Synod Emphasis The Imperative By Rev. Gil Martin
for our family, it was his right and prerogative to make me cut the grass. It was came cutting the grass. It was a non-negotiable. I didn’t hate cutting the grass because I was lazy. I have never been afraid of hard work. I hated cutting the grass because it got in the way of what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to obey my dad’s commandment because I didn’t his commandment. But when all was said and done, I only had two responses to my dad’s commandment: obedience or disobedience. At the close of the book of Matthew, Jesus gives his disciples a commandment in Matthew 28:18-20. It is a very challenging commandment that many do not like. It is called the Great Commission. It’s a commandment that obedience or disobedience. In v. 18, Jesus declares his divine authority. “All authority in heaven and on
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in heaven and on earth. And it is because he possesses this absolute authority that he can make the following declaration. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the declared in verse 18. What Jesus is saying is: “Because all authority in heaven what does he command us to do? To go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus’ dominion is over all of creation, so the Gospel must go out to the entire creation. -
is to preach the Gospel. The Gospel is a verbal message, and it is a message that must be proclaimed. “So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17). It is through the preaching of the Gospel that people are brought to Jesus. Then the new believer is baptized in the name of the Triune God, if he belongs to God and is brought into the covenant community. But it does not of the church today, that seems to be the sole focus. One of the most prominent baptisms his church has each month and each year. But what about making dis- ciples? Making disciples also involves instructing believers and leading them into a life that is conformed to Jesus’ teaching. Jesus said, “teaching them to When someone comes to faith in Jesus, whether they are 10 years old or 50 years old, spiritually, they are newborns. They need to be nurtured spiritually. They need to be brought to spiritual maturity. Jesus gave us the model for mak-
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hen I was a teenager, there were few things I hated more than cutting the grass, but it was something my father made me do. It was one of his commandments. As the one who paid the bills and provided
necessary. The result was that these men were then prepared for the work Jesus had for them to do. They would be his Apostles who would oversee They would continue the work that he began. They would make disciples who would then make disciples. Much of the church is not mak- ing disciples today. The emphasis is on making converts, often through emotion-driven means. But that isn’t where it ends. It is only the begin- lack of disciple-making are seen in a church that is largely apathetic and lacking commitment. The lack of disciple-making in the contemporary church has several root causes. One cause is false teaching, a problem that is hardly isolated to today’s church. The New Testament writers frequent- ly address the matter of false teach- ing and false teachers. Malformed doctrine has always been an issue in the church. Jesus issued warnings against false teachers, reminding his disciples that there would be an abun- dance of “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly proclaimed that “many false proph- (Matt. 24:11). So while the problem is not a new problem, to say false teach- ing and false doctrine is rampant to- day is a gross understatement. The popularity of the Prosperity Gospel, the Word of Faith movement, and the apostasy of many of the mainline denominations have led many away from a true understanding of what following Jesus really means. Sound doctrine has gone by the wayside, as many have sought to “accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own they have “(turned) away from listen- ing to the truth and (wandered) off with the culture’s growing exaltation of self and autonomy, the theme of
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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