The Five Cs: A Discipleship Framework
426-FIVE-CS-FRAMEWORK · Version 1.0 · October 25, 2026
A framework under Scripture
The Five Cs organize study and reflection within 426 IMAGO DEI. They are not a second gospel, a required order of salvation or a ranking system. Each term must be examined in the setting of the biblical passage used to teach it.
The goal is to help a person understand identity, belonging, surrender and discipleship, then practice what is learned in community and daily life.
Created: dignity received from God
Genesis 1:26–27 locates humanity’s dignity in God’s creative purpose. Being made in His image precedes possessions, public recognition and commercial labels. This grounds the care owed to other people as well as the way we speak about ourselves.
Creation in God’s image is not the same statement as every person already being reconciled to God through Christ. Teaching should preserve that distinction while welcoming every person to hear the Gospel.
Chosen: belonging in Christ
Read Ephesians 1:3–14 as a connected passage. Its language of choosing, adoption, redemption and inheritance centers on Christ and the grace of God. The teaching should not turn chosen into a slogan of personal superiority.
Study asks what God has done in Christ, how Paul addresses believers and how gratitude, assurance and responsibility arise from that belonging.
Called: walk worthy of the calling
Ephesians 4:1–6 connects calling with humility, patience, love and unity. Calling is therefore more than discovering an exceptional individual assignment. It includes the character of a life lived among other believers.
A useful response is concrete: practice patience, seek reconciliation, serve someone faithfully or ask a mature believer to help apply the passage.
Consecrated: offer the whole life
Romans 12:1–2 presents the body as a living sacrifice and calls for renewal of the mind. Consecration concerns an ongoing response to God’s mercy, not the purchase or wearing of a particular design.
Teaching should invite examination of habits, motives and relationships without manipulating people into public disclosure or equating emotional intensity with holiness.
Commissioned: disciples who make disciples
Matthew 28:18–20 grounds the commission in Christ’s authority and includes making disciples, baptism and teaching obedience. Creative work can communicate truth, but it does not replace the Gospel or the life of discipleship.
The practical pathway includes reading in context, prayer, fellowship, baptism questions, service and accountable teaching. Participation records can show attendance or self-reported completion; they cannot measure someone’s standing before God.
Delivery and accountability
Each study should identify a passage, learning purpose, contextual explanation, reflection and voluntary next step. Scripture remains available without membership or purchase.
The framework is reviewed through the ministry’s editorial process. Teachers should welcome correction, distinguish interpretation from quotation and avoid making unsupported promises about outcomes.