To believe in Jesus is not merely to affirm his identity or accept a momentary experience of faith—it is to follow him with one's entire life. Many today, particularly in evangelical circles, have reduced belief to a personal decision, a prayer prayed once, or an emotional encounter. But Jesus did not call people to make a decision; he called them to become disciples. And discipleship is costly.
Faith is not a private feeling or a verbal confession divorced from transformation. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father” (Matt. 7:21). Yet how often is this ignored in favor of reassuring slogans like “once saved, always saved”? Such assurances may bring comfort, but they also invite complacency. They offer certainty without holiness, and assurance without obedience.
Christ did not come merely to secure our place in heaven. He came to restore our communion with God and to make us holy. This transformation is not instant, nor is it guaranteed by a single act of faith. It is a life-long journey that requires grace, yes—but also participation, perseverance, and humility. Scripture teaches that we must “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12), not presume upon it.
Too often, the evangelical gospel has been reduced to a transaction: believe and receive. But Jesus preached a gospel of the Kingdom—a call to repentance, to holiness, to radical love, and to union with him through his Body, the Church. This union is not merely symbolic; it is sacramental and real. To ignore the Church, the Eucharist, and the communion of saints is to attempt to follow the Head while severing oneself from the Body.
Jesus will indeed save those who are his—but his people are not identified by their words alone. They are known by their lives, their fruit, their love, and their fidelity. The judgment will not be based on what we once claimed to believe, but on whether we lived as his disciples: keeping his commandments, loving one another, and remaining in him. “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers” (John 15:6).
