Church Weekly for 20 January 2008
My dear readers,
This week we reprint an article by C R Stam.
Our Great Commission Still in Force – Part I
By C R Stam
A RULE TO REMEMBER
For many years the Rule Book of the Union Pacific Railroad contained—and possibly it still does—the following important directive: “Unless otherwise provided, train orders once in effect continue so until fulfilled, superseded or annulled.”
This directive can be found, in essence, not only in the rule books of other railroads, but in the manuals of the various branches of our armed forces. This must be so, for where there is no discipline there is confusion. This is particularly true where God’s instructions to His people are concerned. These too remain in force until fulfilled, superseded or annulled, and the curse of confusion inevitably results when this divine rule is violated.
This brings us to the question: What are God’s instructions for the fulfillment of His purposes in our day?
As we have seen, the great majority of professing Christians hold that our Lord’s last orders, and those which we are to carry out today, are to be found in His commission to the eleven before His ascension to heaven. By almost common consent this commission has been called “the great commission.” We, however, dissent from this view and maintain that it is this mistake which lies at the root of the confusion and division which have gripped the Church in our day.
Those who teach that we should labor under this commission do not themselves obey it. They do not teach their hearers to observe all that our Lord commanded during His earthly ministry. They do not sell their possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor. They do not send their missionaries out without provision. They do not attend synagogues on the Sabbath day or offer the sacrifices of the ceremonial law. Comparatively few of them require water baptism for salvation or hold that miraculous signs are the evidences of salvation. And surely, outside of the Church of Rome, few claim to remit sins.
But the twelve apostles and the “little flock” of Messiah’s followers did begin to carry out this commission as we’ve seen. They did sell their belongings and distribute to the needy. They did go forth without material provisions, so that Peter, their leader, could say, “Silver and gold have I NONE.” They practically lived in the temple and strictly observed the ceremonial law. They required repentance and water baptism for the remission of sins, and miraculous signs did follow those who believed. Read the early chapters of Acts and observe how meticulously they obeyed their “great commission.”
But Israel would not heed their message or accept Jesus as Messiah, so the apostles were unable to fulfil their commission or to make disciples of all nations. Since Israel refused to accept Christ, therefore, this “great commission” was brought to a standstill. It could not, for the present, be fulfilled. This is not to imply that it has been annulled, for in Matthew 24:14 we read concerning a future day: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
But while the commission to the eleven has neither been fulfilled nor annulled, we have demonstrated from the Scriptures that for this present dispensation it has been superseded by the issuing of other orders, those which our glorified Lord committed by revelation to that other apostle, Paul.
Our Great Commission Neither Fulfilled Nor Superseded Nor Annulled
In Galatians 1:11 , 12 the Apostle Paul uses phraseology that is typical of his epistles. He uses the phrase, “the gospel which was preached of [by] me,” and explains why, saying: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
To the twelve had been committed the preaching of Jesus Christ according to covenant and prophecy, while Paul was later sent forth to proclaim “the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery,” which had been “kept secret since the world began.” This message he calls “my gospel,” to distinguish it from that which the twelve had previously been preaching (See Rom. 16:25 ).
Both Peter and Paul referred to the crucifixion in their preaching, but whereas Peter charged his hearers with the crucifixion of Christ and called upon them to repent of this evil deed, Paul proclaimed the glad news that Christ’s death was our death, the complete payment for our sins — sins that would have banished us forever from the presence of God. Both proclaimed the resurrection, but Peter warned men that God had raised Christ from the dead to sit on the throne of David, Israel’s rebellion notwithstanding, while Paul associated it with our justification and our resurrection to “newness of life.” This is why Paul exhorts Timothy: “Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel” (II Tim. 2:7 , 8 ).
Again, both Peter and Paul referred to the ascension, but Peter warned those who had participated in the crucifixion of Christ that He had ascended to the Father’s right hand until His enemies should be made His footstool (Acts 2:35 ) while Paul declared that He was seated in heaven in the satisfaction of an accomplished redemption and as Head of the Body, the Church of today.
So, both Peter and Paul preached Christ, for “other foundation can no man lay,” but what a glorious advance Paul’s message was over that which Peter and the eleven had proclaimed at Pentecost! And thus the so-called “great commission” has been superseded by another and greater commission entrusted to Paul and to us.
Since this greatest of all commissions has never been fulfilled, nor superseded, nor annulled, it remains in force today and we are responsible before God to obey it. (End of Part I, to be continued).
To our members: How is your experience of Family Worship? God bless!
Lovingly in the Lord
Dr SH Tow, Senior Pastor