Salvation and Discipleship

Final Harvest Church
Apr 22
7 min read

I. The Offer of Salvation

Matthew 22:1-3: And Jesus answered and spoke unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Revelation 19:7-9: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

A. Invitation to God’s Kingdom

When salvation through Jesus Christ is offered to us, we are being offered an opportunity to become a citizen in the coming Kingdom of God (literal, that is in the future), Kingdom of God (righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, in this world, that is in the present/now).

Being invited to be a citizen of The Kingdom is like being asked to enter into a covenant of marriage. God’s offer of salvation is an invitation into a relationship so intimate with God that it is like a marriage covenant.

B. Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen

Matthew 22:14: For many are called, but few are chosen.

The Greek word “called” is translated from means “invited”—many are “invited” to the marriage.
The Greek word that “chosen” is translated from means to be chosen or selected. Many are invited, but few are chosen.
Just being called doesn’t mean you are chosen; you have to respond appropriately in your faith and conduct—then you are chosen.
This parable does not mean that God calls a lot of people, picks over them, and keeps only a few. If that were true, the middle of the parable would have no meaning. It means that God calls everyone and gives them the power to respond—but to be chosen, we must respond to the call, using the power God gave us for that purpose.
If we try to figure out who is included among the “many” and who is included among the “few,” we’ve missed the point. This isn’t about other people suffering a dire fate; it’s a warning that tells you how to avoid it yourself. The parable is not a description of other people; it is a helpful warning for you. Important

C. God’s Simple Gospel

God, knowing what is in our hearts, offers the gospel of Christ in a very simple form that anyone can understand, so that we will respond in some way to His offer.

God is ever working to bring a response from us so we can continually discover what is in our own hearts. He already knows what is in our hearts, but He knows that we do not.

D. An Intimate Relationship

God wants us to understand that the Offer of Salvation is an invitation to an intimate relationship with the King of the coming Kingdom of God in the future. The relationship begins as soon as you believe the gospel and vow to make Jesus your Lord.

II. The Basis of the Offer

The main basis of the offer is built upon the historical fact that the King of the coming Kingdom gave His life for His future bride, whose purpose is to reign with Him for eternity.

A. Core Elements of the Gospel

The core elements of the gospel are:

Jesus died for your sins.
He was buried in the earth.
He was raised from the dead the third day.
Those who choose to believe this from their hearts are made righteous by the court of heaven. In other words, by God’s own choice, they are made not guilty of all their past sins.

B. The Covenant Vow

The intimate relationship that we are invited to can only be entered into by making a covenant vow of intimacy.

Romans 10:9-10: That if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is made righteous, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Since one can easily understand a marriage vow, we can easily understand why the only response that the Lord will accept to His invitation is a vow from our hearts to make Him the supreme ruler of our lives.
He is saying that if you will accept my leadership now, and obey me now, you will have a place of intimacy with me when my Kingdom comes to earth.
The vow is to make Him Lord of your life now. That means that it is impossible to grow in our relationship with Him now without honoring our vow to make Him Lord in every area of our heart and life now.
Jesus only enters into covenant with you on these terms.
I believe that it is very important to understand the need, even in this early stage of teaching, to keep your covenant with Jesus in order to maintain your right to enter the Kingdom of God with Him in the next age.

III. The Foundation of the Gospel: Repentance

A. Surrendering Leadership

It is impossible to make Jesus Lord of our lives without making a choice to let go of the leadership of our own lives. We must die to our own lusts and desires. We must desire His leadership in every aspect of our lives.

Repentance is the only way to open the door of our hearts to the leadership of Jesus.
The first word of the preaching of the gospel from the very beginning is Repent!
Matthew 3:1-2: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

B. Preparation for the Kingdom

Jesus wants an intimate relationship with us now, so that through His leadership, He can prepare us for our reign with Him in His future Kingdom on the earth. He wants to train us in this age as future leaders in His Kingdom which comes to the earth in the next age. Notice John’s words, “for the kingdom of God is at hand.”

C. The Urgency of Repentance

The time to repent is now. To wait until later could be too late. Jesus wants to lead us in love now. His leadership is perfect.

Only through His leadership can we be cleansed and transformed into a people who think and conduct ourselves as people worthy of the positions of honor that we have been called to in His coming Kingdom.

D. Taking Up Our Cross

Matthew 16:24, 27: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me… For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.

The purpose for taking up our cross is for us to crucify the sinful nature that dwells within us and the sinful practices we have in our lives so we can follow Jesus and submit to His leadership.

E. A Life of Intimacy

The question is, are you ready to give up the life you are living now, in exchange for a life of intimacy with the One who gave His life for you?

If you are, now is the time to “take up your cross and follow Jesus.”

IV. The Promise of His Anointing

A. Freedom and Healing

Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

Jesus promises freedom from bondage as well as healing in both our inner man and body as we begin to submit to His leadership.

B. Submission to His Leadership

When we choose to follow Jesus with all our hearts and decide to never get offended by His leadership, He has the anointing to heal all our brokenness and inner wounds and to set us free from every bondage. It does require effort on our part, but we cannot do it on our own.

The whole idea is to do it with Jesus and allow Him to do the leading through the Holy Spirit.

C. The Power of God’s Word

The Lord will use the Word of God to bring healing and deliverance and to break the bondage and blindness in our lives.

Both cleansing from the world and freedom from the bondages in our lives come from us yielding to the work of the Word and the Spirit.
John 8:31-32: If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Ephesians 5:25-27: Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

D. A Glorious Bride

Christ wants His bride to be glorious and clean, just like any honest man would want his bride to be. He wants a bride that is morally clean and totally committed and loyal to Him.

The leadership of the Lord will do that for us in our lives if we will yield to His Word and the working of the Holy Spirit in us.

V. Becoming a Better Follower

The purpose of this teaching is to help you be a better follower of Christ. Our goal is to help you find the areas in your life where you may be resisting the leadership of Jesus and thus help you clean up that area and begin to yield to His leadership instead.

Final Harvest Church’s Prayer

We humbly pray to God, our Heavenly Father, that through the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ and the empowerment of our helper, the Holy Spirit, our ministry to you will help you become free to serve Christ more powerfully and dynamically.