Intro: Paul addresses this issue of false teachings from the perspective of real biblical discipleship. Real discipleship is necessary to recognize and stand firm on the true faith and to live lives that glorify God in every area of our lives. Please notice that the elements of real discipleship has as its foundation prayer. That is the kind of prayer about which we  investigated last week. If you remember, we need to pray for one another that, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his wills through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Col 1:9–10.

This is foundational to the process of real discipleship. This morning we will look at the process of real discipleship which is absolutely necessary to recognizing and standing against false teachings. It is also necessary for living for Christ in every area of our lives and, if necessary, living for Christ in a hostile culture. Here is the outline of that process:

Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work v. 10

We bear fruit by yielding to the Holy Spirit

When we are lead by the Holy Spirit, we will glorify God in everything we do

Personally & family

Godly stewardship of finances

Godly stewardship of relationships

School

Doing our best in our education

Developing work habits and ethic

Work/professionally

Bring integrity and honesty to the work place

Give a good days work for a good days pay

Growing in the Knowledge of God v. 10

As we learn to yield to the Holy Spirit, we learn to trust God in deeper ways

In the process, God reveals to us through His Word and Spirit, more of His holiness and character

We also learn more about our own strengths and weaknesses

Being Strengthened with all Power According to His Glorious Might  v. 11

The word for “power” is the word from which we coined the word dynamite

“Might” means control and dominion

So that you may have great endurance and patience

“Endurance” means to bear up under difficult circumstances

“Patience” means to have emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune usually brought on by other people

Giving Joyful Thanks to the Father v.12

“Joyful thanks” is charas eucarsitos e.g. heartfelt thanks based upon God’s love and holiness

Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. v. 12

ἱκανόω: (derivative of ἱκανόςc ‘adequate,’ 75.2) to cause someone or something to be adequate for something—‘to make sufficient, to make adequate, to cause to be qualified.’ Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 678.

He qualified us to share in the heritance of His Holy people through the Person and Word of Jesus Christ

God’s kingdom is light v. 13

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves v. 13

In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  v.14

Closing: Here is the question of the day. If you want to recognize and deal with false teachers effectively, then you need to  know the real truth. In other words, we need to know what we believed and why we believe it. In order to do this, we must avail ourselves to studying the Scriptures, prayer, worship, fellowship, and the application of the Word to all aspects of our lives! This is biblical discipleship. It takes commitment, some hard work, lots of honest self-examination under the direction of the Word and the Holy Spirit, and faith to apply what we learn to all areas of our lives.