"Spiritual Discipleship", by J. Oswald Sanders (book review)

“Spiritual Discipleship” is my third read in the “Spiritual” books by the late J. Oswald Sanders, and I have to say this has been an enlightening, inspirational, and challenging series of books that hit home on so many fronts. If you want to see my previous reviews of “SpiritualMaturity” and “Spiritual Leadership” you can click here and here.  I highly recommend all three!

But, here I must talk about “Spiritual Discipleship”, as it is the focus of this review.  If you’ve read any of the other books, then the size, length, and layout will all be very similar as they’ve been reprinted by Moody Publisher.

The thrust of the book is what a disciple of Christ looks like in patterns of life conduct, rather than about how to disciple new believers.  Twenty relatively short chapters handle such topics as evidences of discipleship, tests of discipleship, maturity of the disciple, exemplary discipleship, the disciple’s hope, etc.

Because there are just so many good things to talk about in this book, I will talk about the single chapter that had the most impact on me: chapter 18, “The Disciple’s Renewed Commission”. Drawing from a real life example and applying it to the reader, Sanders asserts that believers could potentially be preoccupied with the intellectual side of the Christian faith, yet be in danger of losing zeal for God and love for our fellow man.  Drawing mostly from the account of Joshua the priest as recorded by the prophet, Zechariah, Sanders draws many parallels to the Christian who is robed in the righteousness of Christ, although accused by the devil of our sin and failures.

I mentioned earlier that this chapter impacted me most, and the reason is because I feel the heavy burden of my own sin and failures. As I desire to draw closer to Christ, I am more and more keenly aware of my sin and unworthiness, which, in turn, does make me cherish the righteousness of Christ that much more! However, I cannot ignore the fact that reflections of my life and rebellious sins shows a picture that is an ugly sight to behold.  And for the time being, rather than create in me more joy for Christ's glorious work, the devil's accusations and blows have hit their target with ferocity.  I am thankful, however, that Sanders draws my attention back to the faithful love of God the Father.  He reminded me that only God himself has the right to bring any accusation against anyone since He is the One against whom we have sinned. Conversely, the devil has no right to accuse, yet he does it so skillfully. That is why it is such a pleasure to read Sanders words that reminds the reader of the glory and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I’m reminded of David’s words in Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”

Rating: I give Spiritual Discipleship 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from Moody Publishers in exchange for my unbiased review of it. All opinions are mine, and I was not required to provide a positive review.