How to become a disciple of Jesus Christ

How to become a disciple – by Divine calling
How to become a disciple – by faith

How to Become a Disciple – by Divine calling

During the days of His earthly ministry, Jesus had a lot of disciples who followed Him; there were the twelve disciples, the seventy disciples, and many others. According to Mark 3:14–19 and Luke 10:1, the twelve and the seventy disciples were called or appointed by Jesus Himself to become His disciples.

However, the hundreds and thousands of other disciples were not particularly called or appointed by Jesus Himself. As to how they became disciples, we can only guess; they might have heard of Jesus, or they might have been first-hand witnesses of Jesus’ miracles and His great teachings. These works and teachings might have piqued their faith and devotion; hence they followed Him. 

In fact, whatever the case was, whether they were called, chosen, or appointed by Jesus Himself or not, it was still the perfect will and choice of God that they became disciples of Jesus.  The calling or appointment of the twelve and the seventy disciples by Jesus (God the Son) Himself testifies to the truth that discipleship is ordained of God; that is to say, it is God who calls or grants a person to become a disciple of Jesus.  What about today, how does a person become a disciple of Jesus?

God calls us to become disciples of Jesus

To become a disciple of Jesus is not entirely human effort or man’s achievement. Both Divinity and the individual play their respective roles before that individual becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ. One may ask, “How does God come in here since, as found in John 8:31, it takes believing and obeying to become a disciple of Jesus? It is not automatic, neither is it man’s own effort entirely to come to Jesus Christ. It takes, first, God’s calling or Divine calling for any person to come to Jesus. Jesus Himself said it many times:

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37)

And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” (John 6:65)

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. (John 6:39)

The Scriptures make it so plain that it is God who calls or draws or grants a person to come to Jesus. Jesus Himself emphasized this truth again and again. Thus, to become a disciple, God has to call or select or grant you permission first. You cannot come by yourself. The subject of Divine calling into discipleship is further made clear when Jesus Christ once said to His disciples,

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain…” (John 15:16)

In other words, the Lord Jesus meant to say that His disciples did not choose to come to follow Him by themselves; rather, it was He who chose them to come to follow Him as disciples. Jesus, during His earthly ministry, cited practical examples or fulfilled John 15:16 to emphasize the truth that it takes Divine calling for a person to become His disciple. He did this by calling the following people to become His disciples:

• Peter and Andrew …………….……………. Matthew 4:18; Mr 1:17, Mr 1:20
• James and John ……………………………… Matthew 4:21
• Matthew ……………………………………..…..Matthew 9:9
• The twelve disciples …………..………….. Mark 3:14–19, Matthew 10:1-4
• Philip ………………………………………..……  John 1:43
• The Seventy ….……………………………..… Luke 10:1

As for the present-day disciples of Jesus, though we were not physically appointed or called like the twelve disciples, the fact that we have come to believe and follow Jesus is enough assurance that God has called us to be with His Son Jesus, for we could not have done that on our own. There are lessons to draw from the truth that it takes Divine calling for a person to become a disciple of Jesus. These are:

• Divine calling should lead to self-esteem and self-worth. Every disciple or Christian should value himself in that no matter his social status or financial position in life, as a disciple of Jesus, he has been called by God.

• Divine calling should lead to mutual respect in the Christendom. Disciples have to respect one another, accepting that no disciple is inferior in the body of Christ because every disciple was called by God and deserves to be respected as such.

• Moreover, Divine calling should inspire humility in us; I mean to say, no disciple or Christian should walk with pride, crediting himself with his good works. Such vain pride would lead to a fall. God deserves to take the credit for our good works, for while we were spiritually alienated, it was He who called us to Himself to become His disciples and sanctified us to do good works. And having given all the credit to God, we are credited by Him in return.

How to become a disciple by faith

The Scriptures speak of God being a gentle person (Ps 18:35) who does not force Himself or force decision on us. He respects our free will to choose right or wrong. We can always be sure that God plays His role to ensure that we become disciples of his son Jesus so as to receive His salvation.

However, to become a disciple of Jesus, there is a part left for you to do; there is a gap left for you to fill; there is a role left for you to play; God would not do it for you. The part you have to play is called faith – that is having faith in Jesus Christ.

To understand faith, let listen to James the brother of Jesus who wrote the Book of James in the New Testament. James wrote:

¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ²⁶ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2: 17, 18, 26).

This inspired Scriptures teaches us that faith is not just about believing in something. Faith is practicing what you believe. Faith should be put into action; the only way you can tell the world that you believe in something is to practice it; therefore Faith has to be confirmed or expressed in works.

What’s works? Here the term works refers to any obedient deed related to one’s faith. And works is an indispensable aspect of faith to such an extent that faith is dead without works; that is to say, you cannot brag that you have faith if you do not live in obedience to that faith. Therefore, faith is the sum of two things, belief and works of obedience.

Faith is one’s part to play to become a disciple

Many years ago, Jesus Christ stood in the temple of Jerusalem preaching amid a large crowd of Jewish audience. Though some Jews, resentful and annoyed, did not believe in Jesus, there were a lot of them who believed in Him. And Jesus had something to tell those who had believed in Him. This is what He said,

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

John 8:31

Upon telling those who had believed in Him to obey His word so as to prove to be His disciples indeed, Jesus has established that it takes believing and obeying, which is equal to faith, for one to become His disciple.

More so, Jesus made it clear in His sermons that those people who call on His name, ‘Lord! Lord!’, and those people who profess to be His followers, and those people who claim to be Christians but live in ungodliness contrary to the word of God are not really his disciples and He shall deny them salvation in the last day. He said,

²¹Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21–23)

Jesus, by His teachings in John 8:31 and Matthew 7:21-23, has set the criterion for becoming His disciple; that criterion is faith; that is believing in Jesus and obeying the word of God.

One may be wondering, “What word of God do I have to keep after accepting Jesus’ so as to be His true disciple?” The Bible is the word of God; study the Bible; make it your rule of life, adhere to it and live by it zealously. These are a few of the fundamental teachings of Jesus to start with:

• “….. whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple (Luke14:33)”. What do you have? Surely you have achieved or acquired something in life; it could be prestige, high social status, wealth, riches, political power, beauty, intellect, fame, etc. It is good to have these good things in life; however, do not succumb to the temptation of priding yourself with them and let it be to you as though you do not have them. Rather humble yourself as a disciple before God and let Jesus Christ be your pride and the focal point of your life.
• “…… If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23; 14:27)”. When you were not a disciple of Jesus, you sought after what pleases you. Denying yourself means you are going to seek what pleases God only and not yourself.
• If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26). Put Jesus first in your life, revere Him and His word above your family or any other person in your life – that is the import of this verse of Scripture.
• Be baptized in water. Romans 6:3,4; Acts 2:38
•  Loving others for it is written: ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ John 13:35
• Submit yourself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:14.
• Etc. – study the Bible to know more about what to do.

Divine calling + faith to become a disciple of Jesus

So any person who is a disciple or a Christian was, first, called by God, and he responded by having faith in Jesus Christ. In having faith in Jesus, he accepted Jesus into his life as his Lord and Savior and walked in obedience to God’s word.

Conclusion

For us humans, faith is the only part given us to play in order to pass from being sinners to become disciples of Jesus. However, before it would ever happen that a person has exercised faith in Jesus, God would have to call the person first. To conclude on how to become a disciple or how I became a disciple or how you became a disciple, I say Divine calling and faith in Jesus made it possible.

This lesson calls for re-examination. Anyone who calls himself a disciple of Jesus or a Christian or a believer should see to it that he fulfills his part of the discipleship requirements, which is faith.

Join the discussion

• Is it possible to believe in Jesus and not obey His word? How?
• What should we call a person who claims to a believer, but lives contrary to God’s word?
• Can you identify Divine calling in how you became a Christian/disciple?
• How has Divine calling contributed to how you esteem yourself and other believers?