I want to thank Elders Bob Myers and William Stang for their help in proofing and correcting grammatical errors in the many rough drafts. I want to thank Pastor Al Gormley and Bryan Station Baptist Church of Lexington, Kentucky for their faithfulness to the truth and their willingness to take on the printing expenses and publishing. I also want to thank Pastor Jerry Asberry of Paducah, Kentucky for his encouragement and support during this process.

I want to especially thank my wife and daughters for their support in giving me up to my study for long hours after long hours away from home due to my secular job plus the work of the ministry.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of a great defender of the faith who was passionate for the truth. The Lord equipped Elder Milburn Cockrell with tremendous ability to communicate the truth both in the pulpit and with the pen. Even his enemies considered him well read and a worthy advocate.

For many years Elder Cockrell was the editor of The Berea Baptist Banner, published by the Berea Baptist Church of Mantachie, Mississippi.

The doctrine of the New Testament Church and the doctrine of Grace were possibly the two greatest loves of Elder Cockrell for which he ardently taught and defended with all of his passion, learning and ability. One of his last great written works was the revised edition entitled, Scriptural Church Organization. After his departure, his book came under attack by those who opposed him. His book should be consulted and read along with my book as he covered materials I have not. He will be sorely missed by the friends of truth.

Introduction

Who has authority to administer the Great Commission upon earth? Some embrace the position that Christ directly and repeatedly redelivers this commission to believers in every generation. According to this position, the Bible is the only authority necessary for any true believers to take up this commission at any time in any generation. This is the foundation for the Reformation and all who originate their own denominations.

On the other hand, there are those who embrace the position that the great commission has been “once delivered” (Jude 3) directly by Christ to His Church at Jerusalem during His earthly ministry and that this church was also promised by Christ to reproduce after its own kind until Jesus comes again. This position argues that Biblical authority to carry out the Great Commission is found only in the Lord’s churches.

The thesis of this book is to demonstrate the following five points about the Great Commission:

First, to prove by sound principles of exegesis that Matthew 28:19-20 designates an earthly administrator (“ye”), that stands between Christ and all recipients (“them”) as the authorized administrator of this commission.

Second, this book is designed to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that Matthew 28:19-20 is an orderly and due process, an explicit prescription, for reproducing disciples of like faith and order that concludes with membership in a New Testament Church. As such, it is authority to bring such disciples into church membership by one of two ways. Newly baptized believers were brought into church membership by directly adding them to an existing church (Acts 2:41-42) or by being constituted into a new church by a church authorized representative (Acts 13:3; 14:22-23). New churches do not evolve but are made by this process. They are constituted under the authority of a previously existing New Testament Church and/or its ordained representatives.

Third, it is to demonstrate from credible sources of history that both English and American Particular Baptists understood the Great Commission as belonging exclusively to the visible gospel church of Christ and they applied it as such in their practice. This practice was denoted by such terms as “regular church order” or such synonymous phrases as “binding church order” or “gospel church order” etc. Not only did these phrases make it self evident that they believed the Great Commission was given to the church alone but they repeatedly denied that it belonged to anyone but the New Testament gospel church.

Fourth, this book is written to demonstrate that “old Landmarkism” in the days of J.R. Graves practiced this same church order and fully believed that the great commission was given solely to the churches of Jesus Christ. Indeed, when William Cathcart defined old Landmarkism in regard to “scriptural authority” and the Great Commission, he worded it as follows; “scriptural authority UNDER God FROM a gospel church.” Old Landmarkism saw no conflict between the authority of the scriptures and church authority, as they recognized church authority to be authorized by the scriptures.

Lastly, this book was written to demonstrate conclusively that there is no Biblical authority for baptized believers to constitute themselves into a church of Christ any more than there is a Biblical basis to administer self-baptism or self-ordination. The action of church constitution must be authorized by a previously existing church and/or its ordained representatives.

Those who oppose church authority in the constitution of a new church primarily defend their position by falsely attributing church characteristics to a yet unconstituted entity; and then by circular reasoning, claim that “church” rights are being violated if an existing church authorizes and supervises this constitution. Hence, according to this circular reasoning, the unconstituted entity supposedly has its “church” autonomy and authority violated when in fact they are NOT even a church of Christ until AFTER being constituted. You must first be a church before you can claim the rights belonging to a church.

There is no state of limbo where baptized believers exist outside the authority of an existing church while still unconstituted. The so-called doctrine of “direct authority” demands this kind of ecclesiastical state of limbo and denies the horizontal and instrumental administrator identified as “ye” in the Great Commission.

New Churches do not evolve out of thin air. Church authority is exercised by an existing church in regard to constituting new churches in two distinct ways. One way is to call a church business meeting and by vote dismiss members for the express purpose to pursue constitution of a new church under the direction of a church ordained man. Another way is to call a church business meeting, and by vote, recommend a brother for ordination; and then send that man on the mission field to preach, baptize and gather the baptized believers into a church. Behind both methods of church constitution are the vote of a church and thus “church authority”; and the result is that everything is done decently and in order without confusion.

Indeed, those who embrace the “direct authority” position admit that church authority is essential to the constitution of a church. They admit that without church authorized baptism there can be no scriptural materials out of which to constitute a church. This is admission that churches cannot be constituted apart from direct linkage through baptism authorized and administered by a previous existing church. This is organic link by link church succession in its historical sense, having church authority as its basis and baptism as its linkage between a preceding church and the newly constituted church.

The direct authority movement is in essence usurping church authority, rebelling against the authority of Scriptures and providing the foundation for every form of ecclesiastical disorder and confusion imaginable. It is the recipe for schism within churches that provides the schismatic a way around church discipline by simply self-organizing.

The outlined procedure this book follows is; (1) to examine Matthew 28:19-20 in order to discover who are those referred to as “ye” by their contextual characteristics; (2) to demonstrate this commission was observed in the book of Acts; (3) to show that early English and American Baptists designated the proper observance by such phrases as “gospel order” or “due binding order” or “regular church order” etc.; (4) to demonstrate that historical “Landmark” Baptists thoroughly refuted the idea of “direct” authority as they believed the Great Commission was (a) not given to the ministry, much less merely baptized believers; (b) but was given solely to the church and (c) included authority to constitute baptized believers into churches.

Mark W. Fenison

February 20, 2007

Chapter One

The Great Commission Credentials

Binding Gospel Order

> And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. – Mt. 28:18-20.

When someone asks “what are your credentials”, they are asking about your qualifications, authority, or credibility to support your claim to be or do something. This question should not anger anyone if they are properly qualified/authorized. For example, the Scribes and Pharisees asked this very question of Jesus:

Mt. 21:23 “And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?”

If Jesus did not get angry and did not deny this was a valid question, why should those who claim to follow him get angry and deny it is a valid question? This is especially true since Christ predicts that “many” He never knew will claim to do things in His name (Mt. 7:22-23). If He never knew them, He never sent them. There are many today, like in the days of Jeremiah, to whom God said:

Jeremiah 23:21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.”

The question before us is “whom did Christ send to carry out the Great Commission?” Many believe the Great Commission is nothing more than a command to evangelize, and therefore anyone who is saved is authorized to administer it. It is certainly true that anyone who has experienced salvation is qualified to be a witness of the gospel. However, does the Great Commission go beyond a mere gospel witness and thus require more than a mere salvation experience to be a qualified administer of it? The following study will examine the immediate context of the Great Commission to see if there are any inherent qualifications demanded by the context that will define exactly who is and who is not authorized by Christ to administer it.

Who is being authorized - “Ye” Versus “Them”?

“Go YE…..baptizing THEM….” – Mt. 28:19.

Who is being commissioned? There are two classes of people found in the Great Commission context. The identity of these two classes of people are represented by the pronouns “ye” and “them.” It is the “ye” who are being authorized to do certain things (go…baptizing….teaching) and it is the “them” who are the recipients (receivers) of those actions. Obviously, those who are the recipients of such actions are not the ones being authorized to carry out such actions, are they? If they were, then Christ would have omitted the “ye” and simply instructed “them” to “go” to themselves, baptize themselves and teach themselves. However, that is not the case is it?

Significantly, notice that Christ never authorizes those who are identified as “them” to be administrators of this commission at any stage of this commission. The Great Commission is presented in three stages; (1) “go” (2) “baptizing them” (3) “teaching them to observe.” In Mark 16:15 the “go” stage is further defined as going to “them” with the gospel. Hence, even after they have received the gospel and become believers, these believers are not authorized to baptize but are still to be the recipients of baptism by those identified as “ye”, and so we read: “baptizing THEM.” Even after the “ye” baptizes “them” they are still under the teaching authority of the “ye” in verse 20 and so we read: “teaching THEM.” In all three stages (go, baptize, teach) it is the “ye” who are authorized to administer it. At no stage in this commission does Jesus give authority to “them” to take over and administer any stage of this commission.

Do you see the difference here between “ye” and “them” in this commission and which one is being authorized and which is not? This text absolutely denies that Christ gives vertical or direct authority to “them” at any stage of this commission at any day in this age. At the second stage those designated as “them” are baptized disciples but yet are without authority to constitute themselves into a teaching assembly as described in the third stage of this commission. Christ has established the “ye” as the horizontal or instrumental authority for the administration of this commission in all three stages. The “ye” is placed between Christ and “them” at every point in this commission. This means those designated as “them” must come to those designated as “ye” in order to be discipled. The Great Commission gives absolutely no authority for “them” to gospelize themselves or others, baptize themselves or others, teach themselves or others, any more than the Scriptures give authority for the unordained to ordain themselves or others or the unchurched to church themselves or others. Jesus explicitly appoints a qualified INSTRUMENTAL authority, or administrator that others must come to in order to be disciplined in His kingdom. This distinction is very important for many reasons yet to be discussed.

“And so in regard to this commission of Christ, it was addressed, to somebody. It supposes that there will be somebody to be baptized, and it authorizes somebody to baptize them. If by commanding some to baptize, it commands others by implication to be baptized, it by the same implication commands them to be baptized by those, and only those whom it commands to baptize.” William M. Nevins, Alien Baptism and the Baptists, The Challenge Press, Little Rock, Ark., 1977, p. 156.

Review Questions

What are the two pronouns that identify two different classes of persons in this commission? (“ye” and “them”)

To which class is Jesus giving this commission to? (“ye”)

Are those that become baptized believers in verse 19 authorized to ‘teach” in verse 20, or are they still under the administrative authority of those identified as “ye” in verse 19? (they are still under the administrative authority of “ye”)

4. Does this text establish those defined as “ye” as the administrative authority in carrying

out the Great Commission? (yes)

The Grammatical Implications that establish due process and order

In order to understand the Great Commission better, one must understand some simple but significant grammatical implications of this commission. Grammar is not the favorite subject of many but a simple understanding of the grammar in this passage is essential to clearly understand both what this commission really is and to whom Christ authorized to administer it.

We want to examine the primary verb in this context which is translated “teach” in verse 19 along with its three modifying participles in verses 19 & 20 (“go”, “baptizing” and “teaching”). The primary verb tells us WHAT TO DO whereas the three participles tell us HOW TO DO IT. Let’s be