Deeper Truths Bible Study

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Biblical Disciple

Introduction: Many people have different ideas on what it means to be a Christian.

Some people believe it’s a single prayer, while others believe you must follow a strict set of rules to make yourself worthy. The Bible tells us it’s not so black and white. Matthew

24 speaks of all the signs of Jesus’ return and how it will unfold. Then in Matthew 25, Jesus tells us what to expect once He returns—and what we should be doing until then. Tonight we will be learning what it means to be a true disciple of Christ and what true salvation looks like.

Judgment

When Jesus returns, He will bring down the New Jerusalem with Him (Revelation

21-22). Once it is established, He will sit on His throne and judge all the nations (Matthew 25:31-46). Most people know they will be judged, but many people think a prayer they said as a child was all God asked for.

The reality of the Bible paints a slightly different picture. While works do NOT grant us salvation, living for Christ—bearing fruit—is what God DOES require. Some trees are big, others are small. Some bear plenty of fruit, while others only few. Works-based salvation would require every tree to bear a perfect, determined amount of fruit. But Jesus only asks us to function as a tree—bearing fruit as best as we can.

Look at the contrast of what true salvation looks like in Matthew 25:31-46. Those who are saved are in verses 34-40, while the unsaved are in 41-46.

The Saved

Those who inherit salvation are those who lived for Christ, took care of the needy, and spread His love to others. Jesus does not mention a salvation prayer, a baptism, or following the Law of Moses perfectly. Instead, when you step back and view all of His teachings, you see that all He is requiring is for us to live as He did in the best way we can. We will not be perfect. We will fail. But God knows we aren’t perfect. He only wants us to live like changed people.

The Unsaved

Jesus does not say they are unsaved merely because they failed to say a salvation prayer. Instead, He explains how they lived their entire lives ignoring the needy, focusing on their own interests, and living like the rest of the world. Imagine a perfect God sending His perfect Son to be sacrificed in our place, and all we do is say “thanks” and continue to live in sin. We accept this gift and willingly decide to practice the very sins that He had to die for. That’s not true salvation. That’s hypocrisy and a false assurance of salvation.

Luke 13:1-9 gives us a clear warning.

Here’s an example I use: a person can be gifted a job by a friend as a doctor at a hospital. They didn’t go to medical school, have zero experience, and are completely unqualified for the position. However, you gifted it to them regardless of those things. But if that person refuses to show up, see patients, diagnose them, prescribe them meds, and even TRY to do their job, they are fired and removed. As Jesus said in verse 7: “Why does it even use up the ground?” It’s a waste of space. It bears no fruit. He gives us more time to bear fruit, but if we continue to live however we want to live, we will have the biggest shock of our eternity on the day we meet Jesus Christ at His throne. We cannot say a prayer and live an unchanged life. That’s not what the Bible teaches. It teaches us to live as He lived.

John 15:1-11 speaks of the same reality.

• Verse 2: If anyone doesn’t bear fruit, he is taken away. Away from where he was. – Verse 6: If you do not abide in Him, you are thrown into the fire. “The fire” is frequently used as a reference to Hell in the Bible.
• Verse 10: How can we abide in Him? By keeping His commands.

The Rapture

Ever heard a Southern Baptist pastor preach on “being ready” for the Rapture? They always tell you to be ready for Jesus’ return and to not be caught living a worldly life. But when I ask them why it even matters since they believe in “OSAS” and that a single prayer is enough, they are stumped and never have a response.

Scripture makes it clear that we must pick up our cross daily (Luke 9:23, Matt. 16:24, Matt. 10:38), leave our sinful lifestyles, and follow Christ as best as we can. Scripture does not state anywhere that saying a prayer and living how you please is what being saved truly is.

To know the truth of a belief in the Bible, you must properly include each and every passage that speaks on the topic to come to an accurate conclusion. However, when someone tries to fit a prior belief into Scripture that contradicts it (such as OSAS), a person’s brain utilizes cognitive dissonance or belief perseverance bias to try and protect them. The person then will usually “redefine” what the passages are saying, look to other verses as “proof” (while ignoring the contradictory ones presented), or will claim “those” passages weren’t meant for us. These are very common defense mechanisms that your brain unconsciously falls into whenever evidence is presented that contradicts a belief you desire to be true—or were told to be true originally.

But whether we want to believe it or not, Jesus makes it clear in all of His teachings: we must bear fruit and live a changed life. And if we don’t, we are removed and fall away from the faith (1 Tim. 4:1-3, Heb. 6:1-8, Heb. 3:12, Matt. 24:10-13, 2 Thess. 2:3, Matt. 13:1-9/18-23, Heb. 10:26-29, 2 Pet. 2:20-22, Matt. 7:15-23). Falling away is spoken about many times in the Bible. Do not be deceived that you can live however you desire after saying a single prayer and that if someone isn’t saved that they “never were truly saved”. Sometimes they were truly saved, yet they chose to go back into a sinful lifestyle (which we will see below in Luke 12).

John reminds us of this again in his first letter to new Christians in 1 John 2:1-6. We must live as He did. And when we fail, we ask for His forgiveness. If we live as we please, we are liars and the truth is not in us. That’s another way of saying we have a false assurance of salvation.

Now let’s look at the real reason we must be ready for Jesus’ return and not living however we please—Luke 12:39-48. Jesus is telling them to prepare for His return…

39 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 40 You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

• Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

• And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 44 Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

45 But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

Notice the wording. It’s the SAME slave in the beginning as it is in the end. Also, he isn’t an unbeliever. He is instead assigned a place “WITH the unbelievers”. He was once a good slave who followed Jesus, but then he changed his ways and lived a different, sinful life. Notice also how verses 47-48 speak of how punishment will be different depending on those who knew of Jesus and His commands yet decided to live in sin versus those who never knew of salvation at all.

Conclusion: We must be ready for His return. To be ready, all we have to do is try and live in a way that properly represents Jesus. Billy Graham preached to almost 2.2 billion people through live and broadcast ministry; I have only preached to dozens.

Operation Christmas Child has provided shoebox gifts to more than 244 million children; I haven’t given to the homeless even a fraction of that. If works earned salvation, I would be completely doomed in comparison. But God doesn’t require perfection or following every law perfectly to earn a gift. He knew we were incapable—that’s why He sent His Son Jesus to cover our sins in full.

Just like in the Old Testament, the people would sacrifice a perfect lamb in their place for their sins. Afterwards, they would seek to continue following God’s commands. The same applies for us today. Jesus was the perfect, final sacrifice. We no longer have to make frequent sacrifices, but we do still have to try and follow His commands. He doesn’t ask us to be perfect—He simply asks us to live like those who were truly changed from death to life.

Matthew 28:19-20 does not tell us to go make converts or tell people to say a prayer. Instead, it tells us to make disciples, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;”. A spouse never requires you to be perfect in a marriage, but they expect you to try to be a good, loving, and loyal partner to them. It’s no wonder Jesus describes us as His bride.

Let’s seek to live like those that are abiding in a marriage, and not like those that secretly live adulterous, sinful lives that destroy that marriage. If you said a single prayer, haven’t been bearing fruit, and have been living in sin, does that mean you are doomed? Nope—that’s the ENTIRE reason the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son parables exist (Luke 15). Come back to Him and live the life He commands of us.