What are the key characteristics that identify a true disciple of Christ?

In this video, Paul White emphasizes the importance of profession, affection, and transformation in a Christian's life. A profession of faith, he explains, is the first step in declaring one's belief in Christ. However, this profession should not be mere lip service, but should be accompanied by a change of heart and mind under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A true believer's mind should be trained to think in accordance with the Scriptures and to view things from God's perspective.

Next, the affections of the heart should be aligned with God's, loving what He loves and hating what He hates. Finally, the believer's life should reflect the teachings of the Scriptures, not in perfection, but in a gradual growth of understanding, emotion, and life application. A lack in any of these areas, whether intellect, affection, or moral life, should raise concern. Therefore, a genuine disciple of Christ should exhibit all three characteristics to some extent.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV): 'But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.'

If I'm identifying a disciple, I'm looking for two things really. First, a profession of some sort, a profession of faith, which in many places of the world, that carries a lot more weight than it would here. There will always be the second part to follow, But in the United States, a profession is very common, at least where I live. And so there always needs to be a movement from the profession to the heart, and the mind, and the life that has come under the tutelage of the Spirit of Christ. So there will be a profession of some sort, but then also you'll see the mind being taught from the scriptures, being trained to think the way that the Scriptures would order us to think, to think, as others have said, to think God's thoughts after Him, to view sin and self and the world and even God the way that God does.

There will be in the heart the steering of the affections to love the things that God loves, to hate the things that God hates, and then there will be the life that is being conformed to the pattern that's set forth in Scripture. And I would be looking for all three of those to some extent, but not in perfection. You know, you want to see a profession that is met with a growth in the mind, a growth in the heart, a gradual growth in the life application of it. Whereas we will all fail in a lot of ways, but you want to see that growth. And anywhere you have merely the intellect, Well, that causes doubts.

Anywhere you have merely the affections, the emotions stirring, without knowledge and without life application, well, that would be cause for concern. If you have a very moral life and yet there's no understanding, there's no truth being taught, there's no affections, stirring, and there's no profession. Well, then you would have again cause for concern. So I think you'd want to see all three of those to some extent in a disciple of Christ.