1050 N.T. COMMANDS: NOT LEGALISM, BUT OBEDIENCE: PART 4 (JN.4:1-2)

There are statements in the New Testament that don't seem like a command at first glance. However, when we look at the verse in lite of the complete gospel message it is clear that it is not only a command but an activity that our Lord Jesus Christ modeled. If you have read the introduction in Part 1 then you know that I am seeking to list some of the 1,050 commands from God to believers to obey. In doing this I am reading the 4 Gospels in a harmony of the Gospels so that I get the chronological order of the commands we are to follow.

The first 2 commands we covered earlier:
COMMAND #1: DON'T MAKE GOD'S HOUSE (YOUR BODY) A DEN OF THIEVES. (JN.2:13-18)
COMMAND #2: YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. (JN.3:3-7)

The third command is in Jn.4:1-2. The Scriptures in Jn.4:1-2 doesn't seem like a command but it is an example of a later command. 

COMMAND #3: GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES.

John 4:1-2 ESV Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (2) (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),

Sometimes we can read a passage over and over for years and not see it. I read Jn.4:1-2 for years and years and always saw the statement that Jesus was baptizing but seemed to miss the fact that He was making disciples. The key is that Christians are born and disciples are made.

Our Lord never told us to do something that He Himself did not do. He commanded all believers to baptize and to make disciples in Matt.28:19.

Matthew 28:19 ESV 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,

The ESV says to make disciples and the KJV says teaching. The Greek word is "matheteuo" and is pronounced  math-ayt-yoo-o. It means to become a pupil, to disciple, to enroll as a scholar, to instruct, and to teach.

The most important thing a person can do is to give his/her life to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved/born again. However, no one wants to see our natural baby stay a baby all his/her life. We look forward to seeing our children grow and mature and learn to be responsible adults. The same for spiritual leaders. We long to see the spiritual children grow up into maturity and start acting as a spiritual adult believer in word, deed and thought.

Christians seldom accomplish this on their own. God did not establish the way the kingdom is advanced and the way Christ is being formed in us as a method of the lone ranger. We need one another in maturing the weaker believers. This is a Christ-centered method of maturity and one that cannot be violated.

Unfortunately many have exchanged true disciple making and maturity for commitment to a church or religious organization. I can't tell you how many times I heard the remark that a believer was mature and committed just because they attended the church building the most in a given week or have gaven the most money.

We as believers don't have to make disciples, however we cannot get away from the fact that we will be held accountable to our Lord Jesus Christ in the end for not fulfilling this command. He set the example of making disciples in the beginning of His ministry and then gave the command to us to do the same at the end of His ministry before ascending back into heaven.

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

GO, AND MAKE DISCIPLE!