► What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

Some people think that a Christian is any good person. Others think that being a Christian means to believe certain things. For many of these people, beliefs do not make much difference in their lives.

Others are closer to the truth. They know that there must be a time of conversion, when a person becomes a Christian. They believe that this happened when a person at some moment believed that he was forgiven. Many believe that a truly converted person has the guarantee of heaven no matter what he does after his conversion.

It is true that conversion must be genuine. It is true that forgiveness is given by grace in response to faith. It is true that a Christian lives in obedience to God. But that is not all it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

We can see what happens when a moment of faith is made the only criterion for being a Christian—it leads to antinomianism, the teaching that God’s commands are not binding on a Christian. Instead of being free grace, it becomes an imaginary grace that pretends to justify sin.

Churches that advertise imaginary grace have members who attend church but live in open sin. Their pastors and other leaders live better than the congregation but may also have sinful habits. They say it is not necessary to live in complete obedience to God because we are saved by grace. They have lost the commission Jesus gave to the church, which is to bring people to obedience to the commands of Christ. The special task of the church is to turn unbelievers into holy worshippers of God, and the church has no better reason to exist.

Even churches that maintain the necessity of obeying God have certain people that are in another error. They have conformed their life to the requirements that they believe are right, but they do not have a Christlike spirit. They are harsh and unforgiving. They cannot give a humble and gracious apology. They are quick to judge others. They have confidence in only a few people. They never seem to doubt their own rightness. They have an answer for every issue, and no respect for those who disagree with them. They do not have any zeal for winning the lost, but great zeal for defending their opinions. They are satisfied with themselves, and do not plan to change.

Do these people really know Jesus and want to be like him?

To be a Christian means to be a disciple of Jesus.

What does it mean to be a disciple? To obey Christ? Surely it means at least that much. In the Great Commission, when Jesus told the apostles to go everywhere making disciples, he instructed them to teach these new disciples to obey all that he had commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20). Obeying Jesus’ commands is not all that is meant by being a disciple.

The disciples of the Jewish rabbis shared life with them, learning not just their teaching, but their lifestyle. They learned their attitudes and priorities.

When Jesus called disciples, saying “Come and follow me,”[1] that was what he meant. He still calls disciples through the gospel.

How does one become a disciple?

First, you must believe in him – unless you believe in him you have no reason to follow him.

You have to change the direction you are going. Nobody starts out as a follower of Jesus – we start out going our own way. You have to decide to follow Jesus instead of your own way. That means you see there is something wrong with your own way. The following starts with repentance – you cannot follow him without being sorry for your sins. If you are not sorry enough to quit your sins, you are still going your own way.

You experience his forgiveness and begin a relationship with him. You begin to know him more and want to be like him.

► A student should read Matthew 16:21-25 for the group.

In this conversation with his disciples, Jesus described his coming death. Peter was shocked by Jesus’ words. Peter did not see suffering and death as appropriate for Jesus at all. He began to argue with Jesus, trying to encourage him to reject the thought of death.

Jesus rebuked Peter and said that he did not understand the things of God. Jesus said that to be his disciple one must deny self, take up the cross, and follow him. This meant to accept death to self. The rebuke was against the natural human tendencies of self-fulfillment, self-exaltation, and self-defense—things that resist true discipleship.

[2]

► Why is the human self naturally resistant to discipleship?

The disciples did not see suffering and death as appropriate for themselves. They didn’t yet fully understand what it meant to follow him. It costs you nothing to be forgiven, but it will cost you everything to follow Christ. Following him results in continued heart searching, humbling, and changing.

► Explain the statement, “It will cost you everything to follow Christ.”

To take up the cross is to embrace a kind of death for the sake of eternal life with God. It is death to self, death to your own sovereignty. It is not just outward submission, but it goes all the way through the heart. It is a humility which Jesus described as the requirement for entering his kingdom.

Like those first disciples, many today do not understand what it means to be a disciple. Churches offer grace to those who have not repented. That does not start converts on the right road or prepare them for what is to come. It is so different from real Christian living that it is not the same road.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who was executed under Adolph Hitler. He wrote these lines in his book The Cost of Discipleship.

"Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye that causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him... such grace is costly because it calls us to follow."

Following him is to become like him. It is to die to self because he completely surrendered self. It is not just to quit doing certain wrong things, but to quit them because Jesus would. We try to do what Jesus would do in his purity, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness.

We don’t just do what is right while our heart opposes it. We want our hearts to be like his. He did not hate anyone. There were people who chose to be his enemies, but he was nobody’s enemy. Even on the cross he forgave.

His real followers are not spiteful. They do good to those who mistreat them. They bless and never curse. They do not limit their forgiveness. They have given up their personal rights and serve instead.

There is no place to quit living out this self-surrender. The one who tries to keep his soul will lose it—the one who gives it will save it (Mark 8:35).

► How can we call people to salvation in a way that will prepare them for discipleship?

[1] Matthew 4:19, Matthew 9:9, Matthew 16:24, Matthew 19:21, John 1:43

[2]“Jesus Christ insists on dislodging from the center of our world whatever idol previously reigned there, and occupying the throne himself. This is the radical change of allegiance which constitutes conversion, or at least its beginning. Then once Christ has taken his rightful place, everything else starts shifting.”
- Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, The Willowbank Report