In order to be a disciple, I must pay the price of my own understanding of life, of what it is all about, and of what ultimately matters. I must surrender my confused and contradictory opinions to the revelation of God in Scripture. I must never attempt to correct or second-guess God. But when I bring every thought into captivity to Christ, I find true liberation. As Jesus said, "...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

On what basis did the early preachers of the gospel, including the Lord Jesus Christ, call for repentance and demand a change of mind? Solely on the revelation given by God in Scripture. What Scripture condemns must be repudiated. What Scripture commends must be affirmed. No one can have sola Scriptura without paying a cost in the moral realm.

According to Luke 14:33 there is a cost to discipleship. A failure to see this causes some to start out on the Christian life but later fall away and perish. The cost must be paid if a person is to be Christ's disciple and be saved. What a furor this raises in some evangelical circles! It is because mention of "cost" sounds like works-based salvation, which is, of course, soundly condemned in Scripture, and evangelicals do not want the gospel to be destroyed in this manner.

I was talking with a distinguished doctor who was commenting on missionary practices in his area of the world. According to him, there is much valuable work being done, and the people doing it are certainly earnest and dedicated believers. But there is one thing lacking. "We want so much to win the people to Christ," he said, "that we are watering down the gospel to the point where believing in Christ hardly means anything. There is no repentance, no change of life. It is easy to become Christ’s follower."