Discipleship Versus Evangelism
Most Christians believe that the primary purpose of salvation is to avoid hell. That may have been what you were taught, but it’s not what the Bible teaches.
In fact, that kind of thinking serves to inoculate people from the truth of the Gospel concerning salvation.
If we simply ceased to exist at death and if there was no hell, I still believe that Jesus would have come to earth and died for us. Why? Because salvation is about having a relationship with God. God’s main reason for sending Jesus was to restore fellowship. It just so happens that as we restore our relationship with God through salvation, one of the perks—one of the great benefits—is that we miss hell and gain heaven.
Nowhere in the Scripture did Jesus tell us to go and make converts. Let’s look at what is commonly referred to as the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20. It says this:
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Jesus told them to teach others to observe all the things that He had commanded. The Greek word for “teach” in this passage is literally the word that is translated “disciple.” The New International Version translated this as “Go and make disciples.” The emphasis here is that the Lord commanded us to make disciples, not converts. Somewhere along the way, the church has changed the emphasis of this message from making disciples to getting people born again, leaving discipleship for the “mature.”
Did you know that Jesus never preached on being “born again”?
In the third chapter of John, He talked to Nicodemus about the spiritual birth compared to the natural birth, but He never taught or preached to the people about being “born again.” You may be asking yourself, “How can Andrew say that? That’s the centerpiece of every evangelistic effort.” You’re right—it is—but I believe that the Bible teaches that the church has placed the emphasis in the wrong place. By making that the focus, the church is actually lowering the standards, leaving people with the misconception that all they need to do is just be born again and discipleship is optional. That is not what Jesus commanded.
Statistics say that 33 percent of all “born-again Christians” still support things like abortion and New Age thinking. That certainly does not reflect the attitude of a person who’s truly been born again. Billy Graham was quoted as saying that only 15 percent of all the people who professed to be Christian are truly born again. Here is something else that may surprise you: Kathryn Kuhlman said that only 15 percent of those who were healed at her services kept their healing when they left the service. These numbers should tell you something about how success is measured in ministry.
I am not saying that being born again and living eternally with Jesus is not important—it’s essential!
I’m saying that we have changed the message from the way Jesus taught it.
We have reduced the definition of “born again” to the point that in our society today, it has actually become socially popular to say we’re born again and gain acceptance in certain circles.
Jesus said that we are to make disciples, followers of Christ. When we ask people to accept Jesus as their Savior, we need to teach them that this is a total commitment of one’s life to the Lord. It means becoming a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus’ attitude toward evangelism is much different than that of most Christians. Jesus is more concerned with the quality of ministry than the quantity.
John 2:23-25 says,
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
It says that Jesus did not commit Himself unto them although they believed on Him. The words “believed” and “commit” here are actually from the same Greek word. So, you could say that they believed on Him, but He did not believe in them. He knew they were not disciples. He wouldn’t commit Himself to them, because He didn’t want man testifying out of his own ability.
When we hear that someone has been born again, we are ready to put them to work, especially if they are public figures with recognizable names. It’s like we are trying to sell a product by associating it with someone famous. That totally violates what Paul said in 1 Timothy 3 concerning placing a novice in a position of authority. These are the kinds of shortcuts believers resort to when they limit the true definition of being born again to a simple confession of Jesus as Lord.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I would have been a Christian if I hadn’t met one.” Before leading the revolution in India, he was exiled in Africa. There, he was seeking the Lord, reading the New Testament. He had become convinced that Christianity was the true religion and that Jesus was the Christ.
He decided to attend a Presbyterian church service for the purpose of confessing Jesus as his Lord. But, because of the color of his skin, they wouldn’t let him in. Those people who were so determined to evangelize did not have enough of the nature of God on the inside to look past his color. He then led 750 million people into a pagan religion.
On a trip to India some years ago, I learned there were 12,000 Methodists in the city of Ahmedabad, the result of a great revival in the 1890s. When I asked the head of the church in that city how many were truly born again, he responded by saying it was only two or three families. The rest were still worshiping other gods. All they had done was add Jesus to their list of gods to make sure they didn’t miss one. They were obviously not disciples. To those in India, Jesus was just another of the thousands of gods. That is not God’s idea of evangelism.
John 8:30-32 says,
As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
People often say that if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. That is not correct. More correctly, these verses say that when you continue in the Word, then you will know the truth, and the truth you know sets you free. In these verses, Jesus was speaking to those who already believed on Him. Jesus knew that only those who became disciples would truly become free. There is more to believing than just mouthing words.
What we ought to be preaching is that God calls us into discipleship, and it begins with making a commitment to the Lord. If we understood that and acted on it, we would have much greater success evangelizing the world.
Consider this—if you evangelized 1,000 people per year for fifteen years, you would end up with 15,000 new believers, assuming they were all genuine conversions. If you led 1 person to the Lord every six months and spent the next six months discipling that person so they could reproduce themselves, what do you think would happen? In one year, there would only be 2 disciples. However, after sixteen-and-a-half years, if each continued to reproduce themselves every six months, there would be no one left on earth to evangelize. Jesus’ method of discipleship would produce nearly 7 billion disciples in less than seventeen years. discipleship evangelism works!
I really believe that the church has missed it in the area of evangelism, making converts and not disciples. By now, you may be thinking, Andrew is right, but I have no idea how to disciple anyone. That’s best left to those who are more knowledgeable in the Word of God. Well, I have good news: If you can read, you can change a life!
I have a study guide called The Complete Discipleship Evangelism 48-Lesson Course. I like to call it “Discipleship for Dummies.” It will take you through the foundational truths of Christianity in forty-eight lessons. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s effective. All you do is read a short story, ask prepared questions, give the prepared answers by looking up scriptures, and watch God work in the life of another. You can’t miss with this.
Thank You, Jesus.
Need to join Charis for a Life changing Grace experience: so why are you waiting?
Apply now
2020
The Sky Is Not Falling
“Recession Starts Taking Toll: Will it lead to another crash?”
“Worries are building that today’s sagging economy may be on the brink of collapse.”
U.S. News & World Report
Running Short of Cash: “The United States and its allies scramble to head off a global financial disaster…Finance ministers from the United States, Britain, France, Japan and West Germany met last week near Frankfurt to find a way to avert a global economic collapse.”
Newsweek
As you all know, these sentiments have been expressed many times over by the media in the last few months. Many are even comparing our current financial situation to the Great Depression.
It may surprise you, however, to learn that the two quotes above were from November of 1974 and December of 1982 respectively. They were made by the fear mongers in the 70s and 80s who were predicting financial collapse. It did not come to pass then, and this current financial situation is also not the beginning of the end.
Let me quote a few statistics that you probably won’t hear from our media. Unemployment rose to 24.75% in 1933. In time, that improved, but even during Ronald Reagan’s first term in the latter part of 1982, the unemployment rate rose to 10.8%. Yet the rest of the 1980s were some of the strongest economic years of growth this country has ever had. Today the current unemployment rate is about 6%-7%. Amazingly, that means 93%-94% of Americans are still working.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell from a peak of 381.17 in October of 1929 to a low of 41.22 on July 8, 1932—a decline of 85%. The Dow did not return to its peak for more than 22 years. From 1929 through 1933, about 10,000 out of the 25,000 banks in the United States disappeared (source: Business and Media Institute). It’s nothing like that today.
There were no federally insured deposits during the Great Depression, but today the FDIC guarantee is up to $250,000 per account. That simply means there will be no runs on the banks as there were during the Great Depression.
The mortgage foreclosure rate during the Great Depression was 50%. In August of 2008 the national foreclosure rate was 4.4%. It may be higher now, but it’s not even close to what it was then. The truth, even though it may be painful, is that we have needed a major adjustment from the unsound lending practices of the last few decades. For example, illegal aliens and others who had no way to pay back their loans were receiving sub-prime home loans with government guarantees. That’s just wrong!
Marvin Goodfriend, who is a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, speaking on National Public Radio, said that there is no real threat of another Great Depression. That depression lasted nearly ten years. He sees this turning around in the next few months. On a scale of 1-10, with the Great Depression being a 10, he sees this current situation as a 3 or 4.
All of this is to say, THE SKY IS NOT FALLING. Chicken Little is out there again, predicting the worst, and I’m amazed at how many people are buying into this. I kind of expect this from the unbelievers, but many Christians are just as worried as those who don’t have the promises of the Lord.
Do you remember the Y2K scare? The unbelievers weren’t too moved by this, but Christians predicted this was the beginning of the tribulation. I had a pastor friend who advocated that his members move out into the country, buy a year’s supply of food, and use guns to protect themselves. I know some people who were so stressed, they lost their marriages over that scare.
Or how about the bird flu? I was in Scotland in October of 2005 when one of the leading experts of the British Health Care system said there was no question about if the bird flu would infect humans and cause a pandemic, but only when. Then he said that it might be one year or at the most two years, but he stated emphatically that one-third of the world’s population would die by October of 2007. In October of 2007 I read in USA Today that there had been a total of twelve human deaths worldwide from the bird flu. Although it’s sad that anyone died from that, it’s a far cry from a pandemic.
Can you see a trend or pattern here? The world likes to exaggerate (literally lie) and present the worst-case scenarios because bad news sells. I can’t do much about the world, but I would like to use my influence to affect believers. We are not to let our hearts be troubled:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).
Isaac went through hard times. There was a famine in the land (Gen. 26:1). Isaac was a stranger in that land. He didn’t own any property. But the Philistines around him panicked. They didn’t work their fields. What was the use? But Isaac saw it as an opportunity and took advantage of their idle fields.
Genesis 26:12 says,
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.”
This happened during a drought! What was he doing sowing seed when they were in a drought? He was believing God! That’s what we should do.
And since there was a drought, others hadn’t planted, and therefore food was in short supply. Isaac got premium prices for his crops. The next few verses go on to tell how Isaac became so prosperous that Abimelech, the king of Gerar, came to him and asked him to leave because he was more prosperous than that whole nation.
In Genesis 26:14 and 16 reads,
“For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him…And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.”
This is the news believers should be listening to. We have promises from the Lord that He will provide our needs according to His riches IN GLORY by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). We aren’t limited by this world’s economy! Let those who only trust in money panic. In God we trust (Ps. 91:2, 118:8-9; Isa. 12:2, 26:4; and Nah. 1:7). We should be rejoicing.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t make adjustments.
If you bought into this world’s philosophy, getting all you can and getting it by mortgaging your future, then come to your senses, and follow the principles of God’s Word. Even if you haven’t been burned, you’ve learned a valuable lesson, and now you can go forward with a new focus on the Lord as your source.
And let me point out the obvious: This is not a time to cut back on your sowing. You will only reap what you sow (Gal. 6:7). This is a time to believe God as never before. This is our greatest hour. We can demonstrate to the world, as Isaac did, that there is a God in heaven who blesses His people, even in the worst times.
With this in mind, I am announcing another building program. We have run out of space for meetings at our Colorado Springs facility. So, in this time when others are drawing back, I am believing God. It is too soon to give you all the details, but I’ve met with our builder and have talked to neighboring businesses about acquiring their land. Here we grow again.
Some will say this is the worst possible time to expand, but I’m not marching to the drumbeat of the world. I know this is what the Lord is leading me to do, and the response we are receiving to this message confirms it. The world is hungry for the message of God’s unconditional love and grace.
We are setting personal records in every category of ministry: phone calls, website contacts, mail, and teaching material orders are all at record numbers. We are even beginning to receive applications for Charis Bible College’s fall term—next year! More growth is coming, and now is the time to prepare.
Many of you have partnered with us in this ministry, and I believe God’s blessing on us extends to you. You can claim prosperity and blessings because you have been planting seed in good ground. Jamie and I are believing with you for a hundredfold return.
Most importantly, “let not your heart be troubled…believe in God” (John 14:1).
Be sure to tune in to the Gospel Truth television programs December 15–26. I will be teaching on this very subject in my new series, In God We Trust. I think it will be a timely faith builder.
2020
Redemption
I’m going to begin this by dropping a bomb: Sin is no longer an issue with God; we are redeemed! With that statement, you are either rejoicing, shocked, or confused. That is one radical statement, but one I believe I can back up by the Word of God.
The message most people hear says that sin breaks your relationship or fellowship with God. The strictest message says that you lose your salvation (“backslide”) every time you sin, until it’s confessed. Others believe your eternal salvation is still secure, but you lose fellowship, can’t get your prayers answered, or can’t be used of God if you sin. That’s not good news, since all of us sin (Rom. 3:23 and 1 John 1:8).
Christians usually cope by trying to keep every sin confessed. Let me just put this bluntly: That’s impossible! The Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). Do we always walk in faith? James 4:17 reveals that sin isn’t only doing things that are wrong, but it’s not doing what we know is right. Would any claim they are loving God and others as they know they should?
By these definitions, we all sin through the weakness of our flesh. It’s impossible to keep every sin confessed. Even if it were possible, that puts the burden of salvation on our backs. There wouldn’t be any peace or rest in our relationship with the Lord if that’s the way it worked (Rom. 5:1).
Most people, including Christians, see the forgiveness of sins as something that God can do, and continues to do, but not as something He has completed. From that comes the false concept that we must constantly confess our sins, which makes and keeps us sin conscious.
The New Testament presents the forgiveness of sins as something that is already accomplished and that the effect of this redemption is that we are not even to be conscious of sin (Heb. 10:1-2).
Ask yourself, what produced the forgiveness of sins and when did that happen? Jesus was the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world (John 1:29). It was through the shedding of Jesus’ blood that you received redemption, which is the forgiveness of your sins (Eph. 1:7 and Col. 1:14).`
When did Jesus die and shed His blood for our sins? About 2,000 years ago. He will never die again (Rom. 6:9-10). He dealt with the sins of the whole human race once, for all time (Heb. 9:25-28 and 10:10-14). Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is already an accomplished work.
We don’t have to ask Jesus to forgive our sins; He’s already done it. Paul didn’t tell the Philippian jailor to ask Jesus to forgive him; Paul told him to believe on what Jesus had already done and he would be saved (Acts 16:31). We confess the Lord Jesus, not our sins, to receive this gift of salvation (Rom. 10:9).
Does that mean everyone in the whole world is saved? Certainly not. We have to receive forgiveness by faith (Acts 26:18). The Lord has already forgiven everyone’s sins (1 John 2:2). That’s grace. But we have to put faith in what God has already accomplished by grace to be saved (Eph. 2:8).
Therefore, it’s not a person’s many sins that sends them to hell; sin has already been paid for and forgiven. It’s the singular sin of not believing on Jesus that sends a person to hell. It’s their failure to accept what Jesus did for them that puts them into that place of eternal torment.
John 16:8-9 says,
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”
The singular sin the Holy Spirit reproves us of is the sin of not believing on Jesus. That’s it. That’s not to say that the Holy Spirit will not show us that things we do are wrong. But He uses them to illustrate that we don’t believe on Jesus. The Holy Spirit isn’t nailing us every time we sin; He loves us back into faith and trust in Jesus. That’s the whole issue with God.
What difference does it make in our lives if we accept forgiveness as something that has already been accomplished or not? There is a huge difference! It gives us security and peace, knowing that God isn’t mad at us and won’t be mad at us. Our sins are already forgiven—and not just the past sins we committed before we were born again. All of our sins—past, present, and even future ones—are already forgiven.
Someone will say, “How can God forgive our sins before we commit them?” Well, you better pray that He can do that, because Jesus only died for our sins once; 2,000 years ago; before you committed any sin. If He can’t forgive sins before you commit them, then you can’t be saved.
It says in Hebrews 10:10-12 and 14,
“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (emphasis mine).
We have received eternal, not momentary, redemption (Heb. 9:12). One sacrifice was made for all sin forever, and we have been perfected forever. How can we read these scriptures and come to any other conclusion than that every sin—past, present, and future—was forgiven and our redemption is eternal?
If you have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for your sins by faith, then your spirit is perfect (Heb. 12:23)! Your spirit has been born again. A million years from now, your spirit will be identical to what it is right now, and it is identical to Jesus (1 Cor. 6:17 and 1 John 4:17). One-third of your redemption is complete.
So, am I making light of sin or saying sin doesn’t matter? No! Sin is a terrible thing, and it’s an inroad for Satan into your life (Rom. 6:16). I hate sin! I live a holier life than most of you reading this. I just value the blood and the atonement of Jesus above sin. His sacrifice was infinitely greater than all the past, present, and future transgressions of the entire human race. Jesus overpaid the debt we owed.
You might say, “What about 1 John 1:9?”
I’m glad you brought that up.
First John 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (brackets mine).
We don’t have to confess sin in order to be saved, to retain, or to maintain our salvation. If I believed that was so, I would kill every person who came forward for salvation. I might go to hell, but that’s the only way they would ever get to heaven. We need to confess it, not for the purpose of becoming born again, but because our flesh gets defiled. That gives Satan a legal right to function in our flesh (Rom. 6:16).
Confessing we have sinned means we are coming back into agreement with God and out of agreement with the devil. That stops Satan from dominating us through that sin and draws the forgiveness and purity, which is already in our born-again spirits, out into our flesh.
Our born-again spirits are already eternally redeemed (Heb. 9:12). The other two-thirds, your soul and body, have also been purchased by His blood, but their redemption has not yet taken place. However, God has made provision for this as well.
Romans 8:23 reads,
“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
Ephesians 1:14 says,
“Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
When redemption is complete in spirit, soul, and body, we will know Him as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). But until then, we can experience a renewed mind through His Word. And although we are waiting for the redemption of our bodies, we can receive healing while we live in our mortal bodies. God has made provision for both the soul and the body even though their redemption has not yet been made manifest.
Unfortunately, most Christians are not taking advantage of these provisions. They have not renewed their minds, and they still don’t understand that we are also redeemed from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). The average New Testament believer is still trying to get God to respond to them based on their performance. Why? Because they don’t know that the performance covenant of the Old Testament Law is over. We are now under the New Testament ministry of grace and faith (2 Cor. 3:7-8).
The Law was given to convict people of their self-righteousness so they could see their need for a savior. Praise God, we are now no longer under the Law. First Timothy 1:9 says that the Law is not made for a righteous man. And who is righteous? Any person who is born again (2 Cor. 5:21).
Hebrews 7:12 and 18 says,
“For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.”
What a radical statement! A disannulling! The word disannulling literally means cancellation, to make null and void. The Old Testament Law has been nullified, canceled, done away with. The Law was weak and unprofitable. It was only a stop-gap measure until Jesus (Gal. 3:23-25).
Ephesians 1:3-5 says,
“[He] hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings…hath chosen us…Having predestined us unto the adoption of children” (brackets and emphasis mine).
In the Greek, “hath” is an aortas tense, which means it is a done deal—it’s an accomplished fact. So how blessed is all spiritual blessings? Verse 6 says that we have been accepted in the beloved. Really, that is a super understatement. The Greek word that is used for “accepted” is only used twice in the New Testament. The other place is in Luke 1 where the the Angel Gabriel appeared unto Mary.
Gabriel said, “Hail thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee” (verse 28).
The Greek word for “highly favoured” is the only other time that this word was used. When it says that we are accepted in the beloved, it is saying He has made us highly favored. Mary hasn’t got anything on a born-again believer. Every one of us is accepted, chosen, and highly favored. It’s all part of redemption.
Understanding redemption, the complete forgiveness of your sins, is foundational to understanding the New Covenant and how God deals with you today. If you’re born again and still asking questions like these: “Can I lose my salvation?” “If I die with unconfessed sin, will I go to heaven?” or “Does God answer the prayers of someone who still sins?” then you do not understand redemption.
Redemption is very practical, and your understanding of it will determine what you are able to receive from God, not just in eternity, but here and now.
Thank You, Jesus.
Need to join Charis for a Life changing Grace experience: so why are you waiting?
Apply now