Page 143 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.” If one can be a disciple
without being a believer, the two roles cannot be the same thing.

2. Jesus had people who believed in Him but did not follow Him as a disciple. Consider the crowds,
Nicodemus, the thief on the cross, and the lepers He healed. Many believed but we have no
indication they followed him in the disciple/master relationship Jesus shared with many.

3. As has already been shown, the Scripture is clear that to be forgiven and saved eternally one
must simply believe in Jesus (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9). To become a disciple one must deny
oneself, take up one’s cross, follow, and obey (Mark 8:34, Luke 14:25-33).

4. Scripture is clear that those who do not obey may lose their status as disciples (John 15:8). They
can also walk away (John 6:66). It is equally clear that a believer who stands before Christ for
evaluation, and every evaluated work they did burns up, will themselves still be saved (1
Corinthians 3:10-15). They can be faithless, but He will still be faithful to them (2 Timothy 2:12-
13). Nothing can separate them from Him (Romans 8:39-39). So while you can cease to be a
disciple you cannot cease to be saved eternally.

This leads to an inescapable conclusion – while the role of a disciple and a believer are symbiotic, they
are not identical. As such one must be careful how one reads the passages about tests of discipleship.
John 15 for instance says that they should prove to be Jesus disciples. This should not be directly applied
as tests of a true Christian. Christ clearly calls believers to a life of discipleship. They do not however lose
their salvation if they do not obey. Rather they lose daily fellowship with Christ and blessings he would
have given them along the way. They may be disciplined, taken out of this world early, and lose earnable
future rewards at Christ’s return as well.

What then is the relationship of being a disciple to a believer today? If they are not the same thing in
scripture how do, we engage that as pastors? First, we need to recognize that our role in pastoring is to
bring people to Christ and then to seek to move them into discipleship. The Great Commission was to
make disciples. We need to ask ourselves what a modern-day disciple of Jesus looks like and model that
for them. Second, we need to intentionally avoid using threat motivation by questioning the salvation of
those who believe but don’t follow Christ as whole heartedly as we would love to see them do. Christ
will judge them; they need to know it. They will live in discipline from God. They are not in danger of
hell. Third, we need to recognize a twofold ministry in our churches. Helping all believers grow to
maturity and helping disciples make disciples. Fourth, we need to recognize that there are
developments in the New Testament. One will quickly notice that the term “disciple” disappears in the
epistles. It is gone. Yet, the concept is not. Paul tells Timothy to “entrust these to faithful men who will
teach others also.” This is the discipleship concept even if the word is not used. We need to be careful
not to make the same word mean the same thing every time we encounter it. We also need to be
careful not to assume the concept is gone simply because the word is not used.”
186

Honor/Shame in Jewish Culture and its effect on Biblical interpretation:

If someone is reading the New Testament and misses the honor/shame aspect of culture present in the
Jewish world at the time of Christ and the epistles, they will miss so much that helps them understand
what is happening. Why was it that that there were times when Jesus’ opponents would ask certain

186 This quote is taken from the Soteriology course written for AIU by the authors of this course.

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