LAY IT BARE

in Spirituality By Mccuon on 07 Feb 2015

In the wake of calls for increased mission work from various quotas and rife false teachings, it is important to closely look into our art of discipleship lest we fall prey to the prevalent falsehoods.
^“19 Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. ²⁰ 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.” Matthew 28:19

These words of Jesus don’t sound close to a request; they come as a command, an order to the present day disciples. It is a victorious call to the disciples to confidently take the gospel to the nations, worldwide. On the basis of these words, every Christian is charged with a God-given mandate.
What does reaching out to the nations entail? Is it all about sharing the gospel with an individual and later requiring them to say a repentance prayer with you?
It may be easy to lead an individual to Christ if the much they know about Jesus has nothing to do with His redemptive role to us. It is not uncommon to find individuals who claim to know Jesus but know not about His saving power; therefore salvation is also unknown to them. Little or no acquaintance with Jesus Christ leads to a perception of salvation as any other human commitment open to deliberate breaches. Such individuals will wrongfully view salvation as a generality, not aware what it is all about. Such casual understanding of salvation eventually produces superficial believers. It is highly likely in our evangelism efforts we will encounter such situations.

^“18 To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from power of Satan unto
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are
Sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 26:18
It is of great importance to realize that forgiveness of sins is a gift from God which we are at discretion to receive or turn down. Should one choose to receive the gift, they will have to inevitably agree to the certain terms -To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from power of Satan unto
God. This is one of the few situations I know there are no two ways about, no detour. This is the key thing to observe anytime we are speaking to unbelievers about Christ, the cost of discipleship.

“²⁶ And they that heard it said, who the can be saved” Luke 18:26
Jesus, in Luke 18 presents to us the cost of discipleship, it is so bewildering to His audience to a point, to them it is seemingly impossible for anybody to be saved. A seed gets to its full potential only after its death. The truth of this principle applies to salvation, without putting our flesh to death salvation remains elusive. Repentance and a total overhaul of oneself should be the core message in our evangelism efforts. Lay it bare, place the cards on the table and make known of the cost involved. Radical transformation and significant changes in lifestyle comes with salvation, revising and doing away with of our desires to match God’s will is paramount.

Salvation is fulfilling, an intimate relationship with Christ which brings forth good success. Salvation and success are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they co-exist fairly well. However, preaching deceiving promises of instantaneous solutions, prosperity and fulfillments in salvation leaving out the central message of sincere repentance and total surrender to the course of Christ only sums up to a false hope. Actually, where repentance and submission are absent salvation is there not. It is only easy for an unbeliever to play to such tunes but end up desiring salvation for the wrong reasons. The problem is manifested by serial failures of many attempts to live under the newly acquired status. As soon as it is clear of the cost involved, they take a quick exit. That becomes another painful case of a fallen brethren.

Advocacy for sincere commitment to the course of Christ even in inconveniences and full settlement of the cost of discipleship will cause the elusive distinguishable features between the lifestyles of believers and unbelievers. Putting to death double-standards lifestyles which have become a hallmark of many Christians’ lives.
Proper presentation of the gospel of Christ will bring the distinctive line that will clear the mist crowding the minds of many about salvation.