True Conversion Has To Lead to Discipleship

The notable theologian Gordon Fee (who passed away only recently) said, “Only disciples are true converts.”  In other words, if salvation doesn’t lead to discipleship, it was not truly conversion. Jesus has to become Lord.

We try every excuse to keep us from obeying Christ. Jesus covered many of those excuses in the parable of the supper when people refused to come, once invited (Lk14: 16-24).  We say, “Well, I can’t really follow Jesus because I have children now.” But should family really keep us from being committed to Jesus? Rather, it should be an incentive. Should lack of comfort be an excuse for not following Jesus? Should old age? If you truly know Jesus, you can’t be retired, you’ve been re-fired!  Where’s retirement in the gospels?

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Mat 13:45-46). This message of discovering the greatest truth and letting go of what no longer matters, is all throughout the New Testament. (You can’t serve two masters, seek first the kingdom, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back, etc.)

Jesus said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.” (Lk 6:46). He’s virtually saying, “You are only a solid believer, if you obey what I say.”

Most people think that making a decision to be a believer in Christ is enough, but in actuality, that initial decision is called “enlistment”. It’s the same as raising your hand and committing to turning your life around. That original decision is when you volunteer to enlist in a fight for truth and freedom. At that point, you become a soldier. And as a soldier you go by a set of disciplines. When you join the army, you obey its commands. There’s not an army in this world that would tolerate its soldiers not to follow commands.

Discipleship is enlisting in the service of God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ call to be a follower means to walk the same path as He walked. Following Him means to imitate Him. Paul said to Timothy, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2Tim 2:4). So discipleship is really total obedience to Christ.

Ours is an army for love, but nonetheless an army. Look at what Jesus said repeatedly: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21).

  “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14).

  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15).

  “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10). 

The apostle John, who was so close to Jesus, kept repeating the same thing in his epistles:

“The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 Jn 2:4).

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1 Jn 2:3).

  “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.” (2 Jn 1:6). 

And even when Jesus sent out His disciples, He said, “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Mat 28:29). We’re not called to be believers, but disciples. We’re called to follow His discipline, in order to be like Him.

I don’t quite understand how we miss this message. It probably comes from the “sinner’s prayer” which is not in the Bible. Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God has come to you.”  In other words, let go of your world and seek first the Kingdom of God. Repent means “metanoia”, a complete turn around. Turn from the world and seek first, and live out the kingdom. It cannot be a slight change of plans.

Even when Jesus first called His disciples, He said, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” –Not preachers, not meeting directors, not even healers, but disciple makers. Disciples that are trained to obey commands and live their lives in the image of Christ.

I’m sorry they didn’t tell you the whole picture when you were recruited. Recruiters don’t always tell you about the responsibility and accountability, but rather the benefits. But Jesus didn’t hide the cost. In fact, He made it clear when He told the crowds following Him, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.” (Lk 14:27-30). 

Only disciples are true converts. Why? Because it’s an ongoing lifestyle of choosing Him and forsaking all to follow Him. To keep His commands means consistent obedience. Why call him ‘Lord, Lord’, if we are not going to do what He’s called us to do? Have we not found that one pearl? –The pearl of a great price. And are we not willing to sell all that we have in order to buy that field. Is the kingdom not worth far above everything else?

Faith means complete reliance on God. You’ve got to let go of the world. It can’t work unless you let go of the world. Jesus said so: “Unless you forsake all that you have…” So don’t be afraid to pay the price. That pearl is worth so much more. That’s discipleship.