A good doctrine of conversion will give you pastoral power.
PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION
- Let me start with an illustration.
- I once confessed a bad wish to a friend and explained.
- Frustratingly.
- That my theology knew that wish was wrong.
- But that part of me was trying to justify it because I felt a “entanglement in my own person’s factory.
- “‘part of the wiring of my own soul’.
- These are the words I used to explain how much I wish I had in me.
My friend kindly quoted me Ephesians 4: “Get rid of the old man who corrupts himself according to the lusts of deception. “And he pointed to your old man? This way:? Yes, it is true that such desires can become entangled or entangled in me. Your old man is corrupt, what did you expect, Jonathan?
Well, there was good news to come. My friend finished the passage: “but” are you renewed in the spirit of your understanding?And do you see the new man created according to God, with the righteousness and justice of truth?Wait a minute, I’ve got a new man, haven’t I? There’s an old me, but there’s also a new me. And this new self is being created, wait, understand this, according to God’s likeness.
In short, my friend reminded me of my conversion with a few words chosen from the scriptures; and where my mood was melancholy that day, full of frustration at expecting something I couldn’t have, your reminder made me happy; gave me hope.
Two places of pastoral power
Do you see how there is pastoral power in an adequate understanding of conversion, in the realities and promises of a new creation of life?
1. Give the ability to encourage and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ who are bound by sin.
Maybe it’s an addiction. Perhaps it is a feeling of hatred towards another brother or sister in the church, perhaps it is a sense of undetectable despair. Never mind. In many of these cases, sin? Liar what’s this like?It pretends to be inevitable. Wear the mask of the ‘true’, or ‘authentic’, or ‘just how I feel’, or ‘natural’, or even ‘just’. But a correct doctrine of conversion exposes lies in every position like this. “, your feelings may be natural, but no, you’re not stuck with that, because Christianity is supernatural. Are you free?.
People are determined by their sins. The Christian doctrine of conversion helps Christians to know that they are not. Even when the struggle is long and both steps forward seem to be followed by one step back (or more!), The power of change comes from the recognition of what Christ has accomplished in making a new person.
2. It offers the ability to assure Christians of their new and different lives.
Christianity gives the life of the Son, remade in his image; it is a life of holiness, love and unity with God’s people; it is a life of suffering, but also to know the hope and power of the resurrection in the midst of such suffering.
And there’s something wonderful. These securitys do not belong solely to the so-called imperatives of the New Testament: “Come on, be holy and united with one another,” they belong to the codes: “That’s who you are. “There is a new self and this new self is one with the saints and is as holy as the Son.
The cultural context
Now there is a cultural context for all this that deserves to be recognized, our romantic culture promotes the real, the natural, the authentic, self-discovering and self-expression are our great moral acts, and these attitudes have infiltrated the churches and remodeled. our ideas about conversion, belonging and our new identity in Christ. We’re all looking for something, the shepherds will say. We’re all on our way. That means you take one step, then another and then another.
But what is lacking in the logic of this popular pastoral metaphor is the idea of a decisive break with the past, a rescue from the kingdom of darkness, death and resurrection. , an old me and a new me.
Of course, traveling changes us. We have evolved along the journey and, in fact, spiritual growth may look less like cocoons and butterflies than a map of spiritual progress. My point is not to say that this language does not have a spiritual connection point, but we must not forget that the New Testament teaches the power of the eschaton entering history now. The new creation is now. It’s conversion.
Face to face with the alcoholic
So here you are face to face with the alcoholic, victim of marital infidelity, the grumpy deacon who divides into the church, the young couple who can’t bear to sing hymns. What’s your homework? It’s to remind them that they’re Christians.
Perhaps it will help you return to baptism, as Paul does in Romans 6, were they buried and resurrected?Do you really want to continue to sin, or seek freedom, or seek the power to forgive, or continue to insist on your own path, as the world does?How can they? They died to sin and were resurrected in a new life with Christ.
Is it your pastoral task, one way or another, to find words and ask questions that allow the saint-ever-sinner to understand what it means to be? Now do I understand this? A born again Christian.
Starting point: preach, teach, sing, praise God in prayer, and counsel an appropriate doctrine of conversion. There’s an underestimated power here. The more your people understand this, the more pastoral power you will have to guide them, and not only that, they will have so much power to persuade and equip each other.
By: Jonathan Leeman. © 2012 9Marks. Original: The underrated pastoral power of a good doctrine of conversion.
Translation: Matheus Fernandes. Crítica: Yago Martins. © 2016 Faithful Ministério. All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br Original: 2 Ways the Doctrine of Conversion Helps Pastoral Care
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