Bible students are understandably troubled at times by the fact that there are so many biblical stories and promises that link salvation to holiness rather than to believing in Jesus. In the previous lesson, for example, we read how Jesus declared that salvation had come to Zaccheus’ house after he repented of his greed. Not a word was said in Luke’s narrative about Zaccheus believing in, or having faith in, Jesus. Why didn’t Jesus tell Zaccheus (as He did Nicodemus), “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)?

To the chagrin of those who explain this troubling fact by claiming that Jesus advocated “salvation-by-works” during His old covenant earthly ministry but that “salvation-by-grace” was inaugurated under the new covenant, there are many examples in the New Testament epistles of the same troubling fact^[1]. For example, the apostle Paul, certainly a preacher of salvation by grace, wrote in his letter to the Roman believers:

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom. 2:5-10, emphasis added).

And there are plenty of other passages in the New Testament epistles that hinge salvation upon holiness.

In case you didn’t realize it, we’ve started our ascent, and you’ve already left the crowds behind. In fact, just by reading the previous lesson—in which I enumerated Jesus’ three requirements for discipleship (found in Luke 14:25-33)—you started on an upward path that most avoid. I didn’t mention it in that previous lesson, but when Jesus enumerated those three requirements, He told His audience to first count the cost:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace (Luke 14:28-32).

Clearly, Jesus was not promising an easy path. There is a cost to being His disciple, one that should be carefully considered beforehand. Jesus implied in Luke 14:25-33 that it could cost one his family members, his comfort and convenience, his money and possessions, and even his life. But He also promised that there would be a reward at the end that would far exceed any earthly price paid: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matt. 5:12). The apostle Paul echoed: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). If you stay with me on this journey, you will be glad you did. Guaranteed.

If Jesus wasn’t already your Master as you read Lesson 1, I trust that He has since become your Master. If He’s still not your Master, there is no sense making any attempt to continue on The Stewardship Journey. The first step is to believe in Jesus, which is synonymous with becoming His follower.

Many professing Christians will tell you that they have “accepted Jesus,” but if you’ve ever read the four Gospels, you know that Jesus never encouraged anyone to accept Him. He wasn’t looking for “accepters.” He was looking for followers. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Clearly, following Him requires self-denial.

Some attempt to persuade us that there are actually two categories of Christians—the believers and the disciples. Believers, they claim, are born again, secure in God’s saving grace, and guaranteed eternal salvation, but they are not necessarily committed to obey Jesus. Disciples, they claim, are also believers, but they are committed to follow and obey Jesus, and they will thus receive greater reward in heaven.

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood 
And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation (Ps. 24:3-5).

If there’s one hobby that’s stayed with me my entire life, it’s hiking. I’ve always been drawn to scenic beauty, and the finest trails deliver it in generous doses, with sweeping mountain vistas along the way. The very best hikes promise a spectacular summit payoff. There is nothing like a breathtaking, panoramic view achieved through determination and perseverance.

A few summers ago, my wife and I were blessed to spend a week exploring some of Western Canada’s iconic national parks. Our most unforgettable hike was the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail in Banff. It begins on the shore of glacier-fed Lake Louise, whose turquoise waters—milky from glacial silt—draw awed visitors from around the world. The shoreline path is usually bustling with tourists, but the crowds thin quickly once the trail begins its ascent up the valley.

Currently (in 2025), 51% of Americans identify as being “pro-choice,” while 43% consider themselves “pro-life.” The pro-life and pro-choice labels, however, fall short of identifying the more specific stances people hold regarding abortion. The truth is, many people who consider themselves to be pro-choice actually hold views that are pro-life to a degree, and vice versa.

For example, according to recent Gallup Polls, only 22% of Americans believe that abortion should generally be legal during the last three months of pregnancy. That means 78% believe abortion should be illegal during the third trimester.

And only 37% believe that abortion should be legal during the 2nd trimester. That means 63% believe that abortion should be illegal during the 1st and 2nd trimesters.

If someone had written an article in the London Times during its first year of publication, 1785, titled, “The End of the Slave Trade,” no reader would have taken it seriously. Britain had dominated the Atlantic slave trade for 200 years. Slavery was an entrenched institution.

In 1787, however, a tiny Quaker and Anglican abolitionist society began working to influence public opinion. They were eventually joined by a born-again politician named William Wilberforce, and in 1791 he introduced his first bill before Parliament to abolish England’s slave trade. That bill was soundly defeated.

Just about every year thereafter for the next 20 years, Wilberforce introduced a motion for abolition that was voted down, a drawn-out battle that is well dramatized in one of my favorite movies, Amazing Grace. Wilberforce’s persistence was finally rewarded in 1807, when Parliament voted in favor of abolishing the slave trade. Slavery itself was not abolished by Parliament for another 26 years, in 1833.

Charles Darwin concluded that women were inferior to men. He wrote in The Descent of Man, “males are more evolutionarily advanced than females,” and he believed that children and women had smaller brains and therefore were led more by instinct and less by reason. Darwin concluded: “Men attain a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can women—whether requiring deep thought, reason or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands… We may also infer from the law of the deviation from averages, that the average mental power in man must be above that of women.”

In Darwin’s evolutionary-advanced brain, such thinking was obviously justified. If you are a member of the “more intelligent gender,” you naturally have an advantage over the “less-intelligent gender” to know that your gender is inherently more intelligent!

In my previous article, however, I tried to show that the Bible is not so misogynistic. On the contrary, the first female whom God created was custom designed to rescue the first male, turning his “not good” predicament into something “good.” Eve was the original Superwoman. (In fact, when Adam first laid his eyes on her, surely he gasped, saying, “Whoo, man!” No doubt it is from Adam’s stunned reaction, repeated every time he looked at his wife, that the modern word, “woman,” evolved…)

Misogyny is a word it seems we’re hearing more often these days. It is derived from two Greek words, miso, meaning “hatred,” and gunē, meaning “women.” But you don’t have to hate women to be a misogynist, as the modern definition has been expanded to include “the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women (or girls).”

Misogyny is a pervasive evil that has existed from very early in human history, and it is alive and well in the world today. I’ll shortly provide you with some examples.

The good news is that misogyny is something that Jesus is in the process of eradicating from the earth. At present, that eradication is limited, because Jesus only transforms those who believe in Him.

Have you ever observed a fly trapped behind your car’s windshield, fighting futilely to find a way through? All of your car’s side windows might be wide open, but it never occurs to that frustrated fly to try anything different than continuing to search for a way through an invisible, impenetrable barrier.

You can’t help but feel sorry for such a fly and, if you are bent towards mercy, you might try to swish him towards an open side window. Most flies, however, will resist your effort to help them, and your attempts only make them more determined to do the impossible. Eventually, they’re lying dead on your dashboard.

The pity we all feel for such frustrated flies is analogous to what followers of Christ feel every day for everyone else. We observe people’s recurring misery and frustration, and we know full well that so many of their problems could be resolved if they would only submit to Jesus. He would forgive them, open their eyes and set them free, fill them with His Spirit, and teach them His ways.