It’s been some two thousand years since Jesus ascended into the clouds, yet He remains eternally the “same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
As God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ had the wisdom and foresight to gaze into the generations ahead and behold the long road in which His followers would travel down throughout the centuries. It was with such omniscience that He prayed to the Father, saying, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those who believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20; italics mine). Jesus knew that the ministries of local evangelism, foreign missions, and overall discipleship would be a work of continual progress.
It will go on and on, until the sheep are finally separated from the goats.
There was one person who lived perfectly in this world and it wasn’t you or me. Therefore, we are all capable of learning and growing more in our love for Jesus Christ. The most spiritually minded, biblically astute person can always learn more and will never achieve a state of sinless perfection. Thus, we should confess our sins, pray for the Lord’s forgiveness, repent daily, and begin afresh each morning with the goal of being a more passionate disciple of Jesus Christ.
We are to never cease teaching others all that Jesus commanded, as well as the other God-breathed truths contained in Holy Scripture. We’re to strive toward living lives consistent with the faith that is in us. What you must never lose sight of is the fact that you are also to be discipled and not merely disciple others.
Did you catch that?
Great Commission Discipleship is as much about your sanctification as it is about other people’s salvation! The Great Commission is as much about your relationship with Jesus Christ as it is about other people getting saved.
Every Paul needs a Timothy to mentor and every Timothy needs a Paul to be molded by. Great Commission Discipleship is something you fulfill both directly and indirectly. You are directly fulfilling the Great Commission when you’re making others into disciples of Jesus Christ. But you are also indirectly fulfilling the Great Commission when you are being taught, discipled by others, and obeying the commandments of God as you go throughout your days.
“The kind of evangelism called for in this [Great] commission,” said pastor and author John MacArthur, “does not end with the conversion of the unbeliever.” Just because God saved you, that doesn’t mean Great Commission Discipleship ceases from that moment forward.
Remember, the mission for you and your local church is to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20; italics mine). Your progressive sanctification is just as important as your regeneration is. The moment God saved you, you then began a lifelong process of passionate obedience to all the things you’re being taught from the Scriptures. The mandate of Great Commission Discipleship continues on, even till your dying breath.
You see, God desires radical living—not stagnate existing.
No Christian is ever exempt from Christ’s discipleship model, either. Neither age, gender, race, geography, culture, or even spiritual maturity removes us from the discipleship process.
So press on, dear Christian, being diligent to work out your own “salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).