by Ross Ward, Jr.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.<\/em>” (Matthew 28:19-20 ISV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus’ teaching here has a couple of aspects.<\/p>\n
\n
- Disciple people<\/li>\n
- Baptism by the authority of all of the Godhead<\/li>\n
- Teaching<\/li>\n
- Companionship of Jesus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Let’s consider these aspects:<\/p>\n
Disciple People<\/h2>\n
I like the ISV here, which translates as “disciple people.” This is the idea of making disciples-converting people to follow Jesus-also known as Christianity. It is bringing about the belief that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, thus having the authority and ability to prescribe righteous living.<\/p>\n
Baptism<\/h2>\n
At this point, baptism was an integral part of the new era, the New Testament (which was being unveiled). John the Baptist was baptizing believers and teaching them to believe in the one to follow (Acts 19:4). In Matthew, Jesus commands that they baptize believers in Jesus. Which I submit includes that He is the Messiah (anointed one of God), The Son of God (on equal standing with God), the resurrected Jesus (a living being, not a decaying body), and likely other concepts. We find similar teachings in the other Gospels. Luke bridges this account with his book of Acts. Compare Luke 24:45-49 with Acts 2:1-13, 36-41<\/p>\n
Teaching<\/h2>\n
It is troublesome to leave off with disciple people at either of the previous points. There is a process. The beginning of which is believing in Jesus, then baptism. Then “the rest” the rest of our lives. The results of our belief in Jesus leave us lacking righteousness; we need to be transformed. Yes, sins are forgiven, but we are the same person until we begin to put Jesus’ teachings into practice. Yes, there are all those worldly things we need to stop doing, but there are also attitudes that we must learn to engrain in ourselves. At the highest level, consider Romans 12:2 and Galatians 5:1-6:10. The writings from Romans to Revelation are all letters to baptized believers on how to be the Christian Jesus calls us to be. It’s a lifelong journey. Yet, we are not left alone on this journey.<\/p>\n
Companionship of Jesus<\/h2>\n
We find that, though we are accountable for changing and becoming new people, we have help and support for this process – God. It is not a journey we can complete on our own. We also find support through the church and other disciples. This could be significantly expanded, but know that we cannot succeed on this journey by ourselves. We need the help of God and other Christians.<\/p>\n
It is a new way of life.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Ross Ward, Jr. “Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[99,253,451],"class_list":["post-70404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-becoming-a-christian","tag-fellowship","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25429,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-person-doing-the-baptism-have-to-be-an-official-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":0},"title":"Does the person doing the baptism have to be an official in the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm curious to know what you think about this. I think there are some Christians who believe in order for your baptism to valid, it must be done by someone appointed by God as a minister, elder, or some kind of official position. We know people such as Peter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17439,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pope-tells-christians-not-to-evangelize\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":1},"title":"Pope Tells Christians Not to Evangelize","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Thomas D. Williams, PH.D., \"Pope Francis Tells Christians Not to Try to Convert Nonbelievers,\" Breitbart, 22 December 2019. Source: \"Visit to the 'Pilo Albertelli' Classic High School in Rome: Dialogue of the Holy Father Francis with the Students\", Vatican Publishing House, 20 December 2019. \"Pope Francis told Christian high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-and-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":2},"title":"Jesus and Baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer On the third day of creation, God separated the dry land from the waters, and life came through the water (Genesis 1:9-13). This pattern was seen again when life came through the waters after the flood (Genesis 8:6-12). Again, it was seen when the children of Israel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-disciple-refer-to-the-apostles-or-all-of-jesus-followers\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":3},"title":"Does “disciple” refer to the apostles or all of Jesus’ followers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When the scriptures speak of \"the disciples\" or \"his disciples,\" how can we know if the apostles are meant? Answer: The only way to tell is to look at the context of how the word is used and even then that is not a guarantee.\u00a0 Obviously, if they are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-jesus-had-brothers-and-sisters-why-did-he-give-the-responsibility-of-mary-to-his-disciple-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":4},"title":"If Jesus had brothers and sisters, why did he give the responsibility of Mary to his disciple John?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Since Jesus had brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3), why would the disciple John be given apparent responsibility for Mary, the mother of Jesus in John 19:25-27?\u00a0 Wouldn't it seem better for Mary to be cared for by her own children?\u00a0 This would be particularly so because two of them,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34423,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-great-commission-only-commanded-to-the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":70404,"position":5},"title":"Was the great commission only commanded to the apostles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was the great commission only commanded to the apostles? 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