at today. I call this Level 2 Discipleship.
These topical teachings will hit specific points of orthodox theology and practical Christian life, in order to help new believers gain a Christian worldview and begin to live in a manner worthy of the call on their lives (see Ephesians 4:1).
I want to share 9 topical-based discipleship themes to get you started in the process of developing new believers in their Christian walk toward maturity. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but is simply to set the example of things to be discussed to get new disciples moving in the Christian life.
Salvation and Repentance
The fundamental need for all people is to understand that salvation is a gift of God, given through faith and by grace. It is not dependent on good works. It is only dependent on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. When we come to Him seeking forgiveness, it is always given! We must ensure that new believers are trusting in Christ alone, and not in their own ability to gain favor with God.
Repentance, then, is the process of turning aside from our own striving and away from everything which offends the Lord, and coming into our new identity in Him. It is a changing of mindsets wherein we begin to understand Jesus’ way of life and godliness as opposed to our old way of living, and then allowing our actions to come into alignment with His reality.
Hearing God’s Voice and Prayer
New believers must be taught that God is not far away or that He ignores His people. Salvation is entering into renewed relationship with God, and He wants to have personal, intimate encounters with us as His children. Therefore, early on in the Christian life, believers must learn to pray to Him for guidance and to hear Him when He speaks. We must learn that God is not angry with us when we fail, but He will lead us every day of our life, as we are conformed to His image, if we simply draw close to Him in prayer, listen and obey.
Bible Study
New believers must also be taught to value the Word of God — to read it, study it, and live by it. It is not a rule book to earn God’s favor, but a love letter to us revealing the destiny and favor He has already given to us in Christ. It must become the basis of our faith-walk, as the only source of reliable truth as God’s revelation to man. (We will discuss this topic more in our next post.)
Worship
New believers must learn to worship the Lord with their lives, as well as in church services and songs. The Bible says that the Lord is enthroned on the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), which means there is a greater spiritual reality that comes into our lives, releasing the power of God, when we humble ourselves to worship Him. The whole of the Christian life should be worship.
Church Involvement – Becoming a Part of the Body of Christ
New believers must be taught the importance of the body of Christ and their role within the community of faith. They must not only be taught that church attendance is important, but must understand why they should be connected as part of the community of faith. This includes helping them understand the need to serve and love other believers in unity, as God empowers them.
Baptism and Communion
New believers must learn to walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands. The first of which is to be baptized as a public testimony and prophetic declaration that they have died with Christ and risen to new life in Him.
They must also learn the value of the Lord’s supper; what it means to come before the Lord with a clear conscience, and to realize our place in His story, somewhere between the first establishment of the passover meal and the future marriage supper of the Lamb.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Just as Paul asked the Ephesian church, “have you received the Holy Spirit,” we must also ensure that new believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in power and holiness. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, people will not be able to live a victorious Christian life. Of course, different parts of the body of Christ hold different beliefs about this baptism. Nevertheless, it must not be overlooked in our discipleship.
Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance
We must ensure new believers also understand that there is an enemy who hates them and wants to drag them back to every sinful way they have left behind. Some of them will need deliverance as they enter the Christian life, but more than that, all believers must be equipped to live a lifestyle of victory spiritual warfare, ensuring the enemy will never be able to win them back or hold them down.
The Kingdom of God
As people grow in the Lord, we must teach people how to live as ambassadors in the Kingdom of God, seeking to see revival and awakening come into this world. We must teach them to pray that the Kingdom will come “on earth as it is in heaven;” to know what the Kingdom looks like, and how to live as representatives of that Kingdom in their communities.
We must show them their role in reaching others with the gospel early on, so that it will become a natural part of their Christian walk, throughout their lives.
In conclusion, please realize that this is just a general list of new discipleship topics to get you started. I am sure there are plenty of great pre-written curriculums available online or in Christian book shops near you that can help you go further in this area, but at least now you are thinking about the marks of a mature believer, and beginning to see what it will take to lead people there.
In our next post we will discuss Level 3 Discipleship, in which we help people to begin maturing themselves through personal bible study and prayer.
Photo by Timothy Meinberg on Unsplash
