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Date Posted: 16:25:26 05/27/05 Fri
Author: The Berean
Subject: The So-Called Great Commission

The So-Called Great Commission

We speak of the "so-called Great Commission". Some will say it really is the "Great Commission", and not just so-called. But the Bible does not use this term. So, we can safely say it is "so-called".

Many Christians, though, believe these are God's marching orders for the church today. However, a bit of reflection on (and research into) God's word will show that most believers do not have a clear basis for their present thinking in regard to this commission. Many, including a lot of Christian pastors, just speak generally of the "Great Commission". Some folks do not know where it is found in scripture, or the number of places it is found; rather, they simply believe it means we should still baptize in water today. So, let's look into the matter a bit.

The first passage we will consider, which is usually avoided by most Protestant believers, is found in John 20:21-23:

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22: And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

While it is true that many Protestants today will claim part of the above
"Commission" ("as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you", in verse 21), they leave out the Lord's words that follow ("Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained", in verse 23). Thus, they do indeed divide the Holy Scriptures, but not rightly (compare 2 Timothy 2:15). And, of course, the Roman Catholic Church seeks support from this passage, in order to show the supremacy of that church. (By the way, water baptism is not even hinted at here, in this passage).

But what is our answer here? Well, verse 19 of this 20th chapter states that Jesus "stood in the midst" of the disciples, where they were "assembled for fear of the Jews". So, the Lord did NOT give this commission to the church today. Instead, He gave it to His disciples here, in John chapter 20, just as He did in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

1 Peter 1:11 also mention "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow". When Peter wrote these words, the Lord's sufferings were over, and His glorious kingdom was ready to be ushered in. In fact, Peter explicitly states in Acts 2:16-20, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel". The tribulation, and the kingdom, were about to come into their place in the eternal program. But Israel resisted, and rejected God the Holy Spirit, here in Acts chapter 2. And, gloriously, God in grace delayed the hand of judgment, and the voice of wrath. He saved Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul), and gave to him the revelation of the mystery, and the gospel of the grace of God (see Ephesians 3:1-9).

Thus, in John chapter 20, God was giving the disciples, with Peter as head, authority in the coming kingdom. They did, and in a future day they will again, have authority to remit and retain sins.

Nor is the "Great Commission" of Luke 24:46-49 commonly used today, as this passage has no mention of water baptism, either. It only mentions the preaching of "repentance and remission of sins…among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem". This, the apostles began to do. There is no scriptural record that they ever got beyond the land of Palestine. In fact, most of them apparently stayed at Jerusalem. Always remember Acts 8:1, along with Acts 1:8. The apostles' commission, then, was interrupted by the revelation of the mystery, and the gospel of the grace of God, as God gave it to Paul. This is also called "the preaching of the cross" (1 Corinthians 1:18; see verses 17-23), and we fail to see this message in any of the "Great Commissions".

To continue, let's now consider one of the better known accounts of the "Great Commission" that the Lord gave to His apostles, as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 -

18: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Amen.

But, we ask: Was the above commandment given directly for us to follow today? We may sound dogmatic to the reader, but the answer is a definite and emphatic "no"! Can we prove this? Yes, we can. Let's examine the above passage in more detail:

First of all, in Matthew 28:20, please notice that the Lord instructed His apostles to teach all nations "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you". Remember, the Lord was speaking to His disciples here. Even though the Bible is most assuredly God's word, and is full of applications for all of us, it is important to note that not every instruction He gave can be taken literally today. Remember, this was Christ on earth, speaking as a "minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Romans 15:8). So, here in Matthew 28:19 where the Lord spoke as One Who was "made under the law" (Galatians 4:4).

Plus, Matthew 23:1-3 records the Lord's commandment for His disciples to "observe and do" all of the commandments of the scribes and Pharisees, because they sat "in Moses' seat" (verse 2). But does this mean that we should do the same today, as well? Of course not! By revelation of God, our apostle Paul taught that we are not under the law, but under grace, in Romans 6:14 -

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

And again, Paul states that if we are led of the Spirit, we are not under the law, in Galatians 5:18 -

But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Yet anyone who claims that the "So-Called Great Commission" is binding on us today will find himself fully under the law, and not under grace. The sincere reader is encouraged to carefully read Paul's epistle to the Galatians, in order to rightly divide the word of truth, rather than twisting and explaining away God's word. We would like to know of anyone today who actually obeys the Lord's commandment of Matthew 5:42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Yet the apostles were to teach "all nations" to observe the above commandment, since it was included among "all things whatsoever" the Lord had commanded His disciples to observe (Matthew 28:20).

The Lord also instructed His followers to sell everything they had, in Luke 12:33 - Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

But again, we would like to know of anyone today who truly follows the Lord's above commandment?

This list could go on and on, but these suffice to illustrate the point. What is the answer, then, to the very obvious and clear-cut problem of following the Lord's commandments? Simply that the "Great Commission" on Matthew 28:18-20 was given to the disciples. It was, and it remains, the kingdom commission, as many able men of God have discovered over the years. So, while Matthew 28:18-20 actually does refer to water baptism (in contrast to the passages in Luke 24:46-49 and John 20:21-23), it is still not a command for our obedience today.

How troubling it has been for this writer to hear some groups teach that Luke 12:33, as well as Matthew 28:18-20, contain Christ's "last words" or "last commands" for the church today! It has indeed been troubling, because God inspired men to write 23 books of the Bible AFTER the "The Commission" was given. And these 23 books of the Bible, particularly Paul's epistles for the body of Christ today, all contain Christ's commands.

This brings us to Mark's account of the "This Commission", which is found in Mark. 16:15-18 -

15: And he said unto them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18: They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Here, it should be noted that some Christian groups try to be sincere, by claiming to obey the above account of the "So-Called Great Commission" in its entirety. This really doesn't work, though, because they must wrongly divide God's word in order to do so.

But most groups today will try to follow verse 15, and change verse 16 to mean something it really doesn't say (i.e., "he that believeth and is saved should be baptized). Most groups also just skip verses 17 and 18, as if they were never there. But these verses are there! All of them!

Other Christian groups, who actually claim to follow verses 15 through 17 literally, still have a real problem with the first portion of verse 18, which states, "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them".

What is God's answer to this confusion? Again, it is the fact that we should be "rightly dividing the word of truth", according to 2 Timothy 2:15. One who does not obey this command will most assuredly end up being an ashamed workman, both now, and before Christ's Bema judgment seat. This whole passage in Mark, including water baptism, was given to the 11 disciples (Mark 16:14), and applied only to the kingdom of Heaven, which was to be (and some day will be) set up on earth. The mystery, which concerned the body of Christ (for today), had not yet been revealed. However, many Christians and denominations, as well as most pastors, will continue as before, picking out the parts of the commission that fit their own purposes. By doing so, they must twist (or ignore) the remaining portions of the "Great Commission". This is sin, and you can be sure it is not of God!

In this connection, some also teach that the above so-called "Great Commission" baptism is the true "Christian baptism", as compared to the baptism of John the Baptist (which, they say, was not "Christian" baptism). But if this be true, there is no evidence in scripture that the disciples of Christ (the 11) ever received this "Christian baptism" at all, because there is no indication in the book of Acts that they were ever baptized with water.

And now, before we leave this particular section, we wish to mention the "Commission" in the Bible that is actually for today, and fits today. It is found in 11 Corinthians 5:14-21 -

14: For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16: Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19: To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

In the above "Commission", we find that all believers today are "ambassadors for Christ" (verse 20), with the "ministry of reconciliation" (verse 18), as well as the "word of reconciliation" (verse 21). This message is entirely of grace, and water is not even implied anywhere in the passage.

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