Follow Me
In the book Follow Me, David Platt explains what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) is an appeal to the reader to die to self and live to God. Platt shows several key factors on how this is portrayed in the life of a believer.
Platt says that before an individual becomes a follower of Christ, he must make the most important decision in life and that is accepting God’s free gift of eternal life. This means that the person through faith believes that Jesus died on the cross for his sins and that he rose from the dead conquering death. He repents of all sins and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. Repentance means being “transformed in the mind, heart, and life”.
To truly be a believer and follower of Christ requires that one place faith in, and believe that Christ was “who” He said he was, and “what” He said he was. This belief also requires one to believe what He believed and what He declared to be
Salvation describes the deliverance by God for those who believe in him. It is the saving of the soul from sin (and its consequences) through Gods will and grace. Though it takes different forms in every religion, the principle is still the same, often emphasising the necessity of both good works, repentance, and asceticism, as well as divine intervention (in this case the action being the grace of God). If assuming that Christ is the full truth, then the only way to gain access to God after death is through the salvation given by the Christian God. Jesus himself has indicated that a person must hear the word, believe it, repent of past sins, and be willing to confess faith before others, be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, and then continue to live a faithful life throughout this physical life if we are to go to heaven.
David Zinczenko’s essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” stresses the connection of fast food restaurants to obese children. With his parents spilt up, and his mother working long hours to support the family, as a child Zinczenko had a limited choice of fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut for both lunch and dinner. Just like today those were the only affordable meals for teenagers. Due to this, at the age of 15, Zinczenko becomes obese (212 pounds). Unlike a lot of people with similar issues, he he turns his life around by joining the Navy Reserves. Zinczenko notes that fast-food restaurants are located almost everywhere, attract to children, are cheap, and are easy to access. Hence why he believes that
In chapter eight, Kill the Messenger, from Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century, the author Gary Delgado discusses how certain states do not follow a colorblind system that they claim to. Delgado first brings up the concept of colorblindness and how many conservatives claim that they live in a colorblind society. Many individuals who believe in colorblindness claim that people of color are now equal and that the racism, discrimination, murder, and exploitation they underwent in the past five centuries no longer matter (Martinez, LaBennett, & Pulido, 2012). They argue, however, that the only kind of racism there is, is reverse racism against whites. Delgado refutes this by claiming that just because more diversity is being put into governmental offices does not necessarily mean America as a whole is past its racist and discriminatory actions.
In his book, Getting the Gospel Right, Dr. Olson states and I quote that “any sinner can be saved by grace only through explicit repentance faith in the finished work of Christ alone.” This is a very powerful statement and one that brings questions and in many cases confusion as to what is the truth of salvation. In this book the author poses diverse views of salvation truth particularly those of Calvinism and Arminianism, and how they agree in some ways and differ in others from his doctrinal view of salvation in mediate theology. In mediate theology, Christ is the only way to salvation though his saving death and resurrection. Through saving faith a believer inherits a new birth and a right standing with God. When the believer comes to trust in Christ for salvation he receives the
This paper on Salvation is defining both objectively and subjectively from the two required reading text. The first text is written by Alistair McGrath’s “Theology: The Basics and the second is written by Dr. Yung Chul Han’s “Transforming Power: Dimension of the Gospel. I will describe how the both texts are in association as well as seeking observations, and other conclusions to gain a better understanding of salvation from both perspectives. According to (Mc.Grath, p.78), the word salvation is referred to as something that has already happened in the past, to something that will happen in the future. Spiritual transformation requires of us what is called dependent responsibility. All the moral commands and exhortations of scripture assume our responsibility. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. The word salvation carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation (www.biblia.com). Salvation can be viewed as a spiritual transformation which the dependency of the Holy Spirit assist in the change of a believers past, self to a vessel of God in the present lives which exemplifies life, deliverance, peace, and a victory won through personal conviction. The victory is one that only Jesus Christ has authority save us which gives believers complete approval to have possession to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Brent Staples article was originally found in Ms. Magazine in 1986, title “Just Walk On by.” He then published articles in Harper’s a year later with a new title “Just Walk on by: Black Men and Public Space.” Brent Staples found himself being judged against during the 1970. Unfortunately, when he walked down the street he would find himself being judge on his race and his clothes that he had on. As a result, Staples would walk behind people to close and they would get scared and speed up. Another example of racial issue that Staples talks about in his article was, “I grew accustomed to but never comfortable with people crossing to the other side of the street rather than pass me.” (page 1) He had to find ways
As was discussed during our first post for the week, Capon (2002) stated, “You judge yourself by taking your stand on the law’s demands rather than on my righteousness which is yours for the believing” (p.368). The Gospel demonstrates that God has provided everything for our salvation including the death of His son. The only thing we need to do is to believe. Kinnaman, S. & Lane, L. (2010) stated, “While other religions teach that something must be done to earn God’s favor and salvation, Christianity teaches that Jesus has already secured our salvation. God reaches out to people in Christ, rather than people reaching out to God” (p.37). It is critical to comprehend that to stand on the law means to try to justify oneself before God on account of our own actions. The truth is, that we cannot follow God’s law to perfection, and can never accomplish what it demands.
Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.
The church is in need of major renovation when it comes to making disciples. The concept of making disciples to follow the Lord Jesus Christ seems completely foreign to the church today. In order to achieve the desired goal of making disciples for Christ, training others to go out and proclaim gospel, and helping others to train people to disciple one another, one needs to go back to foundation of the Word of God. It is in God’s Word where multiple examples are found of how to make disciples to follow Jesus Christ. It is my desire to see more people in the church have a passion for discipleship. Therefore, this paper will examine in detail how to make disciples in a ministry context. This will be accomplished by examining the 5 V’s of discipleship—vision, values, views, vehicles, and verifiers. It is my purpose to examine each area in order to have a detailed plan of discipleship that will be used in my own ministry context to make disciples for Christ. I hope that this plan can and will be used to train others in the church to make disciples, and disciple one another, for the glory of God.
II. Main Point 2. God tells us in 1 John 1: 9“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” And again in 2 Corinthians 5:17“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”
We are babies, born again, and as we mature in faith we move closer to the likeness of Christ. Assurance to Wesley was the belief that man could know they were saved. Wesley did not use the word conversion a lot. It is when a person goes from being a "child of the world" to a "child of God." This occurs due to a person's response to prevenient grace. Once a person realizes they are in need of God and have sin in their lives they are led to repentance. At this moment the person is justified. This is evident when regeneration occurs and the person is born again. All of this is a gift from God. This all begins the process of sanctification. A person then is aware of sin in their lives and the battle it brings and wants to continue to be in the peace of God that comes at justification. Repentance and the works suitable for repentance fills the person's life. It is the acts that causes the person to know they need Christ. Being in a regenerated state, a complete renewal of the inside, the person moves into being an Altogether Christian, totally committed to God and relationship with Him. The Spirit of Adoption is present in the life of the person. Praise the
An observation of this compelling issue is, all humans are extended the opportunity to receive salvation. However, in order to receive salvation that brings credits us with righteousness, we must have faith that God the Father sent his son Jesus to take
When this question is personalized, it becomes the most important question one will ever be asked or answer. Who is Jesus Christ to YOU? Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV). In 1 John 5:11-13 we are told that if we have the son in our life we can KNOW that we have eternal life. Jesus is the only way for us to live an abundant life here on earth, or receive eternal life in fellowship with God. Jesus died on the cross to take the punsihment for our sins so that we could be sinless in the eyes of God. If we do not receive the free gift of eternal life by experiencing the forgiveness achieved by Jesus, then we will receive the punishment we
When Jesus died on the cross he was giving up his life for other people's sins and demonstrating the love of God. When Jesus rose again he proved that it was possible to overcome death and live with God for all eternity. Christians were freed from the burden of original sin if they followed Jesus' teaching and example and believed in him as the Son of God. Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies' - John 11:25-26.