Lesson 860

(Lesson 860)(01-05-14) Matthew 28:16-20;

"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

　

Today's text includes the final and most important instructions Jesus gave to His Apostles just before He ascended back to heaven.

He first established that He had been given the power and authority over all things, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." This meant that Jesus had completed His earthly mission and had received all power from God.

He then made one of the most misinterpreted statements that exists in the New Testament, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: TEACHING them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:"

Most religious isms contend that the phrase "baptizing them" means that water is somehow implied as the medium into which we are to "baptize" or secure those we teach. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The action intended by this use of the verb "baptizing", as it is applied herein, is a burying, implanting, immersing, or placing within the NAME OF, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

In Greek, (the language this text was originally written in), the term "baptize" simply means to place one item into another item to affect some form of a change in the first item. To place within, or immerse into, so as to alter the state of. It's use does NOT demand that water be the medium into which a "baptism" must occur. One can "baptize" a potato into gravy to change its flavor. Or, as best describes the affect of the "baptizing" mentioned in todays lesson, to "baptize", or place, something into a safe for security purposes as placing believers into the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Altering the state from insecure to secure.)

Again, the word "baptize", in Greek, simply means to place one item into another item to affect some kind of a change in the first item.

How does this alter the common understanding of the text, "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"? It simply means that, as the disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to immerse, or submerge, those we teach into the concept of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. NOT WATER.
How do I know thats what this means, and how can teaching be "baptizing"?

In Acts 8-12 Philip is said to have PREACHED" (taught) "the name of" Jesus Christ, "But when they believed Philip PREACHING" (teaching) "the things concerning the kingdom of God, AND THE NAME OF Jesus Christ, they were baptized" (they had learned and were placed into the security of Jesus Christ), "both men and women" (Acts 8-12)

As I previously said, Philip preached (taught) the NAME OF Jesus Christ, just as we are to baptize (immerse) those who believe into the NAME OF the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Jesus is said to have only used some grammatical form of the term "baptize" nine total times during His ministry. (Those nine times do not include the duplications describing the same events in the four separate gospel accounts.) Of those nine uses Jesus never once solely referenced water as the medium into which a "baptism" is to be done. Example: Luke 12:50, "But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"

There are two of the nine uses within this one verse, neither reference water, both refer to the upcoming death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, as most of His usages did.~
NOTE: In tomorrow's lesson I will list all nine times Jesus use the term baptized and demonstrate the what I have said here is true.