Service Versus Salvation

Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

I have quoted four passage of inspired Scripture. The first two passages deal with SERVICE, that is, DISCIPLESHIP. The latter two Scripture passages deal with SALVATION, that is, SONSHIP. The former is JUSTIFICATION, the latter is SANCTIFICATION.

Lest we corrupt the inspire Word of God, and lay stumbling blocks in the path of lost sinners, it is imperative that we ALWAYS keep service and salvation completely separate. We must put a clear difference between the salvation of a man's soul, which is secured by faith alone in the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus crucified for our sins, buried and bodily risen the third day; versus deciding to follow Jesus as one of His disciples, which requires sacrifice and works on our part.

Thankfully, we have many godly preachers who have given us some helpful resources to work with. My favorite preacher's quote is from Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan (1628-1688)...

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —Evangelist John Bunyan

Amen and amen! Well said Brother Bunyan.

Another helpful quote that I cherish is from Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965)...

“There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)

These men of God clearly understood that vast difference between SALVATION versus SERVICE. Here are some helpful words from Christian author, Hal Lindsey...

“There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing... Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him.” —Evangelist Hal Lindsey, “The Liberation of Planet Earth”; Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (pp. 136, 137)

Unfortunately, when incompetent bad preachers (FALSE PROPHETS) mix and confuse DISCIPLESHP with SONSHIP, they pervert the Word of God and make it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to be saved. “THE GOSPEL” is the Good News that Christ died in your place dear reader. And after being buried He miraculously resurrected from the dead three days later. JESUS CHRIST LIVES TODAY!!! Thankfully, we don't have to burn in Hell forever, because a Savior named Jesus DIED in our place on a cross 2,000 years ago. In theology, this substitutionary death of Christ in our place is called a “vicarious” death. He was BURIED and 72 hours later Christ bodily RESURRECTED from the dead. What a wonderful Savior!!!

Here is an edifying quote from Pastor Zane Hodges...

“Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works... the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is 'justified freely by his grace' (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also 'justified by works' (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God's workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself.” —Pastor Zane C. Hodges, “The Hungry Inherit”; Moody Press, 1972 (pp. 114, 115)

Here are more quotes if you'd like to read them.

Many preachers commit the dire mistake of citing Scripture passages from the book of Matthew concerning eternal salvation, but the Gospel of Matthew presents Christ as a King. God did not intend for the books of Matthew, Mark or Luke to show us the way of salvation. God specifically authored the Gospel of John for the purpose of showing the reader how to be saved. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

In the Gospel of John, we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, but there is no mention of repenting of your sins, following Christ nor of making Jesus your “Lord” to get to Heaven. In fact, the word “repent” is not even mentioned once! That speaks volumes, teaching us that the man who believes on Christ has automatically repented of his unbelief to be saved. Repentance is simply a change of mind toward God (Acts 20:21), to acknowledge THE TRUTH that one is a needy sinner (2nd Timothy 2:25; Romans 3:19-20).

Evangelist Billy Graham (1918-2018) made the grave error of applying the following Scripture passage to salvation, and in so doing he wickedly perverted God's simple plan of salvation. Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Dear reader, the verse I have just shared with you literally sounds like the corrupt plan of salvation that is being taught in 99% of Bible colleges and churches today. Lordship Salvation is NOT the Gospel!

You simply DON'T get saved by following Christ, taking up your cross, denying self and coming after Christ! These things are strictly matters of discipleship (service), and not sonship (salvation). So, don't ever use these passages about discipleship to show someone how to get to Heaven, because you will confuse them and be guilty of perverting God's Word.