The Great Commission

learning addition and subtraction and multiplication is so that later these skills can be utilized in the affairs of life. While in school, they are the focus of our attention. However, once we have graduated our focus turns to the affairs of adult life. Though we still use the skills we have learned, they are no longer the focus of our attention.

He is saying that as we grow up in Christ and press toward spiritual maturity, the first principles of salvation will be rooted in us and will be there for God to utilize in our lives. They will always be there to keep us grounded in truth. However, they are not to remain the central focus of our lives, for if they do we will never grow.

In our day we have two serious problems. First, God's people are not going on to perfection. The focus of most believers remains on the basic principles of the faith. It remains primarily on church work and evangelism. Our lives continually revolve around these principle doctrines of the New Testament and this keeps us in a perpetual state of spiritual immaturity.

As bad as this is we face an even greater crisis. For the first principles of the faith are being corrupted by modern Evangelical theology. The resulting situation is that not only are we choosing to focus on the wrong thing, the thing we are focusing on is being perverted. Not only are we not going forward in the purposes of God, we are actually going backward.

Perfection is a frightening word to most believers. It conjures up all kinds of fictitious images. It is a goal that most Christians assume is unreachable until after we get to heaven. Pastors and Bible teachers try to attach a less threatening definition to the word, saying that it refers merely to spiritual maturity rather than a state of actual sinlessness.

Although maturity is certainly included in the term perfection, maturity could never constitute the totality of the word, for perfection involves much more than maturity. Perfection is associated with such things as possessing the fulness of God and the fulness of Christ, of being free of all spots and wrinkles, of having no blemish or guile, of being faultless, and with bearing the full image of Jesus Christ. Having these attributes associated with the term perfection gives the word a much heavier "theological punch."

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

II. Corinthians 13:9

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:28

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

Jude 1:24

That he might sanctify and cleanse it [the Church] with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself [at His appearing] a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:26

These are they [144,00] which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Revelation 14:3-5

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:28-29

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

II. Corinthians 3:18

When the Scripture talks about presenting us "faultless" and "perfect" to the Lord Jesus at His appearing, it isn't talking about imputed faultlessness and imputed perfection. When God says He intends to "wash" and "cleanse" and "purify" the Church, He is not talking about a legal position. When He declares that His people will be free from all guile, blemishes, spots and wrinkles, He means exactly that! We are not talking about theological speculation here.

God has determined that there will be a people who will be made morally perfect before Jesus returns. They will have been purged of all sin and rebellion and fully conformed to the image of Christ. That is His Word and it cannot be altered by our worthless religious traditions.

This cleansing is happening right now. But unfortunately, Satan has managed to conceal this purpose from the majority of believers by flooding our churches with false doctrines that teach full transformation into Christ’s image is not possible in this life—and therefore not necessary. He has flooded the churches with doctrines that make us assume our transformation and cleansing will take place in heaven after we die. He has flooded the churches with doctrines that cause us to focus our attention on everything in the world except this transforming work.

The New Testament teaches over and over again that this very transformation is what redemption is all about, and that it is to be experienced now, in this life. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made a way for us not only to escape hell in the future, but to be changed from the image of Adam to the image of Christ today.

This will be a hard pill to swallow for those who have been taught all their lives that we cannot experience the fulness of God until we die and go to heaven. It will be a hard pill to swallow for those who have been taught that we will get everything in heaven, in the future, simply by believing we will get it. It will be hard to get free of the notion that once we have been "born again" there is no more to be accomplished, with regards to our salvation, in this life. The belief that everything is awaiting us in the future, in heaven, has been deeply ingrained in the minds of most Christians.

Knowing that such a major shift in thinking does not come easy for most people, we want to take a moment and show clearly that, according to the Scripture, what we have stated is absolutely true and that many of our traditions are absolutely false.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Romans 5:10

If there is nothing more to accomplish in our salvation after conversion, why is Paul telling those who have already been "reconciled" that they shall be "saved" in the future? Weren’t the believers in Rome saved when they became reconciled by the blood of Jesus?

[Speaking to the saints] Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:21

If there is nothing more to be accomplished in our salvation after conversion, why is James telling those who are already saved that their "souls" still need to be "saved?" And why is he telling them that their souls need to be saved, not by faith, but by the receiving of the "engrafted word?"

Receiving the end [goal] of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

I. Peter 1:9

If there is nothing more to accomplish in our salvation after conversion, why is Peter telling those who are already saved that the "goal" of their faith is the salvation of their "souls?" Were not their souls saved as a result of believing on God’s Messiah?

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

Hebrews 5:9

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Hebrews 10:39

If we already have it all by grace, why did the writer of Hebrews tell these Jewish believers they must believe "to the saving of the soul?" Why did he tell them God is able to save "to the uttermost?" And why did he say Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to them that "obey" (not believe in) Him?

Is it possible that our soul—which is our mind and personality—is not fully redeemed when we first believe. Is it possible that we must believe to its saving? Is it possible for a person to be partially redeemed, to not be saved "to the uttermost?" Is it possible that believing in the Lord is not enough to transform the soul? Could it be that we also have to obey Him in order to have the soul conformed to the image of Christ?

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Galatians 6:8

If there is nothing more to accomplish in our salvation after conversion, why is Paul telling believers that eternal life is something that will be "reaped?" Why is he telling them if they want to reap it they have to "sow" to the Spirit? How can you reap something you have already been given as a gift by grace? The very terms "sowing" and "reaping" clearly imply that we must do something more than believe if we want to gain eternal life.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2:12

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses...Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they [believers] may lay hold on eternal life.

I. Timothy 6:12,19

If there is nothing more to be accomplished in our salvation after conversion, why is Paul telling us it is necessary to "work out" a salvation which has already been worked out for us by grace? Why would he tell us it's necessary to "obtain" eternal life if we already possess it simply by believing in Jesus? Are the apostles talking out of both sides of their mouths or what?

These—and various other verses of Scripture in the New Testament—appear to be telling us that eternal life and salvation are the result of our own labor. Were the apostles teaching salvation by works? No. They were talking about the transformation of the personality, of the soul. This transformation is accomplished neither instantly or automatically. We are responsible to "sow" and "work out" and "lay hold of" full redemption. We are responsible to "receive with meekness the engrafted word." We are responsible to "obey" God. We are responsible to interact and co-operate with our Redeemer so He can transform our character.

Such transformation can never be imputed. It will never be experienced simply by believing correct doctrine or by attending a fellowship or by obeying any number of religious rules or regulations. It will never be attained by dying and going to heaven. Transformation takes personal interaction with the God who has saved us. This is precisely why the writer of Hebrews warned believers not to "neglect" their salvation (Heb. 2:1-3). How can a person who is already saved neglect his salvation? Is the writer referring to backsliding or apostasy?

Such a statement makes no sense if our simplistic view of salvation is true. We need to understand that even though we have been saved by grace, we can still neglect our redemption by neglecting this process of transformation. The fact is, many of God’s people are neglecting this transformation because they have been taught that Jesus only came to forgive our behavior. But we have been mislead by blind guides. The Scripture teaches that Jesus came to both forgive and change that behavior.

The transformation of our personality requires a lot of focusing on our part. It takes quite a bit of work to change a person from his own image into the image of someone else. One of the doctrines that keeps us from focusing our attention on this transforming work is the Evangelical doctrine of the "great commission." This is the teaching that our primary duty in this life as believers is to evangelize everyone around us, and eventually the entire world. Please take a moment and consider some important statements that were made by the apostle Paul, who was without a doubt the greatest soul-winner the Early Church had ever seen.

But none of these things [tribulations] move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

NKJ Acts 20:24

Notice carefully that Paul said he did not count his own life dear because he wanted to finish two things. The first was his "race" and the second was his "ministry." His ministry was his apostleship to the Gentiles. It was his call to preach the Gospel and raise up assemblies among the nations. But he also spoke of a race, and this race was a separate issue with Paul. His race was not his ministry. He speaks more about this race in Corinthians.

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

NIV I. Corinthians 9:20-23

Concerning his ministry, Paul said he became all things to all men that by all possible means he might save some. But notice his motivation. He did it in order to "share in the blessings" of the Gospel. He was fulfilling his ministry in order to partake of the rewards of the Gospel. He wasn't running to and fro, frantically trying to evangelize the world because he believed that was his primary duty. He followed the Spirit of God in the fulfilling of his ministry, and the Spirit used his obedience to bring many people to salvation. Now he speaks of his race, which again, was a separate issue.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

NIV I. Corinthians 9:24-27

Paul was in a race and a battle. He knew it and confessed it. He did not run aimlessly; he knew exactly what he was striving for. He did not fight like a man beating the air, wasting his energy on things that did not bring him closer to his goal. He also said he beat his body and made it his slave so he would not be overcome by its lusts and carnal desires and end up "disqualified" for the prize.

What was this race? What was that prize? Do you know? Do you care? If we continue to read this portion of Scripture it will be clearly seen that the race and the battle and the prize Paul is referring to has nothing to do with imputed righteousness, forgiveness and justification, for in the very next sentence he begins to compare losing the race with what happened to Israel in the Old Testament.

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat. And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

I. Corinthians 10:1‑5

Consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is saying all the Israelites passed through the sea, were baptized unto Moses and delivered from Egypt. This represents initial salvation. They were all baptized in the sea—which represents water baptism. They did all eat spiritual meat and drank spiritual drink—which represents a relationship with the Lord. Those people were "saved." Yet they were "overthrown in the wilderness."

What then does being overthrown in the wilderness represent? Does it represent a loss of salvation? Did all two-million Israelites perish eternally? Will they be thrown into the lake of fire on Judgment Day? If being overthrown in the wilderness equals a loss of salvation, Paul was trying to stay justified by works—for he is comparing this overthrow of the Israelites with the failure to win the race.

Paul labored and ran and fought and buffeted his body to win a race. If the race that he was running represents justification and forgiveness, then the apostle of grace was trying to keep himself justified by doing all these things. Shall we believe Paul was trying to keep himself saved by religious works? Not at all.

Paul was not talking about going to heaven or hell. He was talking about the transformation of the believers’ character and personality after he has been born again. That work of transformation is likened unto a race and a battle by Paul. We can lose that race. We can be overthrown in the wilderness just like the Israelites of old. They lost their race. Paul makes reference to this race again in the book of Philippians.

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffer-ings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:10‑14

Here Paul finally gives the race a name: it's called the "high calling." There is a "mark" that he must hit. If he hits that mark he will gain the "prize" of the high calling. He did not claim to have hit the mark yet, but forgetting those things which were behind and reaching forth unto those things which were ahead, he pressed towards that mark. He said he wanted to apprehend "that" (ie., that destiny) for which he was apprehended of Christ Jesus.

The Lord had a plan for Paul's life. He had a course which was laid out for him from before the foundation of the world. God laid hold of Paul and showed him what that destiny was. He was then responsible to lay hold of that destiny by yielding to the transforming work of the Spirit in his life, as God molded him and brought him into the realization of that goal. Did you know God has set a goal before you?

Now consider the life of Paul for a moment. When he penned these words he was already saved, he was already gifted, he was already recognized as an apostle and had an international ministry. For years he had planted churches, worked miracles, endured great suffering, and nurtured the body of Christ. This brother was one of God’s mighty men. He was a spiritual veteran who was able to defeat Satan’s strong-holds wherever he ministered. He had vast experience in the deep things of God and did more to further the Kingdom of God than any other individual in that era, except for the Lord Jesus Himself. Yet, for all his vast experience, near the end of his life he was still laboring to receive a prize, still seeking to apprehend something, still pressing towards a goal he referred to as the high calling.

How is it that so many believers have missed the fact that this man was trying to attain a prize that soul winning and church work could never have won him? Do you know what "prize" the greatest evangelist of that day was trying to win? He was trying to win Christ! That's right. Listen to his words again. He said, "I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Phil. 3:8).

What did he mean? Was he talking about winning the forgiveness of Christ? Can't be—he already possessed that by faith. Well then, was he talking about winning the justification of Christ? Can't be—he already possessed that by faith. Was he talking about winning the imputed righteousness of Christ? Can't be—he already possessed that by faith. He was trying to win the image of Christ. He was seeking full transformation into His likeness.

The great cry of Paul’s heart and the thing that motivated him in all his work was this: "that I might know Him." That, dear friend, is the goal of the Christian life. It is the goal God has set before you. Paul’s race, your race, my race, and the race of every believer is to fulfill God's plan for our personal transformation into His image—not later (in heaven) but now, in this life.

The concept of a pre-ordained ministry is familiar to many of us. But the concept of a pre-ordained personal destiny—which is a war and a race that we must win, and which can be lost by disobedience or carelessness—is totally unknown in contemporary Christianity. Few understand that transformation into God's image is something that must be apprehended by the believer. Being born again and baptized in the Spirit does not win us Christ. Being endowed with wonderful gifts and ministries does not gain us the prize. Acquiring all knowledge and learning all spiritual mysteries will not make us win the race. Being the worlds greatest soul winner will not cause us to hit the mark.

Unfortunately, because most churches possess only a superficial knowledge of salvation, they teach that our primary function in this life is to evangelize. Not only is this view unscriptural, many times it produces arrogant believers—two examples of which we would like to quote.

"He that winneth souls is wise is the great soul-winning text found in Proverbs 11:30. Now, if God tells us in His Holy Bible that - He that winneth souls is wise, then we can immediately understand that the flip side of that same coin would be - he that doesn't win souls is foolish. Or worse yet - he that doesn't win souls is disobedient to God...If YOU love God, YOU will be a SOUL WINNER. If you don't, you won't. God's #1 concern and passion is SOULS. If you claim to love God, your #1 concern and passion will be for the lost souls of men, women, boys, and girls. If you claim to love your neighbor as yourself, then you can't stand by idly as your neighbor slides off into a BURNING HELL!!

God didn't send His only Begotten Son to be tortured and killed on a cruel, rugged cross so YOU could sing in the choir or warm a padded pew. The Father sent His Son, Jesus, because God so loves the world that He'd do anything to rescue them from a BURNING HELL. How about you? What will you do to rescue the perishing? Any teaching that holds you back from SOUL WINNING was vomited out of the mouth of the DEVIL!!! The Devil's job is to get you sitting around long enough (till the end comes). Then you stand before God, totally ashamed that you, at last, have come to the end of your useless life. Finally, when it's too late, you come to the realization that YOU were DECEIVED!!”

He That Winneth Souls Is Wise

Carl Giordano - September 1997

This brother's compassion for the sinner is very admirable, but his contempt for believers who are not doing exactly what he is doing is tragic indeed. He may love the sinner but he does not love the brethren. The apostle John said, "...he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I. John 4:20)

It is proper enough to minister to the unsaved if God has placed that burden on your heart. It is certainly good to evangelize if the Lord has given you that kind of a ministry. But to minister to the lost because we have accepted the responsibility for the salvation of the entire world is quite another matter. This latter state tends to make us bitter at fellow believers who are not carrying what we consider to be their fair share of that burden—and what a heavy burden it is! Here is another example of blind evangelistic pride.

"We need to have a vision of hope of the kingdom that is coming to help us endure what lies ahead. The problem lies, not in presenting that vision of hope, but in our obsession with making it our whole focus. The Pentecostal and Charismatic churches have been blessed with a great revelation of God’s presence and power, despite some of the error and delusion that has crept in. Unfortunately, rather than taking this powerful gifting with them out to reach the world, most have sat back in their bless-me groups, waiting to be entertained by God.

Rather than reaching out to the lost, they have consumed all of God's blessings on themselves, searching frantically for the next ear-tickling new revelation or Holy Spirit happening. God's question to all of us is; where are the men and women who will take the power and anointing that I have given them, and use it laboring in My field, instead of pouring out My precious oil upon their own selfish flesh?

Voice In The Wilderness Newsletter

Ed Spurlin - September 1997

Aside from the blanket condemnation of people he doesn’t even know, at least this brother says we need to have a vision that exceeds evangelizing the world. But alas, as we read on it becomes obvious that he doesn’t believe what he himself writes. For he says those lazy Pentecostals and Charismatics should be using their gifts to "reach the world." Once again, everything is focused on laboring in the field—meaning evangelism. Those who refuse to participate in that labor are scorned and mocked and held up to public ridicule.

Also, please notice the very first statement is off base. The reason we need to have a "vision of hope of the kingdom that is coming" is not to help us endure what lies ahead. Hitting the "mark" and gaining the "prize" of the high calling has nothing to do with surviving the coming Great Tribulation. The vision that is presented in Scripture is given so each individual, regardless of what period of time they happen to find themselves living in, will reach the goal God has laid before them.

It may come as a shock to people—and especially to these two brethren—but we Christians are not responsible for the salvation of the world. We are not responsible to try and save every one around us. Contrary to what we assume or have been taught, Jesus Christ does not call every Christian to evangelize. He does call some to that ministry, but not all. Now it is true that God calls each and every believer to be a "witness" for Him, but our modern concept of what a witness is, has been totally perverted and distorted by the Religious System. It is rash and juvenile and produces rash and juvenile believers like the ones just quoted.

The responsibility of drawing men to God rests on the shoulders of the Holy Spirit, and Him alone. He has never transferred that responsibility to the Church. He has never placed that responsibility on my shoulders and He has never placed it on your shoulders. Of course, religious leaders try to place that responsibility on our shoulders all the time because they have no idea that the primary thrust of God in this age is to bring a people into the fulness of His divine nature.

You see, if the primary objective of salvation is simply to qualify us now for future residence in Paradise, then it is fine to focus our entire lives on gifts and ministries and evangelism. But if the Bible is true, if the primary object of redemption is not to make us all good evangelists while we wait to fly off in the rapture, but rather, to fully conform us to the image of Christ before we die, then our focus has to remain on that process of transformation our whole lives.

Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Acts 15:14

The apostle James stated that the whole purpose of the New Testament age is that God is visiting the Gentiles (nations) in order to "take out of them a people for His name." Religious leaders (as well as the average Christian) will read this verse like so: "Simeon hath declared how God is visiting the Gentiles in order to bring them all to salvation." But that's not what James said, my friend.

What did brother James say? Why is God visiting the nations? He is visiting the nations in order to take out of them a people for His name. If it was said that you went to your dresser to "take out" of it a pair of socks, should we assume that you went to that drawer to take all the socks out? Of course not. Then why can't we apply the same meaning to James' words? When the Scripture says God is going to the nations to take out of them a people for His name, it means exactly that!

Does this mean we should not care about helping the lost? Not at all. All it means is that winning souls should never become our main focus as a Christian. But if we focus all our energies on being conformed to the image of Christ and on winning the race, won’t we be guilty of living a selfish life?

Look at Paul. Was he selfish? He was a great soul-winner but that was never his focus. According to his own testimony, his focus was on "winning Christ." How about Jesus. Was He selfish when He said, "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine"(John 17:9)?

Friend, there are many things and many kinds of people that we can pour our lives out for. Contrary to the claims of impetuous brethren, evangelism is not the only work in God’s Kingdom. If you have been accusing fellow believers of being selfish or foolish or disobedient to God, or of not loving God, or of being useless to God or deceived because they are not focusing their lives on evangelism, you are ignorant of God’s Word and need to repent of arrogant religious pride.

Are we suggesting that believers should not witness to the unsaved? Not at all. Didn’t Paul manage to win souls while focusing on hitting the mark of the high calling? What we are talking about is a false Christian view of why God saved us. Though He will use us to reach lost souls, that is not the reason we have been called and chosen, and it should not be our focus as believers. We are talking about an ungodly pressure that is put on virtually every believer in the churches to evangelize the world. We are talking about how wrong it is to ignore the work God wants to accomplish in us, yet turn around and accept a responsibility that God never intended us to carry.

But doesn’t God desire that all men should come to repentance? Certainly. He sent His Son to pay for the sins of the whole world. The moment He sees a heart respond to the drawing of His Spirit, He will move heaven and earth and the very gates of hell itself if necessary to save that one. Are all men given the chance to be saved? Absolutely. But God also knows the end from the beginning. He knew 6000 years ago just who was going to accept His salvation and who was going to reject it, both yesterday, today and tomorrow. Therefore, though He has made provision for the salvation of all men, He is not trying to evangelize the world because He knows the whole world will never be saved. Rather, He is going to the nations and "taking out of them a people" who will accept His salvation. There is nothing cold-blooded about it.

Of course, one of the ways God visits the nations is through the gift of the Evangelist. He is one who is specifically anointed to go and bring the glad tidings. GOD BLESS AND PROSPER ALL THE EVANGELISTS! We need people in the body who have that call. We are not minimizing that gift in any way. But evangelism is a means to an end, it is not the end. The churches have made missionary work and evangelism the "be all" and "end all" of the Christian faith because they are ignorant of God’s Word. Evangelists and missionaries are not the only tools God uses to reach the nations. He also visits them through the lives of believers who dwell in them; and to this end each person can co-labor with the Spirit and help Him find that people that He is taking out.

But we must not confuse the responsibility to let our light shine before men, or the fact that God will use us to bring some to salvation, with the false doctrine that we are responsible to save everyone around us, and everyone we come in contact with, because after all, the great commission has to be fulfilled. The goal of the Spirit in this age is to get a people for His name in order to transform them into His image.

What the Religious System has never been able to grasp is that the goal of salvation is not to go to heaven or save everyone; it is to "win Christ." They cannot grasp the truth that in order to win Christ we have to allow God to purge and deliver us from all sin. They will never see that our great commission is to "go on to perfection."

The reason religious leaders do not understand or embrace winning Christ as the goal of redemption is simply because they assume that by virtue of being born again they have already won Him. They assume everything we are destined to receive or become will be automatically attained in heaven "by grace." They believe and teach that Christians will experience the fulness of Christs’ life later, based on their profession of faith here and now.

They will never understand or accept the obvious statements of Paul. They will never accept that we do not automatically win Christ. They will never accept the fact that winning Christ is something we must strive for after we have become believers, and that it really has very little to do with going to church or soul winning.

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.

Colossians 1:23

It should not be necessary (but unfortunately it is!) to point out that the great commission has already been fulfilled. Paul said in his day the Gospel had already been preached to every creature which is under heaven. The phrase, "every creature under heaven" is a Hebraism for the whole human race. The Gospel had reached Rome, the center of the then known world, and also all the chief cities of that empire. It continued to spread throughout all the world, into every nation. Is this not what God commissioned the disciples to do?

When God said to go and make disciples of all nations, He was not saying that until every person in every nation had been saved, the great commission would not been fulfilled. He was telling His disciples to go and get more disciples from every nation. This is exactly what God is doing and this is exactly what the disciples helped Him accomplish.

Just how many times are we required to fulfill the great commission anyway? Nobody ever considers it an assumption of pride to teach that those whom God commissioned for this task failed to do it. But is this not what we are assuming when we say the great commission still has to be fulfilled? What saith the Scripture?

God told them to go. He then empowered them to go. They went into all nations and turned their world upside down. Yet, as far as most Christians are concerned, they never really accomplished what the Lord instructed and empowered them to do. Neither they or their children or their children or their children or us or our children have ever fulfilled that commission.

No one even considers that the great commission was a specific task that was given to a specific group of disciples, and was actually performed by them. Rather than understanding it as an historical event, it is viewed by everyone as an open-ended command to all people in all lands at all times. This means it never was fulfilled, is not being fulfilled now, and never will be fulfilled until Jesus comes back and fulfills it Himself. So 2000 years later we are still trying to "go ye into all nations" and fulfill the great commission.

Why can’t we just accept what James said? Why can’t we accept what Paul said? The reason is because we are caught in the same blindness our religious leaders are caught in. The belief that God is trying to save the world, and that we should be doing the same, is a false doctrine. Blind religious leaders have taken a single verse of Scripture and built an entire theology around it. Even worse, they have discarded totally the obvious emphasis of the entire New Testament, which is the maturing of the saints, and have erected a massive structure of missionary work and evangelism on that verse.

We can see a beautiful picture of the co-operation that should exist between those who are called to minister to the unsaved and those who aren’t called to that work in the Old Testament Tabernacle in the Wilderness. Those whom God calls to minister to the lost were foreshadowed in the priests who ministered at the Brazen Altar, sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of sin. But not all the Levites ministered at the Brazen Altar. Some of those priests never ministered there. Some of those priests ministered only to the Lord inside the Tabernacle, in the Holy Place. Their ministry was to the Lord, not the sinner. That was God’s divine order friend.

We need to stop worrying so much about what other believers have been called to do and start concentrating on obeying what God has commanded us to do. Many evangelists today are ministering in the wrong spirit. They are motivated by religious pride, arrogance, and false responsibility, and are cruel to everyone but the sinner. Anyone who ministers in this kind of attitude shall receive no reward for their endeavors, regardless of how successful they might appear to be.

Can you imagine the confusion and dissension that would have taken place if some of today’s evangelists were ministering in the Tabernacle? They would have denied the legitimacy of those priests who ministered in the Holy Place. They would have declared to all Israel that because those priests ministered to the Lord and not the sinner, they were evading their responsibility of winning the lost from a "burning hell." They would have said those priests, because they did not minister at the Brazen Altar, were pouring out God’s oil upon their own "selfish flesh," not realizing that those priests were ministering exactly where the Lord ordained and called them to minister.

This pamphlet was not written to rebuke those who have a sincere desire to minister to the unsaved: "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (I. Cor. 7:20). It was written to let my brothers and sisters in Christ know that there is more to redemption than getting saved, going to church, witnessing to everyone we run into, and waiting blissfully for the rapture. There is a goal presented in the Scripture, and every believer is eligible to hit that mark.

But in order to hit the mark of the high calling we have to re-arrange our priorities. Winning the race must become priority number one or we will never make it, for winning Christ is an uphill battle. We have to continually swim upstream. We have to continually refuse to settle for the status quo of the churches. Many religious leaders are unaware of this simple truth and as a result, most believers are also unaware of it. We have merely sought to expose a false Christian mind-set and replace it with a Scriptural one.

If you get a witness to what you have just read, ask God to show you how to run your race to win. If you are content with the contemporary view of redemption, God bless you! We shall all stand before the same Lord and Master one day and give an account of our lives. Maranatha!