What does the Bible say about discipleship?
A Christian disciple is a follower of Christ, but one thing you must know is the cost of following Jesus Christ is your life. It will cost you everything. You will have to say no to temptations and the things of this world. You will have to follow Him through trials, suffering, loneliness, humiliation, etc.
You have to love God more than anyone or anything in this world and even if you were the only one in your family following Christ and even if your parents didn’t approve you would still follow Christ.
We must depend on God’s grace. We must not rely on ourselves, but we must rely on the Holy Spirit. God’s goal is to make you into the image of Christ. Disciples of Christ imitate Christ and bring glory to God. We grow in grace by reading Scripture, obeying Scripture, praying, etc. We have a love for other believers. We humble ourselves and not only are we students, but we spread the gospel and disciple others.
Don’t tell me you’re a disciple of Christ when you have no new desires for Christ. Don’t tell me you are a disciple when you deliberately rebel against God’s Word and use Jesus Christ dying to justify your continuous lifestyle of sin.
Don’t tell me you’re a disciple when you truly want to follow the world. You think you’re saved because you go to church. You only pray when things go bad. Your life is not about Christ it’s about what he can do for me. When talking about obedience to God’s Word false converts love to scream legalism.
A person is saved by putting their trust in Jesus Christ alone. You can’t work your way into Heaven, but when you truly accept Him you will change. You will always battle with sin, but your desires will not be to live a lifestyle of sin.
You will grow in obedience not because it saves you, but because you are so thankful of Jesus Christ paying your fine and taking upon the wrath of God that you and I deserve. Jesus Christ is everything or He is nothing!
Christian quotes about discipleship
“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“To be a disciple is to be committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and committed to following Him every day. To be a disciple is also to be disciplined in our bodies, minds, and souls.”― Billy Graham
“Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have.” Billy Graham
“Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.”―Dallas Willard
“If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part. Beware of halfhearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters – to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Halfhearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable.” Horatius Bonar
“Discipleship is not an option. Jesus says that if anyone would come after me, he must follow me.”―Tim Keller
“It is impossible to be a follower of Christ while denying, disregarding, discrediting and disbelieving the words of Christ.” David Platt
“It is impossible to live the life of a disciple without definite times of secret prayer. You will find that the place to enter in is in your business, as you walk along the streets, in the ordinary ways of life, when no one dreams you are praying, and the reward comes openly, a revival here, a blessing there.” Oswald Chambers
“Discipleship is not limited to what you can comprehend – it must transcend all comprehension. Not to know where you are going is the true knowledge.”
“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Childlike surrender and trust, I believe, is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship.” Brennan Manning
The Bible and making disciples
1. Matthew 28:16-20 “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
2. John 8:31-32 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
3. Matthew 4:19-20 “Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.”
4. 2 Timothy 2:2 “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
5. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
6. Luke 6:40 “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.”
The cost of following Christ.
7. Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
8. Luke 14:25-26 “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even their own life–such a person cannot be my disciple.”
9. Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
10. Matthew 10:38 “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
11. Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
Saved by grace
You are saved by faith alone not works, but when you truly accept Christ you will be a new creation. You will begin to grow in grace.
12. John 3:3 “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
13. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
14. Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Reminders
15. John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
16. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
17. Luke 9:24-25 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”
Imitators of Christ
18. Ephesians 5:1-2 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
19. 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
Examples of discipleship in the Bible
20. 1 Corinthians 4:1 “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”
21. Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.”
22. Acts 9:36 “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.”
Bonus
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
