What is a Disciple

Matthew 28:19 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Definition of disciple

di-si'-p'-l:

(1) Usually a substantive (mathetes, "a learner," from manthano, "to learn"; Latin discipulus, "a scholar"):

The word is found in the Bible only in the Gospels and Acts. But it is good Greek, in use from Herodotus down, and always means the pupil of someone, in contrast to the master or teacher (didaskalos). See ; . In all cases it implies that the person not only accepts the views of the teacher, but that he is also in practice an adherent. The word has several applications. In the widest sense it refers to those who accept the teachings of anyone, not only in belief but in life. Thus the disciples of John the Baptist (; ; ); also of the Pharisees (; ; ); of Moses (). But its most common use is to designate the adherents of Jesus. (a) In the widest sense (; ; , and often). It is the only name for Christ's followers in the Gospels. But (b) especially the Twelve Apostles, even when they are called simply the disciples (; ; , et al.). In the Acts, after the death and ascension of Jesus, disciples are those who confess Him as the Messiah, Christians (,,; (feminine, mathetria); , "The disciples were called Christians"). Even half-instructed believers who had been baptized only with the baptism of John are disciples ().

(2) We have also the verb, matheteuo, "Jesus' disciple" (literally, "was discipled to Jesus," ); "Make disciples of all the nations" (the King James Version "teach," ); "had made many disciples" (the King James Version "taught many," ); "every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven" (the King James Version "instructed," ). The disciple of Christ today may be described in the words of Farrar, as "one who believes His doctrines, rests upon His sacrifice, imbibes His spirit, and imitates His example."

The Old Testament has neither the term nor the exact idea, though there is a difference between teacher and scholar among David's singers (), and among the prophetic guilds the distinction between the rank and file and the leader (; ).

1: one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: such as a Christianity : one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts b : a convinced adherent of a school or individual a disciple of Freud

G. H. Trever

2capitalized, Christianity : a member of the Disciples of Christ founded in the U.S. in 1809 that holds the Bible alone to be the rule of faith and practice, usually baptizes by immersion, and has a congregational (see congregational 3) polity

Believes in his doctrine

Matthew 10:24 NASB95

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

Rests in his sacrifice

Luke 14:26 NASB95

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:27 NASB95

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:33 NASB95

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

Luke 14:

John 6:69 NASB95

“We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

John 6:

Are you a disciple

Who helped make you a disciple

How?