People are drawn to God through the Jesus-work they see in us, Robert Coleman writes in the “Impartation” chapter of The Master Plan of Evangelism.
People are drawn to God through the Jesus-work they see in us, Robert Coleman writes in the “Impartation” chapter of The Master Plan of Evangelism.
Jesus gave himself away. “Love is like that; it always gives itself away,” Coleman wrote. “[T]he Master considered no service too small nor sacrifice too great when it was rendered for the glory of God.”
For the first four articles in this series, go to www.baptistmessage.com and search for “Evangelism.”
“Jesus gave himself to those about him so that they might come to know through his life a similar commitment to the mission for which he had come into the world,” Coleman wrote. “… Just as they had seen for three years, the disciples were to give themselves in selfless devotion to those whom the Father loved and for whom their Master died (John 17:23).”
The secret of the “victorious life” was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, according to The Master Plan of Evangelism.
“Indeed, the privileges which the disciples were to enjoy in this deeper relationship to the Spirit were greater than they had known as Jesus walked with them,” Coleman wrote. “This meant that the disciples through confession of their deep-seated pride and enmity, in utter surrender of themselves to Christ, had to come by faith into a new and refining experience of the Spirit’s infilling.”
All the disciples were asked to do was let the Spirit have complete charge of their lives, to be obedient to what the Holy Spirit was asking them to do, to be so filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit that others were drawn to God through their presence.
“Impartation” is the act of making known. Through selfless devotion to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, New Testament disciples and disciples of today – pastors and laity – by example lead others close to God.
This point folds seamlessly into next week’s topic: Demonstration.