“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

The mandate is that we go and “make disciples”.

“Disciple” is a very Jewish concept. A rabbi would select a group of students who who follow him, sharing life with him over a period of time. The goal of discipleship was for the student to become like the teacher in every respect. Jesus, in commissioning us to make disciples, has given us the task of facilitating this process. I am to make disciples of Jesus. I am to facilitate a way of interacting with Jesus over time that results in followers being transformed into His image.

I’ve been exposed to two primary discipleship models during my years in church.

Model One: The Educational Model

This model seeks to fulfill the Great Commission by teaching doctrine from the Bible. The underlying assumption of this model is that our basic spiritual problem is ignorance. This can be corrected by proper instruction. If our problem is a lack of good knowledge, then more Knowledge of Good must be the solution.

Model Two: The Legal Model

This model seeks to fulfill the Great Commission by behavior modification. There are two forms of the Legal Model: Prohibitive and Prescriptive. One form emphasizes the behaviors a follower of Jesus should avoid. The second form emphasizes the behaviors a follower of Jesus should adopt. The underlying assumption of this model is that our basic spiritual problem is wrong behavior. This can be corrected by changing behavior through instruction and accountability.

Please understand – I’m not against any of the above. I prefer right doctrine to heresy. I prefer right behavior to wrong behavior. But teaching people the Bible and getting them to behave correctly, even if successful (and it’s usually not), will only serve to produce really good Pharisees. Do you remember them? They were the men in Jesus day who knew the most scripture, had the best doctrine, and who were the most diligent in avoiding bad behavior and doing good things. This is the category of people who, for the most part, resist Jesus.

Disciples are made through interacting with their rabbi over time. Any approach to discipleship that doesn’t teach people to interact with Jesus will fail to produce disciples of Jesus. We must teach people to experience His presence and hear His voice. Only revelation can produce transformation. Only beholding His glory can change us into His image.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17–18, ESV)

Want to make disciples? Teach people to hear God’s voice and experience His presence.

Romans 6:5-11

Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.(ESV)

One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride. There’s a scene where one of the main characters is continually using the word “inconceivable.” The events that to him are “inconceivable” keep happening. His concept of what is impossible keeps running into the brick wall called reality. At one point, another character says “I do not think that word means what you think it means.”

“Dying to Self” is a phrase I often hear spoken by my friends at church. My department even offers a class with that title. It’s a deep and meaningful phrase but sometimes I wonder if it means what we think it means. The phrase “dying to self” doesn’t appear in scripture. We are to “deny self”. We are to “take up our cross”. We are to “consider ourselves dead”. We are to “lose our life”. All of these are ways, I think, of expressing the same idea and “dying to self” is a great way to express this idea. But I’ve noticed a tendency to misunderstand a key aspect of what it means. I often hear “dying to self” used to indicate a need to die. Used this way, dying to self is something we ought to do that we haven’t yet done.

But the Bible is clear. In Christ, I have already died. I’m dead. Buried. Crucified. It’s already happened. It’s a present reality because of a past occurrence. Hence Paul’s instruction in Rom 6:11 that we should “consider” ourselves dead. Another translation says we should “reckon” ourselves to be dead. This is an accounting term. His point is that since we are already dead, we should accurately account for this reality, considering ourselves dead, reckoning ourselves dead, marking ourselves in the “already dead” column of the account.

The point of “dying to self” isn’t that I need to die, but rather that I need to align myself with the truth that I am already dead.

What is Keeping You from the Father? – Alan Smith | Teaching Audio

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Paul here declares that he is being controlled. But what might this mean? The Greek word tranlated “controls” means to “hold together”. In Luke 8:45 Jesus is “surrounded” by a crowd, pressing in on every side. In Luke 19:43 enemies “hem” you in on every side. In Luke 22:63 soldiers are “holding” Jesus in custody. Men “covered” their ears in Acts 7:57 as they rushed to stone Stephen. Christ’s love “controls” us in 2 Cor 5:14. The basic idea seems to be surrounded and thereby limited. Paul is saying that he is surrounded by and limited by the unconditional love of Christ.

This isn’t the kind of control that removes Paul’s volition. Paul isn’t claiming to be robotic and mechanical in his response to God. He is not claiming that his capacity to choose has been removed. Rather, the options available to him have been reduced because every direction he turns he runs smack into God’s unconditional love. Why is Paul surrounded by and limited by the love of Christ? The next statements make this clear by beginning with “because.” He is surrounded and limited by Christ’s love “because” of what follows.

1. Because we have concluded. Paul has made an internal judgment between alternatives. He has concluded something. This verb indicates that there was a moment in the past when he actively made a determination that resulted in his experience of being surrounded and limited by God’s unconditional love.

2. Because we have concluded that one died for all. The first thing Paul concluded was that Jesus death was substitutionary. Jesus died in our place, as our substitute. We will never be surrounded by and limited by Christ’s unconditional love until we actively conclude that Jesus died for us.

3. Because we have concluded that one died for all, therefore all  have died. Not only has Jesus died for us; we have died in him. When He died, we died in Him. Not only did Jesus die in our place, Jesus’ death is the place where we died. We will never be surrounded by and limited by Christ’s unconditional love until we conclude that we ourselves are dead because Christ has died.

4. Because we have concluded that he died…that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Because Jesus died for me and because when Jesus died I died too, I no longer live for self. For my “self” to die in Christ is to no longer be ruled by what I think, feel and want. It is to no longer live for self.

So there are two ways to live. On the one hand I can live for self, pursuing what I think, feel, and want. On the other hand, what I think, feel, and want can be hemmed in, surrounded, held captive – controlled. But this control is not a control by rules or law. It is not a control from obligation or fear. It is a control flowing from Christ’s unconditional love. The clear conclusion is that if I am living for self, unconstrained, uncontrolled, it is because I do not clearly see Jesus’ death on the cross and my place in relation to His death. On the other hand, if I rightly view the cross and my relationship to the cross, I will discover that I am surrounded by an unconditional love that, though limiting me from being governed by what I think, what I feel, and what I want, is the only way to truly live.

These verses at first glance would seem more encouraging if that last bit about suffering had been left off. But it wasn’t left off so we need to understand what its significance might be. The phrase “provided we suffer with him” is a conditional statement. There’s something that either will or will not be true depending upon whether this condition is met. There are two possibilities. Either our status as children of God is dependent upon whether we suffer or our status as heirs is conditional. It seems clear to me that the issue that is conditional upon our suffering is not our status as children but rather our status as heirs. Our status as children of God is entirely contingent upon faith, not suffering, so that possibility is ruled out. D.J. Moo sees this similarly…

Paul makes clear that this suffering is the condition for the inheritance; we will be “glorified with” Christ (only) if we “suffer with him.” Participation in Christ’s glory can come only through participation in his suffering. What Paul is doing is setting forth an unbreakable “law of the kingdom” according to which glory can come only by way of suffering. For the glory of the kingdom of God is attained only through participation in Christ, and belonging to Christ cannot but bring our participation in the sufferings of Christ. Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (506). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Ths Spirit speaks to our human spirit that we are children. It follows from being children that we are heirs. But we will only lay hold of this inheritance through suffering. Apart from suffering, we will not lay hold of the inheritance that is ours as children. Taken in context this becomes quite interesting. Paul is here speaking of the Spirit of Adoption. In my last post I referenced Wuest’s reading of this adoption not as the receiving of someone into the family previously outside the family, but rather as the setting in of a naturally born child into a status of maturity. When this status change occurs there is conferred upon the child the authority to access the Father’s estate and do business as the Father’s representative. I believe this reading to be theologically potent simply because our conversion to Christ involves being born from above and becoming partakers in the divine nature. Given that we are children by being born from above and being partakers of his nature, whatever is meant by adoption, it cannot simply be a change of legal status that includes in the family those who were previously outside.

Let’s take these two ideas together. 1. A child in the family is recognized as mature and authorized to conduct family business as the Father’s reprentative. 2. A child in the family is only able to lay hold of inheritance through suffering. It then follows from these that maturity can be achieved only through suffering.

Are you eager for authority? Influence? Power? Glory? As a son of God is it your desire to represent Him and conduct family business in His name? If so, you desire a good thing. All Creation is longing for you to do this.

Romans 8:19
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.(ESV)

But make no mistake about it. There is no path from here to there that avoids participation in the suffering of Christ.

The Bible occasionally says things that are so outside our assumed reality grid that we often just bypass them rather than explore the full implications of what has been said. “But we have the mind of Christ” is one of those mind blowing, grid expanding statements. Why is this statement so difficult to face? Simply because I know my own mind. I’ve experienced my own thoughts. I certainly hope Jesus’ mind is better than the one I live with every day.

I don’t  think Paul is suggesting that by default every thought that pops into the mind of every believer is Jesus’ thought. Common sense rules that out as a possible meaning. So, what does it mean then for me to have the mind of Christ? Let’s look at the context. In verse 9 Paul discusses what we don’t know.  “…no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Man doesn’t have access to accurate information regarding the goodness God has laid up for those who’s hearts belong to him. We just can’t access that information. Or can we?

Verse 10 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one who has access to that information. And the good news? The Holy Spirit reveals them to us. Reveals what? Well, contextually it would have to be the good things God has prepared for those who love him. How does the Spirit know these things? Paul then uses the analogy regarding our experience as humans. Others don’t have access to our own thoughts. Only we do. Only the spirit of a person has access to the thoughts of a person. Likewise, only the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God. Again – what thoughts is he talking about specifically? God’s thoughts regarding all the good he wants to do for those who love him. So how do we have access to these thoughts? The same Spirit who has acces to God’s thoughts because he is the Spirit of God lives in us. We are joined with the one who has access to God’s thoughts.

But how do we access that which we now have access to? How do we perceive the thoughts of God the Spirit of God who lives in us has access to? The key is in verse 14. The natural man is unable to receive the things of God. What is a “natural man”? The Greek word ispsuchikos. It’s root is psuche, the word four “soul”. The soul of man is comprised of three interacting and related parts – the mind, emotions, and will. So a “natural man” is a man governed by his own soul, by what he thinks, feels, and wants. This is the kind of man who is unable to receive the things of God. This is the kind of man who is unable to access the information the Spirit of God has access to in the mind of God regarding the good he wants to do for those who love him. So, to access the mind of Christ, to receive the things of the Spirit that can only be received in a spiritual manner, I must first NOT be a psuchikos. I must NOT be a person governed by what I think, feel, and want. It seems I can either be governed by my own mind or his. I can’t serve two masters. I wonder how many people struggle to hear God because they’ve never really come to terms with their need to surrender.

I’m interested in helping people experience Freedom in 2010. If you are interested in pursuing more of the Freedom provided for you in Christ, here are Six Keys.

1) Understand what Freedom is and isn’t.
We must not equate freedom with relief from pain. The Bible defines freedom in terms experiencing God’s presence and the revelation of truth (John 8:32; 2 Cor 3:17). When I define freedom in terms of God’s presence and voice, then these are the things I will pursue and my journey toward freedom will be Christ centered instead of me centered. When I instead define freedom in terms of solving my problems, then my focus will be on self and my problems will shape my pursuit and thereby the outcome of my pursuit. Freedom isn’t when I stop doing ______. Freedom is when I’m able to relate to God without hindrance as the person he created and redeemed me to be.

2) Invest in a process.
Freedom is part of your inheritance in Christ. It is part of the promised land God desires you to possess and inhabit. But that which is fully yours in Christ must be conquered, possessed, and inhabited bit by bit. Think discipleship. Think journey. If freedom was simply about the expulsion of demons then a process might be less necessary. But I need to be set free from more than just demons. You can’t cast out the flesh.

3) Get help.
At Gateway Church we have developed a powerful process to help you experience freedom. Visit us at http://freedom.gatewaypeople.com to learn more.

4) Learn to meditate on scripture.
Information doesn’t produce transformation. Revelation does. When I meditate on scripture I am pursuing the kind of revelation that can transform me from the inside out. I believe there is a level of freedom that cannot be experienced any other way. No one can do this for me. For the truth within scripture to become the kind of revelation that produces faith and results in personal transformation, the spiritual practice of scriptural meditation is essential.

5) Learn and implement new relational skills.
All of us live within family systems and play a role in repeating relational cycles that may or may not be healthy. Personal transformation needs a context in which it can be lived out in practical ways. In addition to experiencing deliverance, and inner healing,  you may also need to learn how to take out the trash, how to listen, how to prefer others, and how to establish healthy boundaries.

6) Give away what you’ve got.
The nature of grace is that it must be given away. Freely you’ve received. Freely give. The reality is that free people free people. Those who are being transformed can help others experience transformation. Moving into the next level of freedom personally often involves giving away what I’ve already received to someone else.

So, if you’re interested in pursuing freedom in 2010, then I encourage you to make each of these Six Keys a part of your journey.

1 Corinthians 2:10-16
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.(ESV)

In this passage Paul describes two types of people: 1) The spiritual person, 2) The natural person

Pneumatikos is the Greek word translated into the English “spiritual person”. Pneuma is the Greek word for “spirit”. A spiritual person is one who lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Psuchikos is the Greek word translated into the English “natural person”.  Psuche is the Greek word for “soul”. A natural person is one who lives under the influence of the human soul. A person’s soul consists of their mind, emotions, and will – what I think, feel, and want. A natural person is a person who lives under the influence of what they think, feel, and want.

Notice the natural person, the person living under the influence of what they think, feel, and want, does not accept the things of God. Why? Because they are folly (foolishness) to him. He CANNOT understand them because they CANNOT be understood by someone who perceives reality through the grid of their own thoughts, emotions, and desires. Spiritual things must be perceived via another perspective, a spiritual perspective.

1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—(ESV)

This verse immediately precedes the passage I quoted at the beginning. Notice that this verse provides the context for the verses just discussed. What is it that God wants to reveal to us? What is it that cannot be accepted or understood by those who live under the influence of what they think, feel, and want? The natural person will miss out on receiving all the good things God has planned for them!

So, in order to have the capacity to accept and understand all the good God has planned for me, I must first become a person who lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit. To become that person, I must no longer be a person who lives under the influence of what I think, feel, and want. I can no longer be a person who lives for my self, my psuche. I must die to my own thoughts, emotions, and desires. I must deny self.

Matthew 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.(ESV)

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What does it mean to deny self? I wonder sometimes if we don’t misunderstand this concept. Is “self” a bad thing? Does God want there to not be a “self”? If so, why did he make a bunch of “selfs”? Before creation didn’t he already not have a bunch of “selfs”? Is the goal of Christianity for me to become a big nothing? I don’t think so.

The Greek word for “self” in this and similar passages is psuche. It is the word for “soul”. My soul is my mind, emotions, and will: what I think, feel, and want. Does God want me to stop thinking, feeling, and wanting? Is that what denying self means? Again, I don’t think so.

My soul is a gift from God. Intellect, affection, and desire are gifts. They are part of what make me a “me”. They comprise what it is for me to be a “self” at all. The issue is not that God wants to eliminate my mind, emotions, and will. My soul, however, was never designed to rule. My mind, emotions, and will were never designed to be in charge. My intellect, affections, and appetites are wonderful servants but horrible masters (That’s almost a direct quote from somebody. I just can’t remember who!).

To deny self is to refuse to be ruled by the soul. It is to lay down my life (psuche = soul). To deny self is to surrender, to yield my thoughts, feelings, and desires to the thoughts, feelings, and desires of another. We see Jesus laying down his self when he only did the things he saw the Father doing, when he only said the things he heard the Father saying.  We see Jesus laying down his life in Gethsemene: not my will but yours.

Jesus came and laid down his soul so that I can lay mine down too. It’s really the only way to ever become the real me.