Introduction
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
– Matthew 28:19
After several years of deep study in the teachings of Christ, I have discovered some incredible things. The most impressive is here below. In working on the 2nd edition of this book, I began wondering about what order to put the teachings in for the greatest impact to the reader. As I prayerfully arranged them into their most obvious categories, I started to see something astonishing! By extracting His teachings out of the Bible, I was able to see the complete chronological journey of becoming a spiritually mature disciple. On the left are the 31 categories of the top 90 actionable teachings of Christ. On the right, I put those categories into a short story format, which highlights the path we will follow. You can examine your walk with Christ against this and see where you may have gotten stuck or where you may have gotten off the path.
Teaching Categories
1. Life to the Full (Promises) 1-7
2. Predestination 8
3. Childlike Humility 9-10
4. Repentance & Baptism 11
5. Forgiveness from God 12-13
6. Surrender 14-16
7. Receiving the Holy Spirit 17-18
8. Salvation 19-24
9. Falling Away 25-26
10. Forgiveness to Others 27-29
11. Heavenly Focus 30-31
12. Contentment 32
13. Hearing God 33
14. Good Understanding 34-36
15. Fear of God 37
16. Obedience 38-41
17. Love 42-45
18. Prayer 46-49
19. Steadfast Faith 50-51
20. Fear and Worry 52
21. Godly Living 53-60
22. Hypocrisy 61-65
23. Money 66-72
24. Discernment 73-75
25. Handling Evil 76-78
26. Persecution 79-80
27. Suffering 81
28. Humility before Others 82
29. Serving 83-85
30. Sharing our Faith 86-89
31. Discipleship 90
Putting it All Together (The Christian Walk)
The Bible teaches we are born separated from God by our inherited sin nature, and that we will remain separated for all of eternity, if we reject His loving offer of reconciliation. Jesus promised eternal life and 1 Life to the Full to all that would come to Him through 2 Predestination. God chooses us first, but we must exercise our own faith and will to choose Him back, with 3 Childlike Humility. We turn away from our sins through 4 Repentance & Baptism to receive 5 Forgiveness from God. We 6 Surrender our entire life and obey Him as Lord, which leads to our 7 Receiving the Holy Spirit and being born again. A new nature is evidence of our future inheritance of 8 Salvation, if we stand firm to the end without 9 Falling Away. In gratitude for God’s forgiveness of us, we offer 10 Forgiveness to Others. As we walk along, we maintain a 11 Heavenly Focus which brings us deep 12 Contentment. To know His personal will for our life, we must be capable of 13 Hearing God and having 14 Good Understanding. These come as we walk in the 15 Fear of God and in 16 Obedience to Jesus’ commands, motivated by 17 Love. We seek Him daily through 18 Prayer, maintaining 19 Steadfast Faith that He can do all that He promises. As we see God work through our prayers, our trust in Him grows which displaces our 20 Fear and Worry. We focus on 21 Godly Living, avoiding 22 Hypocrisy, and serving God, not 23 Money. As we continue practicing the teachings of Christ, we grow in 24 Discernment, distinguishing between good and evil, truth and error. Because Christ strengthens us by grace, we can 25 Handle Evil, endure 26 Persecution, and stand firm in 27 Suffering for Him. Because our security and honor come from Him alone, we practice 28 Humility before Others, 29 Serving them with the unique gifts God has given us, with the goal of 30 Sharing our Faith and engaging them in 31 Discipleship.