The Quadrality of the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20 [emphasis added].. "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

I would like to start by saying that the following concept is an idea that I have been tossing around in my mind for the past few days, and it is truly my joy to be able to present it to you guys this morning. This concept will most likely be more fleshed out and more comprehensive in future blog post, but in order to get my (and your guys') mind rolling, I am starting with the basic idea below.

Note: I did in fact make up the word "quadrality." It is not a real word, but I saw it fit to describe what I wished to describe. By "quadrality" I mean "having four seperate parts." It's like "duality" but instead of having two parts, it has four. If anyone has a problem with me making up words, feel free to suggest a better one in the comments below.

When I speak of the "Quadrality of the Great Commision," I speak of the four seperate commands in the Great Commission. Within the Great Commission, we see four seperate commands, and in order to obey and fulfill the Great Commission, we must obey all four of these commands. The four commands come from the four imperitive verbs we see within Matthew 28:18-20: Go, Make, Baptize, and Teach. Let us look at each respectively today.

Go: The Great Commission is not fulfilled sitting on our couches and binge-watching Netflix--we must go. "Go where?" you ask. "Anywhere," the Bible answers. Do not be concerned about where--just go. This is the first part of the Great Commission. If we ever seek to grow others in Christ, we must go to others and get them in Christ. In other words, if we ever seek to fulfill the rest of the Great Commission, that is to make, baptize, and teach disciples, we must first go. The first step of the Great Commission is simple: go.

Make [Disciples]: The second command in the Great Commission is to make disciples. Many would call this evangelism. This is the witnessing aspect of the Great Commission--the leaving everything you have behind and moving to a foreign country to proclaim God's Word. However, we must not forget the first command of the Great Commission--to go. Wherever we go, we must make disciples. Whether that is in a foreign country or in our backyard, we must not simply go, but we must make. The Great Commission is not fulfilled simply in going, but in going with the purpose of making disciples.

Baptize [Discples]: The third command in the Great Commission is to baptize disciples (that is, by believers baptism, not infant baptism; that is, by the way of baptism that we see within the Bible). This command is often the one that is lost. We are okay with witnessing, and we are okay with teaching, but baptism? What's that all about? Being at a Southern Baptist college for the past two months has showed me more and more of the importance of baptism. Let me make this clear, however: You can certainly be saved by God without being baptized, but you cannot be fully walking in obedience without being baptized. This is an issue that often tears fellow Christians apart, so let me be clear here. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8), however, we are saved for good works (Ephesians 2:10). One of the first "good works" that we are called to in Christianity is baptism. If you call yourself a Christian and have not been baptized, I would encourage you to check your heart and ask yourself if you are walking in obedience to God. Baptism is a command of scripture, and to neglect it is disobedience, just like it is disobedient to lie, cheat, steal, or disobey any other commandment.

As far as the Great Commission, we must encourage those who God saves to be baptized. Throughout the book of Acts, we see baptism as an immediate response to conversion. We ought to therefore seek the baptism of those whom we evangelize to.*

Teach [Disciples]: The last command of the Great Commission is to teach disciples. This is truly what motivated this entire blog post, and I promise that there will be more on this in the days to come. Ultimately, "teaching is the primary means by which God has appointed the Great Commission to be accomplished" (Dr. John David Trentham, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). This is what I have been so motivated about learning, looking into, and reflecting on lately. Ultimately, the Great Commission is accomplished through teaching. This is both how we bring people to Christ as well as how we grow people in Christ.

Note that in this sense, we are all teachers. Did you get that? Let me say it again: all Christians are teachers. What do you mean? How can that be? Because all Christians are commanded to teach. This does not mean that all Christians are commanded to teach from a pulpit, or even in a formal church setting, but it does mean that all Christians (male and female, might I add) are commanded to teach.**

In conclusion, how are you living out the Great Commission? Are you fulfilling the very first step of the first command--going? If not, then start there. What about the rest of the commands? Are you making, baptizing, and teaching discples? If not, I'd encourage you to reflect on the words of Matthew 28:18-20, and realize that if you call yourself a Christian, you are commanded to obey them.

*Personally, I would love to expound on this point a lot more (as far as our responsibility in other peoples' baptism), but I have some personal questions on my own about baptism that I would like to research and get answers to. That is why I left this paragraph rather vague--because I want to make sure I know what I'm teaching. Nevertheless, the principle stays the same: Baptize disciples.

**I promise that there will be more on this in the days to come. Feel free to contact me about it if you'd like--I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on all of this.