D17 P14: What must non-legalists do?

Grace is the most scandalous aspect of the Gospel, the hardest pill to swallow, and ironically, one of the biggest barriers to embracing the Gospel. Grace says you can't earn or deserve any favor from God, no matter what you do. But we love to earn and deserve. Just when we begin to come to terms with grace, we begin to lose perspective on the do part of the Gospel. We are not legalists, who teach you must do in order to garner His favor. But ... what must non-legalists do?

The discipleship mindset is anchored in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20), where Jesus tells His disciples to make disciples of all nations. Included in this commission is the command to "teach them to obey everything I commanded you." Discipling someone includes teaching him what to do.

Prior to giving the Great Commission, Jesus consistently did exactly this - teach people to obey His commands. For example, in John 8:31-32, He says, "If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples." Discipleship is marked by doing. Again in John 15:10, he says, "If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love." Not only is our discipleship marked by doing, Jesus' own relationship with His Father is marked by doing.

But we're not legalists!!!

The 14th entry in our series on the 17 Truths of Discipleship ("D17") is:

Discipleship is obedience-driven.

Jesus was not merely a philosopher, teaching us only to have a particular worldview. The Gospel affects not only our theology, our philosophy, and our worldview; the Gospel transforms what we do. The Gospel is not about just getting your entry ticket to heaven, but living now in God's Kingdom according to the nature of God's Kingdom. We get to live this way!!!

Disciples are followers, which means far more than merely "following Jesus' teachings" by agreeing with the good stuff He says. It means following Him - following a Person by doing as He does, speaking as He speaks, thinking as He thinks, and following the path that He blazes.

We're not legalists - we don't teach that you gain merit or favor by what you do. We're practitioners of Grace, those who practice (do) what Grace is. We are followers of the One who merited all of the Father's favor on our behalf. Following cannot exclude doing and still be considered "following."

As we disciple one another, we teach and encourage ourselves to do all that Jesus tells us to do as a matter of following, not as a matter of earning. As one author put it, "Stop trying to be a 'good Christian' and just do what Jesus says."