RESOURCES FOR THE DISCIPLE

Part 2

By David Woodbury

As we have noted, the call to following Jesus as a disciple is a challenging call, yet resourced and supported by Him. However, once again we must fix in our minds on the need to take the teachings of Jesus in their totality. If we cherry pick his teachings we run the real risk of not only distorting biblical teaching but also giving people false hope.

ETERNAL LIFE

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  (John 3:16-18 - NLT)

25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

(John 11:24-26 - NLT)

John, in recoding the words of Jesus, often speaks as a present reality. To be where Christ is means to come into eternal life. We need to be careful lest we allow our fascination with heaven and eternity to distract us to the biblical promise of eternity in the here and now. There is a determined emphasis in the words of Jesus about eternal life being a present reality as well as a reality yet to come.

This eternal life transpires in fellowship with God through saving faith in Jesus. There is a sense in which this eternal life eliminates the boundary line of death. Death still remains as the last enemy; however, when we come to Jesus we begin to experience the kind of spiritual existence that will never end.  What we also need to note is the diverse use of tense in these references.  He who believes in the Son (now) has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides (now)on him." (John 3:36 - NKJV)

The promise of eternal life, a lifestyle which can be encountered in the here and now, is only available to those who have responded positively to the call to discipleship. Those who have rejected this call have forfeited any claim to eternal life. The disciple has the safety of knowing that their life, both in this temporal existence and in God’s eternity, is secure. He who believes in Him is not condemned; the apostle Paul understood this clearly when he wrote:  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1 - NKJV). The disciple who has accepted the path and conditions of discipleship walks the path of grace, free from any condemnation. They know they are forgiven and adopted into the family of God.

When we truly believe in Jesus we truly believe in all his teachings. Those who truly believe in Jesus are those who have committed themselves to the life of discipleship. Nowhere else does Jesus make this so plain as in his words in John chapter 3. We have tended to pull John 3:16 out of its context and put aside the following verses. … he who does not believe is condemned because he has rejected the call to and the path of discipleship. When we truly believe in Jesus we believe in all his teaching and in particular, the call to discipleship.

MERCY

13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)

The call to discipleship is a call permeated with mercy. It is a call that comes to fallible and imperfect humanity. It is a call that fully understands our weak humanity but calls us just the same. Throughout the pilgrimage of discipleship, God’s mercy is continually bestowed upon us. It is inevitable since it is part of God’s character. It is evident that this verse that Jesus quoted from Hosea 6:6 was a crucial part of his thinking and his approach to ministry, for he uses it twice within a short space of time.

The comprehensiveness of God’s mercy is that it extends to the underserving; sinners in need of salvation. Those who consider themselves righteous have isolated themselves from God’s mercy for in their thinking they are not in need of it; consequently, they are impervious to God’s offer as long as they hang on to their own righteousness.

The life of discipleship is infused with mercy; first and foremost the mercy that comes from God to forgiven sinners and secondly the mercy disciples must practice in their relationships with others. Over and again is heard the word of the prophets and the words of Jesus reflecting the mercy of a loving God who desires mercy more than sacrifice. It is the primary emphasis of the Christian religion.

As with the Old Testament, the New Testament treatment of God’s mercy cannot be separated from His love, His grace, and His faithfulness. They are all part of the same fabric. The difference, of course, is that the New Testament writers had come to see the mercy of God in a much brighter light in the face of Jesus Christ. He was the ultimate manifestation of God’s mercy, the assurance of that mercy for believers, and the basis of their own mercy in their relationships with others.—Holman Bible Dictionary