The call to make disciples is not just one of many tasks for the church—it is the very heart and pivot of God’s purpose for His people. Jesus, after receiving all authority in heaven and on earth, commanded His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything He had commanded. This is not a peripheral activity, but the central mission entrusted to us. Every spiritual gift, ministry, and anointing is given for this one purpose: to raise men and women who will become like Jesus, so that Christ might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Discipleship is not a modern invention, nor is it a short-term class for new believers. It is a lifelong process of transformation, where the life and character of Christ are formed in us. Unlike mentoring or coaching, which may impart skills or knowledge, biblical discipleship is about life rubbing on life, with the goal of Christlikeness. The idea of “graduating” from discipleship is foreign to the New Testament; rather, we are continually being shaped from one degree of glory to another, until Christ is fully formed in us.
Jesus Himself modeled this method. Though He had the power to draw crowds effortlessly, He invested His deepest teachings and time in a few, pouring His life into them. The most profound doctrines and instructions—on prayer, faith, the second coming—were given in the context of close, personal relationship with His disciples, not in public seminars. The multiplication of disciples, not the gathering of crowds, is God’s strategy for reaching the world and fulfilling His eternal purpose.
Discipleship is God’s family training scheme, the means by which spiritual children are raised to maturity and prepared to inherit all that God has for them. It involves discipline, training, and submission to tutors and governors—men and women appointed by God to mirror Christ’s life and guide others into the fullness of His image. This process is not about events or slogans, but about a deliberate, systematic, and cumulative impartation of life.
The only adequate response to the Great Commission is to return to this biblical strategy: making disciples who will, in turn, make others. This is the most rewarding labor, the surest way to multiply the life of Christ in the world, and the only path to true spiritual maturity and fruitfulness.
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Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) — > And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Luke 6:40 (ESV) — > A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Galatians 4:1-2 (ESV) — > I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.
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