If you are born again you are commissioned to this

  

Date Posted: 6/16/2013 7:29:19 AM

Posted By: pemali  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 872

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THE GREAT COMMISSION

Each of the four Gospels concludes with what we call the Great Commission though they use different wordings:
Matthew 28:19-20
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…..”
Mark 16:15
“…..go into all the world and preach the Good News (Gospel) to all creation..”
Luke 24:46-47
“……Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations………”
John 20:21
“…..as the Father (God) ahs sent me, I (Jesus) am sending you.”
Therefore the Great Commission involves two basic things:
a) Evangelism
b) Nurture (Discipleship)
The Gospel of Christ can only reach the whole world and all people if we will be deliberate in evangelism and in nurturing/discipleship. We are to evangelize and disciple them that believe in the Gospel so that they too can also evangelize to more who will be discipled to continue the cycle. Evangelism and discipleship therefore forms the Great Commission that came directly from Jesus Himself to all of us that are His followers.
Therefore, as a believer in Christ, the first place to begin from as you develop in discipleship is to review, learn and understand and be able to share the Gospel. A clear presentation of the Gospel gets people off to a well grounded start in their Christian walk. They will be able to begin with a firm assurance and appreciation of their new salvation. However, surprisingly, there are many people who are born again but do not understand the Gospel.
God made the Gospel so simple that a child can understand it. We all need to still keep it simple. Many times we give too much that we lose people in our sharing

of the Gospel or communicate too little which is never enough. Whether it is an altar call, one-to-one encounter or a public invitation by a preacher, there are certain things that have to be very clear. The essential elements that must be incorporated for a clear Gospel witness include the following:


1. Christ died for our sins

The fact that Christ died for our sins implies that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. This is where the sinful nature of man is addressed and how it separates them from a holy God. Therefore, this sacrificial death of Christ for our sins must be understood to be the means for our salvation.

2. Christ rose from the dead

His resurrection shows that God accepted Christ’s sacrifice as sufficient payment for our sins. We are thus justified in Christ Jesus through His resurrection.

3. Man’s response to God’s solution

Each individual should clearly understand how to respond to God’s solution for our sins through Jesus Christ. The only condition for salvation is faith alone in Christ Jesus, trusting Him as the one who died in our place. This faith is demonstrated by repenting and believing in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all sins.
We always shape the message of the Gospel by the language and the methods we use to share it. We are to share it in a way that is pleasing to God and not just convenient to men. Some methods that we use to communicate the Gospel are usually misleading or confusing. Some of the common lines we use are:
• You only have to repeat this prayer and you will be saved
We should never give people the impression that they can be saved only by repeating a prayer. It is better to tell them that they must believe in Christ and that it is through that prayer that they ask Jesus to give them His eternal life.

• Ask or invite Jesus into your heart or give your heart to Jesus
Revelation 3:20 was written to the church at Laodicea (believers in Christ – already born again) and talks about fellowship and not salvation. The issue of salvation is not what we give to Jesus but what He gives to us through His grace that we do not deserve. Eternal life is Christ’s life in us. It is Him who draws and invites us to Himself and not us who invite Him (John 6:44).We should not create the impression that it is what we do that draws Him to us.

• You have to make Christ Lord of every area of your life for you to be saved
Making Christ Lord of every area of our life is not a condition for our salvation. Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a decision made by Christians in the light of the transforming grace and it is not what we do (as a condition) in order to get that grace of salvation. We give Christ control over all areas of our lives as we grow in Him. Even now none of us has fully accomplished this.

Every believer should submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ but it is not an initial condition for salvation. It is easy to help someone establish and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the various areas of their lives after they understand the issue of faith in Christ for their salvation. But it is still important to make it clear as you share the Gospel that if Christ saves us (is Savior) He also deserves to rule us (Lordship).
• Make Christ your Lord and Savior
Christ is already Lord and Savior whether we accept Him as such or not. No human being can make Him Lord or Savior. The Bible says that it is God who has made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Savior); Acts 2:36. Ours is to believe in Him as our Savior and to submit to Him as our Lord. We do not make Him so, He is already.

• The issue of repentance
Repentance in the New Testament is an inner change of heart that flows to the out. It is not just an outer change of conduct (behavior change). The outward change of conduct is the expected result of true repentance and not its mark. True repentance should result in true spiritual transformation and not just behavior change. Behavior change is therefore not the same as true repentance and we should therefore not confuse the root with the fruit.

This means that as we share this Gospel our emphasis should not be in behavior change where we only tell people: ‘You have to stop dressing that way, you have to stop listening to/watching that’ etc. We should emphasize on bringing them to a relationship of faith in Christ where the expected change (true transformation) in true repentance can occur.

As they come to faith in Jesus Christ, He will change their minds about a number of things. They will realize their sinful status before God, their need for transformation and there will be a complete change in their opinion of who Christ is. It is this continued change of heart and mind resulting from faith in Jesus and the knowledge of God that help them to truly turn from the individual sins in their lives.

If salvation in itself could mean completely turning from every individual sin in our lives; then salvation and the assurance of salvation would be impossible. Our communication of repentance as we share the Gospel should therefore be handled carefully with an understanding of God’s grace, man’s part and God’s help.
It is very important for us to use the Biblical language and try to be as Biblical as possible in our communication of the condition for salvation. It is by grace that God has still been using us to share this Gospel in spite of the misplaced approaches and methods we use; but God will use us to reach many more people when our message of the Gospel is clear and not cloudy. He will accomplish more through us according to how clear and how Biblical our message and methods are.
We know that salvation is a free gift and we must not again tell people or demand any action by them as a condition for this gift to be theirs. If it is a gift, it is then to be received by faith. We should avoid mixing up faith and works.

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