Monday | 02 February 2026
Just prior to His ascension into heaven, Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples with the direction, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Mat 28:18-20.
Discharging this mandate begins with messengers declaring the gospel of God. By this means, Christ’s messengers reveal the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s intention to make us in Their image and according to Their likeness. As a hearer responds with repentance and faith to this ministry, they are established in the adoption and are born again as sons of God. God abides in them.
As miraculous as this is, new birth is insufficient for salvation. To obtain eternal salvation, which is the fulfilment of the process of adoption, a son of God must be baptised into the name of the Father, the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit. They must abide in God.
In the great commission, Jesus explained that these aspects of baptism are through discipleship, under the instruction of messengers who belong to a presbytery in the right hand of Christ. By receiving and obeying this instruction, a son of God is able to follow Christ in the fellowship of His offering and sufferings. Led and enabled by the Holy Spirit for their daily participation in this journey, a son of God is progressively being made in the image and likeness of God. 2Co 3:18.
In order to make straight paths for our feet – individually, as families, and as churches – it is necessary to give heed to the initiative of the Holy Spirit who illuminates to us the word of present truth. Heb 12:13. 2Pe 1:12. This word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Psa 119:105.
Further Study:
2 Corinthians 3
References:
Mat 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
2Co 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Heb 12:13
And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
2Pe 1:12
For this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
Psa 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.