Mere Missions

152 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

responds, through faith (Eph. 2.8), to the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16.8). Remember, the one proclaiming is just a messenger and has no power to convert. That is the work of the Holy Spirit and His alone. But the mandate is not to make a convert but to make a disciple. How do we equip, that is – “to supply with the necessary items for a particular purpose” (Oxford Dictionary) – the convert who confesses Jesus is Lord and believes He is risen and alive (Rom. 10.9) so that others can see that their conversion is authentic by their following the One in whom they have converted to? What are the necessary items we are to supply so that the disciple can demonstrate a faith that brings spiritual fruit with repentance (Matt. 3.8)? According to the Great Commission in Matthew, there are two equipping items in which we disciple a convert to be a disciple of Jesus. We equip them by supplying baptism and teaching them everything Jesus commanded. The convert’s responsibility is to submit and obey. The first equipping item we supply is baptism (Matt. 28.19). This onetime act is more than a symbolic washing away of known sin; it is a baptism into the Lord Jesus. It demonstrates that the convert has been crucified with Christ, buried with Him in His death, and now is risen to new life as a child of God and is translated into the Kingdom Society. This sacrament is one of the greatest joys of the participant and those who witness the experience. If the disciple maker does not supply the sacrament of baptism to the one confessing their allegiance to the Lord Jesus, they are not equipping the convert. They have fallen short of the Lord’s command to make a disciple. The second equipping item the disciple maker supplies is to teach them to observe everything that Jesus taught the disciples as recorded in the Gospels (Matt. 28.20). When supplying this for the convert it allows them to demonstrate their submission and obedience to the Lord Jesus. Remember, the convert is to