#2: Discipleship Under Grace: An Outline

This is the second part in a series on Discipleship Under Grace: An outline. The previous post was an introduction to the idea of discipleship through love and grace. In this post we define a disciple and see where the confusion has come in over the years in the church, between disciples and converts and the effects of this. Enjoy!

What is a disciple?

For us to fully grasp what Jesus was saying (in Matthew 28:19), it is important to understand and settle on, what a disciple really is:

The King James version of Matthew 28:19 says: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations …”, the word 'teach’ here, is the Greek word ‘matheteuo’, which literally means to be a disciple of or to follow precepts and instructions. Other synonyms could be to instruct or to lead by example, as found in more modern bible translations.

In other areas in the New Testament, the word used for disciple in the Greek, is 'matetes' (noun), which literally means to be a learner or pupil. It is derived from the root word 'manthano' (verb), which means to learn by use and practice or to increase ones knowledge.

Thus, by implication, in a holistic sense means that, we are to make disciples of all nations (tribe and tongue) by teaching them in the ways they should go and they should in turn put those teaching to use and increase in knowledge and maturity.

Note: Think in terms of a learner at school. A teacher would not expect a year-one student to be able to read whole books and also expect them to be able to teach others to do the same, in the first class of the year. Instead the teacher would conscientiously teach the child the building blocks of the ABC, then teach the child to build words and from that, show them sentence structure and how to build sentences. Similarly, spiritual maturity can only be obtained by laying core foundations of salvation, grace, righteousness and faith; helping the convert to mature in these areas until they are at a point where they can construct their own sentences and lead other people into similar spiritual growth.

What a disciple is not:

The key concept here is, that there is a definite growth and maturing process involved with being and making a disciple. This is quite clear. A disciple is, therefore, not a recent convert or someone who has prayed the sinner’s prayer in a mass crusade. The church today has often made synonymous the concepts of conversion and discipleship, this is, however, not biblical.

Due to this misconception, we sit with a group of believers who are still immature. They struggle to become a strong and growing body of believers, who are able to reproduce and replicate their faith in other believers, because they have never been taught how to. They have never gained their own revelation and insight of foundational biblical concepts, in order to feel compelled enough to share this good news with others.

Immaturity is a cancer that has the ability to render the church useless in a world that needs a vibrant influential body of believers. Discipleship is the vehicle of change, the antidote to this sickness and a vital cog in the grace revolution.



He gives grace to the humble! (James 4:6)