At the age of thirteen, I made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized. All was well with my soul now, and I would go to heaven when I died. Or so I thought. But the truth was that I was not born again and headed to heaven. I was still dead in sin—a Christian in name only, a false disciple, and my life began to show it. When Jesus saved me ten years later, I had been living a life of serious sin and was a total mess morally and spiritually, something which I deeply regret to this day. It took tragedy, pain, and suffering, all of my own making, to bring me to genuine faith in Christ. But when Jesus saved me fifty-five years ago, I became alive spiritually, a real Christian and authentic disciple, and my life began to change. It has been changing ever since.

During His ministry on earth, Jesus Christ invited people of all sorts and conditions to become His disciples and experience the abundant life that only He could give. He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and will give you rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt.11:28–30). That is what Jesus did for me, and He still offers this life as a free, totally undeserved gift for needy people like you and me, a gift that is received by faith alone. Through it, God’s grace abounds in our lives, giving us a new identity with meaning and purpose that were previously unknown, along with love, joy, peace, and much more.

In some believers, these graces are clearly present and testify to authentic discipleship. But in others the picture is less clear. Such graces seem partial or obscure, or they may be altogether lacking. Why is this?

A major reason (though not the only one) is a widespread misunderstanding about what it means to be a Christian and to be a disciple of Jesus. I’m not sure why, but this was not clear to me for several years after I was saved. However, it is clear in Scripture. Jesus commissioned His first disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples” (Matt. 28:19), and in the early church, those who came to faith in Jesus were referred to as “disciples” (the books of Acts records this 28 times). As the church spread into Gentile territory, Luke tells us the disciples were given a nickname: “In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26).

As we will later see in more detail, in the New Testament, “disciple” and “Christian” are equivalent terms; thus, discipleship and the Christian life are actually one and the same—two words for a single thing. That single thing is a life of daily faith and repentance toward God and of discipleship with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. The goal of discipleship is to become increasingly like Jesus (Matt. 10:24–25), “to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). Or, as Paul puts it, “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29) and “to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).1 Although such a life can be demanding at times, it produces joy and fruitfulness and glorifies God. Yet sometimes believers act as though being a Christian is just a matter of saying the right words, attending the right church (or the right number of services), volunteering for the right activities, giving enough money, or praying a certain prayer at some point in their lives—all while experiencing little if any lasting change and fruitfulness.

A Life of Grace

Being a true Christian—an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ—means living differently: maturing Christians shouldn’t look the same as everyone else. They should not muddle along, satisfied with living mediocre Christian lives. Rather, they should heed the counsel of one of Jesus’ most notable disciples, Paul, who acknowledged that he had not reached perfection, and said, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way” (Phil. 3:13–15). As we and our churches pursue authentic discipleship with Jesus, our lives will change dramatically, and we will become salt and light in the darkness of this fallen world (see Matt. 5:13–16), drawing others to Christ, spreading God’s kingdom, and glorifying His name.

Such a life is a fruit of grace, not a burden of law. For following Jesus doesn’t mean trying harder and harder to reach impossible goals or to “prove” our spirituality by checking certain boxes. During Jesus’ life on earth, sinners in need found themselves drawn to Him, a man full of grace and truth (John 1:14, 17). He didn’t load his followers with impossible, soul-crushing demands like the Pharisees did. He knows how broken and weak we fallen human beings are, and He promised rest for our souls. The grace-filled invitation we saw above is His call to everyone who has wearied of burdensome, legalistic, lifeless religion—to
cast it off, take up the yoke of vibrant, life-giving discipleship to Him, learn from Him, and become like Him. And He accepts all who come to Him, no matter how flawed or broken they are.

Paradoxically, being a disciple of Jesus, while sometimes challenging, is easy, and His burden is light. How can that be? Because, by His Spirit, Jesus empowers His disciples to obey His commands and extends forgiveness when they fail. We need only consider how weak, sinful, and often clueless His original disciples were during their three years with Him and how patient, kind, and forgiving He was toward them. Jesus’ persistent grace and gentle love brought transformation, fruitfulness, fulfillment, and joy to their lives, and it will do the same for us as we learn to follow Him and let Him disciple us.

That has certainly been true for me. In the early years of my conversion, I grew in knowledge of the truth, but I also struggled with living it—particularly with respect to certain sins that had troubled me in the past. I would describe myself as an authentic disciple, though a poor one. But Jesus was patient, merciful, and forgiving while helping me to overcome these sins, just as He was with His first disciples. And even now, all these years later, He is still patiently showing me areas that need to change in order for me to become more like Him.

Christian Maturity

This book seeks to show believers at every stage of Christian maturity the way forward in following Jesus as an authentic disciple. Many true believers today are hindered by lack of a coherent and comprehensive understanding of key transformational truths of the Christian life; their understanding has gaps that need to be filled in order to progress to a deeper faith. Others are like the people addressed in the book of Hebrews, who had made some progress but had stalled, and to whom the writer said, “You have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God” (5:11–12). Still others are like the believers in Corinth, to whom Paul said, “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1). I was each of those at one point or another in earlier years, but through His Word and Spirit, Jesus has brought me out of my blindness and into the light of His truth and freedom. This book can help in each of those situations, and it can also serve as a practical resource for believers who are more mature in the faith as they help younger believers to grow.

Does actively seeking to grow in Christlikeness really make a difference? It has made a difference for me. And during the past forty years, I have seen transformation and fruitfulness in the lives of hundreds if not thousands of ordinary men and women who have devoted themselves to the biblical truths shared here. It can be the same for you.

Each of the twenty chapters ahead focuses on a key transformational truth in the Christian life that will help you to become a more faithful and fruitful disciple of Jesus—an authentic disciple who glorifies God in thought, word, and deed. In Part 1, we will focus on what is necessary to become a true and sound disciple of Jesus. In Part 2, we will explore how we become an empowered disciple of Jesus.

In the companion volume to this book, Abiding in Jesus Christ: A Guide to Maturing in Authentic Discipleship, you will find additional teaching that builds on the foundations provided here. For details, see the book description in the back of this volume.