The Birthmark of True Discipleship

Many profess Christ, but not everyone who professes Christ possesses Christ. Today we'll examine what Jesus says distinguishes true disciples from false ones.

John 8:31 "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.'"

Here's what's sobering about this passage: Many people had just expressed belief in Jesus. Verse 30 says "many came to believe in Him." But in the same conversation—the same context—Jesus is going to tell these very people in verse 44, "You are of your father the devil."

How is that possible?

Throughout the gospels, Jesus spends a great deal of time distinguishing between true and false disciples. He's not chasing a crowd. He's not enamored by the multitudes. He's always making distinctions between who really belongs to Him and who is still a child of this world.

Look at Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven... Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"

Out of the mouth of Jesus Christ, there will be many people—millions of people—who will waltz into the throne room and expect to hear God say "come on in," and Jesus will look at them and say, "I never knew you." Sobering, isn't it?

He's not saying this to irreligious people. He's saying this to the ministerial elite—people immensely religious, drenched and saturated in biblical truth, performing miracles, casting out demons. They're going to get there and say, "Look at my track record! Look at everything I've done for You!" And He's going to say, "You didn't do that for Me, and I don't even know you."

So how do we know if our belief is saving belief? Jesus gives us the answer in John 8:31: "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine."

Genuine disciples do not possess a fad, fickle, go-with-the-flow faith. They continue. They abide. They remain in the words of Jesus. That word for "word" is logos, and we already know from John 1 that the logos is Jesus Christ. So they remain not just in His words but in His person through the power of His Spirit. They follow Him. They don't only know Jesus's word—they continue in it, meaning they walk in obedience. They don't defect from following Him.

This is what theologians call the perseverance of the saints. When God saves someone, He saves them on purpose, with a purpose, for a purpose. And that purpose is that they become more like Jesus Christ. Even if their life has different valleys, even if they sin and stumble—sometimes greatly—God will continue to refine and sanctify them, transforming them more and more into the image of Christ.

First John 2:19 addresses those who walk away: "They went out from us, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us." There is no such thing as someone who "used to be a Christian." There are wheat and there are tares. There are true disciples and there are false disciples.

Now, there's a difference between backsliding and apostasy. Backsliding is when David sinned—he rebelled, committed murder and adultery. But the whole time he was walking in sin, especially when it was exposed, David felt as if his very life was being shriveled up. His bones were breaking. He was broken over his sin. Why? Because there is no such thing as a truly happy, disobedient Christian.

One of the hallmarks—the birthmarks—of someone genuinely saved is that they continue in the faith. Not because they're holding onto Jesus Christ, but because Jesus Christ is holding onto them. We don't sing "I will hold me fast." We sing "He will hold me fast."

Stay dialed in.