The Great Commission and Romans 13

Most reading this will be familiar with the text of the Great Commission:

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15, ESV)

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:45–47, ESV)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8, ESV)

Each of these commissions give essentially the same commands: go, teach, proclaim, witness, make disciples, etc.

I believe that the failure of the church today rests upon a failure to understand and therefore carry out this commission. We have failed to carry out the commands of Christ. Not only so, but we encourage this failure.

Consider Matthew’s version: “make disciples of all nations (ethnē). The word nation is translated “Gentile” when it contrasts “Jew,” or simply “nation.” It is sometimes translated “pagan.” It is correct to see a command for an exclusively Jewish church to preach to the Gentiles. This began to happen in Acts 10.

What has changed, however, from the past centuries to today is that the term nation has come to be understood by Christians to apply only to the individuals within a nation. To disciple the nations was once understood to be both individuals within the nation (for a nation is at its core a collection of individuals), but to the nation as an entity: the nation itself was to be discipled. It was expected that a nation of Christians would express itself as freely submitting to God’s Law.

How does this work? The Gospel teaches a man how to be a godly man, a son, a husband, a father, employee, employer, etc. It teaches a woman how to be a Christian woman, a daughter, a wife, a mother, a mentor. The Gospel teaches obedience to what it means to be a Christian human in the settings in which God has placed them. The Gospel instructs Christians what it means to be a family. Teaching the nations includes the individuals and groups within those nations.

The Gospel has ordered the church: its task, its authority, structure, organisation; it identifies ministries within the church and how they are to be conducted.

But the Great Commission demands a discipleship of the nations. Just as we are to teach each person to be godly, we are to teach each nation what it means to be a godly nation. This means that there are roles and responsibilities placed by God upon all nations, and all nations are either obedient or disobedient to those roles and responsibilities. God’s Law is the definition of the responsibilities of the individual, and therefore the nation.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given me, Go therefore . . .” Please note:

1. There is no authority in heaven or on earth that exceeds Christ’s authority. This means that any individual nation is answerable for its laws, morals, collective behaviours to Christ. God’s Law is the standard. This submission, willing or not, is not something that can be refused by a nations. A nation that claims to be secular, atheistic, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Animist—all are under obligation to Christ’s rule. He is King of kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:3, 14). This is the meaning of Christ’s Ascension. His rule is present. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me . . .”
   

2. The ministry of preaching and teaching of the church is based upon Christ’s authority: go therefore. Because of His authority He has the rights and privileges of a king to order His subjects: the Christians. Christians are commanded to go and make disciples of the nations. Because a nation consists of individuals, nations are discipled when the individuals in that nation are discipled. People become Christians, and when that happens, the nation becomes Christian.
   
3. Like individuals, all nations are either covenant keepers or covenant breakers. An individual cannot, before Christ, say, “I don’t believe in Christ, therefore He has no authority over me.” This is, of course, said by many. But this doesn’t make it fact. Likewise ungodly nations cannot vote away the Kingdom of Christ. It is one of the perils of democracy that Christ might lose an election! But He isn’t asking permission to rule, He rules by crown rights.
   

Discipling the nations resulted what is now known as Christendom. It is not odd that this term is hated by unbelievers, but it is very strange that it is also despised by Christians. A nation that has been discipled has learned how to be a godly nation. It is in these nations that human rights, liberties, freedoms have been developed. This great good has occurred in the nations most under the discipleship of the Gospel and is markedly absent in nations where the Gospel is absent.

Human rights, liberties, and freedoms came through the Gospel-shaping of the nations, and to remove the Gospel is to remove the very foundations of these blessings. Democracies or monarchies can only guarantee rights when the nation is under the discipleship of the Gospel. A nation that has forgotten how to be a godly nation has forgotten how be a free nation, just as a man who has forgotten how to be a godly man has forgotten what it means to be saved.

For this reason, no nation that rejects the authority of Christ can guarantee the rights of its citizens, because those rights were taught to the government by the Gospel. If Christ is not understood to be King, then man is king, and anything is possible. The State forgets its role in the Kingdom of God and attempts to be god. Left to itself, the State establishes itself as a god, an idol.

Forgetting its God-ordained role, the State necessarily creates its own role, which is to expand beyond the authority given by God’s Law. The State takes over the role of family, educator, church, business. The State, not God, determines what is right and wrong, true and false, good and evil. This is seen in countless excursions by the modern State outside its realm of authority:

1. As the State determines who is and who is not a human, abortion and euthanasia are now determined good, rather than evil. The State, not God, determines this.
   
2. As the State determines what it means to be male or female, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, marriage, divorce, and all things of a sexual nature are determined not by God, but by the State. God’s Word is clear regarding which behaviours are sinful and evil, and which are good. God’s curses and eventual judgement will come upon sin.
   
3. As the State determines its own authority, it claims ownership over each individual and family. The State, not God, determines the content of education, proper healthcare, welfare, who may and who may not conduct a legitimate business (and what constitutes an essential business!), who may and who may not earn an income—all areas that are not the State’s role or business. It is clear in God’s Word-Law that these are areas of the individual, not the government.
   

   The state’s claim to ownership of the individual has been made clear in its demand for vaccines in order to fully participate in society. Bodily autonomy, taught in Scripture, is denied.
   

The nations of Christendom, largely Europe and North America, have been rejecting the discipleship that has made them great. The church in these nations has ceded ground and has moved away from calling the nations to the obedience of God’s Law.

I do not expect unbelievers to agree with me. What I do expect is for Christians to be obedient to Christ. His claim on the world has not been relinquished. Now that the Western church has abandoned its role as teacher (disciple-maker) of the nations, it may seem an impossible task to start again. But start we must.

When Christians deny the authority of Christ over the nations, they are seeking to reverse the Great Commission. The Great Commission is expected by Christ to be successful (Matthew 16:18). This expectation was shared by the early Christians. The result of Christians taking their role as assigned by Christ meant that paganism failed, and Christ’s rule was advanced. Perfectly? No. But the abandonment of the Commission is today a return to paganism.

Today’s Christians, for the most part, have absolutely nothing to say to a judge or parliamentarian, what being a Christian means in those roles. Indeed, many when speaking of their position, claim that they cannot let their Christian commitments and beliefs influence them! Why not? Would the atheist act this way? The Muslim?

It would be a great thing for many Christians to be elected to office, but only if they thought like Christians and refused to set their faith aside! Otherwise, they are wasting their time and are actually working against the commands of Christ.

It is not impossible, by the grace of God, for the church to see this and repent, and begin the long task of discipling the nations once again. At the practical level it means this:

1. An understanding of the totality of God’s Law over man’s law. A nation’s leaders may only create law that is not contrary to the Law of God. This understanding will place the Christian against the modern nations, and can lead to severe persecution.
   
2. A knowledge of God’s Law and Gospel. Christians must know how God’s Law limits the role of the State, and the responsibilities of the individual, family, and church. Each has their own authority.
   
3. A refusal to accept State authority over what is not its proper authority: conscience, family, church; education, health, care, etc.
   
4. An absolute rejection of the State’s role in determining right and wrong, morals, or truth.
   
5. Limiting the role of the State as outlined in Scripture: (Romans 13:1-8).
   
   1. To be a terror to bad conduct. Bad conduct and good conduct are not determined by the State but are recognised by the State. There is a great difference.
      
   2. The State is to be the avenger on God’s behalf against evil (vs. 4).
      
   3. The State is a minister of God.
      

Now it should be clear that no State or nation that denies the existence of God will do these things, any more than a non-Christian will behave as a Christian. Such nations have become their own gods, deciding for themselves what is good and what is evil. They will incur God’s wrath and judgement, and part of the Christian’s message to them is to flee from that to turn to Christ.

We must return to the full understand of Christ’s Great Commission.