Salvation by Discipleship Alone

Dear Discipleship-first friends,

The following newsletter/blog is by Bill Hull of Renew.org which reflects their network’s focus on “The Teachings of Jesus in Disciple Making.”

“The only person who can be justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call to discipleship is a gift of grace and that call is inseparable from grace.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship

Caliente! “This is a hot one,” said the publisher who recruited me and a colleague to write the book we named, Salvation by Discipleship Alone. We live in a “Salvation by Grace alone, by Jesus alone, world. Jesus Christ + nothing.” And when you believe that, that is what you get, nothing! Nothing like Jesus intended. The publisher wanted the book, they set out to move ahead. But for the first time in their history, the board of directors of the parent organization pulled rank and the publisher cancelled the book. The book was published under a different title, “The Cost of Cheap Grace.”

It doesn’t really have the NO sign on it, but it may as well after it had been neutered and transitioned into the harmless little book on discipleship that it became. I know where you can get five copies at a local Barnes and Noble. It is flanked by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces and Joel Osteen’s, Your Best Life Now. Get there before market realities closes the store and workers throw the unsold copies into the dumpster outback.

It is true, no one dare publish a book that challenges the prevailing winds of the Gospel Americana^[1] that, in effect, teaches you can become a Christian and NOT follow Jesus!^[2] But that is what we’ve got and that is where we live. It’s more than semantics or even word play. It seems we have been trained to talk out of both sides of our mouths. On one hand, books are written, and sermons are given on how we can do nothing to save ourselves. And then other books and sermons tell us all the things we must do to prove that we are saved. I must confess I am part of all this and find myself befuddled and confused by salvation itself. But there is such a fear of that word, alone, at the end of the heart cry of the Reformation: sola scripture alone, sola Christ alone, sola fide: faith alone, sola gratia: grace alone, and soli Deo Gloria: glory to God alone. Therefore, I’ve decided to consult with our leader, Jesus the Christ from Nazareth.

The First to teach Salvation by Discipleship Alone

Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Luke 9:21, 22.

Jesus restricted this terrible news to his closest followers. Not sure if this included his larger group of disciples numbering slightly over one hundred. It easily could have, and it wouldn’t change anything because it is very likely they never heard the last part after the word, “killed”—the part about being raised from the dead three days later. But they understood to some degree what it meant to live this new “saved life” it would be very costly. It would cost them everything. I think this is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer was getting at when he spoke of being justified by grace alone:

Jesus’ disciples, at least those who appear and perform in the Acts of the Apostles, understood that they could not have done anything without having left everything behind and having answered the call to discipleship. Because faith and following, believing and acting, were all the same thing, there was no separating them. And if you tried, and oh how we have tried, you get something that Paul called dung and Jesus called manure.^[3] We call it something else. It is what so many avoid, it makes people hold their noses. Unfortunately, when society decays, there is more of it everywhere.

Discipleship alone is the road to salvation. And Jesus wasn’t afraid to say so.

“Then he turned to the crowd. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”

This is the kind of message many leaders have kept from their followers. In our lust for more people, prestige, and power, we have reduced the requirements so that more people can easily be assimilated into our religious communities. It is this kind of capitulation that have caused throngs to take Lucifer’s invitation and to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and grab for the kingdoms of the world.

Jesus’ teaching also is a message for the general populace in more ways than first appears. In this statement Jesus proclaims he is the only way because there is salvation in no other. There is no other way to know God, or to enter into a relationship with God, except by Him. We seem to get stuck, or limit the conversation at this point, as to the difficulty of following Jesus. ^[4]

The Call to Discipleship is the same as the Call to Salvation

The most obvious point here, however, is that Jesus turned to the crowds. The point is made both here and in Luke 14:25, that clearly distinguishes Jesus’ disciples from everyone else. This calling that Bonhoeffer speaks of—and that Jesus himself gave—is one to believe and follow Jesus. Belief and following are the same thing, not distinguishable from each other. This is why Bonhoeffer, himself, wanted to unify justification and sanctification under the single rubric of discipleship.

This mystery of will mixed with action, of faith and following, is just too much for most of us. We like to box things up, systematize it and market it so we can measure some result. That way everything can be monetized. Foundations insist in all presentations that the mission organization, the grantee, provide measurables so the foundation can determine if they should invest in the project. Churches count baptisms, budgets, square feet, staff ratios, etc. Jesus, however, asks for only one measurable—100% of us. And this is not a message for the elite, the preternatural religious types, this is the gospel for everyone. Jesus is doing evangelism, it not a high commitment conference, it is the only commitment Jesus offers.

He started out with: “if any of you,” meaning no exceptions, no VIP section, no valet service, no fast lane, everyone stands in the same line. His next statement takes us back into the first century context. He didn’t say, if any of you want to become a Christian, because there were no Christians—they didn’t exist at the time. He called his disciples “followers” or “my disciples.” He then said, “you must turn from your selfish ways.” This clearly means to repent and lay aside selfish ways. Turning/repenting takes but a moment, laying aside selfish ways takes a lifetime.

Losing the Plot

As one turns, follows, and becomes Jesus’ apprentice, that process begins. It is one single action or motion. The one single motion idea reminds me of slow-motion video, or in sports, what is called the replay. If we slow down the video and break it down into various parts, and take it apart frame by frame, the commentators and game officials can review it while the fans sit and wait. The players only have opinions, usually accompanied by passions and score, ego, and contract negotiations. This is what we have done to Jesus and his call. It has taken us two thousand years to confuse everyone and lose the plot.

Life is lived at full speed and It is what we call conversion which naturally extends as a whole to the entire process of learning, following, failing, succeeding. It’s called discipleship—and it is the only way to follow Jesus—and is the only way to know God. This both clears up and cleans up the mess we have made of the gospel and the church. It strips the church and its members of all pretentions, customs, rituals, and nonsense that obscures the call to become what we now call, Christian.

Enough said?

Enough said, a pretty stiff tonic, isn’t that enough? It seems Jesus is just getting started. He brings up the fact that there is a cross laying somewhere with your name on it. Look around, it’s nearby, pick it up, you will need it every day. With all apologies to Dolly Parton who tells people who are feeling self-pity to “come down off that cross of yours.” This is not a cross you get on—it is one you pick up and carry. It represents the mission God has given to each of us. The mission is individualistic, tailored to each person,^[5] but it’s all the same because it requires dying to self, putting aside our selfish ways, and following Christ.

How Life Works

Jesus finishes his call to the human race with how life actually works. “If you try to hang onto your life, you will lose it.” I certainly sympathize with hanger-oners because I’ve done a lot of it myself. But then you lose a lot and miss even more. Now to be fair, we are eternal beings, made to live for eternity.^[6] Jonathan Edwards said, “Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.” We are celestial prisoners trapped in a human body. That is why we fight to live. It is basic to being human. Living life to the full, the kind Jesus promised,^[7] is only found in relinquishing life to Christ. He then asks the question, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

So What?

Because the gospel we believe in determines the disciple we are, get, make, and reproduce. The world is awash with disciples of every kind. Every possible realm you can name makes disciples—from the arts to plumbers. The church is for discipleship and is to develop and deploy well-formed disciples into all societal realms. If the church does a good job, then the entire society benefits. Our artists, our films, our institutions, our journalists and yes, even our politicians will be better. Policies matter, but character means more. There is a dearth of good character in the political world. Many are corrupted in practice, and are unsatisfied souls whoring about for nourishment. Therefore, understanding the foundation of what it means to follow Christ is paramount for the church.

Jesus was a great teacher and his calling to be his disciple was clear and demanding. Yet, there was something about him that made him more than a teacher. He was God become man and he came not only to live, but to die. The source of life himself ^[8]became one of us, was different from any other religious figure. He came to save us, save us from what we call sin. But not only sin, but it’s companion, death. So, he had to eliminate sin, and in order to do so, he became sin. As the scripture says, “When Adam sinned, sin entered into the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned…there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.” ^[9]

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Buddha sat under a tree and got fat, Mohammad spent his time abusing women and spreading his misery among the nations. Jesus got busy loving, sacrificing, teaching, healing, and finally, being brutally abused, wrongly tried, and killed. If you are considering whom to follow, no one compares. He stands head and shoulders above all figures of human history. He was a dying God. Nietzsche was right, God is dead, but after three days Nietzsche was wrong because then He was alive. And when he was dead, when the cause was lost, and hope went away, darkness descended on the earth and in life. Like David requested when his world went dark—he told God, “Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.” ^[10] Like Heman, the Ezrahite, lamented, “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” ^[11] Have you ever been there? Did you somehow think it wasn’t fair or right that you were?

Light

Remember this, what you think is happening is not always what is actually happening. What can seem like your darkest hour actually can be the most wonderful miracle ever. Think of this, “At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli lema sabachthani, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”^[12] …Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people.

Jesus didn’t go quietly into the night. He fought his Father for life in his prayer in Gethsemane. He cried out in agony from the torture of the Cross. In that moment he became sin, he became a ransom, he became the lamb of God who was slain, and we get life, we get his righteousness, we become his family, and God becomes available to everyone for the asking. That is why discipleship matters, because when this gospel of the kingdom is preached to every nation, then the end will come.

“And when the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:14.

Bill Hull

Please join Bill Hull as he teaches for Renew.org at the National Disciple Making Forum on May 7th and 8th in Houston TX.

^[1] Americana refers to the cultural artifact that the gospel has become across the American church landscape. For a further explanation, please see page 33 in my book, Conversion and Discipleship. Also, the introduction to I Will Not Bow Down, published 2023 on Amazon.

^[2] Noted exceptions in the recent past have been The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, by Matthew Bates, Conversion and Discipleship, You Can’t Have One Without the Other by Bill Hull, and The Discipleship Gospel, by Bill Hull and Ben Sobels. There are others as well, but these were all preceded by Dallas Willard’s, The Divine Conspiracy. These books go upstream to the source of the problem which is theological and philosophical.

^[3] Luke 14:34, 35 and Philippians 3:8

^[4] John 14:6, Acts 4:12

^[5] Ephesians 2:8-10

^[6] Ecclesiastes 3:11

^[7] John 10:10

^[8] Genesis 2:7 “God breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living being.”

^[9] Romans 5:12,15

^[10] Psalm 39:13.

^[11] Psalm 88:18

^[12] Matthew 27:45, 46