Discipleship
Being A Disciple
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.Amen.
NIV
I have long taught that the Bible teaches us only two things –
How to Find God
How to Live once you have found Him
Everything you learn in your study of Scripture should address one of these two “How’s.” If you have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Scriptures under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will lead you down the path that ends in salvation and eternal life.
But, being “saved” is not the end of the journey. It is really the beginning. For, once we have come to know Jesus as God, we must learn to live, act, and obey in the fashion God desires. We must give up sin and turn to spiritual things of God. In big terms, this process is generally called sanctification. In slightly simpler terms, this is the process of making disciples, of discipleship.
The root Greek word starts with a meaning of “to direct one’s mind to something.” Thus, in ancient usage the Greek “manthano” comes to be used to mean “to experience,” “to learn to know or understand,” “to become accustomed to,” or “to be instructed.” Thus, the noun form comes to mean a pupil or follower, that is, a disciple. The concept implies an intellectual process that produces external effects and involves initiative and learning.
