What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 8)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, we conclude this 8 part series by examining a biblical understanding of church leadership.

8. Biblical Understanding of Church Leadership

A healthy church to grow in is not a fellowship under the control of a pope or one man dictator – this is to guard against the sinful flesh that all people struggle with. The local church is also not a place for anarchy – again because of the sinful nature. Neither is a fellowship meant to be run by democracy – because we all know that popular opinion does not make something right.

The biblical pattern is to appoint elders (or overseers as stated in the ESV) and deacons to care for the sheep and teach them. Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 spell this out clearly. Let's take a quick look at Paul's instructions to Timothy:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

This is not a job for human ambition. It is a fearful responsibility for men who fear God – men who will answer for their own lives and the lives of those they taught! A healthy church led by godly elders is a beautiful place to grow as a disciple.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92:12-15)

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

The following video is lengthy but nonetheless an excellent detailed look at biblical eldership by Charles letter when he visited Denmark in 2009. It is a really excellent sermon for people who live in countries and places where there is an absence of biblical churches and have little or no bearings on sound biblical church government. The lack of understanding and ignorance in this area has wreaked untold havoc on the modern church landscape and this video will serve you well as a tool for much needed reprogramming:



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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 7)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, we examine the highly suppressed issue of church discipline.

7. Biblical Understanding of Church Discipline

What ever happened to church discipline? Once a normal part of church life (especially in Baptist and Presbyterian circles), biblical correction, admonition, rebuke, and excommunication have become all but extinct - dinosaurs on a contemporary horizon that is now more dominated by worship wars and polished programs than by biblical health and holiness. The flowering and fading of modernity has popularized a moral relativism and a mystic spiritual individualism that have combined to make "judgment" sound like the most recently coined four letter word. Jesus certainly wouldn't use such foul language…would He? He who said Do not judge, so that you will not be judged (Matt 7:1) also said Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24). And Paul queries the Corinthians Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. "Remove the wicked man from among yourselves" (1Cor 5:12-13). Evidently both Jesus and Paul really do want us to judge one another in some ways, even though they do not want us to judge one another in other ways. And with that, of course, we arrive at the matter of church discipline - Mark Dever

We will grow as disciples in a church that is willing to discipline members for sinful activity. What sin should qualify for church discipline – any sin unrepented of. Church discipline is meant to restore the true believer and remove the false. And unrepentance is the issue. We all sin and we always hope that if we have tender hearts then we will respond to correction in humility and gratitude. But unrepentant sin is a cancer that must be removed or it can kill the whole body. Jesus laid this out in Matthew 18:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matthew 18:15-20)

It is interesting to note that verses 18 to 20 are verses that I have heard quoted so many times but never in the context of church discipline. Paul teaches that God deals with those outside the church but He gives church elders the authority on earth to deal with those within the fellowship.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people — not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

The following two videos feature a thirteen minute interview Todd Friel did with Pastor Jeff Noblit on the very subject of church discipline - an issue Pastor Noblit deems important enough to devote a whole conference to the subject:





Part 8 will continue this series and cover the subject of a biblical understanding of church leadership. There are some high profile pastors out there who will need to duck for cover!

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 6)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, continuing from part 5, we'll continue our examination of what a biblical understanding of church membership actually is.

6. Biblical Understanding of Church Membership (Continued)

In addressing this issue it is necessary to answer these three questions:

1. What is a true church?

2. Why should we join a church?

3. What things does church membership call us to do?

Having answered question one in my previous post we will now examine questions two and three.

2. Why should we join a church?

A - We join a church for assurance. It is only in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ that we have a true test as to the authenticity of our Christianity:

If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

B - We join a church to evangelize. who are we going to be accountable to for the purity of the Gospel we preach. We need to be extremely careful to get the Gospel right:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)

C - We join a church to expose false gospels. Experts in forgery of money spend most of their time studying real money. Because when you know the real thing – the false one is obvious. Joining together in community with other believers demonstrates real Christianity and shows the world the big difference between a real visible church and a false one.

D - We join a church to help build up that church – joining a church teaches us our need to work together as a body and exposes our selfishness.

E - We join a church to glorify God:

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1Peter 2:12)

And what good work that glorifies God did Jesus command :

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John 13:34)

3. How should we become members of a church?

A - We should become members through baptism – baptism is the first step in the Bible for a new convert. It is an outward public profession of the supernatural inner work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus warned against hiding our Christianity and baptism was a bold public statement – especially in cultures that persecute Christians. And no – I'm not saying to get baptized every time you join a new church, I'm saying to get baptized every time you become a new creature – ONCE!

B - Signing a doctrine statement and church covenant – This is very important and rarely done. Doctrine statements call us to a standard of holy living, they allow members to be disciplined in accordance with the doctrine statement they submit to, they hold preachers accountable to the members, and they give a clear boundary between the things worth fighting for and the things we can overlook. Please study our confession.

Shakespeare once said that ”something is rotten in the State of Denmark” and he was right. Denmark needs to see what a true visible church looks like. Our prayer is that Kristuskirken (our church plant) can be the solution to that problem.

Part 7 will continue this series and cover the subject of a biblical understanding of church discipline.

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 5)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, continuing from part 4, we'll look at the fifth component of biblical discipleship and growth.

6. Biblical Understanding of Church Membership

A biblical understanding of church membership probably sounds like the most boring subject covered thus far in this series. But if we understand what a true Christian is, and what a real church is, then membership in a local church becomes a deep longing for those who are the bride of Christ.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Revelation 7:9-17).

That is an exciting picture. But if you talk to many professing Christians today they will complain and give you a huge list of negative things about the church. Paul Washer commented on this:

I want to talk about finding the church, in other words, stopping the slander. If you want to be endeared to me, then treat my wife with the greatest respect. If you want to be on my bad side, then slander my wife. The accusation of infidelity and immorality is the hindrance in the work of missions.

We have experts who tell us over and over that there is little difference between the actions of the church and the actions of a fallen world. We hear experts that there is just as much immorality in the church as there is in the world. I am here to tell you that angers me because it is a lie. The experts do not even know what the church is. The church today is absolutely beautiful, and I will have words for anyone who says anything else. Because we are talking about Christ’s bride.

The church is in a process of sanctification. Yes she has her weaknesses; yes she has failings. Our bride is broken and humble and believing her master, and she is following him and being changed by him in a way that exalts the power of God in salvation. We are calling Christian that which is not Christian, and it has led to the slandering of the bride of Jesus Christ. Because of our watered-down view of the gospel, our superficial views of regeneration and conversion, because we believe that God is enough to save from the condemnation of sin but not enough to save from the power of sin.

It is not the fault of a liberal political party; it is the fault of pastors. Even conservative, fundamental pastors.

As we examine the topic of a biblical understanding of church membership, I will try to answer these three questions:

1. What is a true church?

2. Why should we join a church?

3. What things does church membership call us to do?

In today's post I will focus solely on the first of these three questions because it addresses the biggest problem - a problem created/perpetuated by the abundance of "seeker sensitive" churches that many of us have “left behind”. If I can answer and clear up the issue of defining church biblically, then I believe everything else will happen naturally.

Theologians through church history have made a distinction between what they call the “visible church”, the “invisible church”, and sects/cults/false churches. The greek word used for church in Scripture is “ekklesia” which describes the called out ones. All true Christians all over the world. These are the ones Jesus prayed for in John 17. This is every name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Do we know every name written in that book? That is why we call the whole body of Christ the invisible church. There is no real argument here. It is when we discuss the visible church that the big problems start.

The expression of the local congregation where we find ourselves on Sundays is one example of a visible church. It is something we see every time we visit an area where professing believers gather to worship God and hear His word preached. These local churches are visible churches. The seven churches in Revelation are visible churches with one of them on the edge of apostacy by departing from the Gospel. The Laodiciean church was close to becoming an apostate or false church and was being strongly warned to repent by our Lord Himself. Professing believers gather in a visible church but we are always aware that there is always tares among the wheat, goats among the sheep, and false converts among true Christians in a visible church. The visible church is called to deal with this through church discipline but some goats are able to wear a sheep suit all their life as Judas did. I once told Ray Comfort that I am so thankful for him being the first person to teach me about false conversion. It has helped in many ways but none more so than in harmonizing passages that I used to find difficult.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19).

John says that true Christians or members of the invisible church cannot apostatize: "for if they were of us, they would have continued with us." The fact that these professing Christians departed from the church is empirical proof that they were never true Christians. On a recent visit to the USA, a friend with Arminian theology asked me “Who perseveres until the end” and I said “the elect”. He then asked me “who are the elect” and I said “those who persevere”. Brothers and sisters, this may make our head spin but it is easily understood in the Sovereign mind of God. It is ultimately He who will divide the sheep from the goats.

When God saves someone they become a part of the invisible church. They then need to find a true visible church to join.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25).

This is where a lot of the problems happen. Rick Warren, for some very strange reason, recently preached to a lot of reformed pastors (at Desiring God 2010). During his “talk” he rebuked them for teaching too much Scripture and not enough application. Why would Rick Warren say something so incredibly stupid and unbiblical? Because his church growth philosophy has perverted how he defines a visible church. When he sees a large group of people who pray a sinners prayer but keep living in their old way he doesn't see false converts – he sees people who have not been taught how to apply all the teaching that they are getting too much of. Guess what will happen if I start teaching all my fornicating friends the application of waiting until they are married? They don't sin because they have never been taught application, they sin because they are evil, and love their sin, and hate God, and so did I, but God saved me and gave me a new heart with new desires, and now I am called to preach this Gospel to all those wicked sinners because God loves to save wicked sinners just like me!

When we look for a visible church to join we need to look much deeper than seeing a building with a sign that says church. The reformers fought against the false church of Roman Catholicism all their lives. To this day the Catholic church denies salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. The council of Trent pronounces damnation on anyone who believes that.

If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).

The Reformers defined a true Church in article 29 of the Belgic Confession:

Article 29 of the Belgic Confession

We believe that we ought to discern diligently and very carefully from the Word of God what is the true church, for all sects which are in the world today claim for themselves the name of church.1 We are not speaking here of the hypocrites, who are mixed in the church along with the good and yet are not part of the church, although they are outwardly in it.2 We are speaking of the body and the communion of the true church which must be distinguished from all sects that call themselves the church.

The true church is to be recognized by the following marks: It practises the pure preaching of the gospel.3 It maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them.4 It exercises church discipline for correcting and punishing sins.5 In short, it governs itself according to the pure Word of God,6 rejecting all things contrary to it7 and regarding Jesus Christ as the only Head.8 Hereby the true church can certainly be known and no one has the right to separate from it.

Those who are of the church may be recognized by the marks of Christians. They believe in Jesus Christ the only Saviour,9 flee from sin and pursue righteousness,10 love the true God and their neighbour11 without turning to the right or left, and crucify their flesh and its works.12 Although great weakness remains in them, they fight against it by the Spirit all the days of their life.13 They appeal constantly to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of Jesus Christ, in whom they have forgiveness of their sins through faith in Him.14

The false church assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God. It does not want to submit itself to the yoke of Christ.15 It does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in His Word, but adds to them and subtracts from them as it pleases. It bases itself more on men than on Jesus Christ. It persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke the false church for its sins, greed, and idolatries.16

These two churches are easily recognized and distinguished from each other.

(1. Rev 2:9. 2. Rom 9:6. 3. Gal 1:8; 1 Tim 3:15. 4. Acts 19:3-5; 1 Cor 11:20-29. 5. Mat 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5:4-5, 1 Cor 5:13; 2 Thes 3:6, 2 Thes 3:14; Titus 3:10. 6. John 8:47; John 17:20; Acts 17:11; Eph 2:20; Col 1:23; 1 Tim 6:3. 7. 1 Thes 5:21; 1 Tim 6:20; Rev 2:6. 8. John 10:14; Eph 5:23; Col 1:18. 9. John 1:12; 1 John 4:2. 10. Rom 6:2; Phil 3:12. 11. 1 John 4:19-21. 12. Gal 5:24. 13. Rom 7:15; Gal 5:17. 14. Rom 7:24-25; 1 John 1:7-9. 15. Acts 4:17-18; 2 Tim 4:3-4; 2 John 9. 16. John 16:2).

In Part 6 we will look at the questions of why we should we join a church and what things does church membership call us to do?

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 4)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, continuing from part 3, we'll look at the fifth component of biblical discipleship and growth.

5. Biblical Understanding of Evangelism

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live." So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

That is a picture of evangelism. Evangelism contains three necessary ingredients:

Firstly, the God of the resurrection. Programs, therapy, and positive thinking cannot raise the dead. Only God can. Unless the Holy Spirit breathes upon the valley of dry bones then all our programs are nothing more than skeleton re-arranging.

The second ingredient in evangelism is the prophet or preacher. It is God who converts but God chose the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Corinthians 1:21) to resurrect those who are dead in sin. The prophet must speak to the valley of dry bones knowing that he can do nothing unless God does a supernatural work. The prophet must also be careful to proclaim the message God told him to speak and nothing else.

The third ingredient in evangelism is dead bodies. That was us prior to conversion and that is the condition of everyone in the world who is not a Christian. The Bible declares all unconverted men to be dead in sin. So what is the problem that causes this?
True growth in a church requires biblical evangelism and God to move by the power of His Holy Spirit.

If we were to break down presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ into five essential elements then I would explain it in this order i) the Holiness of God; ii) the sinfulness of man; iii) the necessity of judgment; iv) the atoning work of Christ and His resurrection and; v) man’s response that requires repentance and faith (for a detailed examination of these five points then go here). Other people may break it down in different ways but these five points encapsulate the necessary truths one must understand in order to come to saving faith. This message God has given to His church is both offensive and foolish to the unconverted sinner.

The popular thought among “seeker sensitive” proponents is that growth in attendance verifies success and validates the methodology. But is this a valid form of measurement? Following this logic Noah must have been an abject failure as an evangelist. To be sure he was a great ship builder but he was also a preacher of righteousness for around 100 years. After a century of Noah’s evangelistic endeavors how many people got on the boat – his wife, his three sons and the wives of his three sons. Think about it, Noah endured decade after decade without a “church growth manual” to improve his ark attendance. How long would most modern mission boards have given Noah before they cut his funding. Few would argue that the problem was Noah’s preaching and Scripture seems to suggest otherwise. It seems pretty clear that the reason no one listened to Noah was that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. Noah’s success as a preacher should be measured by his faithfulness to the message God charged him with and so too should it be with the preachers of modern times. The church growth phenomenon has placed unnecessary pressure on many faithful preachers in the field as congregation size becomes a criteria that prevails over faithful preaching.

Some people will be critical of this analogy concerning Noah. Without a doubt healthy church attendance can be a reflection of faithful preaching and God’s favor. But my contention here is that this should never be our starting point. Several years ago I took part in some campus evangelism at a major university in Australia. Christian leaders on the campus were very interested in methodology and results. The first question asked was “does it work?” to which I responded “wrong question”. Their first port of call in evaluating my material and methodology should have been the question “is it biblical”? If everything we do is not grounded in Scripture then our labor can be like window dressing on a house with no foundation.

This pragmatic thinking where the end justifies the means is very prevalent in many of today’s mega-churches and can be a very dangerous road to travel. Our deceitful human hearts can be quick to embrace ideas that deliver a desired outcome. One key figure within the seeker sensitive movement said this “Create a service that is intentionally designed for your members to bring their friends to. And make the service so attractive, appealing, and relevant to the unchurched that your members are eager to share it with the lost people they care about”. Did you notice the emphasis he placed on preaching content? No, me neither.

While many professing Christians can quote John 3:16 with ease the verses that follow seem to have been highlighted with invisible ink. Yet they contain the missing information. Verses eighteen through twenty have this to say:

He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed. (John 3:18-20)

Scripture teaches plainly that unconverted humanity cannot find God for the same reason that a thief can never find a policeman. I cannot find anywhere in Scripture where we are instructed to make our churches more attractive to the “unchurched”, but there is ample evidence of God growing His church and men preaching His message. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. Only God can change the human heart, and the “foolishness of preaching” is the method God chose to facilitate that change.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:21-24)

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 3)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, continuing from part 2, we'll look at the third and fourth components of biblical discipleship and growth.

3. A Biblical Understanding of the Gospel

I have already said so much about this subject on this very blog that I will mention some things just briefly.

We must get the Gospel right. Paul pronounces damnation on anyone who changes it in any way:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)

The gospels we hear and the gospels we preach – how do they stand up? Is God presented as someone Who is outside in the rain wishing we would invite Him inside? Or is He so holy that He cannot come near sinners without destroying them?

Is man presented as a victim who needs a lot of therapy and self esteem? Or is man presented as a guilty criminal with no other hope than the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Is it about happiness or righteousness? Therapy or atonement?

Is it a Gospel where God ignores our sin and forgives us because we tell Him we are sorry? Or is it a Gospel where God's demands of righteousness must be met and His wrath must be satisfied.

Is it a Gospel where that righteousness is fulfilled and that wrath is satisfied in the Penal Substitutionary work of Jesus Christ alone? Or is the cross only about Jesus feeling our pain and giving us an example?

Is it a gospel where we only have to say a prayer to be saved or is it a Gospel that calls on all men everywhere to repent from their sinful ways and put all their trust in Christ?

Discipleship and growth happens in churches where the Gospel is rightly preached – and nowhere else.

4. A Biblical Understanding of Conversion

To understand growth better we also need to understand conversion rightly. Something needs to be said with regard to the relationship between conversion and discipleship because there is a lot of confusion on this issue. I was involved in a large church in Australia where the thinking was that conversion is all about getting people to walk to the front and pray the prayer. It is then that the hard and frustrating work of “discipleship” begins where Pastors spend endless hours trying to get these “converts” to start behaving like “disciples”. But the Bible paints a very different picture.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Ok, Ezekiel 36, Cameron's back on his hobby horse! Maybe your right but you have to admit that it's a fantastic hobby horse. Here we see that conversion is a miraculous transforming work of God from a creature dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) to a new creation that loves God. Paul says that “if any man be in Christ he is a new creature”. And how does this miraculous work of conversion manifest? God will cause us to walk in obedience to His ways – that is a disciple. When you are truly converted you become a true disciple. Discipleship should be the joyous experience of guiding someone who loves God so much that he is hungry to learn every way to please Him and serve Him.
As an extra note – what about repentance? Let's go back to Ezekiel 36:

Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. "Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited. 'Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. (Ezekiel 36:31-36)

Even true repentance is a work of God. So that we might be a living testimony to the transforming work of God. Jesus said that:

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

This love does not make us a disciple, it shows that we are disciples. If a church is full of people that hate each other then is the answer that the Pastor should tell them that they should start loving each other because they are a church? Or should he use it as an indicator that maybe they aren't truly converted? Paul Washer said:

We hear from experts that there is just as much immorality in the church as there is in the world. I am here to tell you that angers me because it is a lie. The experts do not even know what the church is. The church today is absolutely beautiful, and I will have words for anyone who says anything else. Because we are talking about Christ’s bride.

The church is in a process of sanctification. Yes she has her weaknesses; yes she has failings. Our bride is broken and humble and believing her master, and she is following him and being changed by him in a way that exalts the power of God in salvation. We are calling Christian that which is not Christian, and it has led to the slandering of the bride of Jesus Christ. Because of our watered-down view of the gospel, our superficial views of regeneration and conversion, because we believe that God is enough to save from the condemnation of sin but not enough to save from the power of sin.

A biblical understanding of the Gospel and conversion will go a long way towards reforming and biblically informing our understanding of the church - both visible and invisible. This series will continue next week where a biblical understanding of evangelism will be discussed. More to come . . .

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 2)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today we'll look at the first two:

1.Expository Preaching

Expository verse by verse preaching is healthy for our growth and the growth of our pastors for several reasons.

A- it forces the preacher to preach Scripture in context with the surrounding verses. It is difficult to get away with forcing my own ideas into a verse when we are travelling through the whole book together.

B- it protects us from avoiding parts of Scripture that we don't like or find uncomfortable.

C- the preacher must search the Scriptures to learn from them rather than search for Scriptures that say what he has learnt.

D- the pastors major work becomes understanding what the text is actually saying so that he can teach it and apply it. Do you come to church to hear the opinions of some guy or to hear what God has spoken? I don't want to hear the latest 40 days of my best prayer of Jabez now. I want to hear from God and He has given us a revelation of Himself in the sacred Scriptures!

E - Finally, we all grow in our understanding of the Bible message in the bigger story of God's plan of redemption which leads us to the second key ingredient.

2. Biblical Theology

I am so grateful for systematic theology. Wayne Grudem's book is one of the most valuable books on my shelf. Systematic theology is studying what the whole of Scripture says on different subjects. But Biblical theology is the critical understanding the single story that runs through all of Scripture – Christ Himself.

Luke 24:25-27 reveals this when Jesus spoke to the unbelieving disciples after his resurrection:

And He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

It is important to remember that there was no New Testament at this time. Steven Smith from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary had this to say:

Christ understood that the witness of the Old Testament was a revelation of Himself . . . therefore, there is not a text that one can preach that will not ultimately point to Christ. The point is not that every text is about Jesus as a person. Rather, the point is that every text fits somewhere in the history of salvation. And, the point of the history of salvation ultimately is to exalt Christ (p94, Dying To Preach).

Is the sermon going to be about defeating the giants of sin in our lives just like David defeated Goliath. Or does David become the prototype of Jesus Christ , a type of Messiah who will be God’s representative to deliver many (Mark 10:45; Romans 5:19). That his method of bringing deliverance will be a scandal to his fellow Israelites and foolishness to the nations. However, in both David and Jesus Christ, we see the power of God and the wisdom of God at work through human weakness (1 Corinthians 1:24). And we see God's unfolding plan of how the Savior would be the son of David.

Theology that places Christ at the centre of all of Scripture is necessary for us to grow as disciples. More to come . . .

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What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth? (Part 1)

I do desire to post things that are more instructive than critical. But the proliferation of false teaching and stupid gimmickry that plagues modern evangelicalism right now has left me with overwhelming compulsion to respond and refute much of what is floating around right now. Perhaps that is how Juder felt when he wrote:

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you(G) to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed(J) who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 1:3-4).

However, considering all the criticism I have dished out of late I remain wary of the pitfall that always looms large in the world of "watchblogging" - that being diagnosing too many problems and offering too few solutions. With that in mind I have taken it upon myself to contrast so much of this modern junk with true biblically defined discipleship and growth. What follows is based upon a sermon I recently preached that drew heavily from Mark Dever's excellent book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church".

BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF GROWTH

Growth and discipleship are popular buzz words in modern churches. Terms like “church growth” and “mega church” testify to the popular idea that growth is about getting a lot of people to sit in a lot of chairs. I also have often heard comments like “the great commission is about making disciples, not converts” and another favorite “conversion is the easy work, discipleship is the hard part”. It is important that we understand growth and discipleship as the Bible defines them. It is also important to rightly understand conversion in order to understand what a disciple really is.

With all the “church growth manuals” for sale at the Christian bookstore it is helpful to start with Who causes the growth:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7, words of the Apostle Paul).

As a preacher, my flesh needs to be constantly reminded that it is God who grows His church. He has given me the priveledge of proclaiming His Gospel that He delivered. Read through the book of Acts and you will see over and over again that the church grew as God added people to the church.

Peter painted a beautiful picture of the growing church:

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:2-5).

As this series continues will look at some of the elements that are important in church life so that we may grow as disciples. Much of this will be based upon . In part 2 of this series we will take a look at the importance of expository preaching and biblical theology in facilitating our discipleship and growth.

More to come . . .

Go On To Part 2