Our Great Commission
by
Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Much is said of the “great commission” which our
Lord gave to His apostles just before His ascension. We wonder
whether our readers have ever examined the various records of this
commission carefully.
This “great commission” does not say one word
about “the preaching of the cross” or “the gospel of the grace
of God”. The “gospel” which they were sent to preach was very
evidently the same “gospel” they had been preaching — the
Gospel of the Kingdom — only they could now declare, as Peter did
at Pentecost, that the King had risen from the dead and would still
some day occupy the throne of David.
The “great commission” demanded faith and
baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 16:15,16); it included the
power to heal the sick and work miracles (16:17,18), but it did not
include the glad message that “Christ died for our sins”
(ICor.15:1-3). At Pentecost, when Peter began to carry out this
commission, he rather blamed his hearers for the death of Christ and
when, convicted of their sins, they asked: “What shall we do?” he
did notsay: “Believe on Christ who died for your sins.”
He rather commanded them to “repent and be baptized every one…for
the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
But after Christ and His Kingdom were again
rejected, God interrupted the prophetic program and sent Paul
forth to proclaim “the preaching of the cross” and “the gospel
of the grace of God”. In II Corinthians 5: 14-21 this apostle
proclaims “the love of Christ” who “died for all” and
instructs us as to our“great commission”:
“And all things are of [provided by] God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, AND HATH GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION;
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself… AND HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION” (II Cor.5:18,19).
Video Archive - Les Feldick Bible Study
How
God Saves Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read
Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
E-mail
this BIBLE STUDY to all your friends
No comments:
Post a Comment