Christian or Disciple?

2004-11-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am amazed at the degree of confusion and misunderstanding there is regarding what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are many who believe that there is a distinction between being a Christian and being a "disciple." Is this distinction biblical? Can a "Christian" be a Christian and yet not be a "disciple?" Is this some kind of post-conversion decision that a Christian is free to make?

The Proof of Salvation: Free Grace
There is no doubt about the nature of the gospel. The gospel is salvation by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9). This means that there is no "contribution" to be made by man to aid God in salvation. For instance, Romans 4:1-5 states, "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." This passage makes it clear that works and grace are mutually exclusive. What is a "work?" A "work" is anything that would somehow make God obligated to grant us salvation. This is why it is best to understand grace as sovereign grace. This means that grace is solely in the hands of the grace-giver and He grants this grace to the praise of His glorious grace.

The Fruit of Salvation: Costly Grace
So, we unequivocally affirm salvation by grace through faith and that it us based upon God's unmerited favor. Some, therefore, argue that this means that the gospel presents no demands or commitment from the sinner. It is "free" and therefore to say that there are any demands or commitments is to add works to grace. They say that you can accept Jesus as Savior and then decide whether you want to receive Him as Lord. They would certainly say that this was preferable and desirable but certainly not necessary. There is one problem with this -- someone forgot to inform Jesus. Throughout the gospels, Jesus never speaks of conversion --- He speaks in terms of discipleship. There was (is) no distinction in Jesus' mind between "Christian" and "disciple." A representative passage of this fact is found in Luke 14:25-34. We see in this passage that Jesus does not differentiate between being a disciple and believing in Him. Surely, it will cost us everything to follow Him. This is not a "deeper life" teaching insinuating that it something a true believer can decide to do or not. It is the non-negotiable conditions for following Him.

Are you a commited, devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Are you absolutely cold and indifferent to the Person and things of God? Why not unreservedly give all of who you are to all of who He is?

Getting To Know Us

2004-11-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

Because we are new to the blogisphere, we thought that it was important to introduce ourselves. Colorado Bible Institute is designed for the average person in the pew. We recognize that for a variety of reasons, traditional educational "delivery systems" are essentially out-of-reach for the average Christian in our evangelical churches. Colorado Bible Institute (CBI) was developed and designed to make theological and biblical education affordable and attainable.

CBI stands in the bible institute tradition. However, it is a non-traditional, church-based delivery system for theological education. It is for those who wish to be trained but for whom Bible College or Seminary is out of reach.

Our goal is to bring theology to the church!