Recognise: Stage one of the discipleship program

What to go through for this stage...

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1. Recognise that you are a sinner, begin with this position of humility, gratitude and praise! Recognise the good news of the gospel that freed us from the bondage of sin: Romans 8:29, “We are being conformed into the image of God.” Although we are secured in our salvation we still sin and fall, as there is the world, the flesh and devil. Therefore, everyday we must confess our sin, as everyday we fall, but everyday we are made more in the likeness of God. (Hebrews 10:14).

2. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins he (God) is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.” Confess, don’t diminish, omit nor justify your sin. Be transparent with a God who already sees through you.

3. Why can we be assured of such a liberating promise that God will forgive us, Lamentations 3:22, “His mercies never come to an end. His mercies are renewed every morning.” This is because God is love, 1 John 4, not that he is simply a God of love- God’s nature is love.

4. Forget your sin as God casts it away into the sea (Micah 7:19). The only time you should look back at the sin in your life is to take something practical that serves some utility for the future, or to acknowledge the immense grace of God that saturates every fibre of our life. Hebrews 8:12, “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more,” if the God of the universe no longer remembers your sin, why do you have the audacity to allow it to become a stronghold within your life? It is this thinking that diminishes the sufficiency, power and preciousness of the blood of Jesus and puts us at risk of Hebrews 10: 26-29.

5. Exercise what Paul did, Philippians 3:13, “Brothers, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before.” May the conscious decision to forget your sin (solely because of Jesus) bring true repentance that will be marked by a directional change- ‘repentance without change is like a gun without bullets.’

“RECOGNISE THE GOSPEL IN ITS ENTIRETY ”

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1. WE ARE ALL SINNERS! NEVER FORGET THAT WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS! We bring ourselves down in humility as that is where we belong, but we do this so that we can be lifted up by God at the appointed time!

(verses for sin- video on gospel- this document- discipleship document- see Luke)

2. WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED SALVATION! Titus 2:11, “Christ has offered salvation to all men.” It is a gift from God that he died for us, his blood was shed for us, he died so that we might live and live to the full! Don’t let this be head knowledge, truly meditate on such a powerful truth as this. Romans 10:9! Accept, believe and confess! Now you begin your journey of sanctification, whereby everyday you are becoming like Christ! Start where you are! Not where you should be! Ephesians 4:13-17.

3. WHY HAS THIS SALVATION BEEN GIVEN? God is a God of love! 1 John 4, “God is love,” God is not a concept, nor a good idea, nor something that is subjective and what we decide God should be! God is love and everything that God dictates, quite literally everything that flows from God is love, that is God’s nature. John 3:16, Isaiah 63:16.

4. YOU MUST MAKE A CHOICE… like a drowning man that sees the way of being saved but simply chooses not to out of naivety, ignorance or passivity, we too must make sure we are not foolish in watching the free gift of salvation pass us by. RESPOND- ACCEPT THESE TRUTHS- Your response is to accept and enter a relationship, but in any relationship, it requires constant care and a constant choice to lay down our lives in obedience!

5. SALVATION BRINGS A NEW IDENTITY! You are no longer [insert name] the sinner, but instead [insert name] the sinner saved by grace, child of God, holy temple, chosen nation, a royal priesthood- do we understand the gravity of these things? 1 Peter 2:9, 2 Corithians 5:17, 1 Corithians 6: 19, Romans 12:2, 1 John 3:1.

6. WORKS AND FAITH ARE CO-EXISTENT- Faith without works is not faith- they are a married couple- inseparable- harm and destruction has come when people have muddied the waters by separating these two practices. James 2:26, “Just as a body without spirit is dead, so is faith without works.” Think of faith as the beginning, like a seed that begins all things for a fruit tree, the inevitable result that will come from that seed is a tree that will yield fruit. In equal measure faith is the seed and works are the fruit. You cannot abide in Jesus and not bear fruit! It is impossible, that's like water being dry, it makes no sense, a follower of Jesus who is filled with the spirit will bear fruit (that is works) which are there for all to see, “Let your light shine before men so that they may see your works and glorify your father in heaven.” (Matthew 5)

7. SANCTIFICATION/ IE. RUNNING THE RACE… Phillipians 3:7-16, Hebrews 12:1, Proverbs 4:25- “Run with perseverance the race that God has drawn out for us, throw off the sin that so easily entangles! Keep your eyes fixed on God, not looking to the left nor right but straight ahead!” The Christian life is a race, it is not a sprint, it requires training, dedication, stewarding, cultivating, teaching, rebuking and disciplining! These are all things that we should accept as fundamental realities that will always be present and always need to be present in order to live a life all out for Jesus that is rooted in his word.

NOW EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LOOKED AT IN DETAIL, LET YOUR MENTEE LEAD YOU IN A SESSION, WHEREBY THEY WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE ‘RECOGNISE STAGE.’

Recognise

WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM