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| M. R. DeHaan |
And he brought him to Jesus.
John 1:42
THIS is Simon's first meeting with the Lord and it resulted in his salvation. When he came to the Lord Jesus he was Simon. When he left Jesus, he was Peter. From then on he was Simon Peter. Yes, Andrew brought his brother, Simon, and he became Peter instead.
He was saved but that was all. From the record it seems clear that Simon had gone back to his old job as fisherman, without apparent change of any kind. Then comes Simon Peter's second meeting with his Lord, and what a momentous occasion it became in his life. It was the crisis, the turning point in his career. The record is found in Mark 1:14-18. This meeting in Mark 1 was subsequent to his first meeting in John, when Andrew first brought him to Jesus. When Simon first met Jesus, John the Baptist was still preaching and baptizing at the river Jordan, and it was because John had pointed out Jesus with the words: "Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), that Andrew had followed Jesus, and then went and brought his brother, Simon.
SECOND MEETING
But this second meeting between Peter and the Lord Jesus recorded in Mark 1, was after John had been put in prison. After Peter's coming to Christ for salvation, a time elapses during which John is cast in prison by King Herod for preaching on the matter of divorce. It was not until after this that Peter again meets the Lord Jesus. How much time elapsed between his first and second meetings, we do not know; neither is it important. Here is the record:
"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. . . Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him" (Mark 1:14, 16-18).
We are emphasizing the fact that these two calls of Simon Peter, the first in John which resulted in Simon's coming to Christ, and this second call in Mark resulting in Peter's coming after Christ, were not the same call. Many do not distinguish between the first call of Peter to come to Jesus, and the second call to come after Him. Not only were these two calls separated by a period of time, but they differed basically in their content and result in Peter's life. When Simon came to Christ, he received something. He received eternal life, he received a new name, a new position, a new nature. But then he went right on living as he had before. He was saved, yes, indeed, but salvation means more than merely being saved from sin and from the judgment of hell.
COMING AFTER JESUS
In this second call, Peter, who had already received something from the Lord Jesus, now leaves all for the Lord Jesus and having first come to Him for salvation, he now comes after Him for service, and suffering. Coming to Christ results in salvation; coming after Him results in discipleship. Believing on the Lord Jesus and receiving Him as Savior does not make one a disciple; it merely makes one a saint. Until the believer understands the difference between being a saint and being a disciple, coming to Christ as Saviour, and following Him as Lord and Master, surrendering all to Him, he will never know the joy of "the life abundant."
TWO POSSIBILITIES
One cannot read the Bible very far before coming face to face with the teaching of these two distinct possibilities of the Christian life. All through the Bible we find these two kinds of Christians. Jesus said in John 10:10,
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
There is a world of difference between having "life" and having life "more abundant." You can have life, eternal life, by simply coming to Jesus Christ, and trusting Him for salvation, but you will never know the "life abundant" until you have learned to come after Him in full surrender and followed Him as a disciple. To be saved, you receive God's free gift of grace; to be a disciple you have to return to Him that which you are. Jesus said:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
That is the "rest" of salvation. It is the gift of God. It is free. You can do nothing to earn it or obtain it, for it is given by grace. But Jesus did not stop with this verse, but added verse 29.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).
It is quite another experience, even though the verses occur together. First we are invited to come, to come, to come, and I will give you rest. This is salvation—the rest of salvation, for which nothing can be paid. It is received as a free gift.
In the very next verse, in Matthew 11:29, however, those who have already come and received the rest of salvation, are now invited to bring something. They are invited to "take my yoke, and learn of me." This means a sacrifice—this means paying the price, and results in the abundant life, and the life of victory and of service. This is distinguished in the Bible as discipleship. The word, "discipolos" means "a follower, a student, a learner," one who goes at the command of his teacher.
TWO PLANES OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
There are then two kinds of believers, those who have come to Christ for salvation, and those who have learned the secret of the victorious life by a complete and full yielding and surrender. The first results in salvation, the second results in service. All through the Scriptures we meet up with this tremendous truth, so little understood by the average believer, who goes on day after day, year after year, saved but powerless, weak, wavering, defeated, fruitless, to be saved at last "so as by fire," yet lose the reward at the end of the road. We are not to confuse salvation with discipleship, and so we repeat it over and over again. Salvation is free. We want to be clear on that, because it cost the Lord Jesus His all. But to be a disciple you must be willing to pay the price of "taking his yoke," following in His footsteps, presenting your bodies a living sacrifice, and even if need be, seal your testimony with your blood.
The reason the Church of Christ is so powerless is largely because it is filled with people who are satisfied with mere salvation from hell, so that they can go to heaven when they die, but have never caught the vision of service, of complete surrender, and the fulness of the blessing of discipleship. In addition to mere salvation we should learn the lesson of discipleship, and the striving for that reward and crown which we may lay at Jesus' feet.
VICTORY OR DEFEAT
Paul knew the difference between these two kinds of Christians, and classifies them as carnal and spiritual. You can have peace with God by just receiving Christ, but you will never know the peace of God until you have learned to turn everything over to Him who saved you, or as Paul says:
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
It is possible, like Israel, to be out of Egypt forever by the shed blood of the Lamb, but never to reach the Canaan of the abundant life, and like Israel, to wander in the wilderness of defeat for forty years. There is a victorious life, and there is a defeated life. Peace with God, and the peace of God; salvation and discipleship; coming to Christ and coming after Christ; taking free salvation, and taking the yoke of service; a coming to Christ and a going for Christ. We can be in the light, and yet need to learn to walk in the light. How wonderfully Jesus illustrates this truth. In John 4 our Saviour says to a woman at the well:
"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14).
This is the water of salvation. Every believer has in him the water of life. But if it remains only in him, it goes no further, and it can, of course, benefit no one else. And so there is a progression in John 7 where Jesus says this:
"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37).
This is again referring to salvation, coming to Him for redemption, but our Saviour did not stop there. He added:
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" (John 7:38-39).
Notice the two possibilities clearly set forth here, and kept distinct by our Lord. In John 4 our Saviour promises the woman at the well the living water within her, but in John 7 Jesus says, that out of his inward parts shall flow rivers of living water. Not rills, not brooks, but rivers! This is the abundant life. To have the water in you is salvation. Only as you become a disciple, can it flow out, and benefit others.
SIMON PETER
We return now to Simon Peter for a closing illustration. In John 1, Simon comes to Christ, and was saved, but nothing else seems to have happened as far as the record goes. There was no outward change in his life whatsoever. He went back to his fishing and his nets and his occupation just as before. And then came the second call in Mark 1: "Come ye after me," and then we read:
"And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him" (Mark 1:18).
Simon who had become Peter by coming to Christ now becomes a disciple by heeding His command, and leaving all to follow Him. The same happened to James and to John, for we read in the same chapter:
"And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him" (Mark 1:19-20).
They left something when this call for service came. They left their father, their ships, and the servants, and came after Him. Again we state, and we shall continue to repeat it—salvation is free, for we do not want to be misunderstood on that matter, but discipleship is only for those who are willing to pay the price. We shall study in the next chapter the abundant teaching of the Scriptures concerning the price of discipleship and following the Lord Jesus Christ, and also the glorious reward which awaits at the end of the road.
Now before closing this chapter, may I ask, have you ever heeded Christ's call to come after Him? You are saved, you have trusted Him, but you are not fully happy. You are not satisfied, you do not have the assurance and the joy of salvation. Is your life really counting for Christ? Have you ever made a full surrender to Him? Do you know the blessing of a fully yielded life?
I do not care by what name you call it, but there are these two possibilities of Christian experience. We may call it a definite experience, a second blessing, or anything else. We may call it full surrender, or the victorious life, or dedication. We simply will not quibble about the terms, but it is the greatest need of the day. It may or may not be accompanied by emotional thrills; it comes when the believer faces the fact that he owes his all to Him who gave His all for us.
This experience may come simultaneously with and at the same moment we are saved, as happened in the case of Paul. It may come some time later as in the case of Peter. It may be a definite experience when in some crisis we make the full surrender, and make a covenant with God. Or it may be a gradual growth in grace and knowledge, so that we arrive at the place of discipleship almost without being able to remember just when and how it began and how it started and happened. All these details are unimportant. The important thing, the all-important thing, is to ask oneself the honest question, Am I my best for the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I know the joy of discipleship and surrender? Have I yielded everything at His feet? Does my life really count? Then honestly search your heart for all known and doubtful sin, every unyielded, surrendered idol. Confess it, dedicate your all, no matter what the price, and the blessing will be yours. Call it by any name you may choose. THIS IS THE ABUNDANT LIFE!
Reference:
[1] M. R. DeHaan, Simon Peter: Sinner and Saint (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), pp. 49-56. Note: This book was originally published by Zondervan Publishing House in 1954.
Also see the article by Shawn Lazar on the Grace Evangelical Society's blog titled "A Vast Difference: M. R. DeHaan on Salvation and Discipleship" (GES Blog, August 26, 2016).
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