“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” – Matthew 28:19a
A familiar verse for most, if not all, of us. The only thing about this passage is the translation of “make disciples” which is “mathēteuō” in the Greek and only used 4 times in the Bible. Three of them in Matthew, and once in Acts. This word does not show up anywhere else in Greek literature. That makes it a little harder to figure out the true meaning of it in its language context, and “make disciples” is quite close, but it gives more of the concept of “make disciples of whom you are a disciple of”, although that has been debated.
Why am I bringing that up? Well, although we all will agree the great commission is what ultimately we are called to do, it would seem the reality is we seem to make more disciples of ourselves or of others instead of those of Christ. I am not saying that is intentional, although I am sure there are teachers out there that are intentional, I would believe that without thinking about it we tend, me included, to follow people, especially those that are smarter and have studied more, rather than relying on the Spirit.
Why would this be a big deal? If someone a lot smarter or maybe they have done a lot more studying and they know more, presents a good argument that seems to line up with Scripture, well that sounds good. Except that does not line up with Scripture its self. What I am asking is not the content, not the what, but the where. I am not saying the content is wrong or right, but unless you have confirmation in the Spirit, you may want to review who you are actually following and being a disciple of.
Paul had to address this very thing in the first century church, and it was not even his fault, nor was it the other teachers fault, it was the Corinthians that where instead claiming to be a disciple of him and he had to remind them who you are a disciple of – 1 Corinthians 1:12 “Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”… Sound familiar? Most Christians I run into will give some statement of “I follow such and such pastor” or “I am a Calvinist” or maybe “I am Catholic” or just pick a denomination, teacher, or theology. Again, I am not discussing the content, I am questioning the source. What did Paul have to say about this? v13 – “Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul directly told them v10 – “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
So, now we must go back to Christ to find out what foundation did He build his church on. Matthew 16:15~18. Jesus asked His disciples who He was, Peter replied He is the Christ. Then Jesus had a very important response – v17 “And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” So it was through his spirit that he knew who Christ was, and that aligns with what was said hundreds of years earlier in Jeramiah 31:33. And why is that important? Because is was not taught by man. Jesus then did a play on words, which is something that He, and God, does all the time. We know that names are also very important and God will often change a person’s name to reflect something important. Jesus then told Simon that he will now call him “petros” (Peter) because he reveled the “petra” (or what you may call the foundation) that he will build his church on. And what is that foundation? The Holy Spirit will directly speak to the hearts of people, instructing them and teaching them. John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
There are those that will argue that the latter part of that verse does not apply to us and because of that the Holy Spirit does not directly speak to us, but that is not the case because there are many examples of the Spirit speaking to the hearts of people that did not walk with Him while He was on the earth. The largest example of that is the man that wrote most of the new testament. If you remember, first he was a “young man” at the stoning of Stephen, maybe met Christ (he never said he did in person before he was crucified) and did not know who the man was that knocked him down on the road (but we know it was Christ), but yet claimed, and was acknowledged, to be an apostle (Romans 1:1). Second the choosing of the 12th disciple in Acts 1:16~26 was Peters idea and not by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Read that passage carefully, you will not find that was inspired by the Spirit, when has the Spirit ever used casting lots? That is nowhere else. God already choose the 12th disciple, that was Paul. When did God stop speaking to His church? Never, there is nothing anywhere that said He did, or will do.
But we cannot just leave this here, because we have a foundation that we already have laid over the past posts on the convent that we have entered into as a Christian, does this line up with our foundation? If you build a house and lay the foundation, build the first floor, do you swap blueprints with a fellow builder and continue building? Just make some adapters where things do not line up? No, that would be disastrous. Unfortunately that is what a lot of Christians do, they lay a good foundation then build on it a different building that does not align. Any new teaching must line up on the previous foundation or floor, or you either go back are re-build the foundation and the rest of the house or you seek to find out what does fit the foundation and if it aligns and the Holy Spirit gives the green light that it is correct then build upon it. So does this align with covenant? Yes, it does very well. It goes perfectly in line with God’s desire to commune with His church.
Again, I am not in any way poking at any specific person, teaching, or theology. I am just presenting the question, Where? Instead of the question of, What? The “where “may answer the “what”. If the “where” is not the Holy Spirit directly, tread lightly or the “what” may lead to build something that does not line up.
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