BAPTIZING AND TEACHING

When Jesus described what making disciples looks like in practice, He gave two marks that together paint a complete picture of what a discipleship culture is supposed to be. The first is baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, which is the public moment when a person who has come to faith steps into the water and declares to everyone watching that their life now belongs to Jesus. It is the moment the old life is laid down and a new one begins.

Paul unpacks the theology of that moment in Romans 6, describing baptism as a burial and a resurrection, the old self going down into the water and a new self rising out of it. The people we are making disciples of are undergoing a genuine transformation of identity, and the community of faith has a responsibility to walk with them as that new identity takes root and grows.

The second mark Jesus gives is teaching them to observe all things that He has commanded, and the word observe means teaching people to actually do what Jesus said, to let His words reshape the way they make decisions, spend their time, and treat the people around them. That kind of teaching happens over years of patient, intentional investment in the people God has placed in your path, and it cannot be rushed or replaced by a curriculum alone.

REFLECT
• How seriously does your community of faith take the ongoing teaching and formation of new believers after they are baptised?
• What is one command of Jesus that you are still learning to observe rather than just acknowledge?

PRAYER
Father, let me be someone who takes the forming of others as seriously as You take the forming of me. Give me patience for the long work of teaching and walking alongside people until the words of Jesus become the habits of their lives. Amen.

TODAY'S READING: Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-4