The Gospel Call to Discipleship
Introduction: Ezekiel 36:22–32
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Consider God’s great love toward us. Is his great love shown simply in forgiveness? Far from it. Yes, forgiveness, but forgiveness and then raised us up with Christ, and seated us with him in the heavenly places.Paul throughout Ephesians 1-3 keeps reminding us that it is Christ’s experience in how he lived, how he died, and his resurrection is the way God is glorified, his holy name vindicated, by bringing us to glory with him. All of the above drives us to one simple conclusion that we all know but rarely verbalize in discussions about salvation. God’s saving grace is more about transforming us into his image than it is forgiveness of sins. That transformation is exactly what we see in Ezekiel 36. To put it bluntly, Ezekiel 36 is the plan of salvation. Jesus referenced Ezekiel 36 when he described “born again.” “Forgiveness” is a part of the plan, but far from the complete plan.All of this is to bring us to understand that living as a disciple of Jesus is the key to our salvation. Repentance and baptism is the means to an initial cleansing that enable us to be disciples of our King. That concept is quite evident in how Jesus and his apostles taught. The Principle: “We are saved by allegiance to the King since allegiance unites us to the King and his benefits.” The Path to Salvation: True Disciples of JesusMatthew 16:21-25 Notice the pattern of the text. Jesus announces his journey to the cross. Peter rebukes him, and then Jesus rebukes Peter, calling him “Satan.” Peter is not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. That is, the path to glory is through the cross. Jesus follows up with a shocking assertion. The path to “saving one’s life” is by “denying self and taking up his cross and following me.” It is necessary for every disciple to “lose his life for my sake.” To do otherwise is to “lose your life.”This description of discipleship is embedded in the Gospel message. 1 Corinthians 1:17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” The idea of the cross emptied of its power was a direct attack on the Corinthian preachers and their “gospel of health and wealth.” The cross was chosen by Jesus because it vividly pictures the path of salvation for all disciples. Matthew 28:19, is a straightforward reminder of this. The Great Commission begins with the words, “Make disciples…” Back to Basics: The Plan of SalvationRomans 10:9-10 We hear this text often and our immediate reaction is, “Well, those verses are used to teach faith only. What about the passages that talk about repentance and baptism?” How often to we make this major mistake in our Bible study? To say the above is to dismiss what Paul is actually teaching by diverting our attention to what he isn’t teaching. The question is not what the text doesn’t say, it is about what it does say.Paul’s words in these verses are a conclusion from his quotation of Deuteronomy 30:11-20 where Moses stressed Israel must “choose life” by giving up their idols, *“loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life!”
Moses said, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” Then Paul added, “that is, the word of faith that we proclaim.”
In other words, confessing that Jesus is Lord, is pledging loyalty and allegiance to him as King. Is that what we were doing when we made our confession prior to being baptized? Or, were we simply saying that we accept the factual truth that Jesus is the Son of God? Why was that such a minor, practically invisible part of coming to Christ? It is because we didn’t understand the message of the GOSPEL. Look at it this way: when we heard the “plan of salvation” rattled off at the end of a sermon, what was said? “Believe, confess, repent, be baptized, and live a faithful life.” Hmmm. How did we understand “believe?” Was it not simply, “I believe in God and I believe in Jesus,” now let’s move on to baptism? Consider further. We all recognize that “belief” comes first. Nothing else will matter without “faith” in God. Okay, that being true, what is the most important thing we should be teaching prior to repentance and baptism? When we know that Gospel message is, “Our God Reigns,” the answer is simple. What one must know and accept and promise before all else is an allegiance to King Jesus. We have denounced the “faith only” doctrine for years, teaching time and again that “belief” is not just an acceptance of the facts about Jesus. But then we turn around and imply that confessing belief moments before baptism is an acknowledgment of the facts about Jesus. The point is, when we ask a person to confess Jesus, do we know what we are asking and do they know what we are asking?
The presentation of the gospel is flawed when baptism is presented in blinking neon lights and the commands to believe and confess Jesus as Lord and King is in tiny seven-point letters!
Have you heard me constantly emphasizing baptism? Or have I emphasized knowing God, loving God, and giving your allegiance to God and Jesus as King? When we have talked about what our children need to know above all else as they grow up, what is it? We don’t want to make the emphasis on baptism because children will see that as “works” I must do to be saved just like Jews saw circumcision. We need to emphasize knowing God so that we submit to him as our King. When that happens, all else falls into place. But constantly teaching our children baptism like it is a “magic bullet,” will never bring them to an allegiance to King Jesus. This is a major reason that 18-25 year olds are leaving the faith. They never had the faith! Please! If you think you “obeyed the gospel” and are saved just because you were baptized, you don’t know the message of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
“There is no salvation apart from Jesus’ kingship, because it only comes through his kingship.” (Matthew Bates)
Romans 1:16–17 — In the gospel God’s righteousness is revealed “from the faithfulness of Jesus to our faithfulness.” The definition of our faithfulness is based on the faithfulness of Jesus our Christ and King. Compare the above to Romans 3:21-22 “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed—namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction” (NET). The words translated “faithfulness” in regard to Jesus and “believe” in regard to us, are the same Greek words. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ is the model and pattern for our belief or faithfulness. Conclusion: The Gospel Story is about God bringing us back to glory through his King, Jesus the Christ. Jesus was incarnated to become a model and pattern for our lives. In his life, he called himself the Son of Man, implying his ultimate rule, but also implying his perfect example of how “Mankind” is to live as a true image-bearer of God. Therefore, the plan of salvation cannot be realized without living the definition of a disciple: “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).
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