060714: Making Disciples 2:

 Matt 28:19-20: “Jesus said, . .’Go . . . make disciples; baptizing . . . teaching . . . I am with you’ “

             What does it mean, “making disciples”?  It means two things: 1] Preaching the Gospel, which is “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes (trusts) in Him, will not die, but have eternal life.”  The Gospel is, “Jesus died on the cross to redeem us, to reconcile us to the Father in heaven; so we could have that eternal life (the same life that God and Jesus have) IN US, beginning right here, right now, and lasting FOREVER. And whoever recognizes their sinful nature, and their need for redemption can become a disciple of Jesus; a member of His family; [2] and “Making disciples” means “baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things, whatever I have commanded you.” 

             I submit that what Jesus meant when He said, “teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you” was exactly the same things he was talking about when he said, in Matthew 7:24-27, “Whoever hears My words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on a rock; . . . But whoever hears My words and does NOT do them . . . is like a fool.”  So the conclusion is that “making disciples” is about teaching others (telling them and showing them how) to DO what Jesus said to do; to do what Jesus did and what He does right now. (through us)