Words aren’t enough!

We all need to be reminded of this truth.  God tells us in His word to not only love in word and tongue but moreso in deed and truth.  May others see clearly in my life that Jesus is real!  We must be careful to not get too wrapped up in the details that we lose sight of why God has us here as Christians.

Spinoza, the 17th century Jewish Philosopher said after observing Christians:

“I have often wondered that persons who make boast of professing the Christian religion – namely love, joy, peace, temperance, and charity toward all men – should quarrel with such rancorous animosity and display daily towards one another such bitter hatred – that this rather than the virtues which they profess – is the readiest criteria of their faith.”

Let that not be us – you or me….

The Goal of the Great Commission #2

The greatest impact of biblical love is upon obedience to all of God’s Word. In the Old Testament, love is inextricably related to covenant and obedience (Exod 20:6; Deut7:6-8; 10:12; 11:13, 22; 19:9;30:19-20; Josh 22:5; 1 Sam 18:1-3; etc.). In the New Testament, love is most frequently related to discipleship and obedience (John14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:9-10; 1 John 2:4-6; 5:1-3; 2 John 6a). The standard of biblical love is doctrine.  As a Christian virtue, love is more important than faith and hope (1 Cor 13:13), but it is not more important than doctrine and truth.

Indeed, true Christian love cannot increase apart from an atmosphere of Christian truth. Of course, liberals have denied the importance of doctrine and truth for years, and if Christians endure this false separation, it will constitute one of the greatest victories of Satan against the church in modern times. This is vital in our ministries that we combat this disease of liberalism, and teach doctrinal truth – unadulterated.  Not only will Christian evangelism become ineffective and superficial without this emphasis, but a Christian life that is glorifying and pleasing to the Lord will also suffer. 

 Understanding and applying the bible is not optional if I understand the Scriptures correctly.  The problem with the professing church is not primarily in its practice, but in its doctrine. Christians do not know, and many do not care to know, the doctrines of Scripture. Doctrine is viewed as intellectual, and many Christians are generally anti-intellectual.  Where is the hunger for the truth of the Word of God in our professing church folks.  We can see the trend from service to service.  Many go through the motions of a Sunday morning service – it is their good luck charm.  But Sunday evening?! – I already went today! Wednesday night bible study – no way I am too tired.  Where is the thirsting after the word of God?  Most church folks simply don’t care.   

 The first duty of the Christian is to understand sound doctrine and thereby implement sound (biblical) practice.  The order of doctrine first, then practice, is both biblical and logical. For example, the Book of Romans first contain eleven chapters expounding doctrine, and only the last five discuss practice. Failure to instruct in sound doctrine is the reason for misconduct and cultural impotence of Christians.  Lack of power in the life of the church is the lack of sound doctrinal truth.

Would to God that the church would get back to the basics.  Put away all the fluff and the stuff – get our bibles out and let’s grow closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.  And preachers preach what thus saith the Lord and not what you think or what you think your congregation wants to hear.  Let us be grounded in the scriptures and doctrine and then put it to work practically.  The church will be catapulted into the future only as she is carefully governed and powerfully driven by the Word of God. Quite simply, the Word of God builds the church. It is crucial to teach the church that God’s chosen method to bring new life is to use His Word. God’s method for building the church determines the means of discipleship and evangelism. The Holy Spirit creates and sustains the church by the Word of God.  If God’s chosen method for building and sustaining His church is replaced with human thoughts and will, it will inevitably ensure futility.

The Goal of the Great Commission

What is the ultimate goal of the Great Commission?  No Christian can claim obedience to the Great Commission until he has “made disciples” through proclaiming the Gospel, “baptized” converts in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and “indoctrinated” converts in the whole counsel of God’s Word. Not that every Christian must accomplish all components of the Great Commission, for God has given all of us various gifts.  But every believer is to support the Great Commission with their lifestyle as well as prayerfully.  There is no biblical indication of a “streamlined” Commission that consists in merely preaching a “simple” Gospel and then allowing converts to decide for themselves “the church of their choice.”  Is that what we saw in the great crusades of the last century?  Could that be part of our difficulty today within evangelical Christendom?  The view that all we are commissioned to do is preach the gospel and the dust will settle where it will settle – just throw doctrinal distinctive out the window.

Now I realize that certain situations leave us with presenting the gospel and then leaving the person.  However we should care enough to follow up with that individual and make sure they have found a bible believing/preaching church to become a part of and to be baptized.  So I say that there is disobedience on the part of Christians toward all aspects of the Great Commission, but we also ignore often times that the bible stresses the indoctrination in the whole counsel of God’s word of new converts.   Why is this ignored?  When we read the accounts of the apostles they would win people to faith in Christ, they would baptize that person, and organized them into local churches for the purpose of doctrinal and practical edification and observance of all biblical commands. 

I know we can’t under stress the importance of communicating to the lost person that we are all sinners in desperate need of The Savior – that salvation is by faith in Christ alone.  But the church must continually remind herself that the New Testament places emphasis upon the feeding (teaching) of those who are already Christians! Indeed, it may be said that the indoctrination of converts in the whole counsel of God’s Word is the basic New Testament pattern for world evangelization.  Apart from this emphasis, Christian evangelism will soon become ineffective and superficial.