In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is baptized by John and tempted by Satan before he begins his teaching ministry. Our Lord spoke with the authority only the Son of God could wield. It is interesting to note, the first two commands he delivers are, “repent” and “follow me.”-Matthew 4:17-19. (The same commands are repeated in Mark with the addition of the directive to “believe.”-Mark 1:15-17.).
Our Mini-Meeting this year is on the theme expressed in the classic hymn, Who Will Follow Jesus? Bubba Garner from Houston, Texas will be our special guest speaker. Set your phasers to stun and your calendars to September 15-17 to hear brother Garner and be edified by the preaching of the word.
I couldn’t help myself from pondering the theme this week. It occurred to me how adamant our faith-only friends are that we somehow practice a “works based” salvation. Nothing can be further from the truth. I can neither merit my salvation nor “law keep” my way to righteousness before God. Our Father in heaven sacrificed his willing and obedient Son, so we might be washed in the blood that pays the guilt of our sin. The power of salvation belongs with the Almighty and by his great grace and mercy he has chosen to save those who believe in and serve his only begotten Son (Romans 9:33; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10). Praise God!
So, how do we explain the need to follow, obey, or complete our faith by works? For that matter, wouldn’t Jesus need to tell our Calvinistic neighbors why he began his ministry with two commands to do something? It seems ridiculous when we put it that way does it not? The defining idea of Christianity is discipleship. The very definition of the word disciple is to be a follower and learner. If am not a disciple, I need to repent and follow Jesus today. For those of us who serve Jesus as Lord our directive is to, “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.”-Matthew 28:19.”
Neither our working nor our following save us. God does that through the blood of Jesus the resurrected Christ and the Spirit of holiness seals and strengthens us as we follow Jesus on the narrow way. We have faith in Jesus that he knows the way to the Father. Who else should we follow (John 6:68)? Jesus has the words of eternal life.
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