Now let’s compare the discipleship passages Mark 8:34-38 and Luke 14:25-35 with an evangelistic one - John 3:1-21.  
​
John 3:1-4 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Nicodemus was one of the Jewish leaders who had been aware and watching Christ ever since His first Passover at age 12 (Luke 2:41-50).  After Nicodemus’ greeting Jesus Christ immediately went to the man’s personal need for salvation.  Nicodemus had faithfully followed the Mosaic Covenant and still would not see God’s Eternal Kingdom unless he was born again.  All his efforts to live righteously had not brought him even close to having everlasting life.  Notice his response was not “what do you mean” but how can I be born again?  He knew who he was.  And that question is the topic of the rest of their conversation.    

John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Basically, Jesus just said in v. 8 you can’t look at a person’s life style and tell if they have everlasting life or not. 

John 3:9-13 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
Jesus Christ’s rebuke in V. 10 means Nicodemus should have known these things.  That means being born of water and the Spirit were O. T. truths. The path to salvation today is the same as it was in the O.T. People have always been saved by Grace through faith and not by good works.  It has always been a gift from God.  

John 3:14-16 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

VS. 14 & 15 refer to an incident in Numbers 21 you can read later.  Jesus Christ uses it to illustrate a salvation based on belief rather than works.  The people of Israel had refused to believe God about His promise of the new land ever since they had left Egypt 39 years earlier.  So to teach them to believe Him, God gave them a life-or-death situation to force the issue.  Poisonous snakes were in the camp.  If you wanted to survive being bitten you had to look at a bronze snake He had Moses hang up in the camp.  You either looked or you died. 

​Jesus Christ told Nicodemus getting into the Heavenly Kingdom follows the same pattern.  His terms are believe in Jesus Christ for everlasting life or end up in hell.  Jesus Christ is God incarnate.  He lived a perfect life and then died as a criminal to pay for our sins and failure to honor God.  He did that so you could have everlasting life simply by believing in Him.  Notice not one mention of giving up anything, abandoning your family or taking up a cross and following Him.  That is the price of being a disciple.   We are saved by Grace through faith (belief) in Jesus Christ for everlasting life. 

​Let’s take a look at Luke 14:25-35 which has been identified by some in the Lordship Salvation movement as an evangelistic passage.  It is a long passage so I want to take it a few verses at a time. 
Luke 14:25-27 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

We can see a lot of similarity here to what the Lord said in Mark 8.  1st thing is the topic is again being a disciple. Jesus also mentions bearing a cross as in Mark 8.  While it is true believing in Jesus Christ can be described as coming to Him the word believe is not used.  The Lord spoke of love, hate and bearing a cross.  The word hate is obviously hyperbole because to actually hate would contradict the Lord’s command to love one another and the 5th commandment.  I take His meaning to be that loving Him has to take priority over all else including family relationships.   
 
Luke 14:28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 

Ok, everlasting life is a gift and gifts are free.  Romans 6:23b “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  I’ve never heard of or witnessed anyone asking how much they have to pay the giver for a Birthday or Christmas gift.  Everlasting life is either a gift or God is a liar and we know that is impossible.  Being a disciple on the other hand comes with a cost.  There’s the effort of learning and rightly understanding the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:15; loving our enemies Matthew 5:44 to name two.  Jesus Christ is telling the crowd to consider what it takes to be a disciple before they take it on.  Like the man building a tower, being a disciple is a public stance and failure will be noticed.  His loss is not material.  It is his reputation.  Better to not start than to start and not finish. 
 
Luke 15:31-35 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
​
The consequences in these verses follow the example of the man who failed to complete his tower.  Don’t start what you cannot finish.  Better to sue for peace than lose the war.  If you can’t keep the vow of a disciple don’t make it.  As for throwing out the salt that is not a lost of everlasting life and ending up in hell.  Notice the throwing out is by other people, not God.  To retreat from a public commitment to be a disciple of Jesus Christ will be noticed.  It could mean a loss of future usefulness in God’s Kingdom.  But it definitely will be noticed by people.  So, hear and count the cost. 
This is not an evangelistic appeal to receive everlasting life. It is a sober reminder that being a disciple does carry risk.   

​Mark 8:34-38 and Luke 14:25-35 are two passages which have been treated as evangelistic by those who do not make a distinction between having everlasting life and being a disciple.  One prominent voice in the reform theology camp said Mark 8:24-38 raised the question if a person could be saved (have everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ) and not be a disciple.  As I have shown Jesus Christ answered yes to that question in John 8:31 & 32.  Another leading figure in the Lordship Salvation movement plainly said the Luke passage was evangelistic.  
 
I’ll start with Mark 8:34-38 “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”  Notice the subject is following after Christ.  He said whoever “desires to come after Me.”  There is no mention of everlasting life or the need to believe in Him.  Instead of believing in Him the requirement is to deny self and take up a cross.  In fact, there seems to be an assumption in v. 38 that they were all going to be present when He comes in the Glory of the Father. 
 
Since the topic is following Jesus Christ, to deny most likely means put the Lord’s wishes first, to be selfless.  Taking up a cross in 1st century Israel meant you’re going to your death which is how the disciples would have understood it.  The context that follows is all about what is worth giving your life’s effort to acquire.  BTW the words life and soul in verses 35-37 all translate the same Greek word psyche.  So, there is no reason to switch from the word life in v. 35 to soul in vs. 36 & 37 other than a translator’s theological bias. 
 
The question “what will a man give in exchange for his life,” describes a business transaction.  Everlasting life is a gift not a trade.   So, what lasting profit is there from gaining everything this world offers when you die? There are a lot of good things in life to go after.  And other than no lasting profit there’s nothing in Christ’s words to suggest it’s wrong to acquire them.  The answer to what is worth the exchange for your life is Jesus Christ’s approval before the Father.  His approval has eternal value.   It pays dividends for all eternity.  This all about a believer going on to becoming a true follower, that is a disciple, of Jesus Christ.   
 
When you compare Mark 8:34-38 to passages where Jesus Christ was engaged in evangelism (John 3:1-21, 4:1-26 and 9:35-41) it easy to see the difference.  The gift of everlasting life is received by believing in Jesus Christ for the gift of eternal life.  Believing He is who gives it and that He gives it freely to those who believe Him.  It was the unbelief of Adam that brought sin and death into the world.   It is belief in Jesus Christ that restores eternal life and your future with God in the New Heaven and Earth.   

​I hope you took the time to Read John 8:31-32.   In case you did not here it is: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  This took place in the Temple when a group of Pharisees were questioning the Lord.  A crowd had gathered and were listening to their exchange.  John 8:30 says “as He (Jesus Christ) spoke these words, many believed in Him.  So, Jesus Christ, speaking to those Jews in the crowd who had believed, told them “if you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”  Notice abiding in Christ’s word is not connected to everlasting life but to discipleship.  That’s because everlasting life is a gift received by believing in Jesus Christ as the giver of life.
 
A couple of grammatical points to make here.  First is the word believed.  It is a perfect particle which means it describes a completed action with ongoing results.  Everlasting life, once received is never lost because it lasts forever.  The verb abiding is an Aorist Subjunctive which expresses an ongoing action, in this case abiding or dwelling in Christ’s word.  Finally, the actions of knowing and making in v. 32 are all future.
 
The verb tenses are important because they define the kind of action being undertaken or that is required to achieve the targeted result.  Everlasting life is permanent so Jesus used the perfect tense to identify to whom He was speaking.  Belief results in a permanent condition of everlasting life.  On the other hand, abiding is an ongoing action of dwelling on Christ’s teaching, His word.  For us that is Bible Study which brings a future result of making a disciple free.  I would connect abiding in Christ’s word to 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 
 
The failure to differentiate between initial deliverance from death to life (being born again) and discipleship is what has led to a lot of confusion for many people.  I fear for some it may have robbed them of actually receiving everlasting life.  For others it could mean a loss of reward in the eternal Kingdom.  More on that in my next post.

​When the church was born in Acts 2 its leaders were unified in their beliefs.  The Apostles all held to the same doctrinal foundation.   As Paul put it in Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
A lot has changed since then.  Instead of unity we have numerous denominations, each having their own belief statements.  There is little agreement on the doctrinal categories Paul listed in Ephesians 4.  These disagreements are not trivial because what you get wrong will impact your life forever.  Jesus Christ gave His life so people could receive everlasting life and go to heaven when they die.  You get that wrong and you end up in the Lake of Fire (hell) for all eternity.   You don’t believe in hell?  Well, Jesus Christ did and He is the only one who ever died and came back to tell us about what lies beyond. 
 
The Bible says that everlasting life is a gift from God.  Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  And we all need that gift because we’ve all sinned.   Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”  We receive the gift of everlasting life when we believe in Jesus Christ as the giver who wants us to have it.  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  That is how He put it to the Samaritan women in John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
 
However, not everyone sticks to that script when explaining the Gospel.  Maybe you’ve heard the expression “Salvation is free, but it will cost you everything.”  How can that be true?  The statement is self-contradictory on its face.   Others add things like repent of your sins to believe in Jesus Christ or say you must make Him Lord of your life.  Those added conditions, if true, mean everlasting life is not free.  There are others who say if believing in Jesus Christ is the only condition for receiving the gift that somehow cheapens it. 
 
Actually, something can be free and expensive at the same time.  The gift of everlasting life certainly is.  It cost Jesus Christ His life to purchase it for us.  He owns it so He can and will give to anyone He wishes at no cost.  His wish is to give to everyone who will believe Him for it.  So, where does repentance and service to our Lord come in?  It is the price of discipleship not everlasting life.  Being a disciple is a choice open to anyone, but it is best to first believe in Jesus Christ for everlasting life.  Check out John 8:31 & 32 and see where Christ says everlasting life and discipleship are not the same.    

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
1 John 3:24 & 4:1 “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 
 
These are discipleship verses.  They are not about how to receive everlasting life but what to do with the everlasting life Jesus Christ gives to everyone who believes in Him for it.  At first glance you can see that obedience is tied to loving God not the gift of life.  And that fits well with how God defines love in the Bible.  He defines love as actions not feelings.  Check out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and you’ll see what I mean.    
 
There are benefits for obeying Jesus Christ’s commandments.  You will experience God’s love for you.  And notice in the first verse John 14:21 that Jesus will manifest Himself to those who are obedient.   My personal view is essentially the same as the fruit of the Spirit.  The Trinity is so unified that what one does all three do together.  The Fruit of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit manifesting His personality in those who walk according to Him.  That is living in obedience to the word of Christ.  There is also the reality of the Father, Son and Spirit taking up residence in the obedient Christian. 
 
By making themselves at home in a person, that is what abiding means in 1 John 3:24, pictures an active participation with that person.  Imagine God being an active partner in everything you’re doing!  How much do you believe that might change you?  I imagine it would change almost everything and in a good way.  But that is what comes from being a disciple.  Disciples are people who continue in God’s word.  They know the truth about God and life.  That is the truth that makes one free John 8:31-32.

I closed my last post with a question.  Would the Holy Spirit lead someone to do anything contrary to the written word of God?  The written word of God is the Holy Bible and it was written under the supervision of the Holy Spirit.  Based on the two passages below, the answer to my question must be no.  The Holy Spirit would never lead a believer to do anything inconsistent with the written word of God for the simple reason He authored it.

2 Peter 1: 20-21 “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”   2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
 
Of course, if you don’t know what the Bible says it will be difficult to discern what does or does not align with Biblical Truth.  False teachers rely on ignorance of God’s word to gain a following.  The Mystics want you to rely on feelings and circumstance when making moral choices.  However, even with the Disciples the Holy Spirit did not implant new ideas in their heads.  He mainly reminded them of what Jesus Christ said. 
John 14:25-26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 
 
In the Gospels we frequently read that the disciples did not understand all that Jesus Christ said to them.  The Kingdom parables are a good example.  In John 12 we also have the example of the Triumphant Entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  That event was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies but the Disciples didn’t realize it until the Holy Spirit brought it back to them later. 
John 12:16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. 
It was after the Holy Spirit brought back the memory and made the connections to the Old Testament Scriptures that they came to understand the significance of Palm Sunday. 
 
It is important that every Believer spend time reading their Bible.  It is the only means of measuring the truth.  The Lord knows there are many voices claiming to proclaim the truth of God.  The Holy Spirit had the Apostle John write the following so we could know how to test what we hear. 
1 John 3:24 & 4:1 “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 
​The test is does what I’m hearing match up with what the Holy Spirit has already revealed in the Bible.    

​On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed and arrested He spoke to the Disciples about the changes coming after His departure.  In John 14 Jesus spoke of the unity within the Trinity.  Specifically, His unity with the Father.  In response to Philip’s request that He show them the Father, Jesus replied: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’ John 14:9.   
 
The Lord went on tell them after He is gone the Father will send another Helper to take His place.  That is the Holy Spirit.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you John 14:16-17.  He went on to say: “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you John 14:25-26.  Notice the Holy Spirit is sent in the “Name of Jesus Christ.”  Being sent in Jesus Christ’s name means the Holy Spirit will be working in the interests of Jesus Christ.  This is another statement about the unity within the Trinity.  Jesus Christ worked to Glorify the Father, the Father is one with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, works to further Jesus Christ’s Church. 
 
One of the Holy Spirit’s initial tasks was to complete the New Testament Scriptures by bringing to the Disciples remembrance all the things that Jesus had taught them.  That included teaching them the meaning of Christ’s words.  All the parables, all the discourses like the Sermon on the Mount and what He told them in the upper room needed clarification.  That seems to imply the Spirit is not going to be imparting anything they had not already heard.  Even Paul stated the things he wrote were first given him by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. 
 
I need to reference 2 other passages.  1st 2 Peter 1: 20-21 “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”  And 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
 
In 2 Timothy 2:16 Paul called the Holy Spirit God.  The Holy Spirt authored the Bible through the Holy Men Peter referenced.  They were holy in the sense of being set apart as prophets of God.  The Big idea I want to emphasize is the Holy Spirit authored the Bible.  It is as much His revelation as it is the Father’s and Jesus Christ’s.  We have the mind of the Trinity in written form!   So, here is the big question to consider.  Would the Holy Spirit lead someone to do anything contrary to the written word of God?  Think about that.