Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes

Our deepest joy comes from Christ: remaining with him, walking with him, being his disciples.

Discipleship means adherence to Christ and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract theology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge of the subject of grace or the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact exclude any idea of discipleship whatsoever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ....Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.

Spiritual formation in Christ moves us toward a total interchange of our ideas and images for his.

A man shows himself a true disciple of Christ by carrying the cross in his turn every day in the activity that he is called to perform.

No one can truly know Christ unless they follow him in life.

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

The Christian idea of 'putting on Christ' is the whole of Christianity.

Discipleship never consists in this or that specific action: it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ.

If you ignore every single thing Jesus told you to do, you are just auditing. You're not a Christian.

Don't follow a defeated foe. Follow Christ. It is costly. You will be an exile in this age. But you will be free.

My central claim is that we can become like Christ by doing one thing -- by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.

I model my life after my Lord and Master Jesus Christ and his life. He has called me into God's family and I am a representative for him so I just try to be obedient to what He asks me to do.

To take up the cross of Christ is no great action done once for all; it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us.

Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.

To follow Jesus means putting him first, and stripping ourselves of all the things that oppress our hearts.

Once Jesus had blazed the trail, his twelve disciples could carry on his mission without his presence.

Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.

When we say we begin with God, we begin with our idea of God, and our idea of God is not God. Instead, we ought to begin with God’s idea of God, and God’s idea of God is Christ

It is impossible for a man to be a Christian without having Christ; and if he has Christ he has at the same time all that is in Christ.

Only by walking with God can we hope to find the path that leads to life. That is what it means to be a disciple. After all -- aren't we 'followers of Christ'? Then by all means, let's actually follow him. Not ideas about him. Not just his principles. Him.

A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice – a practitioner… Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.

You really can't justify anything else but giving your whole attention to spiritual formation in Christ.

We have no cause to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; but the Gospel of Christ may justly be ashamed of us.