Understanding the Commissions: Part 2

Most evangelical and fundamentalist Christians take this commission as a general call for all Christians to evangelize, and that it is the last order of the Lord for “the Church”.  This is a fundamental misreading of this passage.  It is not about evangelism.  It is not a commission directed to “the Church” by way of Apostolic succession.  It will not be the successors to the 12 Apostles that will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel, it will be the 12 Apostles themselves.  Regarding reading this as strictly a commission to evangelize,  I do not know whether it would ever have been misread this way except that it has been coupled together with Mark 16:15 and made to harmonize with 2 Corinthians 5:20.

Some have recognized this and somewhat shifted their statements of importance to “making disciples”. In this “disciple making” endeavor, there is of course an emphasis on baptism, as well there should be if taking this as the Lord’s standing orders, and interpreting this baptism to indeed be the baptism with water as John the Baptist preached.  But an important question about this baptism comes up: How should baptism be done?  It seems that the majority of evangelical denominations are firm that immersion is the only Biblical method.  Some still prefer sprinkling or pouring and argue for this method as being the correct Biblical method.  This argument between the method and meaning of baptism has created an unbridgeable divide that can only be crossed temporarily when arguing against a common foe:  Those who have come to the Scriptural conclusion that in the body of Christ there is but one baptism, and that is the baptism where the Holy Spirit places the believer into the body of Christ and baptizes us into Jesus Christ, identifying us with His death, burial, and resurrection. See Ephesians 4:3-6, 1 Corinthians 12:13, and Romans 6:3-4.  I have found Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer’s doctrinal summarizations in his Systematic Theology to be very helpful at times, and his two entries on baptism are no exception.  I have links below to copies of those pages that I made to share them with you.

• Ritual Baptism
• Real Baptism

I have found the conclusion to the Ritual Baptism entry enlightening:

In concluding this discussion of ritual baptism it may be stated that all who claim the right to private judgment in the matter of the mode of their baptism should accord the same right to others.  There should be latitude enough in any assembly of these believers for these variations.  The sin-if such a thing there be-of administering this ordinance in an unscriptural way could never compare with the greater sin of exclusion, separation, and the breaking of the outward manifestations of the unity of the Spirit.  That believers remain in the unbroken bonds of fellowship and affection is, according to the New Testament, far more important than is the mode of ritual baptism.  The world is to be impressed with the love of Christians one for the other (cf. John 13:34-35; 17:21-23).  It is needless to point out that separations and contentions over a mode of baptism have little value in the eyes of the unsaved.¹:

It has little value to the Lord either.

With that said on baptism, we will leave the subject for now.  In regard to the baptism in Matthew 28:18-20, from what I have previously stated regarding my present understanding of this passage, the baptizing of nations in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost has more to do with identifying all nations as under the sovereignty of the One to Whom all authority in heaven and in earth is given than with a physical water ceremony.  In relation to this observe the following passage from Isaiah²:

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men: So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. (Isaiah 52:13-15)

In discussion misinterpretations and misapplications of this commission, I could not exclude the remarks that Pope Francis made in an interview in May of 2016.  When questioned about the fear of Islam and whether that fear is justified, he said this:

Today, I don’t think that there is a fear of Islam as such but of ISIS and its war of conquest, which is partly drawn from Islam. It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam. However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest³

While many evangelicals were somewhat appalled at this statement, I recall thinking to myself at the time, “He is not altogether wrong”.  Now, keep this in mind that it is not often that I would side with any pope, let alone this particular pope, about anything.  I was before that time taking a closer look at these verses in Matthew and already concluding that this commission is a command to bring nations under the sovereignty of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  I found what the Pope said interesting because I am aware of the view that the Roman Catholic church takes that it is the manifestation of God’s kingdom on this earth.  Now when we think of these words in the context of a “world conquering church”, do not events in history such as the crusades, conquests and converting of people groups to a so-called “Christianity” (which was really nothing more than swapping old idols for new ones), make a little more sense?  Misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture, i.e. bad doctrine, gives birth to wrong action and practice.

This “conquering church” idea is not unique to Roman Catholicism either.  Many post-millennial protestants, “reconstructionists” as they call themselves, have this same “world transforming”, or “Christianizing the world” view of these verses in Matthew.⁴  This line of thought emphasizes law-keeping for Christians, and speaks of the need for Christians to establish God’s law as the law of nations.  While all of the nations of the earth would do well to walk in the precepts of the Lord, the role of Christians is not law enforcement or to bring the nations under subjection, but to preach the word of reconciliation.  The emphasis on law keeping is in keeping with wrongly applying this commission.  The Lord did say that they were to teach all nations to observe whatsoever things that He commanded.  But this is the Kingdom commission, to be taken up during the Kingdom, when Our Lord Jesus takes to Himself His great power and reigns.

Pentecostal “Dominionist” theology views this somewhat the same way.⁵ This thought speaks of taking dominion over everything and advancing God’s kingdom, and that this world has been and is getting much better over the last 2000 years.  Really?

These views, and others that are similar are not (entirely) wrong on their interpretation of these verses.  They are very wrong on their application. One of the primary errors in application is that it was given to “the Church”.  It was not.  It was given to the Apostles, those 11, soon to again be 12 with the appointment of Matthias.  There is no “Apostolic succession” stated here at all.  The 12 Apostles will still be the very agents to carry out this commission.  I can say that because I believe what the scriptures state about their place and the regeneration (Matthew 19:28).  That they have all died is irrelevant.  I also believe in the resurrection.

In conclusion, I believe this commission in Matthew to be the standing orders of Christ’s Apostles in His Kingdom.  The Kingdom of God will come, and the will of God will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Now, as we are here living in this present evil age (Galatians 1:4), we are to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:12-13)

In the next part of this series, we will study the account in Mark 16 in which the Lord sends His disciples to preach the gospel to every creature.  In the mean time, I will ask you, have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished provision for your redemption by His blood?  He is all that you need, but you do need Him!

Footnotes

1. Chafer, Lewis Sperry. (1948). Systematic Theology Vol. VII, Grand Rapids, MI:  Kregel Publications.
2. I am indebted to Matthew Henry’s commentary on the Bible and his words for this thought and relating to me this verse.  In his commentary, many of the thoughts about the “Christianizing” of nations and of “the Church” being the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth are plainly written.  There is a mixture of this with evangelism, but to him the primary objective was the “Christianizing” of nations and the of world.  I have excerpted some of the writing from this work here for the purpose showing some of his thoughts on this subject.
3. http://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Pape/INTERVIEW-Pope-Francis-2016-05-17-1200760633   For a pdf printout of this interview, please click here.
4. http://chalcedon.edu/faith-for-all-of-life/the-christian-reconstruction-movement/on-the-great-commission/ For a pdf printout of this article, please click here.
5. http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/prophecy/15402-the-case-for-dominionism  For a pdf printout of this article, please click here.