Make disciples

2008-04-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was thinking....

We are commanded in Matthew 28:19-20, "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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

It seems when diagramming the sentence that there are more verbs that are actually in the original greek: "Go, make disciples, baptizing, and teaching". After getting a prompt from a book, I looked at the parts of the sentences in this command. The only verb in the entire command is MAKE DISCIPLES (mathēteuō), the other three words are participles. In other words they actually say; "to go on one's way", "to baptize", and "to teach". So the Great Commission, using the original greek, says "Make disciples; and in so doing you will have to go, teach, and baptize." What a powerful way to see the original intent of our Lord.

Not only that but the word "mathēteuō" is in the Aorist tense, which signifies a continual action "without regard to past, present, or future time." . It is also in the Imperitive mood which signifies a "command to the hearer to perform a certain action by the order and authority of the one commanding." So, the Great commission is a continual discipling that was commanded (not recommended) by the Lord. Our focus is on the discipling (mathēteuō) of the nations (people) and not necessarily on the "going, baptizing, and teaching". These latter three will be the natural result of our obedience to disciple (mathēteuō).

Let us return our focus to the proper discipleship that the Lord commands....

What I Believe

2007-05-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

Where I come from...

I. The Scriptures

I believe in the authority and sufficiency of the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as originally written; that it was verbally and plenarily inspired(1) and is the product of Spirit-controlled men(2), and therefore is infallible and inerrant in all matters of which it speaks.(3) I believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creed and opinions shall be tried, because it is God's Word.(4)

(1) II Timothy 3:16-17 (2) II Peter 1:19-21(3) John 10:35 (4) I Thessalonians 2:13

II. The True God

I believe there is one and only one living and true God (1), an infinite Spirit(2), the Maker and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth(3); inexpressibly glorious in holiness (4), and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love(5); that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption(6).

(1) Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Exodus 20:2-3. (2) John 4:24. (3) Genesis 1:14; 1 Peter 1:16. (5) Revelation 4:11. (6) II Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.

III. The Holy Spirit

I believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person(1), equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature(2), that He was active in the creation(3); that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment(4); that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony(5); that He is the Agent in the new birth(6); that He seals(7), endues(8),guides(9), teaches(10), witnesses(11), sanctifies(12), fills(13), baptizes(14) and helps the believer(15).

(1) Luke 1:35; II Corinthians 3:18 (2) Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14 (3) Genesis 1:1-3 (4) John 16:8-11 (5)Acts 5:30-32 (6) John 3:5-6 (7)Ephesians 1:13-14 (8)Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:14(10) John 14:26; (11) Romans 8:16; (12) Romans 8:2-14 (13)Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16 (14) I Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 3:27 (15)Romans 8:26-27; John 14:16-17.

IV. The Devil, or Satan

I believe in the reality and personality of Satan, the devil; and that he was created by God as an angel(1) but through pride and rebellion(2) became the enemy of his Creator(3); that he became the unholy god of this age(4) and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the lake of fire(5).

(1) Ezekiel 28:12-17 (2)Isaiah 14:12-15 (3)Matthew 4:1-11 (4)II Corinthians 4:4 (5) Revelation 20:10

V. Creation

I believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels, and man(1); that this account is neither Allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process(2); that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race(3).

(1) Genesis 1,2 (2)Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3 (3) Matthew 19:4; 1 Timothy 2:13.

VI. The Fall Of Man

I believe that man was created in innocence (in the image and likeness of God) under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression Adam fell from his sinless and happy state(l), and all men sinned in him(2), in consequence of which all men are totally depraved, are partakers of Adam's fallen nature, and are sinners by nature and by conduct(3), and therefore are under just condemnation without defense or excuse(4).

(1)Genesis 3:1-6 (2)Romans 5:12-19 (3)Romans 3:9-18,23 (4)Romans 1:19-21

VII. The Virgin Birth

I believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can be born of woman(1), and that He is both the Son of God and God, the Son(2).

(1)Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35 (2)John 1:1,3,14,18; 1 John 1:3

VIII. Salvation

I believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of Jesus Christ, the Son of God(1), Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior(2); that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God regarding sin(3); that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree(4); that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all- sufficient Savior. I believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation(5). Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith(6).

(1)Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24-25 (2) Philippians 2:7-8 (3)II Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:25; Romans 5:8; I John 4:10 (4)Hebrews 2:14-17; Isaiah 53:4- 7; I Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24; (5)John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; John 14:6 (6)Acts 17:30; Acts 26:20; II Peter 3:9

IX. Resurrection And Priesthood Of Christ

I believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ and in His ascension into Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest interceding for us. (1)

(1)Matthew 28:6-7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6; Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17.

X. Grace And The New Birth

I believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again(1); that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus(2); that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God(3); that the new creation is brought About by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth(4), so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its
proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.

(1)John 3:3 (2)II Corinthians 5:17 (3)I John 5:1; Acts 16:20-33; II Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13 (4)John 3:8.

XI. Justification

I believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ(1); that it is bestowed, not inconsideration of any works of righteousness which we have done(2), but solely through faith in the Redeemer's shed blood(3).

(1)Romans 3:20,24 (2)Romans 3:20; Romans 4:5; Colossians 2:16 (3)Romans 5:1,9.

XII. The Freeness Of Salvation

I believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel(1); that it is the immediate duty of everyone to accept them in repentance and faith(2); and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel(3), which rejection involves him in an eternal condemnation and torment(4).

(1)Revelation 22:17; Romans 1:16; John 3:15-16; Romans 10:13 (2)Acts 17:30; John 3:36; II Thessalonians 1:7-8 (3) John 1:11-12; John 3:18-19,36; John 5:40 (4)II Thessalonians 1:8-9.

XIII. Sanctification

I believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner; first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts the Savior (1); second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life(2); third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord's return(3).

(1)Hebrews 10:10-14; John 17:17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:2,30; I Corinthians 6:9-11 (2)II Corinthians 3:18; II Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:25-27; I Thessalonians 3:12-13; I Thessalonians 4:3-8 (3)I Thessalonians 3:12-13; I Thessalonians 5:23-24; Jude 1:24-25; Philippians 3:10-14.

XIV. The Security Of The Saints

I believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ and that nothing can remove a true believer from their salvation. (1)

(1) John 6:39; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-39; Hebrews 7:23-25; 1 Peter 1:3-5.

XV. The Church

I believe that a local church is an organized congregation of immersed believers associated by covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel(1); observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word(2); that its officers are pastors and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures(3). I believe that the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity(4). I hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-
government free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only Superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit(5); that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel(6); that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation, that on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final. I believe in the unity of all New Testament true believers in the Church which is the Body Of Christ(7).

(1)Acts 2:41; Acts 20:17,28; Philippians 2:1-2 (2)Acts 2:41-42; Ephesians 4:11-16 (3)I Timothy 1:18-19; I Timothy 3:1-13,15; I Timothy 4:1-16; 1 Timothy 5:1,3; 1 Timothy 5:17-22; 1 Timothy 6:11-21; II Timothy 2; II Timothy 4:1-2; Titus 1:5-9; I Peter 5:1-4; Hebrews 13:7,17; (4)Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 4:11- 12; Revelation 22:16-17 (5)Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18 (6) Acts 15:1-2; Acts 15:19-29; I Corinthians 7; Colossians 4:15-17 (7)1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians 4:1-6; Romans 12:4-5

XVI. Baptism And The Lord's Supper

Baptism:
I believe that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, through Whom we died to sin and rose to a new life; that baptism is to be performed under the authority of the local church; and that it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership(1).

The Lord's Supper:
I believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of His death until He come, and should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. I believe that the Biblical order of the ordinances is baptism first and then the Lord's Supper, and that participants in the Lord's Supper should be immersed believers.(2)

(1)Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-6; Colossians 2:12; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41 (2)1 Corinthians 11:23-30; Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7

XVII. Separation

I believe that God's call to holiness includes both personal and ecclesiastical separation. We believe in separation from joint ministry with unbelief and apostasy(1). I believe separation also should be exercised from heretical believers who hold the following peculiar opinions and practices which are divisive: (a) unsound Bible interpretations which promote false doctrine(2); (b) faulty practices inconsistent with clear Bible teachings(3); (c) worldly or immoral lifestyles
contrary to the principles of holiness(4); and (d) a sectarian spirit destructive to Christian unity(5).

(1)II Corinthians 6:14-17; II John 1:9-11; Ephesians 5:11; Philippians 3:17-19 (2)1 Timothy 6:3-5; II Timothy 2:15-18 (3)I Corinthians 5:11; II Thessalonians 3:6-15 (4)I Corinthians 5:9-11 (5)Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 1:10-11; I Corinthians 3:1-4.

XVIII. Civil Government

I believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society(1); that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored and obeyed(2), except in those things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of kings(3).

(1)Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23-3; Exodus 18:21-22 (2) Matthew 22:21; 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (3)Acts 5:29; Acts 4:19-20; Daniel 3:17-18.

XIX. Israel

I believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as GodÃ’s eternal covenant people(1), that she is now disbursed because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ(2), and that she will be regathered in the Holy Land and, after the completion of the Church, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ(3).

(1)Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:1-21; Genesis 17:1-22 (2) Deuteronomy 28:62-68; Romans 9:1-13; Romans 9:30-33; Romans 10:1-4; Romans 10:16-21 (3) Deuteronomy 30:1-3; Ezekiel 37:1-28; Romans 11.

XX. Rapture And Subsequent Events

I believe in the premillennial return of Christ, an event which can occur at any moment(1), and that at that moment the dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ shall be given glorified bodies without tasting death(2), and all shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air before the seven years of the Tribulation(3). I believe that the Tribulation,
which follows the Rapture of the Church, will be culminated by the revelation of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the throne of David and to establish the millennial kingdom(4).

(1)I Corinthians 15:51-52; James 5:7-8; Philippians 3:20; I Peter 4:7 (2)I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:42-44; I Corinthians 15:53-54; Philippians 3:21 (3) Revelation 3:10; I Thessalonians 1:10; I Thessalonians 5:2-5; I Thessalonians 5:9-11 (4) Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:30-33; Matthew 24:29-31; Acts 2:29-30; II Thessalonians 1:3-10.

XXI. The Righteous And The Wicked

I believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked(1); that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem(2); while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse(3); and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting(4) conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire .

(1) Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23-32; Romans 2:5-11; Proverbs 15:9 (2)Romans 3:19-26; Romans 4:4-5; Romans 6:17-18 (3)I John 5:19; John 3:18,36; (4)Luke 16:22-26; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-15.

XXII. Social Issues

I believe that there are social responsibilities we are to have to fellow man, our communities,and to the world. The first responsibility that every believer has is to make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey the words of the Lord Jesus Christ(1). As Christians we also have the responsibility to obey all laws as long as we are not disobeying God in doing it (2). I believe we are to care for the earth as good stewards (3); but care for the earth should not represent some form of worship for there is only one God (4). We are told also to manage our families well (this includes the areas of finance, spirituality, raising the children, contributing to society) and take care of our parents and grandparents if necessary (5). I believe we also have a responsibility to love the poor and downtrodden the way the Lord Jesus Christ did (6). All social responsibility should be motivated by an inner desire to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is God's will. (7) If there is a person in the church who is sinning without remorse, we must not let that continue. He must be confronted and disciplined in love by the church (8); and that we are to help other Christians back on the right path if they are overcome by sin.(9)

(1) Matthew 28:18-20;Romans 13:1-5; (3)Genesis 1:28; (4) Isaiah 45:5; (5) Luke 12:42; 1 Timothy 3:4;5:4; (6)Matthew 25:34-36; (7) 1 Timothy 2:3-5; (8) 1 Corinthians 5:12; (9) Galatians 6:1; Matthew 18:15-17

The Hidden Word

Make disciples

What I Believe

Where I come from...