Theology of Discipleship; Part One

Passage: Matthew 28:18-20

Date: April 7, 2024 Resources: a. “5 Principles of Discipleship from Col. 2:28-29” by discipleship.org b. “What is discipleship?” by Gotquestions.

‌“We might describe discipleship as the project of helping people to become fully awake and to stay awake, by which I mean alert to the opportunities and the dangers of the Christian life.”

-Kevin Vanhoozer

I. What is discipleship?

Key Definition: Discipleship is the process of devoting oneself to a teacher to learn from and become more like them. For the Christian, this refers to the process of learning the teachings of Jesus and following after his example in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit. Discipleship not only involves the process of becoming a disciple but of making other disciples through teaching and evangelism.

Discipleship in the OT is fundamentally about learning what is required from the Torah and submitting to it in obedience. The Hebrew terms יָסַר(yāsar, “to instruct”) and לָמַד (lāmad, “to teach”) fit the idea of discipleship well, as they both strongly imply a change in behavior as a result of the instruction. In the NT, the word μαθητής (mathētēs, “disciple”) and other words related to μανθάνω(manthanō, “to learn”) express the idea of discipleship more narrowly. The root meaning of manthanō is “to learn,” which again ties discipleship to the concept of learning and instruction. Like the Hebrew terms, however, these words also refer not only to the transfer of information but also to the transformation of one’s lifestyle in order to be more like one’s teacher.

Meditating upon the Masters Word

“People need to become Christians, and people need to be taught how to think and feel and act as a Christian. That is a disciple.”

-John Piper

Discipleship can mean preach the gospel so that people get converted to Christ and become Christians and, thus, disciples.

21 After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

-Acts 14:21-23

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

-2 Timothy 2:2

II. Why is discipleship important?

1. Discover who Jesus is.

2. Grow in relationship with God and others.

3. Develop maturity.

4. Called to make disciples through discipleship.

5. Practicing a committed lifestyle.

6. Discipleship is necessary for transformation to take place in your life.

7. Learn sound doctrine.

8. Reach unreached people groups.

9. Access to wisdom.

10. Keeping accountability

11. Understand your identity and purpose.

12. Living with eternal values in mind.

13. Raising future leaders.

14. Endure until the end.

A. What does it look like to follow Jesus and what are the marks of personal growth in Him?

1. Putting Jesus first in all things.

· Following Christ not only means changing our worldview but also our view of ourselves. The disciple of Christ needs to be set apart from the world. Our focus should be on our Lord and how to please Him in every area of our lives. We must put off self-centeredness and put on Christ-centeredness.

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

-Mark 8:34-38

“Salvation is God’s gift to us because Jesus died for us on the cross. Discipleship is our gift to Him as we take up our cross, die to self, and follow the Lord in everything.”

-Warren W. Wiersbe

2. Following His teachings.

· We must be obedient children and doers of the Word (James 1:22). Obedience is the supreme test of faith in God (1 Samuel 28:18). Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me” (John 14:21). Jesus is also the perfect example of obedience as He lived a life on earth of complete obedience to the Father even to the point of death (Philippians 2:6–8).

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

-John 8:31-32

3. Bearing good fruit

· Christian disciples should live fruitful lives, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, good works, and “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Technically, producing fruit is not our job; our job is to abide in Christ, and the fruit will come (John 15:1–8). God’s goal is that we produce “much fruit” (verse 8), as Christ uses us to bring about blessed change in a broken, fallen world.

“5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”

-John 15:5-8

4. Loving other disciples

· Love of other believers is an evidence of our being a member of God’s family (1 John 3:10). Love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:1–13. These verses show us that love is not an emotion; it is action. In order to love, we must be doing something and involved in the process. One way to show love is to think more highly of others than of ourselves and to look out for their interests (Philippians 2:3–4). Another way to show love is to be patient and not take offense at every provocation (1 Peter 4:8).

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

-John 13:34-35

5. Making disciples

· Disciples multiply. One of the last things Jesus said to His disciples before His ascension was the command to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This involves evangelism—sharing the gospel and urging people to repent and believe in Christ—but it also involves discipleship. Christians should be actively engaged in training people who will in turn train others. That’s the pattern we see in Jesus’ ministry: He trained eleven men who spent the rest of their lives as disciple-makers, training others to also become disciple-makers, and so on. We see this pattern also in 2 Timothy 2:2.

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

-Matthew 28:18-20

III. Who is responsible?

A. Titus 2:4 — Older women are to train younger women.

B. Second Timothy 2:2 — Paul trained Timothy to train others.

C. Ephesians 6:4 — Fathers are to train their children.

D. Matthew 28:20 — Missionaries are to teach the nations everything Jesus commanded.

E. Hebrews 3:13 — All Christians are to exhort each other every day to avoid sin and to stir each other up to love and good works (see also Hebrews 10:24–25).

F. First Peter 4:10 — All Christians are to use their gifts to serve others.

G. Acts 18:24–26 — Priscilla and Aquila, on the spur of the moment it seems, explained the way of God more accurately to Apollos.

Moment of Meditation/Application

1. If Christ was in front of you asking you to follow Him, what would your response be?

2. If you follow Him now, how well do you know your Teacher?

3. How would you rate yourself in your maturity or walk with the Lord? Are you a newborn in the faith or a seasoned pilgrim?

4. Who is your one? Who is the person you’re discipling now?

5. What steps are you going to take follow the great commission and help others to know and grow in their faith with the Messiah?

Ask Yourself

Have you made a decision on whether or not you want to be a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ or not?

There are many fans of Jesus. But they are not followers.

How could you be described? Do you admire Jesus yet? You really show a life that does not fully trust in Him or follow Him?