The purification and sanctification of the church

When we become Christians, we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift and then the process of sanctification starts. We are positionally set apart by God for holy purposes (Romans 1:1), but our natures still need to change. We need to be purified. To belong to God means you belong to the Holy One, the One without any moral corruption, without fault or sin or unrighteousness. We, on the other hand, are not holy in ourselves, we are defiled in our thinking, and we have corrupted ourselves. We need constant cleansing and purification to have communion with God and maintain fellowship with God. 

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3 ESV)

Everyone who is born again of the Spirit has a desire to be holy as God is holy. However, we see unholiness and sin in ourselves daily. If a person does not desire holiness in his or her life and has no desire to be clean and pure, we can ask: has such a person really received the Holy Spirit as a gift? How can a person receive the Holy Spirit and not desire holiness? It does not make sense. How can a person who has received a stomach not want to eat? How can a person who has been given eyes not want to see beauty? How can a person who has received a talent to play the piano, not develop it? God created us for Himself and if we want to spend time with God, we must desire to have His mind, His desires, dreams, purposes, righteousness and His holiness. Therefore, the Bible tells us, everyone who hopes for glory in heaven, purifies himself as God is pure. The church needs to be purified, it needs more holiness, and it needs sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 tells us, “This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality.” Hebrews 12:14 tells us that without holiness no one will see God. God called us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). 

So, what does it mean to be pure and holy? Biblically, it means to be separated from the world. It doesn’t mean one lives separated from the world in the sense that you live alone on a mountain or an island or in the woods for the rest of your life.  Rather, it means that you live and think and behave differently from unbelievers and people that belong to the world. Jesus prayed for the church, asking not that God would take them out of the world, but rather that He would keep them from the evil one and that He would sanctify them through His word (John 17:15-19). God wants us to live in the world and make a difference in the world without being contaminated by the world. We are like doctors living in a hospital. There are many sick people in a hospital, and they have many kinds of diseases. Some diseases are more serious than others; some are in the intensive wards. Some are on the brink of dying and the doctors and nurses are there to treat and diagnose and heal the patients with whatever knowledge and medicine and equipment they have. In the same way, Christians are in this sick world of sin. The people of the world are dying; they have spiritual diseases, diseases such as pride, anxiety, greed, lust, selfishness, vanity, hatred, jealousy, drunkenness, addiction to substances, being lovers of self, etc. Some are on the brink of destroying themselves. And we, the Christians, have received the cure for our spiritual diseases; they are the blood of Jesus and the word of God. We have the medicine; we have different treatments for these diseases. We find them all in the word of God and in the Person of Christ. The art of life is to maintain our spiritual health within this sin-sick world! 

We know that it is only the blood of Jesus Christ that can cleanse us from our sicknesses. Real Christians have experienced this cleansing, this healing, when they confessed their sins and believed in the power of the blood of Christ. They have experienced the healing power of the gospel and it is incumbent on those who have experienced this to prescribe this medicine to the spiritually sick and to apply the word of God to the cancer of sin. 

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7-9 ESV)

The purpose of the gospel and of evangelism is to be thoroughly cleansed of our sins, and thoroughly purified from our unrighteousness so that we can have communion with God from day to day. Without sanctification taking place and the blood of Christ being applied to our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we lose our communion with God. We evangelize and make God known so people can experience the satisfaction of sanctification, of being set apart for God, of becoming purified, and more and more like Christ. Jesus said to His disciples, “you are clean through the word that I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). When we meditate on the word of God day and night, when we read, and believe, and ponder, and obey the word of God, we are washed, and purified. This then, is why we evangelize, so that others can become pure and experience God, and see God. 

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God (Matthew 5:8)

At the cross of Golgotha, the blood of Christ was shed for us, not only to justify us (Romans 5:8), and to forgive us our sin; not only to reconcile us to God, but to cleanse (1 John 1:7) and purify and sanctify us (Hebrews 13:18): so that we maintain fellowship with Christ! Let us draw near to God in humility and He will draw near to us (James 4:5-8).

Fellowship with Christians

God calls and saves His elect people across the globe from every ethnic people group, not only to worship and enjoy Him forever, but so that we have fellowship with each other in the church. God has a people, and His people will worship and commune with Him forever. There are many people that belong to the church. Revelation 7:9 tells us that at the end of history there will be a great multitude that no person can number, ten thousands of ten thousands that will stand before God and praise “the Lamb who was slain. “

There will be many in heaven. And there are now many Christians on   earth. Millions of them are scattered among the nations. Before the 19^th century most of the Christians in the world were located in Europe and in North America, although there were Christians in Asia and in North Africa centuries before. But Christianity in the latter two was largely wiped out through persecution. It was only after the missionaries in the 19^th century realized their calling to go out, in obedience to their Master, and make disciples and languages were transcribed and written down, Bibles were translated and the gospel was preached all over the globe, that Christianity became a world-wide phenomenon. In God’s sovereignty many came into the church from many different ethnic groups. 

When a person comes to Christ and is born again and receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that person needs care and assistance. If a baby is born into this world, it needs assistance, constant care, a mother, and a family. Likewise, the church is the mother of new believers. The church is supposed to be a family. New believers need to work through their past sinful lives. They need direction, correction, care, and love. They need intensive healing. Some need more care than others. The devil, the world and the flesh are too strong to cope with in our newborn states. Therefore, God so arranged that each believer belong to a family of believers who will nurture, guide and show them the narrow road to heaven. New believers and older believers need counseling. Sins need to be confessed. Restitution needs to be made. Things need to be put right. For these things to happen the church is necessary. Each member in the church needs brothers and sisters. 

We are the body of Christ. In a body there are many members, and each has a different function. But all are indispensable. Each member is dependent on the other. We are a global church and as such we need each other. But also, God has put us in smaller units, namely, in local churches. We are members of one another. The Bible tells us if one member suffers all suffer. If one member is honored all the rest rejoice (1 Cor 12:20-28). Paul was speaking to the Corinthian church. He was reminding them that they are a family and that they need one another. People are not saved to become independent “lone-ranger” Christians. We are saved to serve one another and to fulfill our function in the body of Christ. It is therefore essential that each Christian belongs to a local fellowship, a local church. Every Christian needs to be baptized and to partake of the Lord’s Supper. These visible signs, or sacraments, strengthen our faith and are testimonies that we identify with Christ, in his suffering, death, and life. We not only share in His suffering but also in his power (Rom 6:3-8). And we don’t only suffer with Christ but also with one another. 

The Bible states emphatically that we should not forsake fellowship meetings but encourage each other daily:

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

(Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV)

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)

The world has a power and an attraction that constantly draws us towards it. For Christians to overcome the world and its lusts, we need brothers and sisters to carry our burdens. When we carry each other’s burdens, we fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). 

The goal of evangelism and making God known is that people who have never experienced the love of Christ should experience it in the church. We were saved for the eternal family of God. We were saved to enjoy one another’s company, to sharpen and encourage one another, and to rejoice in our mutual salvation.We were also saved to suffer with one another! Certainly, we are not perfect: we sin often as Christians. But we learn in the body to forgive, rebuke, comfort and encourage one another. There are so many battles to be fought, so much opposition to face, so many disappointments in life, and so many tribulations to endure, that we need each other to keep on the straight and narrow path to heaven. 

The goal of evangelism is to come into the fellowship of the saints and to stay there until you die (1 John 2:23-26). There are today many different churches and many different denominations, but not all understand the Bible in the same way. Many unfortunately fight with one another over many peripheral things in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to know what the central and nonnegotiable truths are. We must believe them and defend them as Christians; and we must know where we may “agree to disagree”. Our unity with Christians in our love for the church and across denominational lines must be based upon what the Bible affirms to be true and right and good. Our unity as Christians is based on the truth (John 17:17-23). All who are truly born of the Spirit and have received Christ as their God, Savior and Lord, are irrevocably united with Christ as his eternal body, his church, throughout all ages. 

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV)

Concerning preserving the unity in the global church of God, the following maxim should be remembered: in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; in all things charity. 

Worshipping and delighting in God

In the history of the Christian church some believers (those who drafted the Westminster Catechism) said the goal of life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever! I believe that this is what the Bible teaches. To glorify God and worship Him is why God has made us. And we glorify God by enjoying Him and His presence. We glorify and worship Him by being satisfied with Him in all that Christ is for us, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, as we meditate on the accurate revelation of God in the Holy Scriptures and in general revelation. We see God for who He is in the Holy Scriptures contained in the Old and New Testaments. We can know Him partially in general revelation but intimately and redemptively in the Holy Bible. We cannot worship God without knowing God, can we? So, before we can worship God and enjoy Him, we have to know Him! Therefore, we first must receive revelation of God before we can worship Him (Matthew 11:27-29).

Jesus said in the gospel of John that God seeks worshippers that will worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23,24). We cannot worship God unless we are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit and know the truth about Him. And we cannot be in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit unless we have received Him, and we cannot receive Him until God regenerates us (John 3:3-6); regeneration happens when God calls us to faith and repentance by the preaching of the gospel! So, the goal of evangelism (namely, to worship God) is achieved by the means of grace: the proclamation of the gospel! In heaven no one will evangelize to win lost people! There will be no need for it. Evangelism is not an end in itself: It is a means to the glorious end of glorifying God and enjoying him forever! The Bible makes this emphatically clear throughout both Testaments.

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days (Psalms 90:14 ESV).

“Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy!” (Psalms 99:9 ESV).

““And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:13-14 ESV).

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 ESV).

So, what is worship essentially? Theologian John Piper answers: “God is most glorified is us when we are most satisfied in Him.” I believe this statement is true. Glorifying God means to be happy in Him; it means to enjoy Him and to have joy in Him and to be fulfilled in Him. When Jesus said believing in God means never to thirst or hunger anymore, He was referring to spiritual satisfaction and fulfillment. Saving faith entails being satisfied with Christ. Worshipping God means more than just praising Him and singing songs to Him to set tunes and lyrics. Glorifying God means your affections and emotions are involved! In a sense it means to be ecstatic about God, but with understanding. If I love my wife it means I have good and wonderful feelings about her. If I praise her for her beauty and joy I do so with affection and warmth. And so, it is in our relationship with God. If I love and worship Him I do so with affection and amazement, not just with words. But words are important because words complete our worship. Not saying to my wife “I love you” but just showing her that I love her is not sufficient in a healthy relationship. With God it is the same, we should say that we love God and that we praise Him: the words complete our worship. But this is not all there is in worship, there is more. 

While expression of affection and words are both essential to worship so is correct knowledge of whom we worship. But if our actions don’t authenticate our worship then it is not real. Worship must move from the cognitive to the affective level; and from the affective to the verbal level and ultimately to the volitional (or behavioral) level. For faith without works is dead (James 2:14-17):

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1 ESV).

It is clear from this text that Paul says worship is a continual presentation of our bodies and its members to what is good and righteous (see also Romans 6:13). What we say, what we do with our hands and feet, and so on, are all acts of worship. That is why Paul said to the Corinthian church: “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 9:31). We worship when we chat about the weather and politics, fix a doorknob, drive a motor vehicle or work on the computer… Everything we do involves worship, not only what we do on Sunday mornings! We worship by showing what we value and prize. 

We therefore worship God by showing our love for Him by loving each other. Jesus made this truly clear in Matthew 25:31-46. What we do for the least in the family of God we do for Christ. Therefore, service to the church is service to Christ. Visiting the sick and those who suffer and giving food to the hungry are acts of worship to Christ, when we do it in union with Christ. We worship God and we show that we value Him above all when we love and care and pray for one another, even if we have to suffer. Glorifying God also means that we obey God and follow Him even when there is no happy emotion. Jesus didn’t feel wonderful and happy on the cross when he bore the wrath of God for His people. It is impossible to glorify God without the love of God in your life, and that love comes from the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). True worship of God involves our affections but acts of worship also often involve acts of sacrifice and suffering. 

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

(Galatians 5:6 ESV)

Christians will worship God forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth. This worship will not only include praise and thanksgiving, it will involve service and work in a body and soul that can never sin! It will be the most pure and ecstatic worship, together with greater understanding and knowledge of who God is.

“For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV).

This is the goal of evangelism and making God known: to worship God in Spirit and in truth, and to reach out to people across all ethnic groups to join those who are worshippinghim, in order to maximize the number of worshippers.

Will you join us in worshipping and enjoying the One who is most valuable and precious? 

Living the crucified life with Christ

One of the goals in evangelism and making God known is that people see the worth of Jesus Christ as their supreme treasure and consequently commit their lives to Him as their Lord and King. When people know how valuable Christ is and come to know His supreme authority over all of life, and that His kingdom will never end (Isaiah 9:6-9), it becomes evident that they should follow His instructions, no matter the cost involved! Following Jesus Christ and receiving Him as one’s Master and Lord involves a cost. Salvation is by free sovereign grace but having Christ in one’s life involves sacrifice: we have to endure hardship and suffering in following Jesus. 

All people who live on this planet undergo suffering and hardship of some kind, whether it be physical, emotional, psychological or otherwise. Unbeliever and believer alike undergo suffering. Because we live in a fallen world, because sin entered the world and because God has subjected the world to futility (Romans 8:21-23), all people undergo suffering. But that is not the kind of suffering Jesus was speaking about when he said the following to his disciples:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25 ESV).

He said that if we want to be his disciples, we will have to undergo suffering. To take up one’s cross in ancient times meant one was going to one’s death. Criminals who took up their crosses for their crimes were crucified because of their transgressions against the Roman Empire. So, when Jesus said you will have to take up your cross, it meant that we must be willing to die for him. In other words, if we are Christians our allegiance to God should come before our allegiance towards anything else. 

Being a Christian and the goal of evangelism have a yet deeper significance. If we are united with Christ, we have been intimately identified with Him. We have died with Christ and we live with Him (Romans 6:1-11). This means we have to put to death the deeds of the body and our own sinful desires. The apostle Paul said: “if you through the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body you shall live” (Romans 8:13) and:

“For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

(Galatians 2:19-20 ESV)

We should die daily with Christ. We are crucified with him. The world and its lusts are crucified to us and we to them! (Galatians 6:16,17). We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:19). We are pilgrims and strangers in this world. Our home is in heaven! We are passing through this world and battling against evil. This is because we still live in this body which tempts us; we must put to death the deeds of the body every day! And the world does not love righteousness; it loves evil and sin. So, when we stand for righteousness and love it, we stand up and speak out for truth and the gospel. The world will oppose, insult, and hate us. Members of one’s own family could do this. People in your workplace will oppose and insult you. It will become hard to follow Jesus. For example, many Christians lose their jobs because of unwillingness to compromise for their employers. Christians are being sued because they refuse to follow the evils of this world, e.g., because they refuse to condone homosexuality, blasphemy, transgenderism, evolutionism and ancestral worship.

The goal of evangelism is to share in the suffering of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:10-12). 

It is the goal because there is no other way to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ! 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12 ESV)

Why did Jesus say we are blessed when people insult us and revile us for righteousness sake and on his account? We are blessed because in suffering for Christ we become more acquainted with the death and life of Christ and therefore with Christ Himself. When we suffer for him, we experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit more, we are more encouraged, and the Spirit of glory rests on us to a greater degree! (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, 1 Peter 4:14). Paul said, “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 NKJV).  I have experienced many times when I evangelize that people oppose, insult, and even curse me. In 2011 when I spoke to a Rastafarian in Bloemfontein a man cursed me and Christ for about 5 minutes. I eventually just had to walk away because a huge crowd was forming around us! Another time after sharing the gospel, a Muslim woman threatened to kill me! On another occasion, when a friend and I shared the gospel with a group of Somalians in Johannesburg, one man pulled out a huge knife to stab my friend. By God’s grace I saw it in time and his life was spared. These reactions shouldn’t surprise us because Jesus warned that the world would hate us, Him, and the gospel! Living for Christ means to die daily to one’s own ideas, ambitions, and interests. It means dying to one’s selfish desires and pressing into the kingdom of God with force. To live for Christ means we are willing to make Him known and to know Him no matter the cost! It means we must be willing to forsake the approval of the world to know we are approved by Him. 

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33 ESV).

Obedience to God

What is the goal of evangelism? It is to make God known and to multiply the number of Christians in the world, i.e. people who will worship and obey God. The goal of the Christian life is to please God:   when we evangelize and proclaim the gospel, we have this in mind. We want people across the world, in every nation, in every tribe, among young and old, rich and poor, to live lives that please God. We want this because people who please God truly bring him glory: He is glorified when people obey and please Him. We have seen in the preceding chapters that without being a son or daughter of God, without being born of the Spirit, we cannot please God! In fact, the carnal mind is hostile towards God (Romans 8:7). 

Jesus said the following in the gospel of John: 

“If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 ESV). 

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10 ESV)

When Jesus was speaking to His disciples about keeping his commandments, he was not merely saying to them that they should think about them or meditate on them or memorize them. All these things are important, and I believe they involve keeping his commandments, but when Jesus commanded his disciples to keep his commandments, he was primarily commanding them to love and obey them! 

The litmus test Jesus sets forth for loving Him, is obedience to His commandments! If we do not obey them, we do not love Him. And if we do not love Him, we are not His children. In the words of the apostle Paul, we are accursed, damned! (1 Corinthians 16:22). If obeying God is the litmus test for loving Him, we have to make sure what these commandments are! If the critical thing before us as Christians is to glorify God and obey Him, we need to know how we should do so! Jesus said: “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments!” 

There has been a lot of confusion in many Christian circles as to what these commandments refer to! Some say they refer only to the commandments of Jesus Christ in the gospels! Other say they refer only to the commandments of Jesus in the gospels and the commandments of his apostles in the New Testament.   What about the commandments in the Old Testament given to the people of God? Have they all been fulfilled in the New Testament? Are they all redundant? What about the Ten Commandments given to Moses and the people of God at Mount Sinai? Are they irrelevant? 

First of all, we have to distinguish between the ceremonial law, the civil law and the moral law of God in the Old Testament. Jesus came to fulfill the whole law, all three aspects of the law in the Old Testament (Matthew 5:17,18). The ceremonial law, which included the animal sacrifices and the temple service and the washings and observance of the temple laws, has been fulfilled in Christ and has been abrogated. No more temple service is necessary, no further animal sacrifices for the atonement of sins are required. Jesus was the final sacrifice that took away all the sins of the world, i.e., his people across all the nations (Hebrews 10:10-14; John 1:29). The temple is no longer needed! Christians are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16,17) and that is so because Jesus destroyed the temple and was raised from the dead after three days (John 2:18-22).

The civil law is a term referring to the laws that regulated the affairs and government of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. They are valuable in that they show how God implemented his moral law in ancient days. However, God’s people (the church) are now scattered across the nations and live at a time when the nation of Israel is no longer an entity in the plan of God’s redemptive history (the Messiah has already come). These laws cannot therefore be implemented in any nation consistently. We can nevertheless under God apply principles from these laws to govern our societies and nations: they are useful in showing us the holy and just character of God. The civil law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ; we are now under his law. And by that we mean we are still subject to the moral law of God, to obey God. We do not have a license to do what we want. We cannot invent our own Christianity. Jesus fulfilled the moral law of God by his perfect life in obedience to every aspect of the law and especially to the Ten Commandments. Jesus obtained for us a perfect righteousness whereby we can be justified in God’s sight! But God has not destroyed the moral law, he has not set it aside or abrogated it! 

Why do I say so? 

If you read the New Testament carefully you will see that the apostles and Jesus Christ affirmed and upheld every commandment of the ten and the moral law, in a consistent fashion. They rephrased them (Matthew 5:18-48; Ephesians 4-6; 1 John 3:15) and gave us their true meaning; they illustrated them. They also applied them consistently. Jesus will also, at the end of the age, judge the living and the dead according to the moral law. Our consciences will accuse or excuse us (Romans 2:14-16) according to God’s moral law. The moral law cannot be destroyed because it is an expression of his just and holy character and it is based on God’s unchanging nature. (James 1:17). 

So, when Jesus told His disciples to keep his commandments, He was talking about the moral law found in the Old and New Testaments. We also must remember that Jesus Christ was the One who gave the moral law at Mount Sinai. Is He not God? Is HE not the Great “I Am”? The commands He gave us while he was on earth were thus not the only commandments He gave! He existed before time began. He also gave commands through the Holy Spirit, by using the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles. 

Reading, meditating, studying and delighting in the Scriptures

In a very real sense, God has saved us to His word, that we should meditate on it. God saves His people for Himself and for communication and communion. He communicates with His people primarily through His word. He communicates with all people through what we see and experience through general revelation, his creation, ecosystems, the stars, thunderstorms and through the flow of circumstances and events (what we call providence). But all these communications are non-verbal. However, God has inspired a Book, or a collection of 66 books, called the Bible, and in no other place or book has He spoken verbally and authoritatively as in this Book, the Bible. He has spoken through the prophets and apostles (Eph. 2:20) of old, and these words have such a bearing on human existence that it is said that they give life to the dead (1 Peter 1:23-25). It is through the word of God that:

• the universe was created (Hebrews 11:3)
• the universe does not cease (Hebrews 1:3)
• we are guided into the path of light and life (Psalm 119:105; John 6:63)
• we gain wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-6)
• we distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil (2 Timothy 3:16)
• we are born again (1 Peter 1:23-25)
• we grow as Christians (1 Peter 2:3)
• we are strengthened (Acts 20:32)
• we are sanctified (John 17:17)
• judgment will be given (John 5:26,27)
• we gain hope (Romans 15:4-6)
• we gain eternal life (John 6:68)
• we get comfort in our affliction (Psalm 119:50)
• Heaven and earth will pass away but God’s word will never pass away (Matthew 24:36)
• God’s word is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89)
• God’s word is living and active (Hebrews 4:12)

God has magnified His word above His Name (Psalm 138:2). If God has given such a high priority to His word, it is incumbent on us, who are saved, to meditate on his word day and night and to find joy in it! 

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” (Psalms 1:1-4 ESV)

Great will be your joy, and fruitful your walk, if you read, study and meditate on the word of God daily. You will be blessed when you study the word of God. It is not enough just to read the word of God. That we must do! I have had the custom of reading the whole Bible through every year for more than 17 years. But reading is not enough. Reading must give way to pondering and fixing your mind on the glory of God revealed in the Scriptures. In other words, you must strive to understand the word and love the God of the Scriptures. Meditate and delight in the word of God, because in it you encounter God and His attributes, and His will. You will be blessed when you delight in the word of God and in the God of the word, when you depend on every word for your daily bread and strength. 

Jesus said, when tempted, ‘man lives not on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ (Matt 4:4 ESV). Remember that the words of God are more precious than silver and much gold (Ps 19:9-11)! Let me ask you a question: Do you regard it as such? 

Do you begin and end your day in the word of God? If not, why not? 

Do you think something else is more important than God and His word? What?

The word of God is your life, your sustenance, your salvation, your bread, your treasure. There you find Christ, the wisdom of God and the power of God (1 Cor. 1:25). 

Listen to this sound advice from Apostle Paul, to his disciple Timothy:

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

In this passage we see that the sacred writings, the Scriptures, are able to make us wise for salvation in Christ Jesus. That is the purpose why the Bible has been given, namely so that every reader may gain salvation in Christ, and that every believer may grow in salvation in Christ. The sacred writings have been given to us by God, they were inspired, they were breathed out by Him, they originated from Him. The Bible did not originate from man. The sacred writings came from God, through human writers, but God is the primary author. They came from the Holy Spirit. And because they come from Him, they are authoritative and without error in what they affirm and assert concerning salvation, righteousness, good, evil, truth, sin, and in every other area of life they touch upon. The Scriptures are trustworthy. They are clear. They convey things that can be understood. They are also sufficient to make the man or woman of God thoroughly equipped for every good work. They are there to equip the believer, to guide him, to sanctify him and to make him an instrument that God can use for His glory. 

We have no other infallible guide like the Bible. No other book or so-called “revelation” in a dream or vision can overthrow or alter or suspend the Bible. We evangelize and make God known so that people can be satisfied with God in Christ, in the Scriptures, by the Holy Spirit. 

Living by faith in future grace

You might ask me where I got this title of living “by faith in future grace”? A few years ago, I read a book by John Piper called “Future Grace”. In this book he speaks of the fact that we as believers in Christ don’t only live from the supplies of grace that we have received from God in the past: we are energized and enthused by the promises of God in his Word of future grace that will be supplied to the believer. Piper argues in his book that to make our faith strong we should lay hold of the promises of God in his Word. In doing so we shall also be able to    fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), and unbelief in our lives. I agree with Piper because I have experienced in my own life how the promises of God have helped me to live a life pleasing to God. God has given us thousands of promises in His Word.  All of these promises, which God made to the Israelites in the Old Testament and to His disciples and His church in New Testament times, find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ! This means they have spiritual significance for us here and now and we can apply them to our lives in the 21^st century!

“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ESV)

Since God is the God of truth who cannot lie (Titus 1:2), we can be assured that we shall escape the corruption in the world and be made partakers of the divine nature through his promises (2 Peter 1:3-4).  The fact that God gave so many promises in the Bible to his people, and that He is omnipotent, means that our faith gets stronger as we meditate on the promises of God. As we do so and thus take hold of them, meeting the conditions of these promises, we experience firsthand how God fulfills them time and time again in our lives! I know from experience how God has used his promises in my own life to save me from sinful habits (Hebrews 7:25); to cast away anxiety (Philippians 4:5-7); to overcome temptation (1Corinthians 10:13); and to fill me with hope (Ecclesiastes 9:4) for the future as He leads and directs my paths (Proverbs 3;5,6)! As we see God answering our prayers and rewarding our faith (Hebrews 11:6) we grow stronger in faith and have more joy in the Holy Spirit. Our faith in the Word of God, and in the God of the Word, will become unshakable when we trust in His promises, because we will know firsthand how He walks with us, directs us, and provides in our needs. 

God has not only acted in history through Jesus Christ to accomplish salvation: He is acting in our lives now, from day to day, and He has promised that there will be new supplies of grace in the future through His Son Jesus Christ. And we know this because he has promised so in his Word! 

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 ESV)

God has promised that He will be with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). He has promised that he will never leave or forsake his children (Hebrews 13:5); that no one will be able to pluck us out of the hand of the Father; and that we will never perish (John 10:27-30). Furthermore, since He is for us, no one will be against us to destroy us ultimately (Romans 8:31). God accomplishes all of this through the intercessory work of Jesus Christ in heaven:  

“Consequently, he (Christ) is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25 ESV).

God will supply more grace towards us because Jesus is constantly praying for us in heaven, for those who come to God through Him. Our knowledge of God, his power and his promises are our weapons against the assaults on our faith. With these weapons we will conquer the attacks on our faith; we will escape the corruption that is in the world working through sinful desire:

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV).

The goal of evangelism and making God known is that we as believers grow in our faith as a result of what He has in store for us. The goal of evangelism and the purpose of our existence are to stand on the promises of God at all times: in prosperity and in adversity, in certainty and in confusion, in weakness and in strength. The world may burn; it may turn and go after Satan and evil: as children of God however, we have a promise of a new city where righteousness will dwell. We live by faith and not by sight: faith in having new supplies of grace through Jesus Christ until he comes again. And Christ has promised that He will. God’s word is forever settled in heaven! It is indestructible! (Psalm 119:89). Hallelujah! 

Communion with God

 Man is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). We were made to have fellowship with God. As the church father Augustine said: the heart of man is restless until it finds rest in God. Without communion and fellowship with God our hearts will remain restless and confused. In fact, without them we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). But anyone who has been born from heaven and has the Holy Spirit of God within him knows that there is nothing as precious and valuable as to have regular communion with God. It is difficult to describe to an unbeliever what it means to have communion with God. One thing can be said: it is a wonderful, priceless experience. To have the Creator of the universe inside of you is an experience! 

The purpose of our salvation, the purpose of being alive, the purpose for which Jesus Christ left heaven and died a cruel death on the cross 2,000 years ago for His people, is that the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, would make their home within us. Missing this end is to miss the end and purpose of the gospel and the goal of life itself! What a tragedy it is for a human being to die without having union and communion with God! What does it matter to have children and a spouse and a good job and a nice house and all your heart’s desire in terms of wealth and possessions and fame and success, if you have no fellowship with your Maker and Savior? The tragedy beyond all tragedies is not to have daily communion with your Maker! 

Jesus said that this communion is indeed is the goal of the gospel:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:15-17, 23 ESV)

Note that we don’t only have fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit as believers. We are not only in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. When Christ is received as Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ and the Father come and dwell in us as well! This is what the apostle Paul also revealed in his letter to the Ephesians:

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV)

If you as a believer know this sweet communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit you will want other people to experience it as well! And this can only be experienced if you know your sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. And once this sweet communion has been experienced with God through faith in Jesus, it is only maintained as we live in obedience to God and His commands and as we walk in the light as God is in the light (1 John 1:7). We only have fellowship with God if we walk in the light as God is in the light. And as we said earlier, we walk in the light only when we keep confessing our sins to God and to other people, when necessary, and as God forgives our sins. There is no other way to maintain fellowship with God and to maintain and cultivate communion with God. 

The goal of our existence is to maintain fellowship with God at all costs, that is, to obey his commands and instructions. If believers refuse to obey his commands God will discipline them (Hebrews 12:5-11) until they obey. And one of these commands is to evangelize and share his gospel (Ephesians 6:15; Luke 14:21-23; Mark 16:15). I know from experience that when I go out and evangelize, I experience God’s presence with me. I experience communion with God when I am set on sharingthe good news. But when I am slack in sharing the gospel or when I neglect this duty, I start to lose my fellowship with God and do not sense his nearness.

The goal of evangelism or making God known is not only that other people can experience the everlasting enjoyment of being in union with God and experience communion with God, but it is also so that we as children of God can maintain communion with God. Communion and union with God were lost through the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but has been regained through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Glory be to God for his salvation! 

Two ways of maintaining this communion is by reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:1-4) and by praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16). As we keep on reading and studying the Bible and asking for God’s help, he will show us his will and by His grace give us the power to obey him by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). 

Dear reader, are you having daily communion with God? 

Are you obeying his command to love your neighbor as yourself? 

Are you allowing the Holy Bible, given to us by the Holy Spirit, to dictate and control your thinking, feeling, speaking and behavior? 

Discipleship and Church planting 

The goal of evangelism, to make God known, is not only to see people being saved, but to make disciples of Jesus Christ, of those who get converted. Jesus made it clear in the Great Commission to his disciples before he went to heaven 2,000 years ago:

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

God wanted His disciples to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8) “unto the uttermost ends of the earth”, not just for the sake of making Him known, but so that He might have a people who become like Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:13). God’s goal in giving his church the gospel is so that those who would believe begin to live in a way that corresponds to His character. That is the reason why God gave his people the Ten Commandments back in the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments reflect God’s character and were never given as a means of being right with God, but to show us how to please him and how to love him. The Ten Commandments were given to show His people how to live and how not to live before God. When God gave the Ten Commandments, He did so that we might observe the things he has commanded. Many people think that, in the New Testament, God has set aside the Ten Commandments. Jesus, however, never set aside His moral law. How could He? God will judge the world according to the moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments (Romans 2:14-16). Jesus upheld the moral law by saying that if anyone lusts after a woman, that man has already committed adultery with her in his heart; again, if anyone hates another person, he has committed murder (See Matthew 5:24-36). The Ten Commandments have been rephrased and expanded on in the New Testament. We need to remember that It was God who gave the Ten Commandments. 

We know that the Ten Commandments don’t give us the power to obey God. We know that they don’t give us the ability to obey God. They serve rather as a signpost, a rule of life, a map showing us how to please and honor God. Therefore, when Jesus said we must observe all that He has commanded us, he included the moral law given in the Old Testament with all He has commanded in the New. It is only the Old Testament ceremonial law and the civic law that concerned Israel as a nation that have been abolished.  But the moral law and its principles in the civic law still apply, and will, to all eternity. 

God desires a people that will love Him and love other people with all their hearts. God desires to have a people that will live holy lives and seek righteousness. God desires a people that will seek for justice in their cities and countries, because by doing and desiring that, and loving people and justice and righteousness and holiness, we reflect the character of God. The Cultural Mandate given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:26-28 should also be observed until Jesus comes again, because that is what Christ commanded: to rule and reign over God’s creation and to represent Him in this world.

To make disciples of all ethnic groups (nations) is possible because of three great truths: first, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ (Matthew 28:18). Because He has the most power in the universe nothing can stop Him from accomplishing His purposes. No one and nothing can stop Him. Secondly, it is because it is His will and purpose to make people His disciplesfrom the very beginning of time. In fact, God planned to have a people that will worship and reflect his glory before time began (see Ephesians 1:3-14). And thirdly, God has given us his presence to accomplish this task. He said that He would be with us to the end of the age. God has given His church his Spirit and because of that fact the task will be accomplished. But how do church planting and discipleship relate to one another? Do you first make disciples and then do church planting? Or does church planting come first and then discipleship? If we want to explore how these two relate to one another we need to ask: what is a church? And what is a disciple? 

A church is a body of believers in a local setting where fellowship, the worship of God and the preaching of the word take place; where the sacraments (The Lord’s supper and baptism) are faithfully being administered; and where we practice church discipline. Without these things you there is no church. A church consists of church members, born-again believers in Christ. The goal of evangelism is that people become members of a local body where they experience the dynamics of the community of the saints, which includes praying together for one other’s needs, loving one another, worshipping together, studying God’s word and being strengthened in the faith. 

A disciple is someone who is fully committed to following Jesus Christ with his whole heart. A disciple of Jesus Christ is not someone who is interested only in Christ’s teachings. A disciple of Christ is not someone who just reads the Bible and prays before a meal or is just a churchgoer. A disciple of Christ is someone who has committed himself/herself to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He is even willing to die for Christ. 

“And he (Jesus) said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26 ESV)

It is true that there are people such as Judas Iscariot, a fake, one who pretended to be a disciple of Jesus. Judas never belonged to Jesus. That is noticeably clear from the gospels. Jesus called him a devil (John 6:68). A disciple of Christ is someone who has left all to follow Christ, one who has surrendered and submitted to Him as King, who is willing to obey God at any cost. 

So, if we say that the goal of evangelism and making God known is discipleship, we are saying that the conversion of unbelievers is not the end of evangelism; conversion is actually the starting point of the process of discipleship. In some circles, people say that persons can be disciples of Christ without being born again through the Holy Spirit. If that is true then we have many false, Judas-like disciples. The emphasis in discipleship should never be that one can follow Christ authentically without trusting in Him as Lord and Savior. The ways of discipleship are manifold. But discipleship is the sine qua non[1] for believers in Christ. 

Discipleship is a life-long process for the believer in Christ. Moreover, one never grows beyond one’s need to learn more of Jesus. We will never stop learning more of God, even in eternity. We grow in our understanding of discipleship. We become more mature disciples, yet we never stop growing. 

The ideal setting for discipleship is the local church, but it is not limited to that. Discipleship can happen anywhere where believers are together: at high schools during a Bible study; during open air preaching; in one-on-one or casual conversations; in counseling a believer; on the Internet; in a parent-child or employer-employee relationship, etc. Discipleship and Evangelism take on many forms and happen in different settings, but both should eventually lead to fellowship with other believers and flow out into experiencing the dynamics of a local church.

Church planting and discipleship frequently overlap, although they can be separated. The focus in discipleship should be on incorporating saved souls into a local body of believers. If people are converted to Christ but don’t belong to a local church, then church planting should necessarily follow. If a church exists and it grows in a certain location, then discipleship should be the focus of that church, especially with regard to people who are new to Christianity. The goal of evangelism is to see Christians become committed followers of Jesus Christ. 

Also, in the process of discipleship we continue to evangelize, firstly because we are not sure if those we do disciple are genuinely saved and whether they correctly understand the essentials of the gospel. Also, we continue to evangelize during the discipleship and church-planting

process because preaching the gospel is not only necessary for the conversion of unbelievers but also for building Christians up in their most holy faith (Jude 1:20). The gospel is necessary throughout our Christian walk because Christians tend so easily to forget the doctrine of justification by faith through Christ only and start to rely on their own righteousness! 

May God’s goal be our goal in evangelism. May we have God’s vision and mission for the nations!

---

[1] An absolutely indispensable or essential thing (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary).

Justification and Adoption 

When God converts sinners through the means that He has appointed, namely the preaching of the gospel, and the prayers of the saints, and the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, bringing the dead to life, and granting faith in Christ and repentance towards God – it is then that God justifies and adopts the sinner. These two things, justification, and adoption are two great realities revealed in the Scriptures; they are not peripheral things. 

“For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” (Romans 4:3-5 ESV)

“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:24-26 ESV)

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  So, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:4-7 ESV)

It is clear from these texts, and others, that sinners are justified and adopted by God through faith in Christ. It is not by works or the works of the law that we are justified and adopted into God’s family. So, what do these words, justification, and adoption, actually mean?

Both words, justification, and adoption, are legal terms. To be justified means that before justification took place, a person was found to be guilty. And we know, as said before, that we were all once condemned because of our sins (Romans 3:19,20). In God’s court, before God’s judgment throne, we all stood guilty, hundreds and thousands of times, for crimes against God. We despised his authority, rejected his laws; we deserved to die and be condemned. But because Jesus Christ came down from heaven to earth, and obtained a perfect righteousness, and came to stand in our place to bear the punishment we deserved, and died the death we deserved; because Jesus was condemned in our place and became a curse for us, by dying on the cross, you and I can have our sins forgiven. We can be declared innocent. It is wonderful to be forgiven but to be declared righteous and just, is even greater! And that is what the gospel is all about. It is about God making a way for you and me to be made acceptable in God’s sight. In the gospel, God made Jesus to be sin for us, so that we can become the righteousness of God in Him. In the gospel, a divine exchange takes place. When a person believes in Christ, God credits Christ’s righteousness to the sinner, and the sinner’s sin to Christ. In fact, Jesus died for the sins of the believer 2,000 years ago. But by faith, in real time, when the sinner believes in Christ, God forgives the sinner, and God credits Christ’s obedience to the law, Christ’s righteousness, to the believer. And when God does this, he declares the sinner to be just or righteous. Justification is a legal declaration by God, in His courtroom. By faith in Christ, God looks on the sinner as if he has never sinned, as if he or she is Jesus Christ Himself!

This is why we evangelize and make God known. We want people across the world to be justified by God, to be accepted by Him, by virtue of Christ. Justification is a once-off declaration by God to a sinner, never to be repeated, never to be canceled. Once a person is justified by God, he can never be unjustified. Those whom God justified, he glorified (Romans 8:29,30). 

But there is more:  after God has justified a person, he doesn’t stop there. It gets better! Once God justifies the sinner by faith, he proceeds   to adopt him or her into his family.  Adoption, like justification, is a legal declaration. It is a legal process. Before anything happens to our sinful natures, before the purification process starts, God justifies us by faith and adopts us into His family. These two glorious things, we can say, happen almost simultaneously. But, logically, justification comes first. Once God has justified the sinner, he proceeds to adopt the one   justified into his family. He declares the justified one to be his son or daughter! As proof that he has done this, he sends the Spirit of God, the Spirit of sonship, into that person’s life, in order to seal the declaration and legal process. All those whom God justifies by faith in Christ, he also adopts. And once they are adopted, they are baptized by the Holy Spirit and receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. 

There is much to say about these things! All I want to say for now is this: the reason we share the gospel, and the goal of going out into the world to evangelize, is so that God, by his grace, would justify and adopt people into His family! Sharing the gospel is about God making people like Jesus. That doesn’t happen unless sinners are justified and adopted into his family. We are not by nature righteous in God’s sight. We are sinful and desperately wicked, in need of mercy. We are not by nature God’s sons or daughters, but sons and daughters of disobedience and wrath. We are by nature sons of the devil and under the curse. Through the gospel, and the gospel alone, we come into the privileged positions of being called sons and daughters of God and we receive the Spirit of God. And by receiving this declaration, we not only receive the filling of Spirit of God, but also an inheritance prepared for us in heaven!

You are no longer called a sinner but a saint in Christ. You are no longer called a slave, but a son. You are no longer condemned; you are justified by faith. Because of this, God no longer counts your sins against you, but credits Christ’s righteousness to you! This is why we make God known, that God would justify, and adopt sinners to Himself.