What Did Jesus Want Preached and Done
God chose Abraham and the people of Israel as His inheritance. God promised Abraham that all the kindreds of the world would be blessed in him. He gave him a promise about his Seed, which refers to Christ. In the Psalms, God tells the Messiah to ask and He will give the nations for His inheritance.
Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. All authority was given to Him in heaven and on earth. The nations belong to Him. God not only interacts with Israel, but the nations are Christ's. So God is calling all men to repent.
When Jesus, after the resurrection, declared that the nations had been given to Him, what did he want the disciples to do? Let us look:
Luke 24
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
We can compare to I Corinthians 15:1-5. Paul's gospel included 'according to the scriptures.' Compare that to verse 44 above. Compare Paul's points in that chapter-- died, buried, rose again-- to Luke 24:46. Verse 47 tells what Jesus wanted preached. Peter's application of that is through baptism in Acts 2:38.
Consider what Jesus wanted done for spreading the Gospel in Matthew 28.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Matthew 28
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
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.
Jesus wanted them to go, teach the nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe what he taught.
So what should we focus on when winning souls? We should focus on preaching and doing:
- That Jesus suffered
- That Jesus rose
- Repentance and forgiveness of sins through His name
- Baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
- Teaching them to observe Christ's teaching through the apostles.
And all this can be informed with other scripture--- teaching that Christ's sufferings were 'for our sins' for example. We can urge people to be baptized for the remission of sins and tell them to was away their sins, calling upon the name of the Lord, as we see in Acts 22.
If we are going to do this the way Jesus wanted, we should do so, and we should follow the apostle's on how to do that, since this is implied in Matthew 28:19-20.
People Need to Hear the Word to Believe
Also, Romans 10 say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. We are persuading people that a Man rose from the dead. They actually have to have faith. In dealing with an unchurched unbeliever, how likely is it that bits and pieces of the Gospel or other loosely related Evangelical concepts, are going to produce faith? Isn't it better to give them a complete understanding of the Gospel than to quickly march them through a prayer ritual invented about 70 years ago (which has since been stripped of the death of Christ on the cross for our sins and His resurrection)?
God chose Abraham and the people of Israel as His inheritance. God promised Abraham that all the kindreds of the world would be blessed in him. He gave him a promise about his Seed, which refers to Christ. In the Psalms, God tells the Messiah to ask and He will give the nations for His inheritance.
Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. All authority was given to Him in heaven and on earth. The nations belong to Him. God not only interacts with Israel, but the nations are Christ's. So God is calling all men to repent.
When Jesus, after the resurrection, declared that the nations had been given to Him, what did he want the disciples to do? Let us look:
Luke 24
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
We can compare to I Corinthians 15:1-5. Paul's gospel included 'according to the scriptures.' Compare that to verse 44 above. Compare Paul's points in that chapter-- died, buried, rose again-- to Luke 24:46. Verse 47 tells what Jesus wanted preached. Peter's application of that is through baptism in Acts 2:38.
Consider what Jesus wanted done for spreading the Gospel in Matthew 28.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Matthew 28
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
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.
Jesus wanted them to go, teach the nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe what he taught.
So what should we focus on when winning souls? We should focus on preaching and doing:
- That Jesus suffered
- That Jesus rose
- Repentance and forgiveness of sins through His name
- Baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
- Teaching them to observe Christ's teaching through the apostles.
And all this can be informed with other scripture--- teaching that Christ's sufferings were 'for our sins' for example. We can urge people to be baptized for the remission of sins and tell them to was away their sins, calling upon the name of the Lord, as we see in Acts 22.
If we are going to do this the way Jesus wanted, we should do so, and we should follow the apostle's on how to do that, since this is implied in Matthew 28:19-20.
People Need to Hear the Word to Believe
Also, Romans 10 say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. We are persuading people that a Man rose from the dead. They actually have to have faith. In dealing with an unchurched unbeliever, how likely is it that bits and pieces of the Gospel or other loosely related Evangelical concepts, are going to produce faith? Isn't it better to give them a complete understanding of the Gospel than to quickly march them through a prayer ritual invented about 70 years ago (which has since been stripped of the death of Christ on the cross for our sins and His resurrection)?
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