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The Daily Word of Righteousness
An Examination of Current Teaching, #39
But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:11,12)
The main emphasis of the New Testament is on personal evangelism.
The above exhortation to spiritual growth is the main teaching of the New Testament.
The term "evangelism" does not appear in the New Testament. The term "evangelist" appears twice. The term "evangelists" appears once.
However, the term "righteousness" appears 99 times in the King James Version of the New Testament and 306 times throughout the Bible.
When we are speaking of emphasis, it is clear that "righteousness" (almost always referring to righteous conduct, not imputed righteousness) is far and away the winner.
Perhaps we are placing the cart ahead of the horse. Perhaps if we concentrate on bringing the Christians to maturity they automatically will win people to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus informed us that when we are one in Him, then the world will believe.
As the Lord brings us to maturity He makes us fishers of men. The work of personal evangelism proceeds as a natural byproduct of our burgeoning spiritual life. We do not have to be continually exhorted to "save souls" any more than we have to continually exhort a husband and wife to have children.
The Lord does not command us to fish, He makes us fishers. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the wisdom thereof wins souls to the way of righteousness.
There are all sorts of gifts and ministries in the Body of Christ, and evangelism is one of them. Most of us know someone gifted along this line. But there are numerous other gifts and ministries that are not stressed with equal fervor. Thus the believers remain immature.
If we would concentrate on bringing the believers to maturity, I think the Holy Spirit then would guide us to those ordained to eternal life, as the Book of Acts declares. The Lord still is able to add to His churches those who are being saved. The Lord Jesus builds His Church on the Rock He Himself is.
I think if we would follow the Bible we would have more success in bringing the saints to maturity. The mature saint is the light of the world and in him or her Christ is magnified. Thus more is accomplished in the way of genuine Kingdom evangelism by bringing saints to maturity than by ignoring the spiritual needs of the present believers and seeking only to gain more and more converts.
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. (Proverbs 4:18)
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:2)
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. (Romans 7:4)
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (II Corinthians 4:10)
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12)
To be continued.