Page 6 - In His Image

ness of sins, and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe."
The methods are varied and include personal, mass, and saturation evangelism. The
goal is to bring people into a new relationship with God through Jesus Christ and to

enable them to commit their lives to Him.

The "proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing to the unsaved..."
does NOT describe discipleship however! It is also noteworthy to point out that Paul
in his letter to the church in Ephesus makes a distinction also between evangelism
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and discipleship. In Ephesians 4:11 we read... " And He Himself gave some to be apostles,
some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers," The evangelist is a totally
different office/gift than the pastor or teacher. Different office/gift because
they are called to perform different ministries. Evangelists are those who preach
the good news of salvation. They are divinely equipped to win the lost to Christ. They
have special ability to diagnose a sinner's condition, probe the conscience, answer
objections, encourage decisions for Christ, and help the convert find assurance
through the word. Evangelists should go out from a local church, preach to the world,
then lead their converts to a local church where they will be fed and encouraged.
Pastors are men who serve as under shepherds of the sheep of Christ. They guide
and feed the flock. Theirs is a ministry of wise counsel, correction, encouragement,
and consolation. Teachers are men who are divinely empowered to explain what the
Bible says, interpret what it means, and apply it to the hearts and consciences of the
saints. Whereas an evangelist may preach the gospel from a passage out of context,
the teacher seeks to show how the passage fits into the context. It is clearly the
responsibility of the pastors and teachers to disciple God's children once they have

heard and received the liberating word of the evangelist.
In fact, it can be said, that Jesus did not just call people to repentance and
salvation, but He also called people to the work of making disciples. His death on
the cross was meant to free us from the penalty of sin. Once free... then what??
Our response to that gift of freedom from sin, death and the grave should be to
imitate His life, and become truly His disciples. Then and only then, can we go and
make disciples of all nations. To make disciples, one first must become a disciple!

Evangelism, as effective as it may be, in the absence of discipleship, is not pleasing

to God! Discipleship must follow immediately on the heels of evangelism.
Justification without sanctification (the process of becoming Holy or Christ-like -
the discipling process) does not honor the blood of Christ, for Jesus died not just

to save us, but also to re-establish relationship with us! That through that rela-

In His Image IV