The BIG Picture (Q&A)

QUESTION: My grandson told me, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" Is that true? ANSWER: The above refers to the 'great' commission that Jesus gave to his disciples before His ascension. Please note that this is a commission that will be fulfilled by Jews during the Millennial Kingdom that Jesus establishes at His second advent. During this time the Jews will be preeminent in the kingdom; they will be the royal priesthood and holy nation as promised in Exodus 19:6. It is then that they will have received the new covenant blessings  which includes the indwelling Spirit of God, and they will be able to take the word of the Lord out to the nations. So, this commission, being for the Jews, is not for us today in the grace dispensation. We have a separate commission that was given to us by the risen Christ, who inspired Paul to write, 2 Cor.5:18 ...

The short answer to this question is that it takes ZERO convincing! It is not our role to convince a person. As a matter of fact, how can you convince an unbeliever of spiritual issues. You can talk until you are blue in the face, but when you try to talk, convince, or argue someone into faith, they may concede to the strength of your argument, but faith was not produced .  No person arrives at the point of genuine "saving faith" by the efforts of another, or of their own mental ascent. It is the result of God's work/grace in our spirit by His Holy Spirit conviction.  Sharing the gospel is like sowing seeds. That's all you can do. Sow the seed and pray that it falls into fertile soil. It is the Holy Spirit that uses the gospel to convict an unbeliever of sin, righteousness, and judgement. The Holy Spirit will produce moments of truth in that person's heart, moments where they will be confronted with a decision to believe. I...

In the Gospels, Jesus sent out his disciples and followers to preach the gospel and spread the news that the Kingdom was at hand (Mark 6:7-13, Luke 10:1-11). How does this translate into our time and dispensation today? Are we expected to go out into public spaces and preach the gospel? Are we expected to evangelize? What instructions does the Bible give to us today about being a 'witness' for Christ? Must we take the example of preaching the gospel from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? An important thing to remember is that the grace dispensation is different in MANY respects from the law dispensation over Israel and throughout Jesus' earthly ministry. We should recognize that not only has our gospel message changed, but the format of delivery has also. Let me clarify the format of delivery using the following simply argument. I'm not claiming to be dogmatic here, but I am going to state a thought that sounds reasonable! What does witnessing even mean? Are we really witne...