Disciples of Jesus are not merely
to learn cognitive content for right
belief. While this is certainly part of
being a disciple of Jesus, there is a
cost to following Jesus as a disciple
(Matt. 16:24–28). Becoming a disciple
means embracing all of who Jesus
is and what he has done in his life,
teaching, death, and resurrection.
An all-encompassing embrace of
this includes cognitively assenting
to the truth he taught, affectively
embracing him as our all-satisfying
treasure, and volitionally bowing
the knee to Jesus in full submission
of one’s life. A disciple willingly
renounces all the world has to offer
to fully and unswervingly follow Jesus
in every facet of life.
While “disciple” is a prominent term
in the Gospels and Acts, the concept
of following in God’s ways as God’s
people (i.e., discipleship) is found
throughout both the OT and NT. More
commonly one can think of God
as Father and the people of God
as his children. God redeems Israel
from Egypt, proclaiming that he is
the Father of Israel, his firstborn son
(Exod. 4:23). Relating to his people
as a Father, God not only redeems
and makes covenants with Israel,
but also disciplines them when they
go astray. He wants to ensure that
his people are living out their identity
as his sons, and thus he disciplines
them to bring them back to a fitting
lifestyle of holiness (Deut. 8:5; 2 Sam.
7:13–14; Prov. 3:11–12). This pattern
of OT discipline is foundational for
understanding the enactment of
discipline within the NT church. God
is holy, and he requires his people
to be holy if he is to dwell in their
midst (Lev. 11:44–45; 19:1–2; cf. 1
Peter 1:14–16). While God is also a
loving Father, this expectation of
holiness grounds God’s actions as
it relates to his covenant with Israel.
God, who is certainly loving and
merciful, will not allow his people to
We receive
discipline to help
us understand how
we veered from
living faithfully as
disciples.
dwell in sin for long without enacting
dire consequences (Deut. 28:15–
68). Holiness means that God will
discipline those in unrepentant sin,
though he always does so with an
end to love and forgive the one living
in sin (Deut. 30:1–10).
As salvation history progresses, the
NT will testify to the new covenant
of God in Christ and how the idea
of the fatherhood of God will find a
deeper and fuller expression in the life
of God’s chosen people (Rom. 8:14–
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