Key to understanding

[Behold]

-
The NT says that if you are born again, then "you who are spiritual, discern all things".

The NT says, comparing "scripture with scripture" that "the word of God is Spiritually discerned".

And to do that, you ...>"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God".

To "rightly divide" the word of God, is to "Spiritually discern it" by "study" and in this, God gives you the Light of knowledge which is the revelation of the word, discerned..

See how all those verses work together to reveal how to get revelation from the word of God?

Now, what is a faster way to get revelation from the word of God?
You do it like this.
You find a TEACHER who has the revelation, who can teach it to you in a way that allows the Spirit of God to speed up your knowledge as spiritual understanding.
This is what im doing for you right now.
This is what Jesus did to and for Paul, so that Paul could then give us the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as what Paul refers to as "MY Gospel" which is not Acts 2:38,....as Paul was not on the job then..
Jesus gave Paul more revelation then he gave others, and that is why Paul wrote most of the NT and all of the Church Doctrine.

Paul received "the Gospel of the Grace of God", personally from Jesus.... that we understand as "the Preaching of the Cross".......which is based on ....Christ prophesying ..."if I BE LIFTED UP.... i will draw all men to me".

Now,
What is the KEY that opens the door, so that you can understand what i just taught you, and what im going to show you next....so that you can understand it, if you have not understood it once you finish this teaching ????

Its this.. Reader

'"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and Knowledge".

And that Knowledge is what you want.
That knowledge is God's Spiritual revelation revealed to you, .. to the "eyes of your understanding".....your inner spiritual born again "new creation in Christ".

So, how do you get that? How does that happen?

Very simple.
Its this...
"Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory".
Listen...
You are, ... if you are born again, and not just water baptized.....but if you are born again, then Christ in you is eternally joined "as ONE" with your Spirit.... is why you are born again.
So, you have in you Christ......Literally, and forever.
He's in you and this is your Eternal Life.
"Christ in you, the hope of Glory". You are the "temple of the Holy Spirit", if you are born again....and "That SPIRIT is Christ".

See that?

So, if you can......if you can understand what im showing you.......if its all made sense...or, if you read this Thread or any of my Threads a few times and they suddenly "make sense"...as...."oh, i see that"...."well SURE, that is true"....

See that?
When that happens..........here is HOW.
This is the KEY......
Christ in you, is the KNOWLEDGE, and He imparts this as spiritual discernment to your Spirit because your Spirit is joined to His.

IN other words, you receive INNER LIGHT........The Light of Revelation from the Holy Spirit, and "that Spirit is Christ".
Jesus is the Light. The Light is the Truth, is the Knowledge, is the Revelation of the Truth, that is revealed to you, as "Spiritual Discernment".
And THAT is what you use...., as THAT is how you rightly divided the word of God when you STUDY so that you dont end up "ashamed" due to lack of KNOWLEDGE which is proven by teaching what is actually anti-Cross and Anti-Christ which is taught daily all over this Forum.

 

[Bob Estey]

-
The NT says that if you are born again, then "you who are spiritual, discern all things".

The NT says, comparing "scripture with scripture" that "the word of God is Spiritually discerned".

And to do that, you ...>"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God".

To "rightly divide" the word of God, is to "Spiritually discern it" by "study" and in this, God gives you the Light of knowledge which is the revelation of the word, discerned..

See how all those verses work together to reveal how to get revelation from the word of God?

Now, what is a faster way to get revelation from the word of God?
You do it like this.
You find a TEACHER who has the revelation, who can teach it to you in a way that allows the Spirit of God to speed up your knowledge as spiritual understanding.
This is what im doing for you right now.
This is what Jesus did to and for Paul, so that Paul could then give us the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as what Paul refers to as "MY Gospel" which is not Acts 2:38,....as Paul was not on the job then..
Jesus gave Paul more revelation then he gave others, and that is why Paul wrote most of the NT and all of the Church Doctrine.

Paul received "the Gospel of the Grace of God", personally from Jesus.... that we understand as "the Preaching of the Cross".......which is based on ....Christ prophesying ..."if I BE LIFTED UP.... i will draw all men to me".

Now,
What is the KEY that opens the door, so that you can understand what i just taught you, and what im going to show you next....so that you can understand it, if you have not understood it once you finish this teaching ????

Its this.. Reader

'"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and Knowledge".

And that Knowledge is what you want.
That knowledge is God's Spiritual revelation revealed to you, .. to the "eyes of your understanding".....your inner spiritual born again "new creation in Christ".

So, how do you get that? How does that happen?

Very simple.
Its this...
"Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory".
Listen...
You are, ... if you are born again, and not just water baptized.....but if you are born again, then Christ in you is eternally joined "as ONE" with your Spirit.... is why you are born again.
So, you have in you Christ......Literally, and forever.
He's in you and this is your Eternal Life.
"Christ in you, the hope of Glory". You are the "temple of the Holy Spirit", if you are born again....and "That SPIRIT is Christ".

See that?

So, if you can......if you can understand what im showing you.......if its all made sense...or, if you read this Thread or any of my Threads a few times and they suddenly "make sense"...as...."oh, i see that"...."well SURE, that is true"....

See that?
When that happens..........here is HOW.
This is the KEY......
Christ in you, is the KNOWLEDGE, and He imparts this as spiritual discernment to your Spirit because your Spirit is joined to His.

IN other words, you receive INNER LIGHT........The Light of Revelation from the Holy Spirit, and "that Spirit is Christ".
Jesus is the Light. The Light is the Truth, is the Knowledge, is the Revelation of the Truth, that is revealed to you, as "Spiritual Discernment".
And THAT is what you use...., as THAT is how you rightly divided the word of God when you STUDY so that you dont end up "ashamed" due to lack of KNOWLEDGE which is proven by teaching that is actually anti-Cross and Anti-Christ which is taught daily all over this Forum.

I think you would agree that over time, when we follow the Lord, we gain understanding. How many biblical scholars and theolgians are doing that? Maybe not as many as one would think.

 

[Behold]

I think you would agree that over time, when we follow the Lord, we gain understanding. How many biblical scholars and theolgians are doing that? Maybe not as many as one would think.

Christ is in us, if we are born again, and not just water baptized..

CHRIST is "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"....and this is why the NT tells us..>"you need not that any man TEACH you" as all that is in us as "Christ IN YOU< the hope of Glory"...(Glory is Heaven).
He is the Hope of Heaven sent to redeem the world. John 3:16

Yet the same NT also says, that God calls some to become..>"Apostles, Prophets, TEACHERS"....for the enabling of the saints, for their spiritual maturing.

So, if one verse says..."you need not that any man teach you", ...Yet....another verse says......God calls "TEACHERS" as anointed to teach....
This is not a contradiction, unless the person reading has no spiritual discernment and in that case they will think those verses contradict, and then they could add those to their "errors in the bible" Thread that deceived pretenders like to post on Forums like this one.

So, what is going on there?

Its this..... i'll show you. Im a teacher, and i have students. Lots.

I have the Holy Spirit in Me, as do they... We are all joined in spiritual union, by "that Spirit who is CHRIST".

So, i teach, but its Christ who reveals.
I teach, but its the CHRIST IN US who is the knowledge i teach, who takes my words and reveals them as spiritual discernment to the "eyes of your understanding", which is my hearer's spirit......not their mind.

Let me show you what i mean.....

"ever learning...BUT.... never able to come to the KNOWLEDGE of THE Truth"....

So, you can memorize bible verses.....you can memorize greek texts, and all you have done is NOTHING.
Why?
Because you are learning to memorize words and sentences, but you are not coming to the KNOWLEDGE of the TRUTH that is the LIGHT inside the verses., as that is what is DISCERNED.

And who IS : THE TRUTH?
Jesus is THE TRUTH...... John 14:6
So, this person, this memorizing machine, is not getting to the Truth....but they are coming to the Knowledge., which is to read it.

Scripture is SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.... because its not just words on a page. Its Light as Revelation, that Christ gives you as "truth".
When you get THAT, you have discerned the verses, and until a person does they are "ever learning """."

Think of Christ Jesus, who is the redeemer. This is the truth.....and people have heard it...but if you dont believe it, then you know the concept, but you dont have the KNOWLEDGE OF THE Truth.......as that is a spiritual discernment situation.

Let say that 4000 are in a church, its Alter Call time, and i am talking about the Cross and sin, and forgiveness, and redemption.
Im revealing Jesus as all that, which is the TRUTH.......and there are 20 in the building who are not born again, and 8 are doing this...."faith comes by HEARING".....what im saying......because i'm speaking the Truth, and its being REVEALED by the Spirit of Christ to these 8, because Jesus said....>"if i be lifted up, i will draw all to me"....and so, the "preaching of the CROSS" which is the "power of God unto Salvation", is what im doing with my mouth, and this TRUTH being preached is being revealed to those by the "hearing of Faith", or "Faith comes by hearing", as that is the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit who is causing them to DISCERN this Spiritual Truth.

So, me teaching, is the same thing happening, here.

Now, There are Scholars who write books, and have huge ministries, who are all talk and no Spirit.
They are in some cases, educated beyond their intelligence.

Another example.....is....There are people who do not read Koine Greek, yet, they spend $1000 USD on Greek Lexicons, and in them, someone has translated the greek verses that they can't read, and so, this nut bar reads the TRANSLATION of the Koine Greek< then comes to forums like this one... and pretends to be a "greek authority", bible corrector.
See that one? They are ever learning and never able to come to the Knowledge of THE TRUTH.

The first rule of Spirituality is that you have to become in spiritual union with the TRUTH, and He is JESUS.
If He is not in you,... if you are not born again....reader.... then that bible is nothing but a bear trap that is going to twist your mind and lead you into "crazy" theological concepts.
Denominations are often started and continued by these deeply deceived people and their converts. = millions of them worldwide.
Believe it.

 

[Karl Peters]

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

If a person is indeed "in a spiritual union" with Jesus Christ then you hear the words He speaks to you.

Jn 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

So you hear words from Him via His Holy Spirit speaking to your spirt. And they are words. And He will talk to you about all things in your life, including the Bible which He had people write to use as a teacher would use a textbook. Yet since He is the Teacher and Creator, He uses all the things He put in the class room (this world) to teach you - explaining to you with in words what He has to teach you.

Still not everyone who studies the textbook are taking the class. He once told me:

WHAT TEACHER DOESN’T PUT A BOOK IN FRONT OF HIS STUDENTS TODAY; YET NOT JUST A BOOK BUT OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCIES, VISUALS, AND OTHER MATERIAL? FOR I TELL YOU TRULY, IF THEY ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME THEY ARE NOT MY PUPIL, THEY ARE NOT MY STUDENT; I TELL YOU TRULY, THEY ARE NOT MY DISCIPLE UNLESS THEY ARE HEARING FROM ME. SO DON’T TELL THEM TO READ THE BOOK, THEM TO TAKE THE CLASS!”

So who is the Teacher? Us?? Certainly not! He is the Teacher and we are supposed to be His pupils, His students, His disciples!!!

I am not saying that He could not nor would not give a teaching or a word from Him to pass on to others. Indeed there is great value in listening to other people also, because we all know in part. Never-the-less, Jesus also said:

Mat 23:8 “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

Rabbi means "teacher" and we have only One Teacher!!

So I would never say:

. Im a teacher, and i have students. Lots.

Especially on spiritual matters! I mean even if He gave me a teaching to pass on - it was from Him and also the instructions to post and pass on would have come from Him; if I was truly listening to Him.

So it is that my Teacher and Lord does give me instructions. No way I wanted to start posting today. How bad am I, that He had to tell me three times before I decided to do what He asked? And even the third time I told Him to wait a moment so I could get to a stopping point in my work. I also have a business to run.

We need to stop trying to make disciples for ourselves and start making it about making disciples for Him!!

So our message is that He is the Teacher and we need to listen to Him!! He has lots of students, but many are not listening to Him like they should. Not even me. I shouldn't have to hear Him tell me 3 times to go and post what He asks, but still I do hear Him in words. It is not a feeling, nor some weird "Spirituality" - It is simply knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord, my Teacher, my Friend, and so on. It is a relationship!

 

[Behold]

We need to stop trying to make disciples for ourselves and start making it about making disciples for Him!!

Yes, you should never do that..

 

[ScottA]

-
The NT says that if you are born again, then "you who are spiritual, discern all things".

The NT says, comparing "scripture with scripture" that "the word of God is Spiritually discerned".

And to do that, you ...>"Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of God".

To "rightly divide" the word of God, is to "Spiritually discern it" by "study" and in this, God gives you the Light of knowledge which is the revelation of the word, discerned..

See how all those verses work together to reveal how to get revelation from the word of God?

Now, what is a faster way to get revelation from the word of God?
You do it like this.
You find a TEACHER who has the revelation, who can teach it to you in a way that allows the Spirit of God to speed up your knowledge as spiritual understanding.
This is what im doing for you right now.
This is what Jesus did to and for Paul, so that Paul could then give us the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as what Paul refers to as "MY Gospel" which is not Acts 2:38,....as Paul was not on the job then..
Jesus gave Paul more revelation then he gave others, and that is why Paul wrote most of the NT and all of the Church Doctrine.

Paul received "the Gospel of the Grace of God", personally from Jesus.... that we understand as "the Preaching of the Cross".......which is based on ....Christ prophesying ..."if I BE LIFTED UP.... i will draw all men to me".

Now,
What is the KEY that opens the door, so that you can understand what i just taught you, and what im going to show you next....so that you can understand it, if you have not understood it once you finish this teaching ????

Its this.. Reader

'"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and Knowledge".

And that Knowledge is what you want.
That knowledge is God's Spiritual revelation revealed to you, .. to the "eyes of your understanding".....your inner spiritual born again "new creation in Christ".

So, how do you get that? How does that happen?

Very simple.
Its this...
"Christ in YOU, the hope of Glory".
Listen...
You are, ... if you are born again, and not just water baptized.....but if you are born again, then Christ in you is eternally joined "as ONE" with your Spirit.... is why you are born again.
So, you have in you Christ......Literally, and forever.
He's in you and this is your Eternal Life.
"Christ in you, the hope of Glory". You are the "temple of the Holy Spirit", if you are born again....and "That SPIRIT is Christ".

See that?

So, if you can......if you can understand what im showing you.......if its all made sense...or, if you read this Thread or any of my Threads a few times and they suddenly "make sense"...as...."oh, i see that"...."well SURE, that is true"....

See that?
When that happens..........here is HOW.
This is the KEY......
Christ in you, is the KNOWLEDGE, and He imparts this as spiritual discernment to your Spirit because your Spirit is joined to His.

IN other words, you receive INNER LIGHT........The Light of Revelation from the Holy Spirit, and "that Spirit is Christ".
Jesus is the Light. The Light is the Truth, is the Knowledge, is the Revelation of the Truth, that is revealed to you, as "Spiritual Discernment".
And THAT is what you use...., as THAT is how you rightly divided the word of God when you STUDY so that you dont end up "ashamed" due to lack of KNOWLEDGE which is proven by teaching what is actually anti-Cross and Anti-Christ which is taught daily all over this Forum.

With exception...I would say: Don't find a teacher.

God works in the hearts of those who seek Him. Seek Him there--in the heart...and if you want more: Since the beginning of time His story has been made available. Read of Him, but beware of the teachings of men.

 

[Behold]

With exception...I would say: Don't find a teacher.

God works in the hearts of those who seek Him. Seek Him there--in the heart...and if you want more: Since the beginning of time His story has been made available. Read of Him, but beware of the teachings of men.

Schools need teachers, as if there were none, classes would have no reason to exist.

And within the body of Christ, God calls some to teach...
However, a person can teach, and it be of God as long as they are not "fallen from Grace", ........and have been instructed by a good teacher.

Paul said..>"be a follower of me"...........so, we follow the leaders, who show us the way, as they teach us as they have been Taught.

Jesus is all Knowledge and Wisdom, and a Teacher, called of God is anointed to share what Christ in them, has taught them.

Every Great preacher, had a great Teacher.
Paul the Apostle, wrote all the church doctrine, and most of the NT, and Paul's Teacher was Jesus Himself, who said that Paul is a "chosen vessel", and Christ took Paul aside, and gave him advanced revelations that became what we understand as The Grace of God, as the Gospel, and all the church doctrine.

Paul is a TEACHER, and he's not the only one, but he is the best and we are to be in line, theologically, with Paul's Doctrine.

Start here. : Hebrews 13:9

 

[marks]

With exception...I would say: Don't find a teacher.

God works in the hearts of those who seek Him. Seek Him there--in the heart...and if you want more: Since the beginning of time His story has been made available. Read of Him, but beware of the teachings of men.

I think Jesus still gives to us teachers. And I suggest, asking God for instruction, and ask God for good teaching. Don't just go find a teacher, but to seek one from the Lord is good.

Much love!

 

[ScottA]

God calls some to teach...

Some.

However, a person can teach, and it be of God as long as they are not "fallen from Grace", ........and have been instructed by a good teacher.

Paul said..>"be a follower of me"...........so, we follow the leaders, who show us the way, as they teach us as they have been Taught.

Jesus is all Knowledge and Wisdom, and a Teacher, called of God is anointed to share what Christ in them, has taught them.

Every Great preacher, had a great Teacher.
Paul the Apostle, wrote all the church doctrine, and most of the NT, and Paul's Teacher was Jesus Himself, who said that Paul is a "chosen vessel", and Christ took Paul aside, and gave him advanced revelations that became what we understand as The Grace of God, as the Gospel, and all the church doctrine.

Paul is a TEACHER, and he's not the only one, but he is the best and we are to be in line, theologically, with Paul's Doctrine.

Start here. : Hebrews 13:9

But with a word of caution:

"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do." Matthew 23:1-3​

 

[Behold]

Some.
But with a word of caution:

"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do." Matthew 23:1-3​

Yes, avoid a Legalist.....(scribe or pharisee).....this is a person who will teach you that you can "lose your salvation".
Avoid those devils., as they have rejected THE CROSS.

 

[Karl Peters]

With exception...I would say: Don't find a teacher.

God works in the hearts of those who seek Him. Seek Him there--in the heart...and if you want more: Since the beginning of time His story has been made available. Read of Him, but beware of the teachings of men.

Of course, we are looking for a Teacher in Jesus Christ!!

So, we do want to find a Teacher!

Now that does not mean that He, the Teacher won't use others to teach!! There is something written about how we all know in part, and something about iron sharpening iron! What it does however mean is that we all need to be listening to our Teacher and taking our thoughts to Him to see what He has to say about them!!!

Yes, avoid a Legalist.....(scribe or pharisee).....this is a person who will teach you that you can "lose your salvation".
Avoid those devils., as they have rejected THE CROSS.

Now concerning the above - we need to follow Jesus Christ! But what does that mean? Jesus explained that His sheep hear His voice and also something about leading His sheep out with His voice. Now we might need to and do need to use some discernment, but that also means taking those thoughts we get captive to Jesus Christ to find out what He has to say about them. Never-the-less, Jesus did and said only what the Father told Him, and it is written that the Holy Spirit took Jesus Christ to be tested! So being lead by Jesus Christ (our Teacher) via His Holy Spirit does not necessarily mean you are going to "avoid a Legalist.....(scribe or pharisee)...", or "Avoid those devils" - And note that scribes and pharisee would normally refer to people, and those devils would normally refer to the dark forces in spiritual places that we battle with.

So, we are not so much trying to avoid either, but are trying to follow Jesus Christ!

With that said, let us not forget to pray like we are told - which includes the request to the Father to not lead us into temptation and to deliver us from evil. Yet since Jesus is not a hypocrite; He must have also prayed that to the Father and still wound up being lead to be tested by Satan, and still wound up dealing with legalist, scribes, pharisees, and also those devils.!! After all, Jesus also prayed something about not His will but the Father's will be done. There are things the Father wants done, and so following our Lord Jesus Christ might not mean avoiding the legalist, scribes, pharisees, and those devils. Can you avoid the battle if we are told that we battle with the powers, principalities, and dark forces of this world??
Let us must make sure we are trying to follow our leader, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and not just trying to avoid the battle! That means listening to Him, our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

[Behold]

Now concerning the above - we need to follow Jesus Christ! But what does that mean?

Here is what that means..

"follow me as i follow Christ"....>Paul teaching. 1 Corinthians 11:1

Learn what that means, and do that.
Start today.

Start here....> Hebrews 13:9

 

[Karl Peters]

Here is what that means..

"follow me as i follow Christ"....>Paul teaching. 1 Corinthians 11:1

Learn what that means, and do that.
Start today.

Start here....> Hebrews 13:9

That is not what Paul said - click on you own verse reference!

"11 Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.

It reads "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Chirst" it does not read "follow me as I follow Christ"!!!! How and why did you miss that?

Paul was trying to imitate Christ, and so Paul was also telling the people to be like him who was trying to imitate Christ because that was what he was trying to do!! Paul was not telling them to "follow" him!!! He was telling them to follow Christ like he was trying to do!!

There is a huge difference there! If you get it wrong, then you are going to go about trying to make disciples for yourself!! What we are supposed to be doing is trying to get people to be disciples of Jesus Christ!! HUGE MASSIVE DIFFERENCE!! DO YOU THINK YOU ARE LIKE CHRIST ON EARTH?

It is for that reason that I regularly tell people to seek Jesus Christ and listen to His voice which comes via His Holy Spirit to their spirit!!

I tell people to listen to Him, because it is not because that is what I try and do. So if a person was to try and imitate me, they would then also be trying to listen to Jesus Christ!! Hopefully they will do that better than me, because I know that I don't hear Him enough - only usually about a dozen different times a day. I get busy and side tracked too often - but that is the effort we Christians need to be making - which again is trying to listen to Jesus Christ and what He has to say to them.

And it seems to me, even from my sad state of only hearing from the Lord about a dozen times a day, that the one thing I do worth imitating is actually seeking the voice of the Lord what He has to say to us! So it clearly is not to get people to follow me, unless you think following me is taking my advice to try and follow Jesus Christ by listening to His voice. But then that is clearly not following me but them following Jesus Christ!!

I am sure Paul was much better at following Jesus Christ than me, but even Paul was not telling people to "follow him" but rather he was telling people imitated his efforts to try and imitate Jesus Christ - who if you remember said that He did and said only what the Father told Him.

Telling other people "follow me", is just wrong unless you happen to be Jesus Christ!!

 

[ScottA]

Of course, we are looking for a Teacher in Jesus Christ!!

So, we do want to find a Teacher!

Now that does not mean that He, the Teacher won't use others to teach!! There is something written about how we all know in part, and something about iron sharpening iron! What it does however mean is that we all need to be listening to our Teacher and taking our thoughts to Him to see what He has to say about them!!!

Yes, correct. Jesus is our Teacher.

As our Teacher, during these times He has assigned the Holy Spirit to continue the work of teaching "all truth" to us...and yes, that may mean He gives it to lay-teachers who then give it to others. While this is true, we are also cautioned to beware of false teachers, which would include multiple collaborating false teachers. The test we are given to be sure, is to "test every spirit", which can be accomplished through the scriptures, as they are spiritually given and discerned.

God is good! Sounds like we are together on this.

 

[Behold]

That is not what Paul said - click on you own verse reference!
"11 Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
It reads "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Chirst"

Your verse, your version there.... is very inaccurate.

Let me explain why...
Trying to imitate Christ is not real Christianity. But Following Him, is Christianity.
Disciples are followers, not imitators.

To "imitate" is to pretend, or to act.......its a performance.

Paul said to FOLLOW< which is to engage.... not in pretense, but by total submission.

"it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me, through me". ... See that? That is not to imitate, that is to SUBMIT.

So, a "Disciple" of Paul, who is a "follower" of Christ, is not a person who is trying to imitate Jesus as a performance, but its a person who has submitted themselves, life and will...= to God's eternal ownership of them, as they are "bought with a price", and that price is the Blood and Death of Jesus.

That is what Paul means when he tells you to be a FOLLOWER of Him, as he FOLLOWS....not imitates,..... but FOLLOWS Christ....and finally "finishes his course"......or his "ministry"...>"calling"....."Apostleship".....then dies as a Martyr.

 

[Behold]

[QUOTE="ScottA, post: 1237650, member: 3638"

He has assigned the Holy Spirit to continue the work of teaching "all truth" to us...and yes, that may mean He gives it to lay-teachers who then give it to others. [/QUOTE]

Look..

""""
11 :And God gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and TEACHERS.....
12 : For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: