Those are words out of the Great Commission of our King in Matthew 28:19-20, and it is given to the church universal and local to be fulfilled as a body working in Christ using the various gifts of the Spirit, and each doing his or her part as God gives the opportunity. Our marching orders, as it were, are reiterated by the way in all three synoptic gospels and in Acts. Many Christians think that when it says "Go ye therefore and make disciples..." it means that they have to go somewhere. Some don't want to become Christians because they think God will send them to Africa. An apostle is actually a "sent one" and some of us are fighting on the home front. Actually, in the Greek, it means "as you are going" make disciples!
This means that we surrender our everyday life to a commitment to look for each opportunity God gives an open door that we can utilize. Or you could say as we are going about our daily activities. We are to be busy doing everything in the name of the Lord and to His glory in our daily tasks and routines. We need to "practice the presence of God," as the sixteenth-century, humble, Carmelite monk in a French monastery named Brother Lawrence, called it, and just be sensitive to His promptings and leading--seize the day and don't regret a lost opportunity.
To whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48); therefore no one is overwhelmed and in a position, he cannot bear or get a handle on or grip on. Before we talk to someone about the Lord, it is advisable to talk to the Lord about the person. The Great Commission, it has been said, is not an option to be considered, or The Great Suggestion, but a command to be obeyed. God gives no suggestions in Scripture and this is not the Great Suggestion, as some are deluded to believe. The Great Commission was important enough to be at the conclusion of each synoptic gospel (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47 and in Acts 1:8). The book of Acts begins with the command to go into all the parts of the earth with the gospel as witnesses. Jesus said that as soon as the gospel had been preached to every nation He would return.
"Go ye therefore and make disciples" means evangelism, and we must all have a mission and vision for the future ("For without a vision, the people perish," says Proverbs 29:18). "Baptizing them" means to bring them into the fellowship of the body and accept them--giving them the "right hand of fellowship." Baptism is the initiation whereby we proclaim publicly our faith. "Teaching them" entails discipleship; this never ends either. Follow-up is too often forgotten in today's church--getting them saved is only the beginning. I have heard it said that a great Christian has a great commitment to the Great Commission.
The message we preach (per 1 Cor. 2:2 is "Christ, and Christ crucified") is to be the gospel message about Jesus--that God settled the sin nature and personal sins question once and for all by the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. The sin question's remedy is justification by the blood and the fact that we have sin natures is delivered by the cross of Christ. Saved from the penalty of sin and delivered from the power of sin! The way of salvation should be simple and straightforward: We are saved by grace alone (no merit involved); through faith alone (faith as a gift and no works involved); and in Christ alone (not in the leadership or church dogma or even yourself).
Christianity is more than dogma or creed to be believed; it is a lifestyle and relationship with the living Christ and we are to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (get a spiritual workout). We cannot work for our salvation--we show works as proof of it (we are not saved by works, and not without them either--dead faith--without works--doesn't save). We are not saved by works, but unto (i.e., foreordained) works ("For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto [for the purpose of] good works..."). (James 2:17 says: "Faith without works is dead".) The Reformed formula was: "Saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone [without works]."
The gospel is profound, yet not too difficult for the child to understand. It put to shame the wisdom of this world. Paul said he got his gospel from Jesus Himself and Romans is the most complete dissertation on salvation in the Bible--a compendium on the subject. When we get a handle on the gospel message we can share it and leave the results to God. We all need to pray for doors to open and for the right words to use; even Paul did! Don't be a bystander or stand on the sidelines; do your part because no gift is insignificant, even waiting on tables like Philip and Stephen did. What is most effective is when we make our message our own and give a testimony that cannot be refuted: "I was blind, but now I see." Let us proclaim with Paul in Romans 1:14-16: I am a debtor, I am ready, and I am not ashamed! We cannot always choose our place of service but must learn to bloom where we are planted and be a sower of the Word. Soli Deo Gloria!
This means that we surrender our everyday life to a commitment to look for each opportunity God gives an open door that we can utilize. Or you could say as we are going about our daily activities. We are to be busy doing everything in the name of the Lord and to His glory in our daily tasks and routines. We need to "practice the presence of God," as the sixteenth-century, humble, Carmelite monk in a French monastery named Brother Lawrence, called it, and just be sensitive to His promptings and leading--seize the day and don't regret a lost opportunity.
To whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48); therefore no one is overwhelmed and in a position, he cannot bear or get a handle on or grip on. Before we talk to someone about the Lord, it is advisable to talk to the Lord about the person. The Great Commission, it has been said, is not an option to be considered, or The Great Suggestion, but a command to be obeyed. God gives no suggestions in Scripture and this is not the Great Suggestion, as some are deluded to believe. The Great Commission was important enough to be at the conclusion of each synoptic gospel (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47 and in Acts 1:8). The book of Acts begins with the command to go into all the parts of the earth with the gospel as witnesses. Jesus said that as soon as the gospel had been preached to every nation He would return.
"Go ye therefore and make disciples" means evangelism, and we must all have a mission and vision for the future ("For without a vision, the people perish," says Proverbs 29:18). "Baptizing them" means to bring them into the fellowship of the body and accept them--giving them the "right hand of fellowship." Baptism is the initiation whereby we proclaim publicly our faith. "Teaching them" entails discipleship; this never ends either. Follow-up is too often forgotten in today's church--getting them saved is only the beginning. I have heard it said that a great Christian has a great commitment to the Great Commission.
The message we preach (per 1 Cor. 2:2 is "Christ, and Christ crucified") is to be the gospel message about Jesus--that God settled the sin nature and personal sins question once and for all by the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. The sin question's remedy is justification by the blood and the fact that we have sin natures is delivered by the cross of Christ. Saved from the penalty of sin and delivered from the power of sin! The way of salvation should be simple and straightforward: We are saved by grace alone (no merit involved); through faith alone (faith as a gift and no works involved); and in Christ alone (not in the leadership or church dogma or even yourself).
Christianity is more than dogma or creed to be believed; it is a lifestyle and relationship with the living Christ and we are to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (get a spiritual workout). We cannot work for our salvation--we show works as proof of it (we are not saved by works, and not without them either--dead faith--without works--doesn't save). We are not saved by works, but unto (i.e., foreordained) works ("For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto [for the purpose of] good works..."). (James 2:17 says: "Faith without works is dead".) The Reformed formula was: "Saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone [without works]."
The gospel is profound, yet not too difficult for the child to understand. It put to shame the wisdom of this world. Paul said he got his gospel from Jesus Himself and Romans is the most complete dissertation on salvation in the Bible--a compendium on the subject. When we get a handle on the gospel message we can share it and leave the results to God. We all need to pray for doors to open and for the right words to use; even Paul did! Don't be a bystander or stand on the sidelines; do your part because no gift is insignificant, even waiting on tables like Philip and Stephen did. What is most effective is when we make our message our own and give a testimony that cannot be refuted: "I was blind, but now I see." Let us proclaim with Paul in Romans 1:14-16: I am a debtor, I am ready, and I am not ashamed! We cannot always choose our place of service but must learn to bloom where we are planted and be a sower of the Word. Soli Deo Gloria!