What Are the Marks of a True Disciple of Jesus Christ?

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Jesus was seeking disciples who would follow Him wherever He went, and today, God is still making disciples, so what are the true marks of a disciple?

Putting Christ First

Jesus asks any who may come to follow Him and be His disciples, but one man who professed to be a disciple said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Matt 8:21). In other words, the man wanted his father dead and was waiting for the inheritance to come. He talked the talk but never walked the walk and followed Jesus. He was still following the world or money in this case. “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). You can follow Jesus and wait for an inheritance and then decide to follow Jesus. That decision could be too late (Rev 1:7). You can’t follow Him with one foot in the world, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find” (Matt 16:25). Would the man who waited to bury his father just stop and think, and ask himself, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul” (Matt 16:26)? What good is taking a huge fortune into hell where someone else will spend his money?  We must seek His righteousness, but seek Him too above all else (Matt 6:33).

Riches to Ruin

Money has a way of talking. To me, it mostly says, “Bye, bye,” but money and the pursuit of money, can lead us away from God. Jesus warned us all that it is “only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 19: 23). Why is that so? Money can become a god to us because it supplies all our needs, it gives us a feeling of security about the future, but the danger is, the more we make, the more we desire to make.  You even begin to love money, but time and time again, Jesus warned about the dangers of riches, saying, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23b)! To show just how difficult it is for the rich to enter heaven, Jesus used hyperbole, saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). It seems humanly impossible, which is why the disciples “were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:26-27).

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs – 1 Tim 6:10

Taking up Your Cross

When we come to Christ and are born again, we become new creations in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:17). We are now part of the family of God. And if we are true disciples of Christ, we will be sharing Christ and striving to make disciples of others (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). The litmus test for disciples of Jesus Christ are laid out by Christ Himself, when He calls “the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). When we deny ourselves, we are not denying Christ. By taking up our cross, our Lord means suffering the same kind of persecution and rejection that He did. Of course, it will not even be close to the fullest extent to which Jesus suffered. There are none in human history who has endured such agony and suffering than He did during the Passion (Isaiah 56), but sharing the gospel will be costly. You will be spurned, ridiculed, shunned, avoided, and rejected by your own family, co-workers, friends, and even total strangers, but that’s to be expected. They will treat the servants of Christ like they did Christ in some cases, but the point is, looking at our own lives, remember, it is “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).

The Cost of Discipleship

There is no cheap or easy discipleship or making of disciples. It can be difficult. You must be all in or you’re not all in. There is no half-hearted or part-time disciple of Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own 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). Putting God above even our own family and friends is a must. Jesus says, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). In summary it seems we must follow Him above all things and people…we must bear our cross for His name’s sake (the gospel) and we deny ourselves but never deny Christ. Even though it looks easy in words, we know it is exceedingly difficult. We are swimming upstream against the current of the world, but any old dead fish can float downstream. Be the Lord’s disciple seemed so difficult or next to impossible to the disciples, so they asked, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:23-24). Many will…many will fail (Matt 7:21-23). Many, not a few.

Conclusion

I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.

Here is some related reading for you: Are You a Disciple of Christ? Here’s How to Know

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Christian, Disciple, Disciples, Discipleship, Followers