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The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/983722510-redeeminggod-the-rich-young-ruler-and-you-matthew-1916-24.mp3

Money! Money! Money! It’s the money episode! In this podcast study, I talk about cryptocurrency, a reader email about tithing, and the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24. We see that Jesus was NOT telling the young man that he had to give up all his money in order to go to heaven. The story is about something else entirely.

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Have you heard of cryptocurrency? They’re in the news a lot this week, so I decided to talk a a bit about them. I explain what they are, why they’re important and gainin widespread acceptance, and how to get some if you want. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was $1. It hit $48,000 today. Dogecoin is the most entertaining cryptocurrency, which causes many to believe it will be the most successful. It currently sits at $.07, and many believe it will hit $1 this year. Where will it be in ten years?

I personally bought a tiny fraction of one Bitcoin and several hundred Dogecoins this past week.

Best and easiest is Coinbase. Use my link to get $10 of free Bitcoin if you buy at least $100. That’s 10% instant profit though, so you might as well take it.

But Coinbase doesn’t sell Dogecoin. So if you want Dogecoin, use Robinhood. Use that Robinhood link to get a free stock when you sign up.

Reader Email about Tithing

A reader sent me a question about tithing this week. He wanted to know if he is really supposed to tithe 10% to his church or not.

Collection PlateI have written a lot about this before. There’s a whole section on tithing in my book Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks. Here are some links on my site you can read as well:

  • The Tithing Tax
  • Malachi 3 and Tithing
  • Modern Tithing
  • Tithe for Your Right to Party
  • Tithe 3% to your church
  • What Jesus taught about Tithing
  • Render To Caesar
  • The Widow’s Mite
  • Devouring Widow’s Houses
  • Don’t Tithe to a Decaying Temple

The bottom line truth about tithing is that most of what we have been taught in our churches about tithing is flat-out wrong. In the Bible, tithing is closer to what you and I would think of as income tax. But even then, the tithe went to help local people, rather than to nameless and faceless governmental programs. Most surprisingly of all, that 10% tithe we so often hear about from our pulpits was primarily for the purpose of hosting a large community party for everyone who came. It was to help pay for everybody to come together once a year for a giant music, arts, and food festival.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but there is nothing in Scripture to support the practice we have today of paying 10% of your annual income to cover the costs of an expensive church building and staff salaries. This doesn’t mean you can’t have buildings and church staff. You can. But what you cannot do is defend the practice from the Bible.

Anyway, the bottom line answer to the question is this: “No, the Bible does not command us to give 10% of our income to the local church.” It is smart to use some of your money to support people, ministries, and causes that you believe in, and to help the poor and needy in your community, but also make sure you are using some of your money to make memories with your spouse and children, and to also enjoy life a bit.

Read some of the articles linked to above (or just get the book) to learn more about what the Bible teaches about tithing.

The Rich Young Ruler Matthew 19

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

I have previously taught about the Rich Young Ruler here and here.

The passages of Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 all tell the account of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus to ask how he can have eternal life. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth away, and then come follow Jesus. The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. After his departure, Jesus and His disciples have a discussion about wealth and the kingdom of heaven.

This is a confusing text for many Christians because many people think that the term “kingdom of heaven” refers to heaven itself. And so many believe that when Jesus taught about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, He was saying that it is difficult for the rich to receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die.

Thus, it is taught, the rich must give away their wealth in order to have a chance at eternal life.

But this is a works-based message of eternal life and is completely contrary to the free offer of eternal life found everywhere in Scripture.

If eternal life is freely given to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it, it would be a biblical contradiction for Jesus to also say that the rich must give away their wealth to receive eternal life.

Thankfully, a proper understanding of the concept of the kingdom of heaven helps explain this apparent contradiction. When Jesus teaches about the dangers of wealth, He is not referring to the difficulty the rich will have in receiving eternal life, but to the difficulty they will have in experiencing the rule and reign of God in their life here and now on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

Rich Young RulerThe context of these passages provides numerous lines of evidence to show that Jesus is talking about experiencing eternal life in our present life through the rule and reign of God, rather than about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die.

For example, other than the initial question by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16, the rest of the passage is about inheriting eternal life, following Jesus on the path of discipleship, and entering the kingdom of heaven. So despite how the rich, young ruler phrased his initial question, Jesus answer a more important question for this particular person.

The Gospel authors understood this, and so the parallel versions in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30 have the rich young ruler have the rich, young ruler asking how to “inherit” eternal life. Furthermore, Jesus later clarifies in Matthew 19:29 that He is only talking about inheriting eternal life (which refers to the present age experience of eternal life), Mark and Luke use the word inherit for consistency’s sake when they record the question from the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Now which question did the rich, young ruler originally ask? It is difficult to say. Probably he spoke in Hebrew or Aramaic, and so Matthew translated the man’s word one way while Mark and Luke translated it another. But regardless of what was in the mind of the rich, young ruler, however, Jesus answered his question in a way that reached to the heart of the issue, and the heart of the young man.

Wealth in Jewish society

In Jewish society, wealth was a sign of God’s divine blessing. Due to various promises in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was assumed that if a person was observing the law and was wealthy, God had blessed them with their wealth because of how successful they were in observing the law. This belief would obviously not apply to someone like Zacchaeus, who was clearly making no effort to observe the law, but would absolutely apply to someone like this young ruler.

He believed that he had observed the entire law since his youth (Matt 19:20), and everyone else believed it also (cf. Matthew 19:25).

When Jesus instructed the rich, young ruler to give away all his wealth and then come follow Him, Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking about the connection between God’s law and human wealth. Jesus was showing that there is no true connection between the two. Wealth is not an outward sign of inner righteousness.

Jesus wanted to show this young man, as well as the disciples, how to truly live in righteousness, which comes through following Jesus in discipleship and living in light of the kingdom of God. But Jesus cannot do this as long as a person is looking to their own ability to be righteous, or to their own wealth as a sign of personal righteousness. So he tells the young man to discard all evidence or thought of personal righteousness and then come follow Him to see what righteous living truly looked like. But the young man went away because he was unwilling to do this.

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

So the answer from Jesus is not about how to receive, gain, or have eternal life, but how to inherit or experience God’s will, purpose, and blessings for our life here and now on this earth. As we follow Jesus on the path of discipleship in this life we will experience the life God wants for us now and also gain treasure for our future life in eternity (Mark 10:21: Luke 18:22).

All of this is about entering into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25), which is shorthand for entering into the experience of the rule and reign of God in our lives here and now on this earth.

But what about the word “saved”?

Note that the disciples use the word “saved” (Mark 10:26; Luke 18:26), which also causes confusion in the minds of some. But when we recognize that the word “saved” also does not refer to receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die, then the passage retains its message. Jesus is talking about being delivered and rescued from the problems that wealth brings, so that His followers can experience the rule and reign of God in their life now.

The surrounding context makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are talking about discipleship and eternal reward rather than justification and receiving eternal life (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-29).

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

In modern, Western culture, while some people see wealth as a sign of God’s blessing on a person who is fully obedient to Him, this is not a widely held view. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today, I can imagine a scenario in which a well-known, young pastor comes to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to experience God’s life?” The young pastor only asks this because he thinks he is already experiencing God’s life, and believes Jesus will praise Him for his great success at such a young age.

Instead, Jesus says, “Well, what is it that you teach from your pulpit and write about in your books?”

The young pastor would respond, “People must attend church regularly, tithe 10% of their income, read the Bible and pray every day, and not be given to alcohol or drugs. They should also be a good witness at their job by wearing Christian t-shirts, a cross-shaped necklace, and never laugh at crude jokes. Instead, they must hand out Gospel tracts and invite people to church.”

Jesus would respond, “Okay. Go do all of that then.”

To which the young man would proudly boast, “I’ve done all this since I was a kid.”

Pastoral power authority“Well done!” Jesus would say. “Only one thing is left. Resign as pastor. Stop selling books. Quit preaching. Throw out all your gospel tracts and Christian clothes. Stop tithing to the church. Put your Bible on a shelf for a while, and go have a beer at the local pub. Then come follow Me and we’ll see what’s next.” But the young pastor would go away, thinking that Jesus was a false teacher, for the young man had it all figured out.

In this text, Jesus is showing that there is no such thing as an outward manifestation of inward righteousness. However, if we want to truly experience the life of God in us, and all the riches and blessings that entails, we can stop following religion and instead follow Jesus into a life of discipleship. While Jesus always leads in surprising directions, but also leads us toward a true life with God.

Matthew 19:16-24 therefore, is not about how to receive eternal life, but about how to get rid of the things in our life that we rely on as evidence that we are “good” Christians, and instead just follow Jesus wherever He leads. What things do you look to for proof that God loves and accepts you? That you are doing a “good job” for Jesus? Get rid of such things, and then come to Jesus empty-handed, saying, “Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

When you do this, Jesus will lead you into a full experience of the kingdom of God.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, Redeeming Life, Redeeming Scripture, z Bible & Theology Topics: eternal life, kingdom of god, kingdom of heaven, Luke 18:18-30, Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 19:16-21, Matthew 19:16-24, Rich Young ruler, salvation, tithing

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How can Christians find Fellowship? A discussion with Richard Jacobson (Hebrews 10:25)

By Jeremy Myers
7 Comments

How can Christians find Fellowship? A discussion with Richard Jacobson (Hebrews 10:25)
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/578611905-redeeminggod-147-how-does-christian-fellowship-work-an-interview-with-richard-jacobson-hebrews-1025.mp3

unchurching richard jacobsonMillions of Christians have questions about church and how to find true Christian fellowship. In this podcast interview, Richard Jacobson and Jeremy Myers discuss how to be the church and why Hebrews 10:25 does not teach that all Christians must attend a church service on Sunday morning.

Church fellowship is critical, but there are a variety of ways God leads us to find this fellowship.

Links mentioned in this discussion with Richard Jacobson:

  • Richard Jacobson’s website: Unchurching.com
  • The Unchurching book on Amazon
  • The Unchurching Comic book
  • Richard Jacobson’s Animated Explainer Videos on YouTube
  • The Unchurching Facebook Group
  • Support Richard Jacobson on Patreon
  • Richard Jacobson’s TED Talk:

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: be the church, church, ecclesiology, Hebrews 10:25, One Verse Podcast, Richard Jacobson, unchurching

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Adventures in Fishing for Men – A Humorous Satire of Evangelism

By Jeremy Myers
11 Comments

Adventures in Fishing for Men – A Humorous Satire of Evangelism
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/458457336-redeeminggod-122-adventures-in-fishing-for-men-a-humorous-satire-of-evangelism.mp3

Don’t tell one more person about Jesus until you read my new book. Don’t attempt any more evangelism until you read it.

Seriously.

Most Christians are doing more harm than good with how they attempt to “share Jesus” with others.

Many of the modern “evangelistic” efforts of Christians only do harm to the cause of Christ and the message of the gospel.

If you want to see what I mean, I “explain” it all in parable form through my new book, Adventures in Fishing for Men.

This book is an allegory, or parable, about evangelism. In it, a nameless man (Is it you? Is it me?) attempts to become a world-famous fisherman … all without ever catching any fish.

The book is funny, hilarious, entertaining, and most of all, insightful and instructional.

Here is what some others are saying about Adventures in Fishing for Men.

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

Adventures in Fishing for Men

This book was originally published back in 2012, but it has been significantly revised and expanded. It contains 50% new material, and also has a set of Discussion Questions to go along with each chapter.

These discussion questions will help you use this book for your small group class or Bible study. And since this book is humorous, if you use it for your small group Bible study or discussion group, it will be unlike any other study you have done. You will still learn, but through story and humor instead!

Did you want to learn about evangelism through humor?

Adventures in Fishing for MenJoin my discipleship group and take the course which is related to this book. When you take this course, you will also gain background information about each chapter in the book, as well as some discussion questions to help you think through the content of the chapters. If you just want to buy the book, you can get it on Amazon here.

God is Featured, Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, z Bible & Theology Topics: Books I'm Writing, evangelism, Fishing for Men, missions, One Verse Podcast

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Christians Should Go to Hell

By Jeremy Myers
16 Comments

Christians Should Go to Hell

No, I am not condemning or cursing Christians to hell. Instead, I am inviting them to follow Jesus wherever He leads … even when it is straight to hell. In other words, I am saying that Jesus is leading you to go to hell. 

Let me explain.

The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail Against It

In my book, The Death and Resurrection of the Church, I point out that the very first time Jesus talked about the church, He said that He was going to build it and that that gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

When most Christians read this, they imagine the church as this impregnable fortress, with huge white granite walls, behind which all the people of God huddle together in safety as the forces of evil attack from outside.

When most Christians read Matthew 16:18, they think Jesus is saying that the church He is building will be a place for Christians to safely wait out the onslaught of the invading hordes of hell.

But this is exactly the opposite of what Jesus says. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Do you see? Jesus is saying that the church He is building will go to hell and storm the gates of hell.

In other words, who has the gates and walls which keep out the invading army? Not the church, but hell.

And therefore, who is the invading army? Not hell, but the church.

When Jesus describes the church He is building, it is not the church which has the walls and gates, but hell. And it is not the devil and his forces that are attacking the gates of the church, but the church which is attacking the gates of hell. It is the church which will go to hell to rescue those who are there.

The gates of hell are under siege by Jesus and His church.

Jesus storms the gates of hellIt is not the church that is attempting to hide behind gleaming walls as against an invading army. No, it is Satan and his minions who are huddled behind their blackened walls, hoping that the gates will hold.

Jesus says they will not. Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail. They will not stand. The gates of hell will fall to the invading church.

Of course, this presupposes that the church is on the offensive. That the church is invading hell. That the church has followed Jesus to hell. That the church will go to hell with Jesus.

It’s an exciting prospect!

But there is something else in Jesus’ statement as well.

Where is Hell? It is Here and Now

If the church is here in this world, and if Jesus is leading the church to attack the gates of hell now… then this means that hell is here and now as well.

It has been said that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. If that’s true, the second greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the church that hell existed only in the afterlife, and only for unbelievers.

The truth, as indicated by Jesus Himself in Matthew 16, is that hell is here and now.  Hell is a kingdom on this earth, and Jesus launched His attack on the gates of hell by inaugurating the kingdom of God on earth. We are now in the middle of a struggle between two kingdoms, and Jesus has shown us that the gates of hell will crumble and fall so that His rule and reign will cover the earth, until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord (Rom 14:11; Php 2:10).

If the church is going to go to hell with Jesus, then this means that the gates of hell must exist here and now, on this earth, during our lives, so that we can go to hell and attack the gates.

In his excellent article, “Hell is a Kingdom,” Brad Jersak writes this:

“Hell is a kingdom, located wherever people are imprisoned and oppressed by the ‘the powers’ and death-dealers of ‘this present darkness’—whether it’s the military-industrial-complex, corporate or political beasts, or any personal affliction, addiction or obsession of choice. … Jesus is not calling the death-snares of this world hades metaphorically in anticipation of the actual subterranean post-mortem hades. Just the opposite: the afterlife mythology of hades is a metaphor for the actual human condition ‘here above.’ The rhetoric or hell is less about the eschatological future and more about educating us in the ‘two ways’ or ‘two kingdoms’ competing for our allegiance here on earth.” (Sinner Irenaeus, aka Brad Jersak, “Hell is a Kingdom: The Missing Motif Reconstructed,” 6).

The message of the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus must be read in light of the idea that hell as a present reality.

It is to the humans caught in the kingdom of hell that Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 4:17) This is not a promise to claim as we wait to die so we can go to heaven and spend an eternal bliss with God. This is a war cry. It is the declaration of Jesus the thief, entering into the strongman’s house, to tie him up and steal his possessions. What possessions? This world and the human beings upon it (Matt 12:29).

So the Church Should Go to Hell

the church should go to hellThe terrible, tragic reality is that while the church gets so caught up in the debate about who goes to hell, and how long they will be there, and whether or not hell is a place of eternal suffering or temporary purification, we are ignoring the people living in hell on earth all around us.

The debate about hell keeps us from helping those who are suffering in the kingdom of hell here and now. Isn’t that sadly ironic? We strengthen and enable hell by discussing and debating hell.

So where do you see the gates of hell in the lives of your family members? Where do you see the influence and power of hell in your neighborhood? Where do you see hell in your town or city? How can you go to hell by rescuing and delivering them?

Where do you see people living in addiction, bondage, guilt, shame, and fear? Where are they abused, maligned, neglected, forgotten, overlooked, abandoned, and forsaken? Where are they sold? Where are they starving? Where are they seeking love?

Wherever you see such things, you see the gates of hell.

the gates of hell

What is the plan of attack to charge these gates and tear them down? With Jesus at your side, these gates will not prevail against you.

There are two kingdoms at war in this world, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of hell. Jesus is calling you to participate in one by storming the gates of the other.

Will you answer the call of Jesus and go to hell with Him?

This post is part of the May Synchroblog, in which numerous bloggers around the world write about the same topic on the same day. Links to the other contributors are below. Go and read what they have to say about the topic of hell.

  • An Investigation into the Biblical Concept of Hell – Justin Steckbauer
  • To Hell and Back – Soulcare Ministries
  • The HELL You Say!  – Nathan Jennings
  • Forbidden Fruit = Hell’s Flames – Michael Wilson
  • How long does hell last? – K.W. Leslie
  • The problem of those unable to Love, or the question of hell as a reality – Bram Cools
  • Hell No! – Mike Edwards
  • Five Misconceptions about Annihilationism – Wesley Rostoll
  • Knowing Who You Trust – Tim Nichols
  • Heretic (Belated) Fridays – Bradley Jersak – Her Gates Will Never Be Shut– Scott Sloan
  • Hell – A Place of Passionate Desire – Alan Stevens
  • Oh, Hell, NO! – Liz Dyer

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: be the church, church, gates of hell, hell, kingdom of god, kingdom of heaven, Matthew 12:29, Matthew 16:18, Matthew 4:17, Philippians 2:10, Romans 14:11, synchroblog

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1 crazy suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20 that just might solve the baptism debate

By Jeremy Myers
21 Comments

1 crazy suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20 that just might solve the baptism debate
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/413748450-redeeminggod-110-what-words-if-any-need-to-be-said-during-baptism-matthew-2819-20.mp3

Did you know there is a debate about whether we are supposed to be baptized “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19-20) OR “in the name of Jesus”?

Yes, we Christians argue over some silly things.

In my book, Dying to Religion and Empire, I talk about how some Christians view baptism as a magical incantation in which the right words need to be said in order for the magic spell to actually work. The whole thing is ridiculous.

But when Christians think that baptism is required to gain eternal life, then it also becomes important to make sure that the baptism is done in the right way with the right words.

Of course, when we realize that baptism is NOT required for eternal life, then this entire debate fades away into meaninglessness, but we already talked about this…

But let us try to solve the debate anyway … because … you know … Bible.

Matthew 28:19-20 baptism

The Origins of the Baptism Debate

When people want be baptized “in the right way,” they argue about when baptism should take place, how much water is necessary, where the baptism can occur, who can perform the baptism, what actions should be performed during the baptism, and what words need to be said along with the baptism.

And again, according to some, if you don’t do all of it right, then it doesn’t work. Yes, just like a magic spell taught to Harry Potter at Hogwarts School of Magic…

Now I am not going to try to solve the ENTIRE baptism debate, but we might be able to solve that last one, about which words need to be said at the baptism.

The debate began because the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 seems to be at odds with the actual practice of the Apostles in the book of Acts.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus instructs His apostles to “baptize … in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” So when many people get baptized, they say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

But when we get into the book of Acts, we see that the apostles baptize “in the name of Jesus” (Acts 2:38; 8:12; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5).

So what gives? Some suggest that when Jesus says “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” He means “in my name.” Because … you know …. the Trinity.

Of course, God the Father’s name appears to be Yahweh, and as far as we know, the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a name, so is it really accurate to say that “Jesus” is the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Yet if we baptize “in the name of Jesus,” aren’t we then disobeying the very words of Jesus where He instructed us to baptize “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”?

And the debate rages on, with both sides accusing the other of practicing illegitimate baptism.

How can we solve this?

Well, it starts by disavowing all these Christians who waste their time and energy with idiotic arguments over words … but there is also a key to help us solve the argument.

The Key to the Baptism Debate

baptisma Greek wordBaptism is not a translation of the Greek word, but a transliteration.

When people translate from one language to another, they look at the word in the original language, and then provide the equivalent word in the new language. So hamartia gets translated as sin , theos as God, and so on.

But for some inexplicable reason, there are a few Greek words which Bible translators failed to translate. Instead, they transliterated these words, which involves changing the Greek letters of teh root word into English letters and then calling it good.

So Christos becomes Christ and euangelion becomes evangelism.

This is what happened with the word baptism as well. It is a transliteration rather than a translation. The Greek word is baptizma, and it was transliterated as baptism.

How does this help?

Well, if we translate the Greek word baptizma in Matthew 28:19-20, we get a clue as to what Jesus might have actually been teaching … and this leads to the one crazy suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20 that might help solve this particular baptism debate.

The 1 Crazy Suggestion about Matthew 28:19-20

So as everyone knows, Matthew 28:19-20 is the “Great Commission” in which Jesus gives some final instructions to His disciples. And he wants them to take the things He has taught and teach these to other people also.

That is, Jesus wants His disciples to go and make more disciples.

And discipleship involves teaching and training other people about what they should believe and how they should behave. It is teaching people about life and doctrine. And not just “classroom teaching” but teaching by example and showing people how to live.

Anyway, none of this is challenging, new, or crazy. Everyone knows all this.

But here is the crazy suggestion … What if we actually translated the Greek word baptizo in Matthew 28:19 instead of just transliterating it? Is that crazy, or what?

The Greek word baptizma means immersion (the verb baptizo means to immerse).

So if we translated the Greek word, the verse would say this:

Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you …

Jesus instructs His disciples to make disciples and to teach everything He has taught to them, so that the people they teach are immersed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This doesn’t necessarily mean “dunk them under water while saying a few words over their head.”

If I told you to “immerse yourself in this blog,” would you think you had to go take a bath while reading this blog? No. You would think that I was inviting you to read a lot of blog posts for the next days or weeks.

If I told my daughter to “immerse yourself in math” to prepare for the exam, would you imagine that I was telling her to go swim around in a local river with her math books under her arm? No. You would understand that I was telling her to study hard.

If I told my wife, “I want to immerse you in my love,” does this mean that I want to plunge her under the water in a swimming pool while saying “I love you”? No. It means I want to show her in tangible ways how much I really do love her.

Similarly, if Jesus says, “Go immerse people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” is He saying, “Go dunk them under water while saying some words over them”? I think not.

Instead, Jesus is saying, “I have taught you lots of things over these past three years, and I want you to go and teach these to others also. Go immerse them in the teachings about God the Father, about Me, and about the Holy Spirit, which are the things I have taught you. Spread this teaching around the world.”

Jesus is telling His disciples that as they have immersed their lives in His for the past three years, they now must go and invite other people to immerse their lives in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus teaching is baptism

Sooo … You side with those who think we should baptize “in the name of Jesus”?

No! If you think that is the point of this post, you’ve missed it entirely.

There are no magic words. It is not about what words you say.

As long as we Christians keep arguing about words, we are missing the entire point of the teachings of Jesus … and we should go immerse ourselves in His teachings some more.

Look, if you want to get dunked under water, go ahead. For some, it can be a wonderful ritual, full of symbolic significance.

But the real thing Jesus wants us to do is to learn about Him, learn about God, and learn about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus wants us to follow His example of death and resurrection so that we lay down our lives for others.

Jesus wants to show us how to die to ourselves so that we can rise again to real life in Him.

So let us all stop arguing about the method, mode, and magic words of baptism, and instead start living for Jesus and loving others like Jesus … just as He commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20.

The Gospel DictionaryUnderstanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, z Bible & Theology Topics: baptism, baptized, Bible teaching, disciple, Discipleship, follow Jesus, Matthew 28:19-20

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