The path to true discipleship begins when a person is born again. It begins when the following events take place:

• When a person realizes that he is sinful, lost, blind and naked before God.
• When he acknowledges that he cannot save himself by good character or good works.
• When he believes that the Lord Jesus Christ died as his Substitute on the Cross.
• When by a definite decision of faith, he acknowledges Jesus Christ as his only Lord and Savior.

This is how a person becomes a Christian. It is important to emphasize this at the outset. Too many people think that you become a Christian by living a Christian life. NOT at all! You must first become a Christian before you can live the Christian life.

The life of discipleship is a supernatural life. We do not have the power in ourselves to live it. We need divine power. Only when we are born again do we receive the strength to live as Jesus taught.

Before reading any further, ask yourself the question, "Have I ever been born again? Have I become a child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus?"
If you have not, receive Him now as your Lord and Savior. Then determine to obey Him in all that He has commanded, whatever the cost may be.

True Christianity is an all-out commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Savior is not looking for men and women who will give their spare evenings to Him - or their weekends - or their years of retirement. Rather He seeks those who will give Him first place in their lives.

Nothing less than unconditional surrender could ever be a fitting response to His sacrifice at Calvary. Love so amazing, so divine, could never be satisfied with less than our souls, our lives, our all.

The Lord Jesus made stringent demands on those who would be His disciples - demands that are all but overlooked in this day of luxury-living. Too often we look upon Christianity as an escape from hell and a guarantee of heaven. Beyond that, we feel that we have every right to enjoy the best that this life has to offer. We know that there are those strong verses on discipleship in the Bible, but we have difficulty reconciling them with our ideas of what Christianity should be.

We can accept the fact that soldiers give their lives for patriotic reasons. We do not think it strange that Communists give their lives for political reasons, But that "blood, sweat and tears" should characterize the life of a follower of Christ somehow seems remote and hard to grasp.
And yet the words of the Lord Jesus are clear enough. There is scarcely any room for misunderstanding if we accept them at their face value. Here are the terms of discipleship as laid down by the Savior of the world:

1. A supreme love for Jesus Christ.
   "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26). This does not mean that we should ever have animosity or ill-will in our hearts toward our relatives, but it does mean that our love to Christ should be so great that all other loves are hatred by comparison. Actually, the most difficult clause in this passage is the expression, "yes, and his own life also." Self-love is one of the biggest hindrances to discipleship. Not until we are willing to lay down our lives for Him are we in the place where He wants us.
2. A denial of self.
   "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself..." (Matthew 16:24). Denial of self is not the same as self-denial. The latter means foregoing certain foods, pleasures, or possessions. But denial of self means such complete submission to the lordship of Christ that self has no rights or authority at all. It means that "self" abdicates the throne.
3. A deliberate choosing of the cross.
   "If any man come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross ..." (Matthew 16:24). The cross is not some physical infirmity or mental anguish; these things are common to all men. The cross is a path that is chosen deliberately. The cross symbolizes the shame, persecution and abuse which the world heaped upon the Son of God, and which the world will heap on all who choose to stand against the tide. Any believer can avoid the cross simply by being conformed to the world and its ways.
4. A life spent in following Christ.
   "If any man come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). To understand what this means, you simply need to ask yourself, "What characterized the life of the Lord Jesus?" It was a life of obedience to the will of God. It was a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was a life of unselfish service for others. It was a life of patience and longsuffering in the face of the gravest wrongs. It was a life of zeal, of self-control, of meekness, of kindness, of faithfulness, and of devotion (Galatians 5:22, 23). In order to be His disciples, we must walk as He walked. We must exhibit the fruit of Christ-likeness (John 15:8).
5. A fervent love for all who belong to Christ.
   "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35). This is the love that esteems others more than one's self. It is the love that covers a multitude of sins. It is the love that suffers long and is kind. It is not puffed up. It does not behave unseemly; seeks not its own, is not easily provoked; thinks no evil. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (I Corinthians 13:4-7). Without this love, discipleship would be a cold, and legalistic.
6. An unswerving continuance in His Word.
   "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.(John 8:31). For real discipleship there must be continuance. It is easy to start off well, to burst forth in a blaze of glory. But the test of true discipleship is endurance to the end. Any man who looks back after putting his hand to the plow is not fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Occasional obedience to the Scriptures will not do. Christ wants those who will follow Him in constant, unquestioning obedience.
7. A forsaking of all to follow Him.
   "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33). This may be the most unpopular of all Christ's' terms of discipleship, and may well prove to be the most unpopular verse in the Bible, theologians can give you a thousand reasons why it does not mean what it says, but this writer assumes that the Lord Jesus knew what He was saying. What is meant by forsaking all? It means an abandonment of all one's material possessions that are not absolutely essential and that could be used in the spread of the gospel. The man who forsakes all works hard to provide for the current necessities of his family and himself. But since the passion of his life is to advance the cause of Christ, he invests everything above current needs in the work of the Lord and leaves the future with God. In seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, he believes that he will never lack food and clothing. He cannot conscientiously hold on to surplus funds when souls are perishing for want of the gospel. He does not want to waste his life accumulating riches that will fall into the devil's hands when Christ returns for His saints. He wants to obey the Lord's injunction against laying up treasures on earth. In forsaking all, he offers what he cannot keep anyway, and what he has ceased to love.

These are the terms of dicsipleship! Are you willing and ready to accept these terms? I pray that we all are willing and able to be true disciples of Christ.