JOHN 6:66–DISCIPLES WITHDREW FROM JESUS?
May 17, 2019
READING TIME: 2-3 MINUTES
“Dave, in John 6:66, it says that some disciples withdrew from Jesus and were not walking with Him anymore. I’m confused about this verse since some use this to teach that it’s possible to lose your salvation.”
This verse doesn’t teach that eternal salvation can be lost. Once a person is saved, he’s saved forever. No verse in the NT, when properly understood, teaches that eternal salvation can be lost.
The word “disciple” isn’t a technical term and it can refer to unsaved and saved people who sit under Christ’s teaching.
J.B. Hixson explains this passage in more detail: “Following Jesus’s extended metaphor about the “Bread of Life,” many of His disciples were offended (v. 61). Jesus responded by asserting that some of His disciples did not believe (v. 64). That these followers of Christ were in fact unbelievers (i.e., non-saved) is reasonably clear from the context, because of the references to Judas (vv. 65, 71). John writes that from that time on many of Jesus’s disciples ‘went back and walked with Him no more’ (v. 66). This statement by John has led many commentators to assume that those who ‘walked with Him no more’ had spurious faith. That is, they had ‘believed’ the gospel but their subsequent lack of obedience and commitment ‘proved’ their faith to be only ‘spurious faith.’ But it is not necessary to draw this conclusion from the context.
The ‘spurious faith’ view of this passage is built on the erroneous idea that ‘disciple’ and ‘believer’ are synonymous in the New Testament. But, as J. Dwight Pentecost has pointed out, there are three categories of disciples in the New Testament: the curious—those who only followed Christ out of curiosity but never believed the gospel; the convinced—those who followed Him and believed the gospel; and the committed—those who not only believed in Him for eternal salvation but also were faithful in following Him and obeying His commands.
What made them unbelievers was their failure to believe the correct object of saving faith, namely, the gospel.”
We must make a distinction between eternal salvation (1st aspect or tense of salvation) and discipleship (2nd tense of salvation; progressive/practical/ experiential sanctification). Joseph Dillow is correct when he writes, “The conditions for becoming a disciple are different from those for becoming a Christian. One becomes a Christian, according to Jesus, based on faith alone (John 3: 16). We are justified ‘freely’ (Romans 3: 24) and receive regenerate life ‘without cost’ (Revelation 22: 17). But to become a disciple, something in addition to faith is needed, namely, works. A disciple is one who denies himself, is willing to leave his family, and follows Jesus (Mark 8:34). A disciple must love Jesus more than his wife (Luke 14:26), hardly a requirement ever stated anywhere for becoming a Christian! The condition for discipleship is to forsake all and follow Christ (Luke 14:33).”
Sources Used
Dillow, Joseph. Final Destiny: The Future Reign of The Servant Kings: Fourth Revised Edition. Grace Theology Press. chapter 25.
Hixson, J. B. Getting the Gospel Wrong: The Evangelical Crisis No One Is Talking About. Grace Gospel Press. 101.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Design for Discipleship: Discovering God’s Blueprint for the Christian Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996, chapter 1.
Woods, Dr. Andy. Soteriology Course, session 33. < http://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Soteriology_by_Andy_Woods/33_Eternal_Security_15/index.htm?x=x>.