873. Followers and Disciples: Give Up All Your Possessions
We’re following up on last week’s program about the rigorous requirements Jesus laid out to the Jewish people who expressed interest in being His disciple. He told them they would need to forsake all they possessed and give it away. He told them to count the cost—because they would never be able to afford it … only Jesus could pay what was required. He told them to carry their cross—because if they truly wanted to be a disciple and be like the teacher in following His example until the end … they would need to do what He was about to do.
Of course, only Jesus would be able to carry “the” cross to bring redemption. Their dedication and commitment, their efforts at following and commandment-keeping would all fall far short. Jesus would show that the world will be better off accepting His free invitation to life and fellowship with Him—the living God, who did it all for us. The gospel is about His commitment to us.
I think it depends upon what is meant by understanding the real gospel. Essentially, the gospel is that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life, so if a person understands that, and believes in Jesus, he is saved. Many people do believe in Jesus, but also have some other wrong doctrinal understanding, but I would say that in general, they're saved because they do believe in Jesus. Those other doctrinal views will perhaps cause some misunderstandings or conflicts, but won't affect their salvation. But if a person doesn't believe in Jesus, then even if they understand other things clearly, they're not saved.
What about those who never understood the real gospel?
ReplyDeleteI think it depends upon what is meant by understanding the real gospel. Essentially, the gospel is that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life, so if a person understands that, and believes in Jesus, he is saved. Many people do believe in Jesus, but also have some other wrong doctrinal understanding, but I would say that in general, they're saved because they do believe in Jesus. Those other doctrinal views will perhaps cause some misunderstandings or conflicts, but won't affect their salvation. But if a person doesn't believe in Jesus, then even if they understand other things clearly, they're not saved.
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