Life is a process; from a baby being born, they will mature into a child, a young person, a young adult, and a mature adult. Just as physical life is a process, the spiritual development of people is the same. The only difference is that in the physical life, the growth continues no matter the person’s state, but in the spiritual life, people can get stuck in a stage.
An example is the life of John the Baptist. In the Gospel according to Mark chapter one, he begins with the clear objective that the Gospel is about “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Gnosticism was the context of the original receivers; this means that they believed the body and the spiritual must be separated. The reason is that the body is evil; nothing about it is good; therefore, whatever sin occurs in the body does not matter because it does not influence the spiritual. So, this was a dualist thinking. The way of salvation was to obtain secret knowledge, be set free from the body and return to God. So, when Mark says that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, is the Son of God, people tend to listen.
Obey like the people
Mark then takes the story of Jesus and places it in the narrative of the people of God in the Old Testament. (The New Beacon Bible Commentary on Mark by Dr K. Brower is a good study.) Several passages can be drawn as parallels. Some are like Isaiah’s quote: John is in the wilderness and looks and acts like Elijah. Preaching and proclamation of the son of the Priest in the wilderness and people following and obeying him. Jesus in the Wilderness and being victorious over Satan and being served by angels. Jesus proclaims the “kingdom of God is near” (Mark 1: 15).
John the Baptist was preaching, and many people responded to him. The passage states, “People from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem were going out to him” (Mark 1:5), and he baptized them as they confessed their sins. The people did not go and listen or attend the preaching to be entertained but acted in obedience. A significant number confessed their sins. Just as John the Baptist was the preparation for the way of the Lord, so it resembles a preparation of heart for what needs to follow.
Obey John and move on
John’s second sermon helps us to understand the process here. His baptism is a baptism of repentance with water. John does not state that salvation is through confession or baptism. He states, “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy to bend down and untie the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8). In the writing of Mark, through the preaching of John, the greatest prophet (according to Jesus), firstly stated that his ministry has a limitation. It includes calling people, getting them to obey by confessing their sins, baptizing them with water, and all this outside in the wilderness, but still, they need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Secondly, he is the greatest prophet who is not worthy to bow down and untie the strap in Jesus’s sandals. The greatest prophet cannot save a person, only Jesus.
As Jesus is introduced in the narrative and comes out of the water, it is only Jesus and the reader that is aware of the voice coming from heaven, “You are my one dear Son; in you, I take great delight” (Mark 1:11). For a Gnostic reader this is a great challenge because the God they are trying to get to by secret knowledge has sent His Son in bodily form, and God has confirmed this. The question then arises: how strong is He? Mark helps his reader by saying that the Spirit of God took Him to the wilderness for forty days, where Satan tempted him but was victorious. “He was also among wild animals (Reminder of the Garden of Eden), and angels ministered to His needs” (Mark 1:13). Mark proclaims He is strong and worthy as the Son of God.
Obey Jesus and follow Him
As John the Baptist falls away from the narrative (imprisoned), Jesus comes forward as the main character and proclaims, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1: 15). This is the process after John the Baptist, to prepare the hearts. Jesus brings salvation and, as John stated, the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not skip repentance; His proclamation is repentance and believing the Gospel. Repentance is the stopping of walking in the way you walked, the turning around from that path and coming to Jesus. But in Mark, Jesus goes further and calls for a change of mind. The Greek word here (without being too technical) means changing place and condition and thinking differently. So, you can think of a Gnostic who believes the body is evil and that nothing good can come from it. Jesus calls them to a place to change their condition and to think differently about salvation. He then adds that they need to believe the Gospel. Confession of sins and repentance are not enough; they must believe the Gospel.
The question then follows, will anyone follow Him? As he walked along the sea and called the four men, they
immediately left everything and followed Jesus. Christianity is about walking with Jesus, not the status of confession. Mark further unfolds what it means to walk with the Son of God.
Conclusion
Do not get stuck in the stage where people confess their sins, sometimes daily or weekly, because they think spending time with John is lovely, and the message in this stage is sufficient. They need to know that even the greatest prophet is pointing to Jesus. Move on to repent, change the condition and mindset, and immediately believe and follow Jesus. Let there be no price too high to hinder you from following Him. His worthiness is much higher, so instead, calculate and reflect on who He is, and as the first disciples, leave everything and follow Him.
As a Pastor in this season, help your people to point them to Jesus, to walk with Him and not get stuck on the great Prophets that came to point to “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Praise - for districts who continue to support the ministry of NTC through prayer and education budget giving!
Pray for the NTC staff who are teaching and coordinating ministerial training programmes.
Pray for the ongoing work of writing new course materials for ministerial training.
Pray for the participants and students in ministry preparation.
Pray for all facilitators involved in ministry training.
Pray for business for GNCC to support the mission of NTC.
Pray for Rev. Errol & Dr. Rhonda Carrim on home assignment.
Pray for the new church year and District Assemblies.
Pray for God's guidance for the coming year so we may know what He expects.
NTC offers short courses on lifelong learning on the third week of every month. We want to remind pastors that they are required to complete 20 hours of lifelong learning per year.
This will be a good time to start ensuring you meet the hours required for the next District Assembly. November will be our last for the year, and we will restart in February 2025.
We continue to develop new courses every month, for more information please see our website.
Link to our website: https://www.nazarenecollege.ac.za/lifelonglearning
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