Salvation and Discipleship

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Today it would be odd to find a photo of a preacher smoking. I think this pastor was not only a part of a society that accepted smoking, but one under a good deal of stress. As Nazi’s rose to power in Germany, he was formulating his book The Cost of Discipleship.

A quoted part of that book reminds me that it is just as valid today as it ever was. I’ve heard “easy salvation” described similarly to his “cheap grace”:

cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Salvation is not the same as getting someone to say a prayer that they accept Jesus as their savior. Luke described what Paul gave as an answer to the question:

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)

Simply saying a prayer does not constitute salvation through Jesus. When Paul met Christ on the Road to Damascus, he was given different instructions. Obviously, Paul believed it was Jesus who spoke, and even called Him Lord:

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (Acts 9:6 KJV)

Even devils believe:

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19 KJV)

Believing on, trusting in, giving our lives to God, accepting His gift, all of that changes our lives:

costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Salvation requires that we build a relation with God, that we accept that He does have a plan, that we are a part of that plan, we need to do our part, and His plan was laid out by the Apostles in letters to churches in that first century. The New Testament is full of examples and instructions for us.

Perhaps that is what scares us – we are required to give our lives as a sacrifice:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

It’s frightening, isn’t it? to live according to the two laws Jesus said were the basis for all the Law and prophets, the two laws He and others kept, the two laws use more than any other scripture:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

According to the Bible, and mankind’s experience, forgiveness does require repentance. Baptism does require church discipline just to understand why baptism is a sign of obedience, not the physical washing away of sinfulness. Communion does require confession as we should never approach God with sin we consider unimportant.

Grace requires the cross. Jesus Christ died because it was part of God’s plan. He knew that when He prayed for the cup to pass, and accepted it when the cup was necessary. We must have a heart that expresses our remorse, that shows how affected we are by guilt:

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalms 51:16-17 KJV)

Give guilt to God, accept discipleship, grow into a mature Christian, then provide discipleship to new ones. God bless those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.