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Discipleship: The Expression of Saving Faith
Discipleship is a great read for those who have grappled with questions What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Is being a disciple of Jesus the same thing as being a Christian? What does a life of discipleship look like? Dr. Picirilli provides practical answers and applications for the reader through an exhaustive study of what the New Testament writers said about the requirements for salvation. He offers sound, comprehensive exegesis demonstrating that repentance, obedience, and discipleship are biblical expressions of saving faith. FEATURES Dr. Picirilli presents a thoroughly scholarly approach to dealing with Greek grammar, relevant textual issues, and contrasting interpretations on topics ranging from assurance of salvation, apostasy, backsliding, holiness, sanctification, and sin. He also shares important implications of how we should present the gospel, offer assurance of salvation, and incorporate proper church discipline. The author compares the Transaction Model of justification by faith as presented in the writings of Paul with the Discipleship Model of following Jesus in the Synoptic gospels.
- GenresTheologyDiscipleship
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 19, 2014
Pretty good. This is essentially an Arminian defense of "Lordship Salvation." With very few exceptions, I found myself in hearty agreement with his basic thesis. At certain places I would arrive at a different interpretation of a specific passage and, occasionally, would nuance something he said differently. However, overall this book is a fruitful study of the biblical teaching on the nature of saving faith.
October 28, 2013
Recently, I recommended "Grace, Faith, Free Will" by Dr. Robert Picirilli, theologian and former professor at Welch College in Nashville, TN.
Today I am recommending another of his books, "DISCIPLESHIP: The Expression of Saving Faith."
Allow me to give you an overview of his book by paraphrasing his preface (pp1-4):
We have a problem. Far too many members of our churches find it far too easy to live without clear evidence of their faith. Yet, are such members really Christians? They seem to think so.
One possibility is we have made it much too easy to wear the name Christian. The word serves to modify almost anything: Christian education, Christian political parties, Christian magazines, Christian theme parks, Christian cruises, Christian business practices, Christian radio, Christian rock (music), Christian night clubs – you name it.
... Among younger believers in our culture, there is already a tendency for some of them to identify themselves as “Christ-followers.” The biblical word for that is disciple.
Another thought is, we have so emphasized salvation by faith alone that we have based assurance of salvation on the mere profession of faith. Intentionally or not, we have led people to believe that once they have “trusted Jesus” there is no further danger to their souls.
All this had led me to examine afresh the teaching of our Lord and His apostles about salvation.
Well our study begins with a rehearsal of the most common way of understanding salvation, as found especially in the writings of Paul. This is properly represented as justification by faith, and it is the model for understanding salvation that has predominated in the Protestant churches since Luther championed it in sixteenth-century Europe.
The next chapter examines how our Lord expressed the requirements for eternal life in the Synoptic Gospels. In the chapters to follow I will focus on how the issues are framed in the Gospel of John , John's first epistle, the Letter of James and the Letter to the Hebrews.
The final chapters will attempt to suggest implications of this study for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, for the grounds of assurance of salvation, and for how to present the gospel to unbelievers.
Dr. Picirilli, who is Arminian in doctrine, brings this clarification.
... I did not begin or pursue this project with the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism in mind. Readers who know me are aware I am not a Calvinist and hold to a nuanced kind of Arminianism I call Reformation Arminianism. I am satisfied, however, that the basic thesis of this book should meet with approval from both sides of that theological aisle. There may be a few observations, scattered here and there, where one may detect that this difference could play a part in how things are worded, but I have not purposely pointed my words in the direction of that divide. Nothing I say is meant as an argument for one or the other. The Calvinist may think of faith as entirely a work of God in the wills of the elect that logically flows from regeneration and of the “obedience of faith” as likewise the infallible work of God in the lives of those whom He had regenerated. The classical, evangelical Arminian, on the other hand, may think of faith as a person’s willing response to God enabled by the gracious, pre-regenerating work of God, and of that person’s “obedience of faith” as likewise impossible without the enabling work of the Spirit. But both of us can agree on what saving faith entails. I will cite numerous Calvinists who support my conclusions.
Let me encourage you to give time and thought in reading this book. If nothing else, please read the last two chapters, "Drawing It All Together" and the "Conclusion."
Today I am recommending another of his books, "DISCIPLESHIP: The Expression of Saving Faith."
Allow me to give you an overview of his book by paraphrasing his preface (pp1-4):
We have a problem. Far too many members of our churches find it far too easy to live without clear evidence of their faith. Yet, are such members really Christians? They seem to think so.
One possibility is we have made it much too easy to wear the name Christian. The word serves to modify almost anything: Christian education, Christian political parties, Christian magazines, Christian theme parks, Christian cruises, Christian business practices, Christian radio, Christian rock (music), Christian night clubs – you name it.
... Among younger believers in our culture, there is already a tendency for some of them to identify themselves as “Christ-followers.” The biblical word for that is disciple.
Another thought is, we have so emphasized salvation by faith alone that we have based assurance of salvation on the mere profession of faith. Intentionally or not, we have led people to believe that once they have “trusted Jesus” there is no further danger to their souls.
All this had led me to examine afresh the teaching of our Lord and His apostles about salvation.
Well our study begins with a rehearsal of the most common way of understanding salvation, as found especially in the writings of Paul. This is properly represented as justification by faith, and it is the model for understanding salvation that has predominated in the Protestant churches since Luther championed it in sixteenth-century Europe.
The next chapter examines how our Lord expressed the requirements for eternal life in the Synoptic Gospels. In the chapters to follow I will focus on how the issues are framed in the Gospel of John , John's first epistle, the Letter of James and the Letter to the Hebrews.
The final chapters will attempt to suggest implications of this study for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, for the grounds of assurance of salvation, and for how to present the gospel to unbelievers.
Dr. Picirilli, who is Arminian in doctrine, brings this clarification.
... I did not begin or pursue this project with the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism in mind. Readers who know me are aware I am not a Calvinist and hold to a nuanced kind of Arminianism I call Reformation Arminianism. I am satisfied, however, that the basic thesis of this book should meet with approval from both sides of that theological aisle. There may be a few observations, scattered here and there, where one may detect that this difference could play a part in how things are worded, but I have not purposely pointed my words in the direction of that divide. Nothing I say is meant as an argument for one or the other. The Calvinist may think of faith as entirely a work of God in the wills of the elect that logically flows from regeneration and of the “obedience of faith” as likewise the infallible work of God in the lives of those whom He had regenerated. The classical, evangelical Arminian, on the other hand, may think of faith as a person’s willing response to God enabled by the gracious, pre-regenerating work of God, and of that person’s “obedience of faith” as likewise impossible without the enabling work of the Spirit. But both of us can agree on what saving faith entails. I will cite numerous Calvinists who support my conclusions.
Let me encourage you to give time and thought in reading this book. If nothing else, please read the last two chapters, "Drawing It All Together" and the "Conclusion."
October 24, 2013
I highly recommend this book because Dr. Picirilli takes on the issue of how does the Scriptures describe what is involved in receiving true salvation. The heart of the matter is he is dispelling and dismantling the Cheap Easy Believism that dominates the theology of so many preachers and laymen alike of our day. Therefore, he explores the teachings of the Lord Jesus, mainly in the Synoptic Gospels, the Apostle Paul, James, John (mainly in 1 John) and the writer of Hebrews, to examine how they explain what is the real reception of salvation. He does a superb job of proving to the reader that a lot of what is being preached today as the means of salvation is not Biblical. This is a much needed book for the times in which we live. This book is a slow read but it is an easy to understand read for the most part. Since Dr. Picirilli is an academic theologian and Greek scholar, in a couple of places, he plummets the reader into the depths of academic Greek, but please don't let that detour you away from this book. I recommend just pushing through those areas for the book is well worth the investment of the serious reader's time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews