What Is a Disciple? (Part 2)

Last week we began to tackle the question: What is a disciple? We spent most of our time focusing on what a disciple is, and what makes a “Christian disciple” unique.

A disciple is a “learner” in a holistic sense. Furthermore, the authority of Christ is what makes Christian discipleship unique.

Let’s look again at Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

While there are a lot of things we could focus on in this passage alone, we will focus primarily on those parts that help us most understand, “What is a disciple?”

Our primary identity: a disciple of Jesus

“baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

A Christian disciple is not made by effort, but by grace through faith. Paul put it this way in his letter to the church in Ephesus: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).” A Christian disciple is born-again by faith in Christ.

Faith is like Abraham walking up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham was certain of what he could not see, that God would provide another sacrifice or that He would raise Isaac from the dead. This kind of faith, this bold confidence in God, is a gift; it is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23).

So why baptism? When the apostles received the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 and began preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ people wanted to know what they should do? The apostles responded, “Repent and be baptized.” Baptism symbolizes the identity change that takes place in us when we place our faith in Christ. We are baptized in the name of the Triune God, not the flesh of man.

Just as physical birth introduces a new human into the world, in the same way a Christian disciple is a new creation: the old has passed away. There is no truth that is more critical to understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus than to understand our oneness with Christ.

In the professions and trades, someone takes classes or serves as an apprentice in order to become something or someone else. Christian discipleship is different in that we learn in order to live out who we’ve already become in Christ.

Discipleship: learning and obeying Christ’s commands

“teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

When the disciples asked Jesus, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

Belief in Christ – our identity in Christ, our forgiveness in Christ, our freedom in Christ, our whole life being found in Christ – this what we teach each other to observe. In our new nature, as disciples of Jesus, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we teach each other to observe God’s commands to love Him and love others. Gently, patiently, and prayerfully a disciple of Jesus helps those around him to constantly come back to loving God and loving others.

How do you observe what God has commanded? You own your sin, because it has been paid for in Christ. You forgive those who wrong you, because God in Christ forgave you for wronging Him. You walk by the Spirit: lovingly, joyfully, peacefully, patiently, kindly, ethically, gently, faithfully, and with self-control. You put to death the deeds of the flesh: anger, malice, gossip, sexual immorality, lust, lying, etc.

A disciple of Jesus is not a person who does not sin; a disciple of Christ is someone who battles with sin. Discipleship is the body of Christ teaching and encouraging each other to live our new identity in Christ.

Discipleship: trusting in the person and promises of Christ

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What hope does a Christian disciple have of observing the commands of God? As a new creation in Christ, by grace through faith, the Christian disciple is given the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God and the promises of God.

Paul explains it this way to the Galatians 2:19-21: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is the true identity of a disciple of Jesus. As a new creation, as Christian disciples, we live by faith in Christ who lives in us and promises: “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This means that we are never on our own in this process; Christ himself has promised to be with us in our discipleship until the very end.

So to be a disciple is to first be a new creation in Christ, living by faith in the Christ who is in us, and then from that position before God we learn to observe, and teach others to observe, all that Christ commands.

Persevere,

Joey Turner,

Pastor of Student Ministries