MAKING DISCIPLES

  by: Pastor Jose V. Velasco

    Kindly read our text taken from Matthew 28:19-20. Supposedly, this was one of Jesus’ last words to His disciples before He left them. It is commonly called The Great Commission. This is not an option. It is a mandate. If we are truly followers of Jesus Christ we must obey it. The seriousness and diligence in which Christians carry out this mandate will determine to a large extent the increase of Christian believers and growth of the church. Churches and denominations that are actively making disciples are fast growing, while those which neglect it are shrinking.

   At the outset, what is a disciple? Commonly understood a disciple is a follower of Christ.  Christ invites, “Come and follow me” (Mt. 4:19; Lk. 5:28). You are His disciple if you follow Him in love, obedience and trust. Literally a disciple is a student of Christ. Jesus said, “Learn of me” (Mt. 11:29). One who is eagerly learning about Christ and His teachings is a disciple. You are truly a disciple if you have accepted Christ as you Lord and Savior and learning to live like Him and according to His teachings.

   The Great Commission mandates “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” Christians must reach out to all regardless of color, culture, social status and nationality (Acts 10:34-35). We hear people, and even ministers, in the church saying that we do not need to share the Christian gospel to other people in respect to the religion they already have. It is an insult to their religion to do so. Jesus never taught and did that. Jesus reached out to a Canaanite woman (Mt. 15:21ff), and a Samaritan woman (Jn. 4). Philip went to preach to the Samaritans who were not pure Jews (Acts 8:5). God designated Paul to be a missionary to the Gentiles (Acts. 9:15). Peter went to preach to a Gentile centurion (Acts 10:23ff).

   To go does not necessarily mean we have to go to other places to become missionaries. Some may. But in your daily dealings with people you can share them the gospel in your ordinary conversations. You may begin with your relatives who are not yet truly committed to Jesus Christ. Then move on to your friends and neighbors. You may give your financial support to organizations and ministries that are spreading the gospel to make disciples. If your church is intent on making disciples support it as you are able.

   The common word for spreading the gospel to make disciples is evangelism. A minister said that the word evangelism has become a dirty word in his denomination, and thus has no program to evangelize. And yet his denomination has been steadily declining numerically for years now. This is a sad failure to fulfill the Great Commission. It is a dishonor to the Christ who mandated it. Are you as an individual, and as a church obeying this last command of Jesus to us?

Prayer: Lord, our passionate obedience to your Great Commission to us is a test of our love and faithfulness to you. Guide, help and empower us to make more disciples for you. For your glory and honor we pray, Amen.

JESUS IS THE WAY

By: Pastor Jose V. Velasco

  In John 14:6 Jesus describes Himself in three words. We will ponder on these in the succeeding three reflections. First, Jesus says, “I am the way.”

 The word way may mean many things, like system, method or manner of doing things. But we can know the particular meaning here by the context. Jesus was talking about a home He is going to prepare for His followers. And He said, “You know the way to the place where I am going” (Jn. 14:4). Then in verse 6 Jesus said that He is the only way to the Father. So Jesus was thinking of a route or passage to a destination. Commonly understood this destination is the eternal home where God is awaiting His redeemed children.

  There are false ways people believe could bring them to God and to eternal life. One is their good deeds. If they could follow all God’s laws then they are certain to go to heaven. The problem is no one is perfect enough to fulfill all God’s laws. Paul says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). And “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). So by good deeds no one will reach heaven. Some claim also that the church is the way to heaven. A particular church in the Philippines claims that it is the only true church and if you join it you are save. They claim Romans 16:16 refers to their church. But the churches of Christ here were the early Christian congregations meeting mostly in homes- not any modern church today. The fact that Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” rules out any good deeds, churches or organizations, persons and rites as a means of accessing God and heaven. Jesus alone brings us to God and to that eternal place. 

  How does Christ act as the way to God and to eternal life? We want to understand two words in the New Testament that would explain this. 1) Reconcile. Sin separates from God and makes us His enemies. But “we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Rom 5:10). In Jesus we become friends of God again if we repent and forsake our sins (1 Jn. 1:9). 2) Mediator.This word also connotes a spiritual gap between a holy God and a human sinner. But Jesus become the bridge in that gap. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). The two words are saying the same thing, that Jesus Christ is the only one who brings us to our Father God and to His eternal home. But the idea and work of relating sinners to God does not belong to Christ alone. In fact it was the Father who sent His Son to save the world (Jn. 3:16). Paul says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ- -“ (2 Cor. 5:17). He did all of this out of His unconditional and unmerited love.

  How can we take Jesus Christ as the way? By believing in Him. But to believe in Him is more than an intellectual agreeing that Jesus Christ was a real historical person. It is committing one’s whole life to Him, loving, trusting, and obeying Him. It is accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. Have you taken Jesus Christ as your way to God and to eternal life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there is no other way to God and to eternal life except you. I welcome you into my heart as my Lord and Savior.  May you empower me to walk and live faithfully with you unto eternity. In your precious Name I pray. Amen.