Salvation vs. Discipleship

​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.