Identifying Marks of a Disciple

Pastor Gary Oser

Last month I shared with you that disciples are people who “are learning Jesus,” people whose desire is to become more like Jesus, to be conformed to His image.

There are a number of identifying marks of genuine disciples. I want to share three of them with you this month.

Spiritual Birth - First, disciples have had a spiritual birth into God’s family. The Bible tells us we are by nature (birth) sinners and separated from God. In order to become a disciple, we have to own up to the fact that we are sinners and cannot do anything ourselves to earn salvation, repent of our sins, believe Jesus paid the price for our sins with His death on the cross, and trust Jesus alone for salvation.
It is possible to be a good moral person, to go to church every Sunday, and yet not have had a spiritual birth into God’s family. If you have never trusted Christ as Savior, don’t delay in doing so!
Consistent Devotional Life - Second, disciples maintain a consistent devotional life. The term “devotional life” simply means spending time regularly with God. What does that involve?
First, it involves reading the Word of God (the Bible) through which God speaks to you. The amount you read or the time of day you read is not as important as the fact that you read every day.
Second, it involves praying, through which we talk to God. So often we pray just when we need something from God. We need to pray in order to express our love and thankfulness to God and to pray for His concerns and the concerns of others as well.
Third, devotional time involves meditation, slowing down to think about what we have read and about what we should do about it. This is challenging because it involves us taking some extra time to be quiet before the Lord.

3. Obey God - Third, disciples obey God. Jesus taught over and over again in the Word of God that there is a relationship between our love for God and our willingness to obey Him.

A couple of verses from John 14 emphasize this. In the opening words of John 14:21, Jesus says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” Later in verses 23 and 24 He continues, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”

A disciple is one who wants to obey what Jesus tells us in His Word. He/she does not just obey when it is convenient or when it doesn’t cost very much, but rather constantly and completely.

If you profess to be a disciple of Jesus, are these identifying marks evident in your life? Are there any you need to work on to be a better disciple of Jesus?