“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” Habakkuk 2:1
A disciple, by definition, basically means to be a learner, a pupil. However, that which adds weight and spiritual meaning to the term is the consideration of the One who is teaching, leading, and enabling. In the case of Christ, He is the undisputed Teacher, but also, the ultimate Authority, for all power and authority in heaven and earth is given unto Him by the Father. So that, when Christ calls a individual to “follow Him,” he is calling a person to turn from all other “teachers” and “authorities,” not only to learn of Him, but to follow Him. James puts like this, “Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” (James 1:22) James then adds that, to not obey, or act upon that which is learned, is to deceive oneself, in particular in believing that one is actually believing, and following Christ. Christianity is not just a school-type education, where the truth is learned. The basic reason for this is that this “truth” is eternal in its essence, and power to give life. There must be the active engagement of the heart and soul with regard to the truth, trusting the Spirit of God to follow the Lord Jesus according to it. One has accurately said, that “…truth is not mine, until it becomes me.” The way that it becomes me is not only apprehending and learning the objective reality and implications of it, but actually acting upon it, following the Lord Jesus according to it, and this, by the power of the Spirit. Christ is formed in the believer as he or she walks by faith in the Lord Jesus who is the Absolute truth. That absolute truth is a Person, with a will. The believer is that one who associates his will with that of his Master and Lord. It is as Charles Wesley wrote in one of his great hymns: “My will be swallowed up in Thee. Light in Thy light still may I see in Thine unclouded face: Called the full strength of trust to prove, Let all my quickened heart be love, My spotless life be praise.”
Practically speaking, how is one to be this kind of disciple, one who is such in full assurance of faith? The beginning point of his journey begins with the meeting of the sinner with the Savior, the Lord HImself operating, and bringing to pass, the new birth by the Spirit. There are so many essential things that occur at the moment when a person truly believes in Christ as Savior and Lord, being born of the Spirit. It is not until this moment arrives, and the work of God is done in the heart, that one can be a disciple, for the calling of Christ demands a response that is only possible by His abounding grace and power. Though His call IS His enabling, it is as the believer begins to learn God’s ways, and the deeper work of Christ on Calvary, that true freedom is embraced to follow Him. Not only is there the revelation that the power of sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh, are broken, but that a new energy, power and authority, by the Spirit, is given to the child of God. The way of faith is revealed as the certain means for the experience of this new, and abounding, victorious life of Christ by the Spirit.
Secondly, after tasting something of this new Life by the Spirit, the education of the disciple begins. It is an education which is both solitary, and corporate, for the believer has individually been saved, but saved with others in the body of Christ. It is in the individual pursuit and worship of Christ, along with other believers, that the teachable heart hears the Lord speaking through the word of God, saying, “Come, follow Me.” All then becomes possible by the Spirit.
Dear Father, Make us disciples indeed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.