Discussion Questions

David Bercot says Jesus’ vine illustration shows “salvation is not a ‘once and done’ operation,” but an “abiding relationship” that bears fruit; what in John 15 (as he’s using it) challenges the way you were taught to think about salvation, and what would have to change in your daily life if his reading is right? JumpstartAnother way to ask: In John 15, what part of Jesus’ vine picture makes you rethink salvation as more than “once and done”? If Bercot is right that salvation means “abiding” and bearing fruit, what would need to change in your everyday life?

The chapter defines Kingdom life as “an obedient love-faith relationship with Christ” and says bearing godly fruit is “essential, not discretionary”; how do you personally distinguish (or fail to distinguish) between “love,” “faith,” and “obedience,” and what does this chapter refuse to let you separate? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do you tell the difference between love, faith, and obedience in your own life? What does this chapter say you are not allowed to separate from the others?

In the blender-and-electricity illustration, Bercot argues “without me you can do nothing” does not mean “I will do everything for you”; where have you seen Christian teaching or church culture drift into that “Christ will do everything” assumption, and what kinds of spiritual passivity does it produce? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where have you seen Christians act like “Jesus will do everything” means we don’t have to do anything? What kind of laziness or “spiritual passivity” does that create?

Bercot says Christ could do everything “if He wanted a bunch of robots,” but instead wants “warm humans who choose to obey Him because they love Him”; what does that imply about God’s character and goals in salvation, and how does it confront common ideas of “freedom” in modern Christianity? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If God doesn’t want robots but wants people who choose to obey because they love Him, what does that say about what God is like and what He wants in salvation? How does that challenge common Christian ideas about “freedom”?

The chapter emphasizes that God initiates (new birth, the Father drawing us, deliverance from darkness, conveying us into the Kingdom, forgiveness through blood); how does Bercot’s strong language about God’s action protect against self-righteousness, and where might it still leave room for human boasting if misunderstood? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does focusing on what God starts and does for us help keep you from feeling proud or self-righteous? How could someone twist this teaching in a way that still leads to boasting?

Henry Scougal’s quote warns against “loitering in the ditch” waiting for omnipotence, insisting on “concurrent endeavors” and “actuating those powers we have already received”; what would “loitering in the ditch” look like in the real habits of a sincere Christian, and what “powers already received” are you currently failing to actuate? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would it look like for a sincere Christian to “sit in the ditch” and wait for God to do everything? What abilities or help God has already given you are you not using right now?

Romans 12:1–2 is used to describe cooperation: “present your bodies,” “do not be conformed,” “be transformed”; what concrete areas of bodily life (time, money, sexuality, entertainment, speech, food, sleep) most expose whether you are actually presenting your body as a living sacrifice rather than merely agreeing with Christian ideas? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Which parts of your daily life—like time, money, sex, entertainment, words, food, or sleep—most show whether you are really offering your body to God? Where are you only agreeing with Christian ideas but not living them?

Titus 2:12 is quoted to say grace “teaches” us to deny ungodliness and live soberly, righteously, and godly; how does this chapter’s portrayal of grace differ from the way “grace” is commonly talked about in evangelical circles, and what would it mean to treat grace as a trainer that commands and corrects you? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does this chapter describe grace differently than the way evangelicals usually talk about grace? What would change if you treated grace like a coach who trains, corrects, and tells you what to do?

Clement of Alexandria is quoted saying that without eagerness a man “achieves nothing,” and if eagerness is abandoned “the Spirit from God is also restrained,” because saving the unwilling would be compulsion; what assumptions about God’s working and human will are embedded in that early Christian perspective, and which parts of it make modern believers nervous? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Clement says God won’t “save” someone who refuses, because that would force them—what does that assume about human choice and how God works? Which parts of that idea make Christians today uncomfortable, and why?

Using the farmer and Olympic athlete analogies, Bercot says God supplies what we cannot, but “God won’t plow,” “God won’t plant,” and “God does not run our race for us,” and then highlights Paul’s fear of being “disqualified”; what “plowing/planting/disciplining” work are you avoiding right now, and how should Paul’s stated fear reshape the way you think about assurance and finishing well? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What “plowing, planting, or training” work in your spiritual life are you avoiding right now? How should Paul’s fear of being “disqualified” affect how you think about assurance and finishing well?