Please don’t misunderstand this entry, as I am not bragging on my spirituality or my newfound determination to live a life that God would find pleasing. For years I have played the “Christian” game and actually believed I was doing what the Lord would have me do. Like so many others, I relied on the knowledge that I had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior and was content with just that. Not understanding what the apostle James meant: But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:20-21). What James understood is what anyone that truly loves the Lord Jesus Christ understands – we are obedient in things of the faith as a demonstration of our love towards the Lord.
In the gospel by Matthew, Jesus leaves his disciples with the following instructions: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:19-20). Just like the generations of Christians that would come after them, the book of Acts records When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:6-8). Add to these teachings the words of the Lord Jesus Christ as found in the gospel of John: Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest (John 4:34-35) and it becomes clear that it is the responsibility of every Christian to spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – there are souls waiting to hear the gospel and the plea of Jesus tells us of the urgency of this great need. As I mentioned in a previous devotional – there is but one question that each Christian needs to start the day with: which soul am I willing to condemn to Hell and eternal judgment because I am unwilling to share the gospel with them?
I have heard a lot of fine preachers, missionaries, and evangelists say that a Christian’s spiritual growth begins the moment they are saved and that unless they follow the Lord in believer’s baptism, then they will reach a point and their spiritual growth stops. Personally, I agree with this teaching and while it is important to realize that baptism does not save, it is an outward sign of obedience to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have reached the point in my spiritual walk with the Lord that I have begun to believe that our spiritual growth stops if we are not actively sharing the gospel message with others. Again, turning to the writings of the apostle James, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22), when we know what the Lord wants us to do and we willfully choose not to do it, we are deceiving ourselves. Yes, we were obedient in salvation but disobedient to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have become an unwise steward with the gift of salvation that the Lord has graciously given us.
Using a well understood illustration to get this particular teaching across to his disciples and the crowd, Jesus taught: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love (John 15:5-10). As a child of God, we should bear fruit through the work of the Holy Spirit; just as a grape-vine makes grapes, we should have the same natural desire to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and bear fruit by either planting the seed or bringing in the harvest: And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. (John 4:36-38). It doesn’t matter which one that we do through the Holy Spirit; what matters is that we be willing to become a vessel and share the gospel message.
