DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SALVATION & DISCIPLESHIP?
March 16, 2019
What’s the difference between eternal salvation and discipleship?
Here’s a list of some popular Bible teachers who don’t make this distinction:
Darrell Bock, James Montgomery Boice, F. F. Bruce, Ardel B. Caneday, D. A. Carson, Michael Deaver, Kenneth L. Gentry, Wayne Grudem, Michael Horton, Tim Keller, Andreas Kostenberger, John MacArthur, Jr., Scott McKnight, I. Howard Marshall, Leon Morris, Peter O’Brien, Grant Osborn, John Piper, Thomas R. Schreiner, Allen P. Stanley, John R. W. Stott, Robert Yarbrough, and Ben Witherington III (Bing footnote 8).
The chart below illustrates this very crucial distinction.
| Salvation from the penalty of sin (1st tense in the past) | Discipleship; 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 |
| 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 a 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) |
SOURCES USED
Bing, Charles C. Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages. Grace Theology Press.
Hixson, Whitmire, Zuck. Freely by His Grace: Classical Grace Theology. Grace Gospel Press.
Stegall, Thomas L. Must Faith Endure for Salvation to Be Sure?: A Biblical Study of the Perseverance versus Preservation of the Saints. Grace Gospel Press.