Means of Discipling: Baptism and Proper Teaching (Matthew 28:19-20).
length: 59:06 - taught on May, 14 2026
Class Outline:
Thursday May 14, 2026
Open:
Christ describes how we make disciples with two key actions: baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything He commanded.
Putting them together, we are all commissioned to bring people into the church and help them grow into obedience to Jesus. It is a daunting task. But as we’ll see next time, Christ promises to be with us every step of the way.
Text:
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Main idea: The Great Commission commands us to make disciples by baptizing, bringing people into the fold of the church, and teaching, forming in them a heart of obedience to Christ.
1. Baptism
The issue in water baptism is submission. In the history of the church, baptism is a public act of submission to Christ’s commission in MAT 28:19, a testimony of faith, and a picture of union with Christ in His death and resurrection.
Water baptism is not necessary for salvation — that is clearly taught in Scripture.
To understand the positions on whether water baptism is necessary or unnecessary, you have to look at the history of baptism.
A Brief History
Baptism was practiced from the very beginning. Jesus’ own disciples baptized during His ministry (JOH 3:22-26; 4:1-2), and the early church continued it immediately after Pentecost (ACT 2:38).
The Didache (c. 70-100 AD), the earliest Christian manual outside the New Testament, gives practical instructions for baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” preferably in cold, running water.
Didache 7: “Now concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: having first uttered all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in running water. But if thou hast not running water, baptize in other weather; and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm. But if thou has neither, pour water upon the head thrice, into the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer and the baptized fast, and whatever others can; but the baptized thou shalt command to fast for two or three days before.”
For the first three centuries, baptism was almost universally practiced. Debates arose in the third century over infant baptism, which later became the norm in much of the church. During the Reformation (16th century), the Anabaptists insisted that only believers who could confess faith should be baptized, leading to the rise of the Baptist movement.
The idea that water baptism is entirely unnecessary is much more recent. It first appeared prominently among the Quakers in the mid-1600s and later in certain 19th- and 20th-century groups (Salvation Army, some Grace Movement churches, Berean Society, and hyper-dispensationalists). These groups argue from passages like EPH 4:5, 1CO 12:13, and 1CO 1:17 that the one baptism is spiritual, not ritual.
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel,
What weighs heavily in the debate is 1) the Lord’s commission in MAT 28:19 and 2) church history.
Baptism has to do with submission and the history of the church bears this out.
It brings new believers into the visible community where they can be taught to obey everything Jesus commanded. It symbolizes our dying with Christ and being risen with Him. Christ was baptized and He states it as a means of discipling in a way that it seems like nothing new.
Whether you were taught that water baptism is optional or not required, if you have never been baptized as a believer, I encourage you to consider MAT 28:19 in light of submission. Yet, like all commissions, the choice is yours.
2. Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.
Jesus was a teacher. He taught with authority.
His teaching was not classroom only.
The eyewitnesses of Christ are to make earwitnesses of Christ.
Teaching them to eventually teach others, teaching is an important activity of a disciple.
whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."
“All that I command” is frequently found in the Pentateuch, especially Deuteronomy.
“Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.”
“Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”
Paul’s commitment to presenting everyone mature in Christ.
We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. [COL 2:3]
That is more than conversion and intellectual knowledge.
Making disciples is a process, not a one-time event. The main verb: make disciples, means that Jesus has us focusing on the end goal and not on the start.
What kind of teaching leads to obedience to all Christ commanded?
Cannot be knowledge only but instruction that leads a believer to love Christ.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Our teaching must have an ethical focus and expansive through the whole realm of doctrine.
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. [in case you thought this was only the pastor’s job] 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Our teaching must warn and admonish.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall."
Our teaching must also comfort, encourage:
we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
…and cause them to question the results of their learning (are you maturing? Are you free?)
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Conclusion:
You must baptize them and bring them into the fold of the church.
You must teach them, not only knowledge, but the knowledge that becomes the wisdom of obedience to all that Christ commanded.
It is indeed sacrificial.
Are you willing to go? Am I?
In our final class on Matthew, we will see where our strength and comfort comes from - the One who will always be with us.
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