Christian vs Disciple

Part 1 - Is Jesus really our Lord?

The only way someone is our lord is if they lord over us. Therefore, Jesus is only our Lord if he lords over us. He doesn’t force Himself on us, so we must CHOOSE to let him lord over us. So the bottom line is...Jesus is only our Lord if we choose to be obedient to Him.

Sometimes being obedient means not doing what He tells us not to do and at other times it means doing what He tells us to do. This takes us to the great commission.

Part 2 - The great commission

Before ascending into Heaven, Jesus told the remaining disciples to go into the world and make more disciples (not Christians).

Matthew 28:18-20

And coming up, Jesus spoke with them, saying, All authority in Heaven and on earth was given to Me. Therefore going, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, as many things as I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen.

Jesus told them to make disciples by teaching them to do all the things He had commanded them to do. What had He commanded them to do?

Matthew 10:1

And having called His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity of body.

Matthew 10:7-8

And going on, proclaim, saying, The kingdom of Heaven has drawn near. Heal feeble ones, cleanse lepers, raise dead ones, cast out demons. You freely received, freely give.

We are commissioned by Jesus to go into the world and make disciples by spreading the Word, casting out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, etc. This is considered the “full gospel.”

There are many reasons Christians don’t walk out the full gospel. This could be a lengthy, excuse ridden discussion so we aren’t going to have right now. It simply doesn’t matter why Christians don’t walk out the full gospel, the fact is we are being disobedient if we don’t. We are NOT letting Jesus lord over us.

Part 3 - Child-like faith

To walk out the full gospel we need child-like faith. It doesn’t matter what the world says, we know the Word is true and we act accordingly. We can count on the fact that the world will do everything it can to discount the Word.

Jesus loves child-like faith. As a matter of fact, He makes it a requirement!

Matthew 18:1-4

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who then is greater in the kingdom of Heaven? And having called forward a little child, Jesus set him in their midst. And He said, Truly I say to you, If not you be converted and become as the little children, you may not enter into the kingdom of Heaven, not ever! Therefore whoever will humble himself as this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of Heaven.

Mark 10:15

Truly I say to you, Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a child may not enter into it, not ever.

Part 4 - Cast out the hindering spirits

Unless we are given a gift of faith, to reach child-like faith we will probably need to cast out certain demons such as doubt, unbelief, skepticism, distrust, antichrist spirits, deceiving spirits, faithlessness, hard heartedness, and spiritual stubbornness.

For someone just learning to walk in the full gospel, it may be embarrassing if a demon doesn’t leave when we tell it to or someone isn’t healed after we command that healing to occur. The demons know that we need to let our guard down a bit in order to “go for it.” To block us “going for it” the demons will attack us with fear. Knowing this, demons such as fear, fear of looking the fool for the Lord, fear of man, cowardice, spiritual passivity, and spiritual timidness will need to be cast out.

Now that we have doubt and fear cast out, walking out the full gospel will be much easier. We do NOT have to have all our demons out of us before we can start casting demons out of other people and healing the sick.

Part 5 - Strive to be led by the Holy Spirit

For believers, our body has our soul in it as well as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit radiates faith, all the faith we need to walk out the full gospel. The problem is that demons get in between our soul and the Holy Spirit. The more demons there are, the more they cloud our vision of the Holy Spirit. The more demons there are, the more His faith is blocked from radiating into us. We must always strive to remove the demons and to keep them out. When those demons get cast out we’ll not only absorb His radiating faith, but He’ll also be able to start revealing hidden spiritual truths, revealing the meaning of scripture, making His convictions more obvious, etc. At this point, we are being led by the Holy Spirit. We can be sure of making it to heaven at this point as long as we continue being led by Him.

Galatians 5:18

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under Law.

We can’t make it to heaven through works, only through faith. Don’t let this be confusing. Walking out the full gospel requires us to be led by the Spirit. We can be certain we are being led by the Spirit, and no longer under the curse of the law, when we are walking in the full gospel.

The more demons we get casted out, the better we can be led by the Holy Spirit. This is very important to know. It may be why Mark said the first sign of a believer is they will cast out demons…

Mark 16:17

And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: they will cast out demons in My name...

Conduit is through which something is transmitted. The Holy Spirit is the conduit between Jesus and us. If we are being led by the Holy Spirit, we are being led by Jesus. Therefore, if we are being led by the Spirit we can rightfully call Jesus our Lord and we fall under grace.

Part 6 - Disciples are spiritually vigilant

Mark tells us to spread the gospel to the world. He said as we do this we should prove the gospel is true through miraculous signs. If we are successful in making a disciple, we will know it because that disciple will be casting out demons, speaking in tongues, healing the sick, and things won’t hurt them that would hurt others.

Mark 16:15-20

And He said to them, Going into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. The one believing and being baptized will be saved; but the one not believing will be condemned. And miraculous signs will follow to those believing these things: they will cast out demons in My name; they will speak new languages; they will take up snakes; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them, not any; they will lay hands on ones being infirm, and they will be well. Then indeed, after speaking to them, the Lord was taken up into Heaven, and sat at the right of God. And going out, they preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the Word through the miraculous signs following after. Amen

There are several reasons we should be vigilantly walking out the full gospel. Here are a few...

Jesus told us to.
The results are good.
It’s spiritual exercise that deepens our relationship with the Holy Spirit and Jesus. It makes us listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance more carefully. We learn to let the Holy Spirit lead us better.
It draws people to the Word by proving the Word is true. It saves souls and makes disciples.

The typical American church doesn’t do what God commissioned it to do. It doesn’t teach the full gospel. It spreads the Word, but doesn’t do it while “confirming the Word through miraculous signs following after.” Christianity has become an intellectual pursuit. A world of apologists. It has become a “light switch Christianity” in which once someone receives the Holy Spirit, they figure there’s not much more to do. Afterall, once we are saved there’s not much more to do other than be good, right?

Most pastors probably don’t see much wrong with the above paragraph. They just don’t understand. They haven’t put forth the vigilant effort to walk out the full gospel. If they had, the Holy Spirit would’ve revealed Himself to them. Their eyes would be opened. They would realize that when we receive the Holy Spirit, the learning has just begun. Soon, whole churches would be walking in amazing power. Demons would lose their grip on people, injuries would be healed, and illnesses would be cured. People’s hidden gifts would be revealed. Jesus would become the centerpoint of people’s lives...all day, every day.

Pastors who don’t walk out the full gospel should beware...

Ezekiel 34:1-5,

And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds Israel. Prophesy and say to them, to the shepherds, So says the Lord Jehovah: Woe to those feeding Israel, who are feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you sacrifice the fat ones, and you do not feed the flock. You have not made the weak strong; and you have not healed the sick, and you have not bound up the broken. And the banished have not been brought back, and you have not sought the lost, but you rule them with force and with harshness. And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

If the shepherd is a pastor and the sheep are his congregation, who are the beasts? Yup, demons devour the lost sheep because the shepherd didn’t protect his flock from them!

Each one of us must read the Word ourselves and make our own decisions on matters. Yes, we should listen to our pastors for guidance, but we MUST make up our own minds on things. We should study the great commission and make up our own mind as to what it entails. If we think it includes casting out demons and healing the sick then we should do it. We shouldn’t let anything in this evil world become an idol over the Word.

The biggest thing that turns a Christian into a disciple is vigilance. It starts when Christians reject “light switch Christianity.” They’ll read the great commission and understand they must back up the Word with power to prove the Word is true. With child-like faith they’ll start attempting to cast out demons and heal the sick. They’ll research such things. The Holy Spirit will see their vigilance and will start revealing spiritual secrets. Miracles will start happening and a realization of the God-given power they have will amaze them. Through vigilant effort, spiritually weak Christians will transform into spiritually powerful disciples. Just knowing they are going to heaven will no longer satisfy them. As disciples, they will now want to enforce God’s will on earth through their newly found power. Disciples do this by walking out the full gospel and making new disciples.

Part 7 - Common differences

Disciples want more than salvation

Christians are content with being saved, their loved ones being saved, and sharing the gospel when the opportunity arises. Christians are often spiritually passive.

Disciples aren’t content with what Christians are content with. Disciples crave more. Disciples have a drive to enforce God’s will in this world. This is done by casting out demons, healing the sick, breaking spiritual strongholds, and generally destroying the works of the devil. Disciples desire to make more disciples with the same spiritual aggressiveness. Disciples take the great commission in its entirety (the full gospel) very seriously.

Disciples counterattack demons

Christians are usually oblivious to demonic influence. If they are aware of demons, they don’t understand as to the extent they influence us. They see negative/sinful personality traits as “just the way they are.” Christians can easily let self-pity and their emotions grip them, not knowing demons are influencing them. Simply put...they tolerate demons. As a matter of fact, they usually fear them.

Disciples have a hatred for demons. They see how demons influence people and ruin their lives. Disciples don’t tolerate demons and fight back with superior power. Disciples are more spiritually aggressive than Christians. Disciples routinely break evil strongholds in people’s lives. Casting out demons and healing the sick are common practice. They respect, but have no fear of demons.

Disciples pray aggressively

While praying, Christians usually ask God to do things that He has already done. For example, if someone hurt their back, a typical Christian would pray and ask God to remove the pain. This may work on occasion, but usually won’t help much.

A disciple on the other hand knows that God already healed the hurt back (while on the cross), this fact just needs to be enforced. Therefore, a disciple prays differently than a Christian. A disciple commands the pain to leave in Jesus’ name. This subtlety isn’t appreciated by most Christians, but disciples know the results speak for itself. God has given us power and authority over all the works of the devil and disciples know this. Disciples pray more aggressively than Christians by commanding demons to leave and healings to occur, in Jesus’ name.

Disciples look through spiritual eyes

Christians tend to look through worldly eyes, primarily because of not walking closely with the Holy Spirit, thus being ignorant of how demons operate. They see a terminal disease having no solution except for an extremely rare miracle from God. They see addictions and evil behavior as something to be counseled out. They see politics, such as liberal policy, as being the source of evil. When an evil deed is done, Christians direct their disgust and anger at that person. Christians walk through this world getting caught up in life’s worries and concerns through worldly influences.

Disciples look through spiritual eyes. If they see someone who has been told they have a terminal disease, they want to find the demonic root of the disease and cast it out. Once the demons are cast out or if there was no demonic root, they’ll command the body to heal itself in Jesus’ name. Disciples see the root of addictions and evil behavior as usually being demons that need to be cast out. They see political policy as being the fruit from the dominant thoughts of the populace. Policies counter to God’s will simply means the country is falling away from God. Disciples know the end times are coming and aren't going to be surprised. Neither are they going to be caught up in the drama. For disciples, when someone does something evil, the disgust and anger that’s generated is directed at the demons behind that action. Disciples maintain love for the person. Disciples are led closely by the Holy Spirit, which allows them to look through spiritual eyes. When we are looking through spiritual eyes the Holy Spirit continuously releases His fruit on us. When this happens, love, joy, and peace override the cares of this world. Disciples don’t get caught up in the world. They allow the Word to rule them without much worldly interference. This is “holy” living. While physically we are in the world, spiritually we are separate from the world.

Disciples know how to stay on the narrow path

Many Christians are willing to fight, but they don’t know how. Most Christians don’t know how to fight off the demons who want to pull them off the narrow path to salvation. When an evil stronghold exists in a Christian’s life, they tend to silently struggle with it for quite some time. They may get counseling. They’ll pray about it and read the bible. Even so, the stronghold usually remains. The typical Christian and typical American church just don’t know what to do about it.

Disciples are eager to fight and know HOW. Disciples know how to cast out the demons that cause the evil strongholds in people’s lives. By casting the demons out, evil strongholds are simply removed. Disciples put themselves through continuous deliverance to stay clean. They also are given self-control by the Holy Spirit to take every thought and feeling captive. If there is conviction about that thought or feeling, a disciple will reject it or do something about it such as commanding it to leave in Jesus’ name. Disciples know the less demons that are in us, the closer we can walk with the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

Disciples look for their rewards in heaven

Christians have many demons that cause a demonic cloud between them and the Holy Spirit. As a result, the faith that radiates from the Holy Spirit can’t reach them as well. This makes it harder for them to be OK with waiting until heaven to receive their rewards.

Disciples work hard to cast out their demons and to maintain their demonic freedom. Because of this, the faith that radiates from the Holy Spirit radiates deeply into disciples. This makes it much easier to have the faith and patience to wait until they are in heaven to receive their rewards. What exactly does this mean? It means disciples can more easily reject worldly influence in their lives such as money, power, sex, fame, ego, persuasion, etc. Disciples know these are only temporary lusts. It’s easier for disciples to be self-sacrificing. They even lose the fear of death.

Disciples are on the look-out for distractions

Christians who think they are saved and basically living a good life consider themselves having met their spiritual requirements. They are content. They then engross themselves in any of the hundreds of distractions the devil uses to keep them from fulfilling their real spiritual potential. Christians are blind to this.

Disciples on the other hand never stop pressing in. They are always looking to learn more from the Holy Spirit. They know the more vigilance they put towards learning spiritual matters, the more the Holy Spirit will be revealing to show them. This vigilance continues until the day we die. We will never learn everything, there’s always more to learn. Disciples will enjoy spending their time learning spiritual things, enforcing God’s will on earth, and making new disciples. Disciples, always being aware of the devil’s tactics, will be on the lookout for distractions to these things. There is nothing wrong with relaxation, hobbies, and fun. They are good, but not our top priority.