In my previous post, I shared that a friend asked me to answer the question, “What is discipleship?” I said there are plenty of good, solid ways to express what God reveals in scripture about discipleship. I shared a definition and some thoughts about the phrases in the first half of my definition.
Here’s the definition I’m working with, followed by some thoughts about the phrases in the second half.
Discipleship is a process of learning beliefs and behaviors from Jesus about living as a son/daughter of God.
From Jesus: While there are many great moral and spiritual teachers in human history—and it’s quite worth reading works like the dialogues of Plato and the Tao Te Ching, if you’re so inclined—Jesus stands head-and-shoulders above them all. Not only that, Jesus is the one human being in history who is not merely a human being, but also the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Savior of the world, and the Lord of all creation. For everyone else, they gain significance because of what they taught. For Jesus, what he teaches holds significance, not just because it is brilliant, but because of who he is.
About living as a son/daughter of God: Forgiveness for sin and transgression of God’s Law is a very real part of our being reconciled to God that we must not overlook or diminish. That said, the image we find again and again in Scripture is of family. A powerful image in the writings of Paul for our salvation is adoption into the family of God. Salvation is not only the freedom of a pardoned prisoner who has been told, “you’re free to go.” Salvation, robustly understood, is the freedom of an adopted child who has been told, “you’re free to come.”
The most famous example of this is of the prodigal son from Jesus’ parable in Luke 15. He alienates himself from his father due to his choices but returns when he realizes the poverty of his chosen path. He offers to become a servant in the household but the father will have none of it. Full restoration is the only option the father will entertain.
Being a child of God is a thing of great comfort and security. Being a child of God involves learning the character, the virtues, the way of life that this family embodies—the beliefs that give rise to the behaviors characteristic of this family. The best person to learn them all from is the Son, Jesus, whose life perfectly demonstrates what a Divine image-bearing life looks like. And, lest we forget, we are not alone. God graciously gives us his Spirit to dwell in us, empower us, and do the restoring work in us.
Guy M Williams 