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Commentary on "Evaluating Witnessing and Evangelism"
Day 7: Friday, June 22, 2012 - Further Study
INTRODUCTION
The theme for today is about “inviting others to join your ministry”. It talks about how it’s important not to be a ‘one-man band’—that we have to involve many people to multiply the ministry. It goes on to give detailed step-by-step ways to evaluate ministerial/evangelistic progress and success. It, once again, focuses on Matthew 23:15 asking the question, “How can we, as a church, prevent this from happening, especially when new converts are so often full of zeal? How can we make sure that zeal is focused in the right direction so that we don’t create more ‘sons of hell’ in our midst?”
OBSERVATIONS
I think it’s pretty obvious to most of us that we need teamwork and a collaborative effort as a church to engage in any large-scale evangelistic effort. While this may be true, each one of us can evangelize individually and share the gospel at any given time with any given person as the Holy Spirit leads us. While it’s necessary at some point to get down to details as to how to conduct ministry, this really doesn’t seem like the place or the venue in which to tackle such a huge subject. In addition, for our purposes, it’s rather a moot point, as we’ve ascertained that the “gospel” the Seventh-day Adventist Church is preaching and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are not the same and do not carry the same message. It seems that “sons of hell” to the Adventist would include Sunday churches, as they believe a different “gospel”. In their thinking, this “zeal” for Christ needs to be tempered with the rules and legalism required of its members. To be “focused in the right direction” means to burden the new believer with Sabbath-keeping, food laws and other Old Testament Jewish requirements not intended for the New Testament believer, thus taking away his freedom in Christ. Galations 5:1 says,
“Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Verse 4-6 goes on to say,
“You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace! For by the Spirit we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness from faith.”
2 Cor. 3:17 reiterates this,
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
CONCLUSIONS
- Most people are aware that it takes teamwork and a collaborative effort as a church to engage in any large-scale evangelistic effort, but we as individuals can share the gospel at any time with any person as the Holy Spirit leads us to get the gospel message out.
- While it’s important to get down to details as to how to conduct ministry, this lesson doesn’t really seem like the appropriate place or venue in which to tackle such a huge and complicated subject.
- It’s a moot point to discuss ministry and evangelism because we’ve ascertained that the “gospel” of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ—it doesn’t carry the same message.
- In Christ there is freedom—we are not to submit again to a yoke of slavery! We cannot be justified by the law, and are alienated from grace when we try to do so (Gal. 5:1, 4-6; 2 Cor. 3:17).
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised June 1, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
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