QUESTION:
What is the spiritual mark Christians have to attest to their belonging to Christ? Is it something the spiritual world can see on our bodies or faces?
ANSWER:
At the end of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus told his disciples to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching. The mark of a disciple is his or her changed lifestyle that lives in accordance with what Jesus taught. Matthew’s Gospel is a compendium of what he taught. Jesus taught his disciples to do the works of the Kingdom (heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, etc.) and live the words of the Kingdom (these teaching of Jesus are found in five places in the Gospel of Matthew, 5.1-7.27; 10.5-42, 13.3-52, 18.1-35, and 24.4-25.46). In addition in the letters of Paul we are told that we should live as a new people of God in this present world. He tells his readers that they are to “put to death” the habits of life of this present age (Col. 3.5-11) and “clothe” ourselves with the live of the age to come (Col. 3.12-14).
The marks of an authentic disciple of Jesus can be seen but they are not physical marks like a tattoo would be.
