So the eleven talmidim went to the hill in the Galil where Yeshua had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they prostrated themselves before him; but some hesitated. 18 Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:16-20
The great commission is a passage that is at the core for Believers. Our ultimate instruction. Yet is is sadly also one of the most neglected passages and this results in a major problem in the body of the Messiah.
I don't mean neglected in that we aren't going out. Every year millions of courageous believers risk everything from their pride to their lives to spread the Gospel of the Messiah. Sharing about the fall, sin nature, Yeshua and his Atonement, and bringing people to their knees in prayer and repentance.
But that's where it stops. Some don't, some continue, but we have been taught largely through Christendom that the great commission is about making Believers.
This. Is. Wrong!
The great commission states for us to make Disciples and baptize them in the name of Abba, Yeshua and the Ruach. Not to simply make Believers and then leave them floundering in how to now walk in this new life. Causing many to relapse into their old ways or to stay 'baby believers' for many years. We get people to the point of admitting they are sinners who need a savior, crying out to Yeshua, but then act like that is good enough and our job is finished. When at that point very few even understand that repentance means fully turning from sin into obedience to the Ruach HaKodesh, and those who do don't even understand what we are called to obey!
Merriam-Websters defines a disciple as:
one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: such as
a Christianity : one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accountsb : a convinced adherent of a school or individual
When we are making a believer and leaving them alone have we made a student of the scripture? Have we made a 'convicted adherent of the Word of God'? Id argue that most aren't, they don't even understand what it is to be so! Sadly, there are many who have believed for years who can't claim to be students of scripture.
So what then it is to be a student of scripture? A disciple? 1 Timothy 2:15 says, Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. Dealing straight forward with the Word of the Truth, Scripture. In Acts there were a people who grew infamous for doing this. They were known as the Bereans. Acts 17:11 says this about them, Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh every day to see if the things Sha’ul was saying were true. Can we look at ourselves honestly as say that we are disciples? We must become so if we have any hope of making more disciples, as you must be knowledgeable enough to show them how to study.
We must be taking these new believers under wing, teaching them the straight and narrow. But it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14. We must ensure to try and work with these believers to show them what it is to be on the narrow path, to be one of the few who find it and not have them led astray by any teaching claiming to be Christian. We must teach them how to study scripture (hermanutics), doctrines, and the law so they understand what it is to walk in righteousness, in obedience. We must fuel their own drives to study the Word.
It is then when they have begun to understand the depth of the commitment they have made, when they are becoming disciples and not just believers, that we are told to have them baptized into the marriage covenant between Yeshua and his Bride.
May we all go forth and make disciples, be they from unbelievers, or those who nobody taught past repentance of sin. May we all better fulfill the Great Commission.
2 Peter 3:18, And keep growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory, both now and forever! Amen.
