18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
Many Christians have heard this passage referred to as the Great Commission. It is filled with the work that Christians must do within this world to go out and make disciples. It is oftentimes utilize to inspire us to get up and go out to spread the Word. Yet, let us be careful to take heed of the actions that this passage requires of us.
- Go. . . We need to see that the Lord calls us to “go” based on His authority that He speaks of in verse 18. It is logical that we go based on His authority and lordship, but also based on His power, not our own.
- Make. . . All of our going has an end result in mind. All of our spreading and sharing should lead to a final objective. Our objective is to “make disciples of all nations.” In other words, we need to make disciples everywhere we go.
- Baptizing. . . Baptism is a symbolic union of the believer with the Savior. Our baptisms serve as an indication of the increase in unions that occur as we go out and do the work. Baptizing is a sign of salvation having taken place.
- Teaching. . . Introducing someone to Christ is only the starting point. Once someone has accepted Christ as Savior, then he or she must be taught in the way of Christ to live for Christ and to live like Christ.
Remember, we are making disciples of the Lord. We are not making converts to church but to Christ. We are not making disciples of our denomination. We are making disciples and that requires us to take action.
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