The Connection Between The Great Commission and Baptism...

At the church where I serve, we have been looking at what we believe as a church as it is contained in the doctrinal statement of our church. This week, I would like for us to go back and look again at the seventh statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church.

This seventh statement addresses what we believe as a church about the church. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “What is the church? Who can be a part of the church? And what is the church supposed to be doing?" So let’s look at this seventh statement of our doctrinal statement together:

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Now, as we talked about last week, earlier in this series, we looked at the first part of this statement, where we discovered that what we believe about the church matters because the church is the vehicle that God uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world and to advance His kingdom mission in the world.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together covering part of the second half of this statement, which refers to baptism and the Lord’s Supper, or communion. Last week, we focused on communion, where we discovered that what we believe about communion really matters because communion proclaims the message of the gospel as we experience God’s presence in community with one another.

This week, as we come to the conclusion of this series, I would like for us to focus on baptism. As we have talked about throughout this series, to fully understand what is being communicated in this statement, we first need to understand what all the church mumbo jumbo talk words in this statement mean.

So, let’s take a few minutes and unpack the phrase “The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper,” As we discovered last week,  when we use the word ordinance, this word refers to a specific authoritative decree or command that has been given by someone. So with this sentence, we are saying that Jesus Christ, by an authoritative decree, commanded that His followers celebrate baptism.

We see Jesus give this authoritative decree in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. So let’s look at this decree together, beginning in Matthew 28:18:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;

Now whether you regularly attend church or whether this is your first Sunday in church; whether or not you regularly read the Bible, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with what Jesus says here. You are probably familiar with Jesus words here because this is one of the two sayings of Jesus that are described with the adjective great. This statement is often referred to as the “Great Commission”.

Jesus here is giving His followers a mission; and that mission is to make disciples of all nations. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are to strive to make disciples, or followers of Jesus, as we are living our day to day lives in the spheres of influence that we have been given. Now a natural question that arises here is “well how are we supposed to make disciples? And how do we know that we are actually being successful in making disciples?”

First, we are to make disciples by going to those who are far from God. Whether at home, at school, at work, or in our relationships; in whatever sphere of influence we have; we are commanded to live our lives as missionaries that are engaging, investing, and inviting those who are far from God to become followers of Jesus. You do not need to go to a foreign country to be a missionary. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be missionaries wherever we are. And in your day to day life, God has already positioned you in areas of influence where you can be a missionary to those who are far from God.

Second, we are to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Third, Jesus explains that we are to make disciples by “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”. Now the word observe, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to persist in obedience.

In other words, a disciple of Jesus will naturally grow in their faithfulness and obedience to Jesus over time. While there may be occasions where a follower of Jesus commits sin, a follower of Jesus, over time, will live a life that is becoming more like Jesus in character and conduct. And as followers of Jesus and as a church, we are called to create environments where people are able to understand and embrace the message and teachings of Jesus in a way that results in their spiritual growth and spiritual good.

    Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave why would Jesus command us to be baptized? Why is baptism such a big deal?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. You see, when we see baptisms occurring in the Bible, we discover that baptism is an outward act that serves to publicly identify one as being a follower of Jesus.

A person who is being baptized is publicly proclaiming “I am a follower of Jesus who desires to be a part of a community of believers who will encourage me and hold me accountable”. The reason why Jesus commands His followers to be baptized is that a major part of discipleship is to be used by God to bring those who are far from God to a place where they place their confident trust in God’s transformational activity and publicly identify themselves as a part of the community of faith that is investing their time, talent, and treasure in God’s kingdom mission.

You see, evangelism is not a separate activity from discipleship. Evangelism is the first step of discipleship, where a person responds to what God has done for them through Jesus life, death, and resurrection by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. And baptism is a step that occurs after a person becomes a follower of Jesus as a way of identifying with Jesus as His follower and with the kingdom mission that He has given us as His followers.

Now maybe you grew up in, or have experience in a church community that communicated that baptism was necessary for salvation. In other words, to be saved and experience a relationship with Jesus you must be baptized. So is that the case? Do you have to be baptized to be saved and experience a relationship with Jesus?

Tomorrow, we will discover the answer to that question…