Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Lesson 17.1: Fruit Inspection – Part 2 of 2

Brief 4-to-5 Minute Teaching Lesson

Why? and What is the Purpose? in My Life SERIES

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The continuation of lesson 17 of the Discipleship Making process, where I left you last time with these two questions, “How do you identify false prophets and teachers?”. . . and . . . “What is your favorite fruit and how do you check it for quality?”

In summary of the last lesson, we learned that through training and practice, maturity in discernment comes. And that to accurately discern between good and evil, three factors need to be considered before an opinion is formed, with all three being in agreement: 1. The individual’s actions, 2. The individual’s words, and 3. The Word of God.

Read: Matthew 7:21-29 & Luke 6:46-49

Jesus clearly tells His disciples that not everyone who declares that Jesus is Lord actually belongs to Him. He is cautioning His disciples about an error concerning salvation that will creep into the Church.

Both the apostle Paul (Romans 10:8-11) and Peter (2 Peter 3:16-18) talk about this error, concerning the lordship of Jesus Christ, which involves giving only mental ascent to the fact that Jesus is Lord. People will simply say the words “Jesus is Lord” and believe they will be saved. To them the statement becomes a magical incantation or ticket to heaven. Whereas the truth of the matter is that when a person confesses that Jesus is Lord, he is in fact stating that he will do everything that his Lord commands him to do. When a person does not do as his Lord commands it shows that he is a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another. His behavior reveals his character. He really doesn’t believe in his heart that Jesus is Lord or he would do what Jesus says. As James (James 2:17) puts it, “Faith without works is dead.”

Jesus affirms this when He says, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”. Those who pervert the gospel of grace do so by declaring that they are no longer under law, but grace. The Apostle Paul brings further clarity to the issue in Galatians 5:18 by contrasting the Law of Moses and the Spirit of Christ, where he states that a person being led by the Holy Spirit is not under the Law. But he doesn’t stop there. His next statements show whether the Holy Spirit or a person’s own flesh is leading him: Galatians 5:19-23.

Jesus clearly exposes this perversion of the Gospel in His parable of the two house builders. Both men built houses to protect themselves from the storm. The storm represents the wrath or judgment of God since He alone controls the forces of nature. The houses represent the means by which the men will be saved from the wrath or judgment of God. One man’s salvation was based on sand, which equates to only hearing Jesus’ words. This man’s hope of salvation was destroyed. The other man’s salvation was based on rock, which equates to both hearing and doing Jesus’ words. This man’s hope of salvation proved adequate. In John 12:47-50, Jesus reiterates this truth.

The point of the lesson is Jesus wants His disciples to be fruit inspectors, to discern good and evil, and to choose for themselves that which is good without judging others.

With that, allow me to leave you with this question to consider, along with a little homework assignment until my next posting:

How is sowing accomplished?

. . . and the homework assignment . . .

By using Scripture we can begin to discern false prophets and teachers. Read the following passages of Scripture in order one at a time:
1. Jude
2. 2 John 1:7-11
3. 1 John 2:18-23, 4:1-6, and 5:1-5
4. 2 Peter 2:1-22

Until next time . . . Godspeed!

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