The End of the Command

If you want to make some money in the Christian world, write a book about simple Christianity. Tell us what the basics are; describe the core of the Christian life. True Christians want to be good disciples, and questions about “the essential practices of the faith” are essentially discipleship questions. To avoid the buzzword of simplicity, we can ask the question this way. It helped me understand what we are hungry for, and maybe it will help you too: “What must be true of a person’s life in order for them to truly be called a disciple?” When a person has reached the end of his discipleship training course, what characteristics should define him?

It is easy to think of military basic training as an analogy. A new recruit who steps into line on his first day of drill is transformed into a Soldier, or Sailor, or Marine, or Airman, or Guardsman by graduation day. The goal of the basic training process is to conform him to the standards of the branch he joins. This analogy is appropriate for the Christian life, according to passages like 1 Timothy 1, where Paul provides an overview of Timothy’s disciple-making role at Ephesus. “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare” (1 Tim. 1:18). Paul gave Timothy a charge concerning the Christian life that was supposed to transform Timothy, and those in his church at Ephesus, into Christian disciples, like recruits are transformed into warriors.

Let us return to and answer the question of discipleship. What must be true of a believer to show that he is no longer a new recruit, but instead can truly be called a Christian? Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:5 what “the end of the commandment” is. By “commandment” he means the code of behavior for a Christian. What is true of a Christian is this: he has “charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” A person that has put away these things has made shipwreck of himself (1 Tim. 1:19). Such people are “dishonorably discharged” from the church. Paul gives two examples: “Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:20). Charity out of a good conscience, pure heart, and unfeigned faith are so important that a person who rejects them is no longer considered a disciple.

Naturally, then, we have to wrap our minds around the three characteristics of mature disciples. What does it mean to have charity (to love) out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and unfeigned faith? To answer, we will begin at the first characteristic, a pure heart.

Purity of heart is affections for the right things. Your heart is pure when you are motivated by love for what God has created and saved you to love. Remember the shocking words at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13? There are many seemingly impressive things a person could do for entirely the wrong reasons. He could be motivated by selfish motivation for praise. He could be keeping score of his sacrificial deeds. He could self-consciously be working his way up the ladder of Christian influence. He could be angling for his opinions to be taken seriously at some later date. He may be trying to prove to himself that he is not the bad man he once was.

The proper motive for acts of charity is love for God and a desire for the kind of good for others that God says they ought to have. You and I need to know who we ought to love, in what order to love them, and how to love based on their priority. One simple example is how pet dogs have replaced children for both the young married and the old lonely. Pets occupy a space in the priority of relationships below all people. Provide for your dog’s basic needs, consider its life and health, and move on. Reserve birthday presents, stroller rides, and phone calls for children and family members. To conclude the point, a pure heart prioritizes wife before church member, daughter before neighbor, and Christian widow before homeless stranger. Love the right things.

The second characteristic of a mature disciple is a good conscience. A good conscience is one that can accurately distinguish right from wrong. No ungodly philosophy or sinful affection is hindering its ability. Hebrews 5:14 uses the term “of full age” to describe “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” A mature disciple has eliminated all the influences he knows dull his ability to make decisions that please God.

The third characteristic of a mature disciple is unfeigned faith. This means that the disciple truly believes what he confesses. He is motivated by his conviction, not by the opportunity to gain something by claiming Christ. He seeks to understand what he believes. The opposite of unfeigned faith is in 1 Timothy 1:19-20. There, Paul speaks of men who are “desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” They use the law of God in their words and behavior, but to enhance their reputation instead of to please God. Their confession has outpaced their understanding. By contrast, a true disciple’s Christian confession flows out of his heart. He knows and loves Christ, and so he speaks and behaves accordingly.

These characteristics of discipleship are simultaneously easy and difficult. If you are a believer, you recognize that the Spirit has planted in you the ability and the desire to follow these three objectives. On the other hand, you recognize the continual challenges the world, flesh, and devil present, and the ways in which your heart follows after those temptations. This is why disciples depend on others to recognize and affirm spiritual growth. From our perspective, we will never be mature disciples. Yet Paul instructed Timothy to teach these things in Ephesus, and expected the elders there to be examples. Famously, even the young were to be examples of the believer. The question can be reduced to this: Do you want these three characteristics of pure heart, good conscience, and unfeigned love? Are you growing in them even in small ways? If so, you are in discipleship training. The Lord and the officers of His army can evaluate your growth in the specific areas. Christ is at work building His church. We are laboring with Him. It is simple as that.

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The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.

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