What are the marks of grace that signify you are a true disciple of Jesus?

Dr. Joel Beeke discusses the concept of the "marks of grace" which are found throughout the Bible. According to him, these marks are indicators of genuine faith and discipleship. The first epistle of John, often referred to as the "book of assurance of faith", outlines 11 such marks. These include loving fellow believers and obeying God's commandments from the heart. Beyond these fundamental marks like faith in Christ for salvation and repentance of sins, there are other marks that one can self-examine against.

Additional marks of grace are found in 2 Peter 1, Galatians 5, and in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). These marks are not just character traits, but indications of a transformed life resulting from being a disciple of Jesus. They include the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace, and meekness. They also include the beatitudes such as being poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. These marks provide a framework for self-examination and reflection on one's discipleship.

2 Peter 1:10 (NKJV): 'Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.'

So in the Bible we have what's called marks of grace and there are many of them. John for example, first epistle of John is often called the book of assurance of faith, how you may know if you're really a true disciple. So 11 times in that book John says something like this, we know that we believe because, you know, we love the brethren or because we obey the commandments of God from the heart, that type of thing. So when you're a disciple of Jesus, you don't, I mean there's fundamental marks like believing in him alone for salvation and repenting of your sins, but then there's also these other marks of grace that you can examine yourself by. First John has 11 as I said, but then You've got six or seven marks of grace in 2 Peter 1.

You've got eight or nine marks of grace in Galatians 5, 22 and 23, where Paul says, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and make-ness. These are not just character traits. And then of course you've got that wonderful seven or eight beatitudes that Jesus gives at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 3 through 12, where he says blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn, blessed are they who meet, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, etc. These are all marks by which we can examine ourselves. Am I a true follower of Jesus Christ?