No confusion. As a disciple then, how much effort must one provide to insure salvation?
"Salvation" is a work of God, not a human work. It is not the focus of discipleship, but a side effect (for lack of a better term) of entering the Kingdom of God. Simple profession of intent is not enough, since many call Jesus "Lord, Lord," yet not follow (Matthew 7:21-23). One must take action to enter in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:13-14), but
action/effort is not the same as
earning. Jesus consistently called people to
take action based on His teaching (for instance, "Follow Me"). But tied up with the attitude of
earning is the idea that one is making "a deal," a transaction or a contract with someone else, where the other person is obligated to do something.
Discipleship is not a contract, but it is setting aside one's way of life to enter into an apprenticeship with another to learn how to do what the skilled person knows how to do. It is about becoming a capable person, not simply gaining a status but remaining incompetent. In terms of "salvation" (if we are to think of it as something distinct from discipleship), there is no salvation apart from the sincere intention to enter into a new kind of life.
All disciples will persevere, not because of their effort, but because of the nature of a changed life that comes from the effects of the teaching of Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27). In the same way, one may know the presence of God's life in oneself and others by the eventual presence of good fruit (Matthew 7:15-20; Matthew 13:1-23; John 15:8,16; Galatians 5:22). There can certainly be times of backsliding and when fruit is not obvious, but the Father will discipline us as necessary (Hebrews 12:7-11) until we produce the fruit of righteousness.
God knows the heart of those that commit themselves to him in faith.
Yes, exactly. No one who truly turns to Him will be cast out. At the same time, human corruption is such that we are often self-deceived, but God works through that with us if we are a person who wants to know the truth. If we are content to remain in deception, or worse, cultivate deception, we can avoid the Kingdom of God.
I don’t have to concern myself whether I (or someone else) is doing enough.
True. If we have entered into discipleship, we don't have to worry about that at all, since we know we are not earning anything. We are simply exerting effort to follow the commands of Jesus, empowered by the grace and Spirit of God. We cannot truly fulfill the commands of Jesus by our own efforts, but when we attempt to do so anyway, we will find God's grace working with us to do them. If we live our lives seeking to fulfill the commands of Jesus in the power of the Spirit, we will not have lives characterized by sin (Galatians 5:16).
As to others who profess, God knows their heart.
That's true, but we can also discern their fruit (Matthew 7:15-16). And if we see others who regularly and consistently exhibit "the works of the flesh," we can know that they are in very poor shape spiritually and are not currently living as disciples. For instance, in "conservative" religious communities, persons who are characterized by anger, personal attacks, and factions ("us against them") are clearly not representing Christ, nor should be trusted nor followed as leaders or influencers (Galatians 5:19-21; Matthew 7:15-16).
Interesting observation!
I’ll have to think about this a bit.
Could you elaborate?
If you read the Gospels whole, from beginning to end, you will recognize that Jesus teaches primarily about the Kingdom of God and not about "getting saved" as many in Baptist circles think of it. If you continue and read the Acts of the Apostles, you will see that the emphasis is still on the Kingdom of God, with personal stories of conversion illustrating the spread of the Kingdom. For instance, Philip preached the Kingdom of God to the Samaritans (Acts 8:12), and Paul preached and taught the Kingdom of God (Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:23, and 28:31).
After reading the Gospels and Acts, one can go back to Paul's letters and the other writings of the New Testament and read them in their proper context. Contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not about "getting saved" in preparation for eventually 'leaving earth' for an eternal Heaven, but instead being part of what God is doing from Genesis to Revelation. We are part of God's plan to create a people for Himself who have free will, yet have freely chosen to choose God and chose doing good. We are God's people (are/will be) characterized by genuine love for God, for our neighbor, and for doing what is good and right. We are part of the caretaking, taming, and restoration of the earth begun in Genesis that will be completed in the final restoration of all things in Revelation where the Kingdom of God will eliminate all rival governments and powers, as well as destroy those who have committed themselves to evil.
That's a much bigger and important story than the individualized 'get saved and escape to Heaven' story that is so prominent today.
