Book Description

What are the keys to being a fruitful Christian? What does it take to be blessed and experience answered prayer? What is the key to successful evangelism? Our Lord answered these questions the night before His betrayal when He met with His most intimate friends for their final instruction. All of us want to be blessed by God and to have our prayer answered. These words of Jesus tell us a sure way to be blessed. And it has to do with how we treat each other. The Upper Room Discourse is a faithful recounting of Jesus last evening with His disciples in which He addressed those issues foremost on His heart. The Disciplemaker approaches the study of Jesus teachings that evening in light of the men He addressed. As a result its conclusions are unique to the present literature on the Upper Room. Where other scholars see Johns account of the conversation that evening as a reflection on the cross and interpret Jesus teachings as justification truths (how to become saved), these authors recognize what Jesus says first and foremost as embodying rich sanctification truths (how to enjoy salvation) for the eleven believing apostles. And, what He said to His men that night is as important and life changing for us today as it was for them. The Disciplemaker is a resource for the lay reader as well as the pastor/biblical scholar. It is also suitable as a textbook for use in courses on the life of Christ or Johannine theology. The main body of this 480-page work has been freed of typical theological jargon and Greek terms are transliterated and explained. Extensive notes are provided for those interested in the technical issues behind interpretive decisions, discussions by the authors, or in identifying the works of those scholars and views discussed.