In other words, when you are an authentic true biblical believer in Christ: You are a disciple of Jesus Christ, indeed.

How do you know you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ—without a doubt?

1. You Honor and Keep His Commandments (John 14:15).
2. You “Do that which is pleasing in His Sight” (1 John 3:22) continually.
3. You Do the Will of His Father (as Jesus did the Will of His Father, Matthew 7:21).
4. You Love and Trust Him with all your heart, (even as Jesus loved and trusted His Father with his whole heart, mind, soul, and bodily strength, even in the midst of His most difficult Trial (Matthew 26:42; Luke 22:42).
5. You Love your neighbor as yourself (even as the Good Samaritan did, Luke 10:25-32; Mt 22:34-40; Mk 12:28-31).
6. You Ask the Father for the Counselor, and you receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18) in order to best complete His Mission, and you seek to be honored by God in secret (not doing your works before men: 
7. You are deadly serious: about being a disciple (a disciplined learner and follower) of Jesus Christ, even unto death (Revelation 2:10-11, “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”) In other words, you value his eternal life, more than you value you this temporary life, even if it means making yourself a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-3).

 

How do you know you’re not a true disciple of Jesus Christ?

 

1. You Don’t Honor and Keep His Commandments (1 John 2:3-6, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…”)
2. You Do that which is pleasing in in your own Sight”  In other words, You take delight in doing your own will, above the will of your heavenly father.  Like the second son (in Matthew 21:30-31), “And he, [the father], came to the second son, and said likewise [“Go, work in my vineyard today.”]. And he [the second son] answered and said, “I go, sir”: and went not.” The second son was two-faced towards his father, just like all false converts and fake disciples today. 
3. You Play the hypocrite. You hide your disobedience, by making a show of your religion. You do outward things Like: Go to Church, Sing Songs, pay tithes, promote missionaries, serve others, but you don’t really do the Will of the Father. You don’t really sacrifice yourself for the Gospel. You don’t really lead others to Christ.  do the Will of His Father, you do your own will (as the fault’s profits did in Matthew 7:21).
4. You Love your Toys more than God (your car, boat, house, skis, surfboard). You love your pleasures and entertainments, friends and family–more than Him, and you don’t Trust Him with all your heart, (Matthew 7:22-23). even as Jesus loved and trusted His Father with his whole heart, mind, soul, and bodily strength, even in the midst of His most difficult Trial (Matthew 26:42; Luke

 

When you are walking in agreement with Christ; you are not going your own way, but His Way.

 

John 14:6 (KJV)

Jesus saith unto him,

• I am the way,
• the truth,
• and the life:

No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 

 

. Not only that, but far more importantly: Christ is walking in agreement with you. He is confirming, and affirming your spiritiual steps, and heavenly based choices—outlined in His Word.

Now, here’s where it gets intense: When Christ becomes your primary concern in this Life, and you have devoted your entire being to doing the Will of God, in Christ Jesus, for your Life; And you choose to fulfill, the First and Most important Commandment: To Love God with all your heart, mine soul and strength: Then, you are walking in agreement with Christ. Then, when He fills you with the Supernatural Counselor, the Gift of God, the Promise of the Father to the Son: 

 

John 14:15-21 (KJV)

If ye love me, [then show it … ] keep my commandments.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

 

There is no such thing as a second class believer, nor a first class disciple.

In order to be a true believer, you must become a disciple, one who continues in his word.

A disciple is one who walks with Jesus day in and day out, morning, noon and evening. It is a daily, yea, hourly choice, and not walking with Jesus is not an option for a true Disciple of Christ. Any step you take outside of His will becomes just one more step away from Christ.

Thankfully, God has graciously given us His Holy Spirit to be with us, and Guide us in making wise decisions to do His Will. God has also provided us with His Living Word, that is also faithful in guiding us daily in doing His Will. By these two Protectors, we remain safe and free in His Kingdom.

But … Once you stop continuing in his word, by definition: You stop being a disciple, and simultaneously you stop being a believer. The choice to believe, comes with the choice to follow in Christ footsteps, to walk with Jesus and a personal relationship, based on faith, based on repentance, based on changing the way you once lived, in order to make Jesus the Lord, master, Counselor, and guide of your life. That’s what it means to believe in Christ, and that’s what it means to become a disciple.

 

If Jesus is not guiding your life: then who is?

You have several choices to choose from:

1. Jesus Christ guiding you through the Holy Spirit, and through obedience to the Scriptures.
2. You guiding yourself by your own ideas, gathered from other sources than Jesus:
   1. The World (society, peer pressure, party herd spirit)
   2. The Flesh (carnal lusts, greed, idols, and selfishness)
   3. The Devil (who is actually the ruler over the world, and the flesh)

 

The Word of God warns us: Do not follow the World:

 

1 John 2:15-17 (KJV)

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

[That which is of this world is under the dominion of the devil, he is the originator of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These are the very attitudes, behaviors, and mindset that got Satan thrown out of heaven, in the first place.]

 

 

What Happens … to Those who once believed and followed Jesus, but later recanted and stopped following Jesus, and stopped continuing in His Word?

These are commonly called backsliders.

Jesus indicates in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, that: “Many are Called, but Few are Chosen.”

 

2 Peter 2:20-22 (KJV)

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world,
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

They are again entangled therein, and overcome,

• the latter end is worse with them
• than the beginning.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,

• than, after they have known it,
• to turn from the holy commandment
• delivered unto them.

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb:

• The dog is turned to his own vomit again;
• and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

The great concern here for me is this: That Many who may start out the race, may begin doing just fine. But, as the race gets harder, and the going gets tougher, it may be that many will simply fall out of the race.

 

As far as anybody knew except Jesus, Judas (Judah) Iscariot, was running a good race all the way up to the end. He was a disciple, and Apostle in good standing as far as any of the other Apostles knew. It seems no one, except Jesus foresaw his betrayal. 

It seems a similar situation with the foolish virgins. They were right there with the wise virgins when their lamps ran out of oil. They got rejected at the gate at the very last hour. As a result, it appears that some believers pay more careful and strict attention and observance of the LORD’s Will, Way, and Word (like the wise virgins), many pay less careful, and strict attention to the Warnings of Jesus, and the Promises of His Word.

 

Therefore: I believe  ___ is right when he says, it is important to make our calling and election more sure:

 

2 Peter 1:10-11 (KJV)

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

 

 

Proverbs 14:14 (KJV)

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways:

 

 

The OLD MAN VS. THE NEW MAN:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James 2:18-26 (KJV)

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord , was, according to the New Testament, a brother of Jesus. He was the first Jewish bishop of Jerusalem.

Death of James, the Half-Brother of Jesus

James the Just, known as the half-brother of Jesus and the leader of the early church in Jerusalem, was martyred in the early 60s AD. The most widely accepted historical account comes from the Jewish historian Josephus, who records that James was executed by stoning around 62 AD. This occurred during a period of political instability in Judea, after the death of the Roman procurator Festus and before his successor, Albinus, took office. The high priest Ananus (Ananus ben Ananus) took advantage of this power vacuum to convene a Sanhedrin, which condemned James “on the charge of breaking the law” and had him stoned to death.

Other early Christian sources, such as Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria, provide a more detailed and dramatic account. They report that James was taken to the pinnacle of the Temple by scribes and Pharisees, thrown down when he refused to renounce his faith, and, after surviving the fall, was beaten to death with a club or a fuller’s staff.These accounts emphasize his steadfastness and the brutality of his death, describing how he prayed for his attackers even as he was being killed.

Despite variations in the details, all major sources agree that James died a violent martyr’s death in Jerusalem as a result of his leadership in the early Christian community and his proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah.

 

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_brother_of_Jesus
2. https://www.christian-history.org/death-of-james.html
3. https://seanmcdowell.org/blog/did-james-the-brother-of-jesus-die-as-a-martyr
4. https://earlychurchhistory.org/daily-life/the-death-of-jesus-brother-james/
5. https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/ypvw7d/why_was_jesus_crucified_but_james_was_stoned/
6. https://isjesusalive.com/james-the-brother-of-jesus/
7. https://biblehub.com/library/pamphilius/church_history/chapter_xxiii_the_martyrdom_of_james.htm
8. https://www.persecution.com/stories/stories-of-christian-martyrs-james-the-less/
9. https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-martyrdom-of-james