“and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” – Mark 1:15-17

Is There Any Differences Between a Believer, a Disciple and a Follower Walking With Jesus?

I have always taken these three monikers given to the men and women devoted to Jesus as equivelently referring to the early Christians. But, as I look at the Gospels and Epistles perhaps there is a distinction? Perhaps.

• A Believer – Someone who has heard the Gospel, declared it to be true and changed direction. They are Saved.
  • Romans 10:10, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Sōtērian).”
  • John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
  • John 17:20, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;”
  • John 20:31, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
  • Mark 1:15, “and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
• A Disciple – Someone who is a Believer and is actively growing in their faith – a pupil being discipled. In the rabbinic tradition, being “discipled” meant entering into a close relationship with a rabbi, where the disciple serves the master and learns not only the rabbi’s teachings but also his way of life. 2 different forms of Disciple:
  • Disciple – Mathētai – Noun – A Pupil: Defined as a student in school.
    • Matthew 5:1, “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.”
  • Discipled – Mathēteusate – Verb – To enroll as Scholar: Defined as a learned person, especially one who has profound knowledge of a particular subject. While the verb here is about being made into a disciple, there is indication that those being made disciples are targeted to be made scholars – a pupil with higher scholarly intentions. Four verses use this term.
    • Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples (enroll as scholars) of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”
    • Matthew 13:52 NASB – “And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe (expert of the law) who has become a disciple (enrolled as a scholar) of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”
    • Matthew 27:57, “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple (enrolled as a scholar) of Jesus.”
    • Acts 14:21 NASB – “And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made a good number of disciples (enrolled as scholars), they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,”
• A Follower – A Believer/Disciple who is called and striving to walk with Jesus and imitate Him in the way He ministered. Possibly an Apostle or Ambassador.
  • Matthew 4:19, “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
  • Mark 1:17, “Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
  • Mark 8:34, “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
  • 1 Thessalonians 1:6, “And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
  • 1 Peter 3:13, “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?”
  • John 8:12, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
  • John 21:19, “This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
  • Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
  • Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
  • Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
  • Colossians 2:6, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,”

Other Names

• Apostle – The term apostle is derived from Greek Apóstolos, meaning “one who is sent off.” Luke 6:13, “And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:” In 1 Corinthians 12:29 Paul indicates that not all are called to be Apostles. “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?”
• Ambassador – from the Greek Presbeuō meaning to act as a senior/elder representative. There is some maturity inplied. Rather than a title it has more to do with an action – we are representing Jesus. While all Christians are representing Jesus to some extent, I still believe it is used for those who are truly forsaking much to follow Jesus. Those who know Jesus. Earlier in 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul says, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh,” Who would you entrust to be your abassador but those who know you and can faithfully represent you? Paul and Timothy, in 2 Corinthians 5:20 & then by Paul in Ephesians 6:20 refer to themselves as being Ambassadors of Christ. In these letters, they are representing Christ to the church in Corinth and Ephesus. Yet, at the same time, in 1 Corinthians 4:16 & 11:1 Paul urges the Believers to imitate him as he imitates Jesus which certainly includes representing Jesus like an Ambassador.
• Saints – from the Greek Hagiois: Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred. Saints are the body of Christ, Christians, the church. All Christians are considered saints. All Christians are saints—and at the same time are called to be saints. 1 Corinthians 1:2 states it clearly: “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…” The words “sanctified” and “holy” come from the same Greek root as the word that is commonly translated “saints.”

So, the Body of Christ/the Church is comprised of:

1. Believers – In order to enter the Kingdom, you must Believe in you heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. All who do are saved from eternal separation for God.
2. Disciples/Pupils – All Believers are called to become Disciples/pupils of Jesus but not all engage with the same dedication.
3. Disciples/Scholars – Some Believers/Disciples enroll to be scholars in the way of Jesus. These may be those those who serve as Church leaders.
4. Followers – Those who maintain a close walk with Jesus. Perhaps our current day Apostles/Ambassadors – building up the church by exercising spiritual gifts. Is it possible that the most challenging scriptures about what is required to live out the full earthly ministry of Jesus are primarily directed to the Disciple-Scholar/Followers. For instance:
   • Luke 14:25-27 & 33, “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. . . 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
     • The term “cannot” in the Greek means “powerless” or “unable to”. So, Jesus is not rejecting these disciples but identifying that they will be powerless to live out His full ministry if they cling to this world and don’t carry their cross.
     • Even though Jesus refers to “disciples,” He is clarifying to the Believer/Disciples walking with Him what is required for those who desire to truly follow Him in all His ways.

These designations line up with the Christian maturity levels from my previous post, Actually, It Is All About Me!

1. A New Creation (Believer),
2. A Believer Growing in faith (Disciple/Pupil),
3. Those who Further Mature to be more like Jesus (Disciple/Scholar) and,
4. Those who are called to an Apostolic level of ministry (Followers)

Disciples Who Walked No More

I think John 6:66 gives some credence to these distinctions. “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

What? John is identifying that there are a group of people who he still refers to as disciples, but who decided Jesus’ teachings were too hard and they stopped physically following him. Jesus knew that some of those disciples did not really believe in Him, while some simply had their faith shaken. At that time, it appeared that only the 12 remained to follow after Jesus. This did not change that some of those believed in Jesus but they went back to what they had left behind. They were not willing to give up all to follow Jesus because to follow him in all the ways He lived and taught was way too hard.

And yet, in Acts 1:15 after Jesus’ ressurection, with the Apostles back is Jerusalem it records, “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,” So, of those 120 disciples, I think we can safely assume that some who had left Jesus had returned as the word spread about Jesus rising from the dead. These were Believers who were referred to as Disciples with some returning to be Followers.

Even the Apostles Departed – We see this happen with the Apostles themselves. After Jesus had resurrected and shown Himself to the Disciples, Peter and some of the other Disciples were left confused about their future. With no physical Jesus there to follow, they decided to go back to fishing. John 21: 1-3, “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.”

The Disciples were Believers who thought that their walk with Jesus had ended. Jesus then appeared to them again to restore them and to commission them as His Apostles – to continue to walk with Him.

Many Members Yet One Body

Let me say that all true Christians are certainly Believers, and all are Disciples and Followers to some degree. All Saints are continually called to draw deeper into their relationship with Christ. God’s desire is that all Believers/Saints would follow after Him according to their measure of faith (Romans 12:3). What each Believer’s walk looks like is between the individual and Jesus.

Once again, while I see these distinctions in scripture, the makeup of the church may not be all that well defined. Yet, I would say that the ideal, healthy, functioning church body would have people that somehow fall into each of these descriptions. And, that the ministry of the church is to serve and be served by all these levels of maturity.

Ephesians 4:11-13 highlights the working of the church across all Saints, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Those Saints who are more mature lifting up those who are less. Yet, not all will become apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

God uses all of His Body/Believers/Saints in some capacity and all are of equal value as highlighted in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.” Are those who are less mature in their faith less important to the body? Paul says in verses 12:22-23, “In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care.”

Jesus promises us an abundant life. But, it may only be as abundant as to what we are willing to forsake to follow Him. He beckons us to draw deeper and loves when we step out further in faith. Yet, His love never fails regardless of the limits we put on how far we are willing to go to follow after Him.

Believers, Disciples and Followers Walking with Jesus are all Saints saved by God’s grace, even as we are at different stages of maturity in our faith. We all comprise the Body of Christ with each growing in our unique relationship with God, always in awe of how God has rescued us.

Philippians 2:12, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed (listened attentively and followed through), not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation (Sōtērian) with fear and trembling;”