Sellers’s Baptismology, Part 7: The Apostles, Governing the Tribes of the Mediatorial Nation Israel, Will Identify the Nations with Christ

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Otis Q. Sellers (1901-1992) in 1921

Baptism as identification also has a future application: the so-called “great commission.”[1] In the KJV of Matthew 28:19 Jesus’ command is rendered this way:

Go (πορευθέντες, poreutentes) ye therefore, and teach (μαθητεύσατε, mathēteusate) all nations, baptizing (βαπτίζοντες, baptizontes) them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Sellers notes three things. The first is that Jesus was speaking to the eleven apostles: this is the apostles’ commission under the conditions of the future manifest Kingdom of God, not ours in the dispensation of grace. The second is that those to be identified are nations, not individuals. The third is that imperative mood in the Greek qualifies the verb “to teach,” not “to go.” Let’s take the last point first.

Jesus doesn’t direct His apostles to go anywhere: poreutentes is a participle form of πορεύω; if Jesus wanted to command them to go, the inspired writer could have written πορεύου (poreuou), the imperative form, but he didn’t. He wrote πορευθέντες (poreuthentes):

It was to these men just before His arrest that the Lord Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and appoint you that you should go and bring forth fruit” (John 15:16). He did not tell them when or where they should go, but they knew from His words that in due time they would be going. After His death, burial and resurrection, He took up the same theme again by saying “having gone” or “going then.” This is one word in the Greek (poreuthentes). It is a participle which is an auxiliary to the main verb which is matheteusate (disciple). He did not say “Go” or “Go ye,” as many wish that He had and finish up putting these words into His mouth.

The verb μαθητεύω (mathēteuō) is given in the imperative form (μαθητεύσατε, mathēteusate). Now, μαθητεύω can mean “to teach” in the sense of imparting knowledge (say, mathematics, whose Greek root is that verb). In the context of the progress of the Kingdom, however, it means causing one to imitate and reflect the will of the master, that is, “to disciple,” an archaic English transitive verb.

Many believers, however, insist on reading themselves into every situation where Jesus addressed a believer. With Sellers’s correction of this assumption we must leave this overview of his theology of baptism:

I remember . . . attending what were called “missionary rallies,” the chief purpose of which was to produce “missionary volunteers,” then raise money to “send these fine young people out.” On several occasions I heard the speaker say: “It is not a call, it is a command—Go ye into all nations.” The ironical discrepancy of his bombast was that he had not himself gone to any nation except his own.

The Greek here is not difficult. It says: “Having gone, disciple all the nations.” This is the heart of this commission—disciple nations, and it does not have to do with individuals. The nations are to be discipled and then are to be identified with or related to the name (character) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Thus they will be merged into all the programs and purposes of the Deity in the day when God governs the world. The words “in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” were never intended to be some magic formula that a clergyman was supposed to repeat as he dipped someone into water or sprinkled water upon them.

At this time the men to whom these words were spoken will be “sitting upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). Because of their positions under God, their powers, their past history, they will be the most honored and revered statesmen upon the earth. And since the nations at that time will want to be identified with the Deity (Psalm 67:4; 72:11, 17; 138:4; Isaiah 55:5; Matthew 12:21; Romans 15:12), these powerful men will go forth and relate nations to God in Christ in a formal and declared union. Furthermore, they will instruct the nations in regard to their responsibilities and conduct under God’s government.

These words of the Lord Jesus will provide guidance to the apostles in a day that is yet future. It will be after He has shown judgment to the nations, after He has sent forth judgment and gained the victory. It will be when the nations are trusting in Him (Matthew 12:18-21). The great truths of this commission should not be stultified and ignored so that men can use it as the foundation of their own programs.[2]

Notes

[1]“Identification with Jesus Christ,” Seed & Bread, No. 139, March 10, 1981. Emphasis added.—A.G.F.

[2]“Baptism in Matthew,” Seed & Bread, No. 143, August 10, 1982.

Otis Q. Sellers, late 1970s/early 1980s (no later than 1987).

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One thought on “Sellers’s Baptismology, Part 7: The Apostles, Governing the Tribes of the Mediatorial Nation Israel, Will Identify the Nations with Christ”

  1. Excellent, you like Sellers have taken man made mountains and made easy to understand mole hills, great job Tony

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