Are You a Disciple Making Disciple? | Matt 4:17-5:1-2

A disciple and a Christian are not two different categories in the New Testament. That’s one of the big mistakes people make—thinking, “First you become a Christian, and later, if you want to get serious, you become a disciple.” But Acts 11:26 flips that: they were disciples… and those disciples were called Christians. In other words, disciple is the definition, and “Christian” is the name the world put on it. So the question isn’t “Are you a Christian?” as if that’s merely a label. The question is: are you a disciple—and are you a disciple-making disciple? Because the assumption of the New Testament is that if someone belongs to Jesus, they come under His authority. They learn His ways. They live His ways. And they teach His ways. Christianity is not passive spectatorship. It’s apprenticeship to a King. And that includes duplication. God built duplication into creation—He made the first man, gave him a wife, and established fruitfulness and multiplying as part of the mandate. But that same principle gets fulfilled in an even greater way in the kingdom: spiritual fruitfulness. Even if someone never marries. Even if someone never has children. The call still stands: be fruitful and multiply—by making disciples. That starts with the most central thing: the gospel. Knowing it clearly. Living it honestly. And being able to communicate it so that another person can come into a real relationship with Jesus Christ, receive forgiveness of sins, and become a disciple too, who then learns to duplicate again. Yes, God can convert someone in a dramatic, once-in-a-generation way—like Saul on the road to Damascus, bright light, direct confrontation, sovereign commissioning. But that’s the exception. The normal way the kingdom spreads is simpler and steadier: disciples living the life, teaching the truth, winning others to Christ, and training them to do the same. So the point is straightforward: disciples duplicate. They don’t just learn. They learn, live, and teach what Christ taught—and they obey this command as a basic part of following Jesus. Do you want to support Church of The Word? https://cotwstl.org/give/ Check out our church here! https://cotwstl.org/ #biblestudy #faith