Discipleship
By
Shelby G. Floyd
What or who is a disciple? Jesus made many disciples during his
ministry. The apostles and early
evangelists also made many disciples after Christ went back to heaven. What are the marks that identify a disciple
of Jesus?
A
Follower of Jesus
A disciple of Jesus is willing to deny himself by
taking us his cross and daily following the Lord, bearing whatever costs are
necessary to be a faithful follower of Christ (Luke 9:23-26). A faithful
disciple will not make excuses, but will be obedient in all things (Luke
14:16-24; Luke 9:57-62).
A
Lover of Jesus
Christ expects his disciples to love him supremely and
obey him explicitly. He declared that if we love him we will obey his commands
(John
A
Servant of Christ
Christ did not come to be served, but to die and give himself a ransom for sin. Likewise he demands that his
disciples become his servants and servants of mankind (Romans
An
Imitator of Christ
A disciple or pupil of Christ is not above his
teacher. He comes to his teacher to be fully disciplined and trained and to
become like his teacher: “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone
who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke
A
Baptized Believer
In the great commission Jesus
commanded the making of disciples of all nations. He promised that baptized
believers would be saved (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark
A
Fruit Bearing Christian
The disciples were called
“Christians” first at
Copyright © 2012 Shelby G. Floyd,
All Rights Reserved
Shelby G. Floyd