If you are believer in Jesus Christ, you understand this, but the question is, what are the implications of the gospel?  What does it mean to live out the gospel.  This is the question that I myself am grappling with.  But, I think that it means at least 2 things:

First that we are living to God’s glory.  We live in a country that literally has everything.  Often we live for ourselves and for the fulfillment of our own satisfactions.   We live for our own pleasure.  But this is not what God intends for us.  We should be living our lives to the glory of God.  Everything we do, eating, drinking, driving, reading. . . and on and on. . . all should be done in accordance with God’s will and to His glory. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).  Living out the implications of the gospel then means that we should do all things to the glory of God.  What we do is not for us and our satisfactions but to the glory of God, in thankfulness for the grace that he has showered on us!

The second implication of the living out the gospel is that we need to be sharing this good news with others, and this is of course related to implication number one, God’s glory.  If we have the good news that is the salvation of souls, then why don’t we want to share it?  Living out the gospel means that we share our faith in Jesus Christ as naturally as we breathe.  I struggle with this, do you?  God’s is most glorified by the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What the Christian needs to live out gospel implications is to glorify God, and share faith, while resting in the full assurance of salvation in Christ.

Would you add anything?  Please let me know.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV)

What is often times missed is that the imperative of this verse is not “Go”, as is often taught, but “make.”  Based on the emphasis placed on go, some reason to themselves that not everyone can go off somewhere else, so they must be off the hook for disciple making.  They think that this verse is for missionaries and pastors, not lay people. However, literally, the passage should read, “in your going therefore”, or “as you go.”  As you go about living your life you are to make disciples.  So disciple making of all the nations does not start with some far off place, but with your next door neighbor as you go about your business.

The question is how do we go about making disciples of all nations, starting with my neighbor?  The answer is found in the rest of the verse.  There are two Greek participles of “means” (Go by the way is also a participle, but its syntax is “attendant circumstance”).  Baptizing, and Teaching.  Disciples are made through relationships with people.  People have to come to know Jesus.  We have to be active in evangelism, sharing the good news with a world in desperate need. And when people are converted to Christ, they are baptized.

The second  participle is “teaching.”  We are to instruct our new brother in Christ all that Jesus commanded.  This is the second part to disciple making.  This is the life long aspect of discipleship.  Disciple making does not end with conversion, but continues on as person is build up and grows in the Word of God.  This is the Christian life, and we are all called to assist in this.

However, there is one final thing that Jesus says.  This is a work accomplished by God through us.  Jesus is with us until the end of the age.  How grateful I am that I am only called to be obedient to the Great Commission, but it is the Spirit of God who accomplishes all that He has set out to do.

So are you making disciples?  Are you active in sharing your faith with neighbors, co-workers, etc.?  And are you active in teaching new believers and seasoned believers  alike all that Jesus commanded?  What would the church look like if we all took the time to mentor or disciple one other person?  Would we see the church grown numerically and more importantly, spiritually?

Last week was the first week of classes here at the seminary and we completed our first class, The Doctrine of God.  Dr. Lewis Hill, President of Reformed Discipleship Ministries was our lecturer.  It was an excellent study of our Scriptural understanding of who God is, and his plan of redemption.

This week’s course is Pastoral Counselling, led by Dr. Andrew Zeller.  Primarily we will be reading through Instruments in the Redeemers Hands, by Paul David Tripp.  From what I have read thus far, this is an excellent book that is not only helpful for those who “professionally” counsel, but to any Christian, who takes relationships and discipleship seriously.  I have only read the first 3 chapters so far (I should be finished   by the end of the week), but already I can see that Dr. Tripp is laying a foundation of who we  are in Christ Jesus instead of presenting a “system” on how to counsel people.  One of the neat things with this course and this book is that the women at the seminary are also going to go through this book as part of their study this summer.

Well, I think that is all for now, we would love to hear from you.

-Paul

Blessings,

Paul

I really enjoy attending Presbytery, call me crazy, but I am one of those weird guys that actually enjoys it.  Presbyterianism is, I believe, the most biblical model and the most effective for church leadership, disciple, and shepherding.  It is a beautiful thing really! At this meeting there was a lot of laughs, a lot of business was done, and it was obvious that these men really love one another. There are a lot of exciting things happening right now in the presbytery and a lot of opportunities for growth for the Kingdom of God. The Rincon Mountain contingent had a wonderful time of fellowship while together in Alamogordo.  We really appreciated the hospitality of Phil’s in-laws who put up with us for a couple of nights and were really wonderful.  At the meeting as well, one of the pastor’s gave a talk on Nietzsche, postmodernism, and how the pastor should interact with the culture. It was a really intriguing talk.  (Listen to it below)

]]> http://www.nomadsforchrist.com/2008/04/27/presbytery-meeting/feed/ 0 http://www.nomadsforchrist.com/2008/04/14/the-sovereignty-of-god/ http://www.nomadsforchrist.com/2008/04/14/the-sovereignty-of-god/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:54:30 +0000 Paul http://www.nomadsforchrist.com/?p=33 The other day I had an interesting discussion. Really, it was a debate on the sovereignty of God. It was said to me: “God only knows about what is going to happen, but does not control things.” Well, naturally I reject this line of thinking and said so, but it got me to thinking about God’s sovereign control of the world and man’s responsibility. For most people, the idea that we are not in total control of our lives, but that God is in control, is incongruous. In the discussion I had, it was said that a loving God would not allow bad things to happen, and so man must have free will. I brought up the point that the Bible says we are predestined, to which I was told that only means God’s foreknowledge, does not involve His decrees. Predestination does involve God’s decrees though, “By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man.” (John Calvin-Institutes of the Christian Religion 3.21.5) In Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (NASB). Why if predestination means only foreknowledge does Paul repeat himself? Clearly the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul has something else in mind. Look at Psalm 115, it is all about God’s sovereignty. God created the world and everything in it (Gen. 1:1; II Kings 19:15; Job 26:13; 38:4; Prov. 3:19; Isa. 42:5; 44:6; 45:12; 66:2; Jonah 1:9; John 1:1; Rev. 1:8; 3:14; 4:11). God is in control of everything that happens in the world. He rules over the kingdoms of men and gives them over to whomsoever He wills (Isa. 54:5; Dan. 4:17, 25). John Murray said it this way:

God’s sovereignty consists in the all-pervasive and efficient exercise of government. It is not simply that God is the owner of all. Nor is it simply that He has the right of dominion and rule over all. But it is that he also exercises government over all in accordance with His perfections and in accordance with the prerogatives that are His because of His ownership of all and the right of dominion over all. This sovereignty He exercises with omnipotent and irresistible efficiency. The mighty hand of God is the executor of His will. He is the great, the mighty, the terrible. He rideth upon the heavens and in His excellency on the skies.

(The Sovereignty of God in Salvation-John Murray)

The problem with God being is control, some try to say, is that if God is sovereign, then He would also have to be the author of evil and sin. They can not see how a loving God would allow bad things to happen to good people. First off, of course we know that there are no “good people” in the world, but secondly that is the wrong conclusion. The Bible very clearly shows throughout that although God allow and uses bad things and sin to accomplish his will, he is not the author of sin or evil. Theologians have argued over this for centuries and so I don’t expect I can fully answer this issue here. Which brings me to the final “argument” that was thrown at me and that is that; “there are many ways to interpret the Bible and many versions of the Bible.” My answer to this is there is only one way to interpret the Bible and there is only one Bible. Sure there are variations in some versions, but versions that were properly translated from the Greek using excepted scholarship say the same things. I realize this is a very loaded statement. But what the line of argument that there are many versions and interpretations is really saying is that fundamentally, the Bible cannot be trusted, but my opinion can be trusted. I think it is this way, thus it must be. Man has place himself in the place of God and are a law unto themselves. Both the Old and New Testaments are full of the glory and sovereignty of God. He determines by his decrees what is going to happen, and it comes to pass. God is never surprised, alarmed, frustrated, or defeated by circumstances of sin or by man’s rebellion. “Our God is in heaven and He does as he pleases.” (Psalm 115)

We must pray and preach so that a new mental framework is created for seeing the world. Ultimately, this is not our doing. God must do it. The categories that make the biblical message look foolish are deeply rooted in sinful human nature.

The preacher must work to change the minds of his people to have the outlook of the Bible, but he must first pray to have his heart and mind changed by God through his study of God’s Word. There are Biblical truths that are hard to understand and even harder to accept because of our sinfulness. The man who preaches must struggle with them himself before he can preach them. Easy to say, much harder to do. Pray for those who preach the Word.