How do we make disciples?

Just before His ascension, Jesus commanded His followers, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). The instruction to “make disciples” is central to the Great Commission. We would do well to learn what it means.

A disciple is literally a “learner” or a “follower.” The Amplified Bible adds an explanatory note in Matthew 28:19 to provide a fuller understanding of Jesus’ command: “Help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words.” That is, making disciples involves three basic things: education, faith, and obedience.

Making disciples starts with helping people learn who Jesus is and what He did for them. It’s no use telling people to “believe in Jesus” if they don’t know who Jesus is. John 9 contains an interesting exchange between Jesus and a formerly blind man He had healed:

Note that the man, when asked if he had faith, responded with a request for more information. Whom was he to believe in? His faith needed a specific object. Jesus identified Himself, and then the man believed and worshiped the Lord.

The same sequence occurs when we make disciples: the people we evangelize need to know who Jesus is: the Son of God and Savior of the world. Once we guide them into that basic understanding, they can move to the next step, which is faith and commitment.

A true disciple of Jesus Christ must believe in Him. “And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). Those who follow Jesus are committed to Him and place their complete trust in Him. They trust in His death to take away sin and believe in His resurrection unto eternal life (see Romans 10:9–10). The result of faith in Christ is salvation by grace (Ephesians 2:8), the forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43), and the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

Those who know and trust in Jesus for their salvation are ready to take the next step of discipleship: obedience. According to Jesus, obedience is a proof of love for Him (John 14:15). Writing to those he was discipling, Paul says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24). Salvation in Christ brings a Spirit-fueled change to one’s nature: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Discipleship is marked by commitment to the Lord obedience to His commands, and for Him. A disciple will grow, learning to “walk by the Spirit, and . . . not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

To make disciples, then, is to guide those without Christ into the knowledge of Christ so that they have faith in Christ and learn to obey and love Christ. Every Christian is at some stage of being discipled. At the same time, every Christian is to actively seek to engage others with the gospel and bring them into the process of discipleship. The multiplication of disciples is a crucial element of Jesus’ call of Peter and Andrew: “And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:19). Become a disciple, and you will make disciples.

Discipleship is a lifelong process as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).