Discipling New Believers
Treasures
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Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). As His disciples today, we, too, have the commission of sharing the good news of salvation through faith in Christ and to helping nurture the faith of new believers.
When people receive Jesus and are born again spiritually (John 3:5–7), it is the beginning of a new life and a lifelong journey as they grow in their relationship with God and their discipleship.
To grow into mature Christians, new believers need six major things:
1. Prayer. Many new Christians will not have the habit of praying or may not be familiar with the importance of prayer in their walk with the Lord. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1), Jesus responded by modeling prayer for them. We can invite new believers to pray with us and encourage them in their prayer life. We also need to pray for people after they get saved for their spiritual growth and discipleship, and that they will crave the pure milk of God’s Word so that by it they “may grow up into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
2. The Word. It is important to ground new believers’ faith in the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes through the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). The Bible is a big book—not to mention all the Bible commentaries and other Christian literature available. New believers need guidance in studying God’s Word, through encouragement to read it daily, as well as through Bible studies where they can discuss the Scriptures and learn how to apply them to their lives. You can stimulate their desire for God’s Word by sharing how reading and applying it to your life has helped you.
3. Relationship with God. When people receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they receive His gift of salvation. But that is just the starting point of their discipleship journey and the transformation process. They need to fully understand salvation and its implications for their lives and learn how to develop a personal relationship with God. They need to find security in the fact that God loves them unconditionally, and learn how to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30–31). They also need to learn to let God and His Word guide them in their decisions and everyday activities, and to depend on Him and commit their ways, their problems, and what they encounter in life to Him, rather than depending on themselves (Proverbs 3:5–6). None of these things happen automatically; growth in our relationship with God takes time, and spending time with Him in prayer and studying His Word.
4. Christ’s love. New believers need to experience God’s love and learn to rest assured that He will never stop loving them regardless of their flaws, mistakes, or sins. And we need to provide a living example of His love for them, and “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). New believers may need continual reassurance of God’s love as they grow in Christ as the “new creations” He has called them to be, where “the old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). John set the standard for love for the new believers we are helping to grow in their faith when he said: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16).
5. Fellowship. New believers need the support of other Christians—especially those who are seasoned and mature in their faith. New believers also need to see examples of Christian love in action, and others committed to living out the principles in God’s Word. They need to see God answering prayers and working in other people’s lives, and as they do, they will better understand and appreciate how He is also working in theirs. “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25). Whether it is meeting in a small group, a house church, a church, or other gathering, fellowship is a critical aspect of our Christian life.
6. Share the Good News. New believers need encouragement and instruction to share their faith with others. Every Christian is called to be a witness and ambassador for Christ, sharing the good news of the gospel, so that others have the opportunity to hear the truth and come to Christ. This is the most important work in the world. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
It is important that new believers understand that the Word of God is the foundation of our faith—the Christian faith is grounded in God’s Word, which records the truth and eyewitness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We can fail, others can fail, but God’s Word will never fail. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
It is vital to help new converts to learn to put their faith in God and in His Word, and not their feelings or circumstances. Receiving God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus does not mean that they won’t face problems, challenges, tragedy, and loss in this life. They will have times when their faith is tested, which will help them to grow spiritually and draw closer to God. If their house is built on the rock of His Word, when the storms of this life come, it will stand strong (Matthew 7:24–25).
Teaching others to teach others
In a personal letter to Timothy, an up-and-coming young leader of the early church, the apostle Paul shared one of the keys to the new movement’s rapid growth: “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). This was the principle that Jesus Himself had applied in training His own disciples.
If enough of those who come to faith in Christ take up the challenge to share the good news with others, and if those in turn do the same, more people in the world will have the opportunity to find God’s love and salvation in Jesus. We may not all be called to full-time Christian ministry, but we are all commissioned to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39), which includes sharing our faith with them so that they have the opportunity to come to faith in Jesus.
As with leading people to Christ, helping others to grow spiritually is not something we can do by our own efforts—it is the work of the Holy Spirit to change and transform lives, as people grow in their faith and their discipleship walk. “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). His Word and His Spirit will do the work of transforming people’s hearts and lives, while we do our part of praying for them, pointing them to the Lord and the Bible, and striving to be a living example of Christ and His love.
When Jesus proclaimed the Great Commission, He not only called His disciples to “go into all the world and proclaim the gospel” (Mark 16:15), but He also commissioned them to make disciples. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations. … Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you” (Matthew 28:19–20). May we each be faithful to do our part to help new believers to grow in their discipleship.
As active Christians and witnesses for the Lord, we are called to preach the gospel to everyone, everywhere, “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness” (Acts 28:31). But in order to accomplish that task, we must not only witness and lead souls to faith in Christ, but we must also do our part to help others grow in their discipleship and become mature disciples who can in turn reach and teach others.
Jesus didn’t reach millions Himself. He spent most of His time teaching and training His disciples to carry on after His departure. By the time of His ascension, they were able to carry on with the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit—and the early church was born. So the principle of each one teaching one will result in the multiplication of citizens for the kingdom of God, who will love and glorify the Lord and be part of His kingdom-building project.
Every Christian was intended to bury his life in the soil of God’s service, to lay down his life and take up his cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). We are called to be the light of the world, and to walk in the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), so that our lives and our actions are a living witness to the world. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14–16).
The call of discipleship is not an easy one, and our growth in Christlikeness is the project of a lifetime. But whatever we give to God’s kingdom and invest in sharing the good news and being a living representation of God’s love, He has promised will be rewarded. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward” (Colossians 3:23–24).
Published on Anchor April 2026. Read by Reuben Ruchevsky.
