You know, the Bible is interesting. There are times where on the surface it appears that a Bible verse will say one thing definitively on a subject when taken by itself, but that definitive thing will actually become conditional when considered against the rest of the Bible.
Take for example, John 12:42-43 (ESV) 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
The view here seems pretty clear. These disciples are not really disciples at all. Moreover, they loved themselves more than God. So the action plan is, you must confess Jesus openly always to be his disciple, and if you don't you do not love him. But is that the whole story? Not if you look at the narratives of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea in the same book.
In John 3, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to Jesus in secret to learn from him, and Jesus tells him how to be born again. Nicodemus hears his instructions and then continues to be a Pharisee with no indication that he converts. Later, he pops up again in chapter 7 when he defends Jesus by saying he must be given a hearing based upon facts before he can be condemned, and gets called a Galilean sympathizer. Later, after Jesus' death, Nicodemus again comes forward and Joseph prepare Jesus' body for burial, likely taking a hit to his Pharisaical reputation. Yet despite his secrecy, Nicodemus is not labeled as a false disciple.
John, likewise does not condemn Joseph of Arimathea, who is a rich member of the Sanhedrin, in 19:38: "After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body." Then he and Nicodemus take the body of Jesus and bury him instead of letting his body be eaten by vultures, which was the punishment for those guilty of sedition. This was likely a planned event (for they had already prepared a tomb for Jesus) taken at great risk while Jesus' true disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews (20:19).
So here we have two men who were in just the right place at just the right time to step in and accomplish God's will despite their secrecy. Perhaps, then, the mark of a true disciple is not so much that he or she is willing to shout his saved status from the rooftops, but that he or she has a heart set on God and is willing to come out of the shadows at the right time to do God's will.
I started at verse 1:18. I may skip chapter 16 as well at first. We'll see. I imagine Romans will be easier to memorize because of Paul's writing style. Of course, I also have a heavy background in KJV so that may mess with my ESV memorization. Time will tell I guess.
Also, joosep, you said I've been mastering at a high rate. Am I really? It doesn't seem so. I've been on the site about 18 months, and I'm averaging two verses per day. Since it takes about a year to master a verse, You'd think I'd be somewhere in the 350 range on mastered. I feel like I'm behind the curve a bit. Still, I'm happy to have mastered any really since it takes so long. I'm always amazed when I see people running around with 1k+ verses mastered, but I guess I'll be there eventually "Lord willing and crick don't rise."
Plus, to be honest, I'm about ready to be done memorizing John. I love John, but it will be refreshing to move to something else. I'll definitely be happy when John goes fully mastered, although that will still be a year off (or longer if chapters 11-13 are any indicator sigh).
Since we seem to be on similar journeys, I thought you might want to know that I just finished the last two verses of John! It has been a long 18 month experience, although I've taken a few side journeys along the way. How close are you to finishing Mark?
The points are not used for anything. They just exist to motivate those who like to compete with others while keeping score. If that is something you are interested in, you can join the Leaderboard group. https://learnscripture.net/groups/leaderboard-group-for-everyone/