“From that time many of his disciples went away back and walked no more with him” (John 6:66).
Here we must first understand what is meant by a disciple in biblical language. “Disciple” is not the same as “child of God”. The Greek word mathetes means ‘disciple, apprentice, follower’. It says nothing in itself about the salvation of the soul, but refers to (outwardly recognizable) discipleship. Accordingly, wherever discipleship is mentioned in the New Testament, the focus is on practical discipleship, that is, the side of our responsibility. “Thus every one of you who forsakes not all that is his own cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). A true disciple is able and willing to do this because he has new life, whereas a false disciple is not able to in the long run.
We have already seen the difference between false and true profession on several occasions. A disciple is someone who professes to follow Christ. By his way of life you can tell whether he is a true or a false disciple. In the passage above, those who no longer wanted to walk with the Lord Jesus and went back were false disciples (see John 6:64). They followed Him for a while, but when His demands became too high for them, they abandoned Him. He had said that only those who eat His flesh and drink His blood, that is, who believe in His work of redemption, have eternal life (John 6:54). However, that’s exactly what they didn’t have, and evidently didn’t want.
Such cases still exist today. People come to the assembly meetings and for a while they fit in with the Christians because they feel attracted to them in some way. After a while, however, they withdraw, and one has to doubt whether their ‘discipleship’ was genuine.
But when the Lord Jesus asked the twelve apostles,
“Will you also go away?”, Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of life eternal; and we have believed and known that you are the holy one of God” (John 6:67–69).
Eleven of them were true disciples because they really believed in Him and loved His Word. In John 8:31, the Lord Jesus mentions a sign of true disciples:
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31).
True discipleship of the Lord is thus manifested in holding fast to His Word.
In addition, the branches on the vine in John 15 speak of disciples, not of children of God. The theme is not eternal life, invisible in itself, for example in chapter 10 with the shepherd and the sheep, but the visible fruit. Therefore, verse 2 does not say: ‘Every branch in me that no longer bears fruit’, but: “not bearing fruit”, that is, it has never borne fruit and is therefore a picture of a false disciple, just like the person in verse 6 who does not remain in Christ. Here ‘abiding’ is the biblical expression for an inner life-connection with the Son of God. When John speaks of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he does not speak of a temporary abiding but only a permanent one (cf. John 5:38; 6:56; 14:10, 17; 1 John 2:27; 3:15, etc.).
True and false disciples (John 6:66; 8:31; 15:2.6)
“From that time many of his disciples went away back and walked no more with him” (John 6:66).
Here we must first understand what is meant by a disciple in biblical language. “Disciple” is not the same as “child of God”. The Greek word mathetes means ‘disciple, apprentice, follower’. It says nothing in itself about the salvation of the soul, but refers to (outwardly recognizable) discipleship. Accordingly, wherever discipleship is mentioned in the New Testament, the focus is on practical discipleship, that is, the side of our responsibility. “Thus every one of you who forsakes not all that is his own cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). A true disciple is able and willing to do this because he has new life, whereas a false disciple is not able to in the long run.
We have already seen the difference between false and true profession on several occasions. A disciple is someone who professes to follow Christ. By his way of life you can tell whether he is a true or a false disciple. In the passage above, those who no longer wanted to walk with the Lord Jesus and went back were false disciples (see John 6:64). They followed Him for a while, but when His demands became too high for them, they abandoned Him. He had said that only those who eat His flesh and drink His blood, that is, who believe in His work of redemption, have eternal life (John 6:54). However, that’s exactly what they didn’t have, and evidently didn’t want.
Such cases still exist today. People come to the assembly meetings and for a while they fit in with the Christians because they feel attracted to them in some way. After a while, however, they withdraw, and one has to doubt whether their ‘discipleship’ was genuine.
But when the Lord Jesus asked the twelve apostles,
“Will you also go away?”, Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of life eternal; and we have believed and known that you are the holy one of God” (John 6:67–69).
Eleven of them were true disciples because they really believed in Him and loved His Word. In John 8:31, the Lord Jesus mentions a sign of true disciples:
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31).
True discipleship of the Lord is thus manifested in holding fast to His Word.
In addition, the branches on the vine in John 15 speak of disciples, not of children of God. The theme is not eternal life, invisible in itself, for example in chapter 10 with the shepherd and the sheep, but the visible fruit. Therefore, verse 2 does not say: ‘Every branch in me that no longer bears fruit’, but: “not bearing fruit”, that is, it has never borne fruit and is therefore a picture of a false disciple, just like the person in verse 6 who does not remain in Christ. Here ‘abiding’ is the biblical expression for an inner life-connection with the Son of God. When John speaks of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he does not speak of a temporary abiding but only a permanent one (cf. John 5:38; 6:56; 14:10, 17; 1 John 2:27; 3:15, etc.).
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