BRINGING OTHERS TO JESUS
We wish to
bring others to Jesus because we know He can recreate lives through repentance
and forgiveness of sin and deliverance from sins. His Spirit, (Spirit of
Christ) baptizes us into His body (of Christ) and we are adopted as children of
God. We are cleansed by His blood sacrifice and enabled then to receive the
indwelling of the Holy Ghost of God as we invite Him to enter our lives for
power to serve Him. If we resist the Holy Spirit’s desire to be the Lord of our
life for Jesus’ sake, we will not have the power for “Bringing Others to
Jesus”.
FORGIVENESS OF SINS:
The
Priesthood of the Old Testament was based upon the ministry of God- ordained
priests, beginning with Moses’ brother, Aaron. This order provided many ministries
to the people of God, including the assurance of their forgiveness of sins
based upon God’s laws, which included the sacrificial shedding of the blood of
certain sorts of clean animals approved of God. The sacrifices were to be
performed at certain special times and in certain manners. Everything had to be
exact in ceremony and the purity of the sacrifice, showing that God required
perfection of service and purpose. The following verses show the manner and
promise of the mercy of God and the required faithfulness of His priests.
“And he shall do with the bullock as
he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the
priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.”
(Leviticus 4:20 AV)
“And he shall burn all his fat upon
the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall
make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.”
(Leviticus 4:26 AV)
“And the priest shall make an atonement for
the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD,
to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.” (Numbers 15:28 AV)
The priesthood of our
Lord is not the same, since the Aaronic priesthood was only for the Jews, and
was dependant upon a temporal system requiring repetitive services. Jesus’
priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek, the King-Priest of Salem. “And
Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest
of the most high God. And he blessed
him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and
earth:” (Genesis 14:18-19 AV)
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou
at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send
the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD
hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the
order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in
the day of his wrath.” (Psalms 110:1-5 AV)
“For
every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have
compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he
himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for
the people, so
(2)
also for himself, to offer for sins. And
no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was
Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he
that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art
a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” (Hebrews 5:1-6 AV)
Jesus was ordained of
God, the Father, to be high priest at His right hand for all people forever. He
is not only the priest, but also the sacrifice, and as such could forgive sin,
not just give assurance of forgiveness based on ceremony. Forgiveness of sin is
based upon repentance and belief in Christ’s sacrifice for us. His priesthood
is the ministry of His grace, but His power lies in His reign as King of kings,
forever.
As
Jesus ministered on earth, He knew who He was and the power that belonged to
Him, based upon the cross that still lay before Him. By faith He healed; by
faith He forgave sins. The faith of Christ prevailed for people then and still
prevails for us today. Our faith is empowered by His faith in us as we minister
to those who are lost in sin and in need of healing.
“Knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16 AV)
“And
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith:” (Philippians 3:9 AV)
The
ministry of our Lord has been passed down to His Apostles who proclaimed the
faith of Christ in their epistles to the early churches they formed. Paul’s
calling is recorded for us in his own testimony: “Delivering thee
from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open
their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:17-18
AV)
Though Christ, Messiah, came to the Jews whom He
would have empowered to do His work, they rejected Him. So, He extended His
ministry to the Gentiles. We have a very great privilege as converted Gentiles,
saved by faith in His grace, to serve our Lord. So we see that the
ministry of the forgiveness of sin through the faith of Jesus Christ as with
Paul is relevant for us today as we share the Gospel with others. Let us go
into the world and preach the Gospel, the good news of Jesus, the Christ.
The Way, Truth, and Life
Ministries, June 2001
www.wtlministry.org