Becoming a Disciple of the Lord Jesus-How?
According to the Bible we only have two paths. One is broad, without moral restrictions, without obedience to the divine law, and leads to destruction, while the other one, the narrow path, follows Christ, and leads to eternal life. (Matthew 7:13, 14) You can serve God, or you can serve the ruler of this world, the wicked one, (John 12:31) there is no in-between choice. You serve one and upset the other, one cannot slave for two masters.—Matthew 6:24.Many people profess being “Christians,” yet they do not follow the Lord and his teachings, rather they follow Satan and the principles of this world. It is vital to learn the truth about ourselves, as our ultimate destiny depends eternally on the answer we give to the question, “Are you a disciple of Jesus?” If you are false disciple, (Galatians 2:4) or you claim to be one without actually being, then you will go to the eternal fire, to destruction, (Matthew 7:15-23) while the true disciples will go to heaven to join the Lord whom they had served.—John 12:26.
The Lord Jesus left over a hundred commandments, laid down within the Christian Scriptures. Do you know them? Do you observe them? Do you obey the Lord in every moment of the day? In everyday life do you make decisions on your own, or you make them after checking in with the Head, Christ? Did you meet the requirements Christ had set in the Gospels for becoming one of his disciples?
By analyzing your life, you will see how your situation look lies and you will realize, if you are honest, whether you are one of his disciples or not. Let us consider.
Steps to Becoming One of Jesus Christ’s Disciples
Discipleship starts in the first place by hearing the good news, or the Gospel, about Him, (Mark 1:15-20; Acts 14:15, 21, 22) when you are taught by the Lord’s disciples. That is the word of Jesus Christ. (John 8:31; Romans 1:5; 1 Timothy 2:7). As a consequence of listening to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit starts working. Then comes the realization of sins (John 16:8), which leads to a real and genuine repentance, (Acts 3:21; 20:20-21) then to a faith without any hypocrisy in the Lord and his Word. (Mark 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2; 2 Timothy 1:4) Faith leads to obeisance to the Lord and meeting the requirements needed to become one of his disciples. After you become one of His disciples, by learning and living the Word, (John 4:1) the water baptism follows. (Luke 3:21, 22; Acts 2:38) But even after baptism, the disciple keeps himself in obeying to Jesus, (Matthew 21:6) following him, (Mark 6:1) and letting himself taught by Him in all aspects of life.—Matthew 11:29; Luke 6:40.
The requirements for the Christian discipleship are clearly set out the Gospel, when the Lord said: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his [cross] and keep following me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24, 25; see also Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-26) This scriptures provides us three conditions.
1. “Disown himself.” What does it mean? Although many priests, religious leaders, “pastors” talk only about what we benefit from becoming Jesus’ disciples, He tells us from the start that discipleship means first of all to lose something. You have to lose yourself, your plans, and your interests in order to win Him. Only if you disown yourself and listen to Him will you be able to win Him over and fill yourself with Him and gain a new life—everlasting life, a new belonging—a heavenly and spiritual treasure, a new family—the Lord’s family.
We cannot talk of discipleship without self-disowning, because we have to disown any desires or interests not in harmony with the Master’s will. Thus, if previously we had desires directed towards ourselves, through self-denial we reach a state where all our desire are directed towards Christ. By becoming one spirit with the Master (1 Corinthians 6:17), his will becomes our will, his desires become ours, his pleasure becomes ours! But his life too will become our life, his nature becomes our nature through our gaining fellowship to divine nature, (2 Peter 1:4) his kingdom will be our kingdom too.—2 Timothy 2:11, 12.
What else does it mean to disown ourselves? The Lord Jesus explains it in John 12:25 saying: “Whoever is fond of his life destroys it, but whoever hates his life in this world will safeguard it for everlasting life.” So this self-denial starts by hating our life! The Lord’s disciples hate their lives, they are not fond of themselves, because they have something more dignified, more valuable to be fond of—Jesus’ life. When you look at him, when you look at his glory, and then you look at your sinner state, at your being a slave of sin, you never postpone one second giving your life in order to gain his perfect, holy and sinless life. (Galatians 1:16; 2:20) Your old life, your sinful lifestyle will seem like garbage, like something worthy of being thrown away in comparison to the One who is truth and life, the perfect light and love. Thus those who follow Him, love Jesus, the Son of God, more than their own live and have the disposition to sacrifice on the altar of this love anything of their life which might hinder us from obedience, from being disciples of the One who called us to live His life in us. Consequently, if we hate our life, we are ready to any sacrifices for our Master and Teacher. Isn’t it worth to give something what we cannot keep, namely our life on this earth, for gaining something that does not pass, everlasting life?
2. ‘Pick up his cross.’ What does Jesus refer to here? He does not speak of wearing a cross on a necklace or of venerating this instrument of execution and mockery. No.
Picking up one’s cross means to be determined on a daily basis to crucify in your life the sin, the sinful nature, the world, the fleshly pleasures. (Galatians 2:20; 5:24; 6:14) Taking your cross might mean to suffer mockery or persecution for his Name! Bearing the cross on a daily basis implies leading a life of sacrifice, governed by offering yourself to others, because Jesus did not come to be ministered to either, but to minister and give his life as a ransom in exchange for many. (Mark 10:45) Thus we sacrifice our personal comfort, well-being or maybe our luxury to follow the Lamb of God and to minister to any sheep-like person, even to death. (Romans 8:36; 1 Peter 2:21) We should carry the cross on a daily basis, not just occasionally, as Jesus said in Luke 9:23: “If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his [cross] day after day and keep following me.”
Picking up the cross day after day means that in every moment our decisions reflect obedience, that we crucify the instincts of our flesh when they pull us in another direction, that we crucify any unlawful pleasure for the sake of holiness! This means keeping ourselves in his Word in any circumstance, even if obedience means suffering or bearing the cross!—John 8:31.
3. “Keep following me.” What does it mean to follow Jesus? To follow Jesus means to melt ourselves into his will, to put personal interests aside, to be loyal despite trials, like the eleven faithful apostles. (Luke 22:28) To be a disciple does not mean following Jesus occasionally, but continuously and permanently. Jesus himself told a man, who was first into his personal interests: “No man who has put his hand to a plow and looks at the things behind is well-suited for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Therefore, it is not about following Jesus only on Sundays or only during specific seasons, we have to keep following him, without ever looking back to what we might have lost. Let us not look back as Lot’s wife did, (Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32), but look forward to the one who loves us and died for us. To keep following Jesus also means walking faithfully on His footsteps through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.—Ephesians 3:17; 5:17, 18.
4. “Hates.” On another occasion, the Lord said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) To hate your own family or even your own life means to love Christ more than anything. He explains this in another scripture: “Whoever has greater affection for father or mother than for me is not worthy of me; and whoever has greater affection for son or daughter than for me is not worthy of me.”—Matthew 10:37.
Notice what Jesus had told on one occasion to one of his disciples. “Then he said to another: ‘Be my follower.’ The man said: ‘Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.’ But he said to him: ‘Let the dead bury their dead, but you go and declare abroad the Kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:59, 60; see also Matthew 8:21, 22) What would have you done in this situation? Would you have followed the Lord by going to preach or you would have put the family’s interests first?
5. ‘Give up his belongings.’ Next, Jesus highlights another common obstacle to following him: “In the same way, you may be sure that not one of you who does not give up all his belongings can be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33, footnote) Only by giving up all we have in favor of Christ can we make sure that the passing things will no longer become for us a form of idolatry, (compare Ephesians 5:5) and henceforth we will only have heavenly and divine goals, interests and activities. Otherwise, leading a materialistic life will eat up our time, thoughts, will and energy. In Luke chapter 18 we read the following words of Jesus on this matter: “How difficult it will be for those having money to make their way into the Kingdom of God! It is easier, in fact, for a camel to get through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” (vss. 24, 25) Those did not give up on riches have given up on Christ, because you cannot serve God and Mammon, the god of riches, at the same time.—Matthew 6:24.
Being one of Christ’s disciples implies not only obligations, but also rights. The Lord gives his disciples the following promise: “If you remain in union with me and my sayings remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will take place for you.” (John 15:7) If the disciple remains in the Lord by obeying Him, he has the grace of receiving anything he asks for.
Yes, you have the privilege and the grace to be one of His followers, to represent Him in this rotten, sinful world, for nowadays today’s people prefer following celebrities, music artists, movie stars, fashion icons, they rather read such magazines, they dress like them, groom like them, talk like them, live like them and reject the Christ of the living God!
They don’t want to hear of a crucified Christ, they don’t want to pick up the cross and follow him, because they love themselves, they are “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God!”—2 Timothy 3:4.
What did you decide to do, dear reader? Do you truly want to be one of the Lord’s disciples?
Examine yourself sincerely by asking yourself the following questions:
• Did you disown yourself and your interest for riches to become one of Jesus’ disciples?
• Do you bear your cross day after day crucifying your sinful flesh or do you turn the pain of the cross by giving in to fleshly desires?
• Do you hate your own life and family in the sense that you love Jesus more than anything and anyone, and do you sacrifice your personal and family related interests for Him?
• Does your thought, your speech and your conduct show that you follow Jesus?