How disciples are made ... Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV) Notice the structure of the this long sentence – particularly the first 3 phrases separated by comas. The first phrase commands the thing to be done - :Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” The next two phrases both modify the first by telling how to go about making disciples: 1) “Baptizing them ...” 2) “Teaching them to observe all things ...” It similar to saying, “Go make a cake, mixing the ingredients, baking it at 350 degrees. The first phrase tells what is to be done. The next two tells how to do it. Just getting one to the point where he agrees to be baptized does a disciple make. It is only part, though a big part, of the process. One must also be taught in the process that he is to observe all things commanded. He will not know at this point all things commanded, but he is taught at this point that he must obey all things whatever the things might be and is committing himself to that proposition. Some seem to think that you just need to get him to the point of being baptized and leave the teaching him to observe all things until later. Not so. Jesus, in illustrating discipleship, likens it to building a tower and going to war. The builder before, starting to build, FIRST counts the cost. The king before going to war, FIRST accesses the strength of his army. One cannot be genuinely converted (become a disciple indeed) without baptism (including its prerequisites), but one can be baptized and not be converted. The object is not how many baptisms we can chalk up, but how many disciples we can make. And you do it by baptizing them AND teaching them to observe all things commanded them – including enduring hardship and persecution.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:36:37 +0000
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