Spirit Birthed and Spirit Empowered: Discipleship as a Gift of the Holy Spirit

The post opens with a quotation from Charles Spurgeon describing the Christian life as an ongoing display of God’s power, using the images of the burning bush that is not consumed, Peter walking on water while his eyes stay on Jesus, and believers rising like eagles on wings of faith and love. The author introduces a new series, “Follow Me: Discipleship Keys from the Life of Jesus,” which will move through the book of Acts and return often to Jesus’s teaching. The method is to look at what the early disciples did, what Jesus taught them, and how believers today can act on that teaching. Discipleship, the author stresses, is a matter of action.

The post then walks through Acts 1 and John 3. The author notes that Luke wrote Acts as a sequel to his Gospel, and that the Holy Spirit’s work is to keep pointing believers back to the words and deeds of Jesus. Jesus tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promised gift of the Spirit. The author distinguishes two works of the Spirit: regeneration, which happens when a person first receives Christ, and a later baptism in the Spirit that empowers believers for service. When the disciples ask about restoring Israel, Jesus answers “not yet,” and the author says that following God often means letting go of our own plans. The post also describes the new birth Jesus explains to Nicodemus as something only God can give, not a product of human effort.

The author finds comfort in the angels who stand with believers, in Jesus’s ongoing intercession before the Father, and in the Spirit who makes Christ present now. A story about a play based on *Pilgrim’s Progress* illustrates that Jesus is with us even when we cannot see him.

In conclusion, the author summarizes discipleship as Spirit birthed, a gift received rather than achieved, and Spirit empowered, enabling believers to proclaim Jesus, pray, and live out the fruit of the Spirit.

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