Discipleship and the Gospel
Let us look at something else in Mark's account of the great commission. In Mark 16:15, 16, Jesus says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Thus, we see that at the foundation of the commission is the call to preach the gospel.
With that in mind, read Revelation 14:6. How do these verses help us understand what our work is, not just as disciples, but as Seventh-day Adventist disciples?
With the work of preaching the gospel so central to discipleship, and with the making of disciples, how crucial that we understand what the gospel message really is. Jesus, however, right there in those verses in Mark, pretty much gives us the gospel. Believe it, and you shall be saved; reject it, and you shall be lost.
Compare what Jesus said in Mark with John 3:14-19. How does what John writes help us to understand what Jesus is saying in Mark?
How crucial that as disciples we be rooted firmly in the gospel that we are called to preach. Because of sin, the world stood condemned; Jesus bore that condemnation, fully and completely, in Himself. Through this wonderful provision, anyone who believes in Him no longer has to face the condemnation that came through sin; instead, thanks to God's unfathomable grace, that person—regardless of how sinful his or her past has been—is pardoned, forgiven, and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. This message must be at the foundation of all that we preach and teach to the world.
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