Discipleship and the Church -- By: A. Boyd Luter, Jr.

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 137:547 (Jul 1980)
Article: Discipleship and the Church
Author: A. Boyd Luter, Jr.


Discipleship and the Church

A. Boyd Luter, Jr.

[A. Boyd Luter, Jr., Pastor, The Church in the Valley, Canyon Lake, Texas]

In recent years discipleship has become an integral part of evangelicalism. “Training believers the way Jesus did,” as most define discipleship, is an idea that has again come of age. However, many Christian workers view discipleship as an activity that is to take place apart from the local church and that has little relationship to the church’s major purpose.

With the present boom in books, cassettes, and seminars on discipleship, one might conclude that all has been said on the subject. But that is far from true. In the New Testament there is a virtually untapped reservoir of material on discipleship. The Book of Acts and the Epistles, which so vividly expound the life of the first-century church, provide a wealth of information which can fill in one’s understanding of discipleship and how it should relate to the local church.

It is surprising to some people to learn that neither the word disciple nor the verb to make disciples is found anywhere in the New Testament Epistles. This is in stark contrast to the Gospels and the Book of Acts where these forms are used more than 250 times.1

But an even more acute question concerns the Great Commission, which has as its thrust the command to make disciples.2 Was it ignored and forgotten by the early churches? Did the writers of the Epistles (including Peter and John who were personally discipled by Jesus) forget the risen Savior’s final command? Is the Great Commission therefore irrelevant for today and unrelated to the local church?

This article seeks to demonstrate that discipleship is indeed discussed in the Epistles, even though the terms disciple, discipleship, and make disciples are not used, and that discipleship is central to the purpose of the local church.

The Meaning of Discipleship

Though the word disciple does not occur in the Epistles, the fact that the concept of discipleship is there can be demonstrated in several ways.

The Bible often presents a doctrine through the use of several different but related terms. This can easily be seen in the unfolding development of such doctrines as sin, grace, redemption, and regeneration. The same principle holds true in the realm of practical theology. To understand sanctification, preaching, teaching, or prayer, one must observe all the parallel concepts that are used in the presentation of these truths. It should not be ...

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