Discipleship Education: Who Is A Disciple?
WHO IS A DISCIPLE?
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 8:31-32Yesterday we introduced the subject of discipleship and we were left with the question, is there a difference between a student and a disciple? If you looked at the discussion, you may see the responses made by Jefferson and then Pastor Phil which were great and I couldn’t agree more. Thank you Jeff and Pst Phil. So I’ll just pick up from there.
The word, disciple is gotten from the Latin word discipulus, meaning learner, or follower. In the context of the believer, it would mean one who follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, this is beyond just passively following but means actively engaging and practising these teachings until you become like your teacher (Master).
While in the University, one of my lecturers would always say that, it is expected of the student on graduation, not just to be proficient in learning but also in character. I love the words of Jesus because it always gives a clear answer if we are open to receive them. In our opening scripture our Lord Jesus Christ, told the Jews what it means to be his disciple. He tells them that his disciple is one who first believes his WORD, then continues in them, then he will know the truth and the truth will make him free. This is powerful! It will be difficult to exhaust the meaning of those words in this discussion. I will simply say that a disciple begins as a student and ends up in his masters image.
The journey between student-hood to mastery is lined with liberating truth. This truth will free the student from his/her fears, doubts, unbelief, to become the image which is desired of him by his master. We watch sports and we see many potentially very talented individuals who still hire coaches to train them. Like Paul admonishes in 1 Corinthians 9:25 – that every man that is striving for mastery is temperate (disciplined, self-controlled) in all things. There is no discipleship without the word, discipline. A disciple is one who is disciplined in the teachings and character of his teacher/master.
You may have noticed the word master repeatedly used, but I will apply some caution to put this in context as we go on in the discussion. The term must be seen in the context of Jesus’ relationship with his disciples and not the way we use it in the world.
This is already getting longer than I thought, so I’ll conclude here.tomorrow as God wills, we will take a look at discipleship in the context of the new creation. But as usual, I will love to hear your thoughts on this question, Is there any difference between the disciple as used in the gospels (Mathew to John) and the new creation (born again) man? There is no catch,
Please share your thoughts.Till we see again, Ciao!
- 2 Replies
Please share your thoughts.
Thanks @Michael the teaching is very sound. As you mentioned, the process of discipleship begins with believing, and then following until one becomes the image of the master. So, the goal of true Kingdom discipleship is to become like Christ and be formed in his image as Paul says in Galatians 4:19
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
@Michael , these questions have me thinking! I’ve never considered whether there is a difference between being a new creation and being a disciple… my first thought is that we become a new creation in Christ when we receive salvation, but discipleship is an ongoing commitment and a lifelong journey. Like you said, being a disciple comes with discipline and submission to authority. I don’t know if I answered your question… so I’m looking forward to you breaking this down for us
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