Lesson 1: Knowing the God of our Salvation
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 NASB
A few points as we get started making disciples – I use Scripture to make disciples, lots and lots of Scripture because it is God’s power to make disciples.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” John 8:31
Also I believe a personal elder/younger brotherly or sisterly relationship between you and the young disciple needs to be nurtured as you go along. It’s a two way street type of journey where both are interacting, sharing the journey together as well as a teacher and student relationship. Jesus’ example to us was he did both, he shared his life with his disciples and taught them. In contrast were the Pharisees who just taught people and did not share their life.
Being an elder brother or sister to a young disciple includes a bit of correcting and discipline so the relationship needs to be strong enough for that.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16
“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2 NASB
The impossible part of making disciples is the “experience it” part and we trust God to accomplish that for He and He alone can make the disciple experience “knowing HIM”. For example one can know about God the healer but if God never heals them they just know about Him but have not experienced Him in that area.
This first lesson of 12 in KNOWING GOD is "Knowing God as Savior" and I’ve broken down into four meetings, one per week none of which are exhaustive on the topic, instead the intention is to instill into the young disciple the “journey” aspect of knowing God and it begins by knowing Him as our salvation the very foundation of our faith without which no one can ever truly know God.
We’re on this “long” journey to know our salvation and our savior everyday that we live on earth. Every year we should know the God of our salvation more than we knew the year before, if not we must question our growth as a His disciple.
To know God our salvation means to both “know about Him as our savior” through reading and studying the Bible as it relates to this topic, as well as “experience Him as our Savior” in prayer and a deep relationship with Him.
How well does the young disciple want to know Jesus who saves us from our sins?
This is what you must discover in the first meeting and instill in them a hunger to know Jesus.
Unfortunately, some may have intellectual knowledge about God’s salvation yet not know Him personally as savior therefore the first discipleship meeting must address this issue.
(FYI - Meeting 1a – one+ hours of teaching, discussion, song and prayer). Topic: Sin, Repentance and Faith toward God. Then break.
(FYI - Meeting 1b – one+ additional hours of teaching, discussion, song and prayer) Topic: forgiveness, being born again, the new infant, baptized into Christ and into the Church.
MEETING 1a
* Note: let the young disciples look all these verses up for themselves in their own Bible as you go along so that they get familiar with the Bible.
Sin. What is sin?
Sin is falling short of the perfect will of God for our life.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 NASB
All sin is against God, some sins are against other people too and some are against oneself and not against other people. Sins are also categorized in the Bible as willful or intentional whereas other sins are unintentional. Sins are also viewed as sinful thoughts, words and/or deeds.
Its possible for a person to think they’re good and therefore never face the fact that they’re a great sinner. This must be addressed in the young disciple first to make sure he/she has a solid understanding of their own sin as well as benefit them in their evangelism ministry to others and their ministry of loving God. (2 Cor 5:10,11; Lk 7:47;1 Jn 4:19 – more later)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NASB
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 NASB
Sin, any single sin, is to be punished by God as decreed in His Word and that punishment is an everlasting separation from God via death and being cast into eternal Hell and the Lake of Fire.
Its possible for a disciple to erroneously reject the Biblical truth regarding Hell and this will hinder their growth in knowing God our savior. Salvation, at its first understanding, means we are being saved, rescued, delivered from this punishment for our sins
As the young disciple grows they will become more sensitive to the pain of sin and grow in abstaining from sin and resisting temptation.
Repentance: What is Repentance?
Repentance is changing the direction of ones mind, heart and actions away from sinning. It is acknowledging sin, having godly sorrow for it and stopping it.
“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 NASB
“Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning;”1 Corinthians 15:34 NASB
“I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:9,10 NASB
A form of false repentance is when one regrets having done wrong but does not intend to change direction - the result of which means the person is not saved from their sin since the Bible never records the salvation of an unrepentant person.
Its possible for a person to be a false Christian either mistakenly thinking they are saved without repentance or intentionally denying the need for repentance from sin and dead works.
“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, Hebrews 6:1 NASB
The Apostle Paul was often faced with false Christians, some of whom refused to repent of dead works.
“But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in..” Galatians 2:4 NASB
Jesus and the Apostles preached repent and believe therefore we must make sure that the disciple follows that pattern.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:15 NASB
“solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21 NASB
One of the marks of a modern day Pharisee is a religious person who has NOT repented and thus is not saved.
“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:4
"Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ' We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Luke 3:8
“When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?" Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' Matthew 21:23-25 NASB
"unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3
The Old Testament required it:"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, " Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. Ezekiel 14:6
As does the New:“For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God” 1 Thessalonians 1:9
The young disciple should be certain that they have repented from all known sins; sins against God, others and self. Normally a young disciple does not know all the various sins they have committed and/or cannot remember them. The Lord meets them where they are and receives their sincere repentance according to their knowledge, as they read Scripture and the Holy Spirit convicts their heart over certain sins they will continue to grow in repentance.
A way to help them at this early stage is to list out some Scriptures regarding specific sins so that they have knowledge as to what the Bible identifies as sins:
Sins against God: atheism, idolatry, false gods, false religions, hostility toward God, blasphemy, mocking God, cursing God etc.
Sins against God and others: sexual immorality, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, violence, anger, rage, fights, arguments, cursing, profanity, lying, cheating, stealing, dishonor, disrespect etc.
Sin against God and self: lust, love of money, love of the world, covetousness, greed, cursing, harming ones body, gluttony, drunkenness, drugs etc.
Faith: What is Faith toward God?
Faith toward God is believing God to the point of trusting Him. In this topic it means trusting HIM to save you from your sins.
“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, Hebrews 6:1 NASB
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NASB
“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” Galatians 5:5 NASB
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 NASB
Its possible for a person to attempt to be saved by doing good works and/or self righteousness and such a person would be a false Christian meaning not saved even though they’re a member of some church.
“ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; Ephesians 2:8 NASB
"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Galatians 2:21 NASB
“and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, Philippians 3:9 NASB
“And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Galatians 5:3,4 NASB
Its also possible to know about God and yet not believe. There are indeed many pastors that are atheists according to the Church of England’s internal research on this issue amongst their own pastors. I too have known church members in the USA in other denominations that do not believe that God exists, yet they are very active in the church. Some estimates are that up to 50% of all who claim to be Christian have not repented of their sins and do not believe Jesus rose from the dead. Since this is the case we should make sure that the young disciple we’re investing our life in is indeed born again.
Faith in Christ means we believe and trust Jesus that he is who he said he was and did what he said he did and will do what he has promised. This message is the gospel:
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Sin, Repentance and Faith toward God is where we have sojourned in the first half of this meeting and that journey will NOT end on this earth for we will always discover more about our own sin and will be living a life of deeper repentance and faith toward God as we grow up in Christ.
Can you report that the disciple has repented and has faith in God our savior?
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 NASB
“For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God” 1 Thessalonians 1:9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; Ephesians 2:8 NASB
Discover if the young disciple is truly saved, spend some time discussing sin, repentance and faith, sharing testimonies and then pray together.
Should it turn out that your young disciple has not repented and turned to God for salvation beforehand then start where they are - present the gospel message to them and give them an invitation to repent and believe Jesus for salvation. There are many ways to present the gospel and it’s my purpose to makes disciples so I won’t get into them here. Since we do “reach” the lost with the Gospel message and “teach” the disciple with the Word of God and our life’s example, we desire to make sure that we’re not laboring in vain “teaching” the Word of God to a person who does not believe in Jesus for salvation.
I recommend that the ones that you cannot report as being saved yet, be separated out and entered into a “seekers who are seeking to find God” meeting where one concentrates the teaching on evangelism rather than discipleship.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19,20
* Note these lessons are not an exhaustive all encompassing treaties on the topic – there will always be more that the Lord will show you.
(meeting 1b later)
May the Lord make you a maker of disciples!
Disciple Maker
Sunday, May 10, 2009
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