House Church Talk - Re: Baptisms and Administrations

[Bruce Woodford]

Hi Ross,
You wrote:"Two people can live at the same address but not all the mail is 
necessarily addressed to them both. Principles can validly be deduced from 
other portions but I think we ought to see what the last words of Christ on 
the subject are and whether or not those words come via Paul the apostle to 
us. Since Paul is the apostle to the nations, his instructions from Christ 
to us certainly supercede anything from Christ given to the 12 for Israel."

Dear brother, I believe you have expressed above at least one major 
presupposition which seems to have colored most of your thinking relative to 
new covenant scriptures!  It is a presupposition which is absolutely false, 
contradicts clear statements of scripture and therefore has lead you and 
many others to wrong conclusions which have lead you to be disobedient to 
what the Lord Jesus has clearly taught and commanded you!

You have wrongly assumed that commandments which Christ gave to the 
disciples were only for Israel!

Mat thew 28:18-20 makes this perfectly clear (as I have tried to emphasize to 
you many times before!)

To whom was the Lord Jesus speaking?   The eleven. 28:16
To whom were they sent?  All nations.  28:19  (This is the word ETHNOS or 
"Gentiles"!  Even Israel is included among  ETHNOS, the Gentiles, the 
nations!)
Why were they sent to the Gentiles? To teach them, literally "to make 
disciples" of them. 28:19
Who were to be baptized by the eleven?  Gentile disciples. 28:19
Who were to be taught all things which the Lord had commanded the eleven? 
Gentile disciples.28:20
How long would the Lord be with those to whom this transferable commission 
was given? Unto the end of the age. 28:20  By "transferable commission", I 
mean that this commission, these commands were among those which disciples 
of all nations were to be taught to observe. That therefore includes you and 
me, brother!)
What would precede the end of the age of which He spoke?  The gospel of the 
kingdom would be preached in all the world for a witness TO ALL NATIONS 
(ETHNOS, GENTILES), and then the end would come!  Matt.24:14

Dear brother, I pray that you will allow the Spirit of God to impress these 
things on your heart, your mind and allow them to govern your own behaviour 
and obedience to His commands.

Your brother in Christ,
Bruce

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