Key Biblical Distinctions, compiled by David Brewer
A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for sins, rose again, and guarantees eternal salvation.
A disciple is someone committed to following Jesus Christ and learning from Him. Every Christian should be a committed and growing disciple, but not all are (Bing 3-4)
The salvation of justification is distinct from the salvation of sanctification. The former saves us from the penalty of sin once for all. The latter saves us from the power of sin in a lifetime process as Christ lives through us (Bing 20).
Not every believer is necessarily a disciple. This can be clearly seen in John 8:30-31. Here, Jesus addresses those who have believed in Him for eternal life (v. 30) yet He gives them a condition for being a committed disciple: “Then Jesus said to those who believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed’” (v. 31). To abide means to continue in, not believe in. A believer becomes a committed disciple if he follows and keeps God’s Word. Not every believer does that.
| Salvation from the penalty of sin (1st tense in the past) | Disciple; present tense salvation from the power of sin; progressive sanctification |
| Saved (Coming to Christ) | Following after Christ |
| Has been justified; positional righteousness | Is being practically and presently sanctified; practical righteousness |
| Spiritual birth | Spiritual growth |
| Absolutely free | Very costly |
| Believes in Christ as Savior | Submits to Christ as Master; obedience to Him as Lord |
| Faith in Jesus Christ | Works for Jesus Christ |
| Grace for eternal salvation | Merit for eternal rewards |
| Justification | Present-tense progressive sanctification |
| Spiritual birth | Spiritual growth |
| Gift given | Prize earned |
| Relationship established | Fellowship enjoyed |
| Believing in Christ for salvation from eternal damnation | Committing to Christ as Lord |
| Damnation for unbelief | Discipline for disobedience |
| Undeserved grace for salvation | Freedom from the Law (Bing 4, 28) |
| An instantaneous event, at a point in time | Lifetime process in time |
| Placed into Christ | Transformed into Christlikeness |
| One condition of believing in Christ as Savior | Condition is commitment to Christ as Lord and abiding (remaining in fellowship) in Him |
| What God did for me | What God is doing through me |
| Christ died on the cross for me; requires Christ’s cross | I take up the cross for Christ and I die for Him; requires the believer’s cross |
| Saved from the penalty of sin | Saved from the power of sin |
| Is finished | Is not finished |
| What God gives believers | What believers give to God |
| Non-meritorious | Merits a reward |
| Benefit: eternal life | Benefit: eternal rewards (Bing 4, 21, 28, 51, 53-54; Stegall Chapter 7; Freely By His Grace Chapter 5) |
| Eternal Salvation | Rewards |
| Is offered to unbelievers | Are offered to believers |
| Is appropriated by grace through faith alone in Christ alone apart from works (Rom 3:28; Eph 2:8-9) | Are obtained by grace through on-going faith resulting in Christ-honoring works (1 Cor 3:5-13) |
| Is received the moment of faith in Christ (Jn 5:24) | Are given out at the Judgment Seat of Christ after the Rapture (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10) |
| Can never be lost (1 Cor 3:15) | May be lost (1 Cor 3:11-15) |
| Makes one accepted before God (Eph 1:6) | Reflecting that one’s post-salvation life was well-pleasing to God (2 Cor 5:9) |
| Eternal deliverance | Eternal privilege and function |
| No degrees | Degrees (Stegall Chapter 6) |
| Is the believer’s present possession (John 3:16-18, 36) | Are the believer’s possible future attainment (1 Cor 3:14) |
| Solely involves trusting in Christ (What do you think of Christ?) | Involve: the quality of one’s post-justification works (1 Cor 3:12-15)one’s faithfulness to God’s will and Word (1 Cor 4:2; 2 Tim 4:7-8; James 1:12; 1 Pet 5:4; 2 Jn 8-11)one’s motives before God (Matt 6:1-6; 1 Cor 4:4; Col 3:23-25) |
| Determines one’s eternal destiny (1 Jn 5:11-13) | Determine your function and privilege in heaven (Phil 3:11-14; 2 Pet 1:11) |
| Will result in praise to God (Rev 5:8-14) | Will result in praise to God (Rev 4:9-11) (Rokser, Shall Never Perish Forever, Chapter 19) |
| Justification Before God | Practical Sanctification |
| God declares righteous the believing sinner (Rom 4:1-3) | God makes righteous the yielded, dependent believer who responds to God’s Word (John 17:17; Gal 5:16) |
| God imputes righteousness to the believer in his standing before God (Rom 4:4-8) | God imparts righteousness to the believer, affecting his state practically (Heb 13:21) |
| Occurs outside the believing sinner (1 Cor 6:11) | Occurs inside the responsive believer (Eph 3:16) |
| Is a one-time event at a point in time when a sinner believes in Christ (Gal 2:16) | Is to be an ongoing process as the believer walks by faith under the Spirit’s control (2 Cor 3:18) |
| Involves salvation from sin’s penalty (Rom 5:9) | Involves salvation from sin’s power practically (Rom 6:11-13) |
| Changes a believer’s eternal destiny (Titus 3:7) | Changes a believer’s present life (Eph 5:15-16) |
| Results in having peace with God (Rom 5:1) | Results in having the peace of God (Phil 4:9) |
| Is absolute and not a matter of degrees (1 Cor 1:30) | Can increase as believers grow in grace (1 Thess 4:1-3) |
| Is solely by God’s grace through faith (Rom 3:24) | Is solely by God’s grace through faith resulting in good works (Rom 6:14) (Rokser, Shall Never Perish Forever, Chapter 19) |
| Past Salvation (Luke 7:50; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; 2 Tim 1:9) | Present Salvation (2 Cor 7:10; Phil 2:12-13; 1 Tim 4:16; James 1:21; 2:14; 5:20) | Future Salvation (Rom 5:9-10; 13:11; 1 Cor 3:15) |
| Saved from the Penalty of Sin (in hell) | Saved from the Power of Sin (in one’s earthly life) | Saved from the Presence of Sin (in heaven) |
| Justification | Progressive sanctification | Glorification |
| Point of time — when a person trusts Christ for eternal salvation | Process of time — as the believer walks by faith and the Holy Spirit’s power | Point of time – either at the believer’s death (2 Cor 5:10) or the Rapture (1 Thess 4:13-18) |
| By grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone apart from works (Acts 16:31) | By grace alone, by faith alone, resulting in good works (Rom 6:1-14; 8:1-4) | By grace alone, through one’s initial faith alone at justification (Stegall Chapter 7) |
| Great White Throne Judgment | Judgment Seat of Christ |
| For unbelievers | For believers |
| At the end of the kingdom era | Before or during the kingdom era |
| Based on lack of faith in Christ | Based on faithfulness to Christ |
| Results in eternity in the lake of fire | Results in eternal rewards gained or denied (Bing 55) |
Hell Fire/God’s Punishment | Disciplinary Fire/God’s Discipline (Jn 15:6; 1 Cor 3:14-15; Heb 6:7-8; 10:27; 12:5-7, 29; Rev 3:19) |
| Eternal | Temporal |
| For or upon unbelievers | For or upon believers |
| Burns the unbeliever | Burns the believer’s unworthy works (Bing 57) |
| Executing His justice | Exercised in love |
| Due to their rejection of Christ | Due to their need for correction |
| Not for their good | For their good |
| Involving God’s wrath | Involving God’s love |
| Resulting in condemnation | Resulting in chastening |
| Ultimately done after death | Only done in this lifetime (Rokser, Stegall, & Witzig 42). |
| Seeing the Difference | Wrath / Punishment | Chastening |
| It is connected to | God’s holiness | God’s love |
| It is upon | Unbelievers | Believers |
| Status of its recipient | Child of wrath | Child of God |
| It is for | God’s profit | Our profit |
| It desires | Retribution and vengeance | Correction and change |
| It involves | God forsaking | God confronting |
| It results in | Fruit of justice — propitiation | Peaceable fruit of righteousness |
| Its timing is | Temporal and eternal | Temporal only (Rokser, Stegall, & Witzig 386) |
Sources Used
Bing, Charles C. Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages. Grace Theology Press. Kindle Edition.
Hixson, Whitmire, Zuck. Freely by His Grace: Classical Grace Theology. Grace Gospel Press. Kindle Edition.
Rokser, Dennis M. Shall Never Perish Forever. Grace Gospel Press. Kindle Edition.
Rokser, Dennis M.; Stegall, Thomas L.; Witzig, Kurt. Should Christians Fear Outer Darkness? Grace Gospel Press. Kindle Edition.
Stegall, Thomas L. Must Faith Endure for Salvation to Be Sure?: A Biblical Study of the Perseverance versus Preservation of the Saints (Kindle Locations 2306-2308). Grace Gospel Press. Kindle Edition.