Everyone agrees that everyone who receives Christ should be taught and trained to follow Christ. However, the hyper-emphasis on the word discipleship has a sinister twist. Matthew 5:1 “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:”

Disciple* = 273 times in 256 verses

Isaiah = 1x in 1 verse; Matthew = 75x in 72 verses; Mark = 46x in 43 verses; Luke = 39x in 37 verses; John = 81x in 74 verses; Acts = 31x in 29 verses

Disciple Has A Very Jewish Connotation

As you notice from the list above the last mention of the word disciple in any form is Acts 21:16 in a book that transitions from Israel to the Church. The Holy Ghost never uses the word in any Pauline epistle nor anywhere in the New Testament after Acts 21 for that matter.

Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

They love this passage because of the emphasis on teaching, not preaching. However, if you notice they will corrupt what Jesus said to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” instead of “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.”

Acts 14:27–28 “And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the disciples.”

Acts 19:1–4 “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

Why Are People Hung Up On The Word Disciple?

They are trying to force you under the Jewish law.

The Free Will Non-Eterneral Security Crowd

The Free Will crowd (who thinks you can lose your salvation) believes you wind up judging a “perfect” life by the way you live, since you profess that Jesus is the “Lord” of your life: your brother or sister who doesn’t meet your standards obviously is LOST, because if Christ had saved him (or her), he automatically would be completely surrendered to HIM!

The self-righteous individuals have confounded salvation with discipleship, salvation with service, and salvation with submission.
What they are saying is that if you defy the Lord (like Paul in Acts 21:11, 20:22, 22:18), you couldn’t really have been saved, for Jesus doesn’t “SAVE” anyone unless he accepts Christ’s complete Lordship over every facet of his life.
Where this puts Peter when he pulled off his stunt in Galatians 2:11, 14, and then argued with the Lord (while calling Him “Lord”) in Acts 10:14, is rather difficult to say.

Calvinist (Lordship Salvation) Crowd (A.K.A Reformed Theology)

This is the group that includes John Gerstner, Arthur W. Pink, R.C. Sproul, J.I. Packer, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, and many more.

Here is what they say:

That’s right. Jesus suffered on the cross for you. He took your punishment upon Himself, and what you must do is repent and trust in Him. Repentance is more than confessing your sins to God. It means to be committed to stop sinning. No more lying or stealing. No more lusting.
The terms of salvation are 100% submission to the absolute Lordship of Christ.
We can never find Christ as our Saviour until we find Him as the Lord of our life. If He’s not Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all.
The Gospel calls upon us to obey, to surrender ourselves fully to the Lordship of Christ, to take His yoke upon us, to walk even as He walked.
Friend, if Jesus Christ isn’t the Lord of your life, then you are yet lost in your sins.
There is no salvation except “lordship salvation.”
The signature of saving faith is surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Those who deny the lordship of Christ are damned.
The call to Calvary must be recognized for what it is: a call to discipleship under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. To respond to that call is to become a believer. Anything less is simply unbelief.
This kingdom is in the heavens. You cease to be a sinner when you get into this kingdom.
Self-denial and daily cross-bearing: if you’re not in complete subjection, you are lost.
God’s terms of salvation are to hate mother and father.

Read that last one again. And now we see the reason for the discipleship obsession.

John MacArthur claims that “the gospel of the kingdom” (Mat. 24:14) is the same as “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). He sees no difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. He sees the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and all that is in them as the gospel.

Lordship salvation teachers deny that there can be carnal Christians. The denial that the believer has two natures, a blurring of the distinction between the believer’s standing and state, the accusation that their opponents believe in “cheap grace” or “easy believism,” the confounding of salvation and discipleship. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”

Regarding the confounding of salvation and discipleship, it should be apparent that while salvation is obtained in an instant of time, discipleship is an ongoing process.

Some men were disciples first and then Christians (John 2:11).
Judas was a disciple but obviously not saved (John 12:4).
Joseph and Nicodemus were saved, but were secret disciples (John 19:38-39).
Some of Christ’s disciples “went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66).
Salvation is one thing; discipleship is another. If discipleship is salvation then the disciples of Christ, who acknowledged him as Lord (Matthew 8:25), lost their salvation, because “all the disciples forsook him and fled” (Matthew 26:56).

Salvation costs nothing; discipleship costs everything. There is a difference.