THE GREAT COMMISSION:  Is It Exclusive to Israel or Inclusive of All Races?

The Great Commission: what is it? Who authorized this call for evangelism? Are foreign missions relevant to the Great Commission? Does the Great Commission compel Christians to evangelize all peoples of every nation? In short, is salvation intended for all races? All Christians compelled to finance foreign missions to China, Japan, Korea, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and other non-white nations of the world? What do you believe about the Great Commission? What are you teaching your sons and daughters about foreign missions? Sacrifice a few minutes of your valuable time and continue reading.

Dare to examine a subject that few Christians can muster the courage to explore! Foreign missions are the focus of almost all Christians—regardless of their denominational affiliation. Evangelizing the world is a passion that burns as deep as any theological issue of the 21^st Century. Consider the vast sums of money spent on evangelism and the army of missionaries sent to the far corners of the world. The bulletins of almost every evangelical church depict various foreign missions and those whom the church is supporting.

Christians seem to possess a relentless passion for foreign missions. There are few church budgets that do not include money for foreign missions to Africa, Asia, Mexico, Central or South America, or some other non-white corner of the world. World evangelism holds such a sacred place in the heart of 21^st Century Christians that hardly anyone would dare question the legitimacy of this call to export the Gospel. With malice toward none of these generous and well-intentioned people, may we please consult the Word of God on this matter?

Time for Serious Reflection

Exporting Christianity beyond the Caucasian world of Europe began about 500 years ago in the early years of the 16^th Century. In the late 1400s and on into the next century, sea-faring explorers from Portugal and Spain began to navigate the Atlantic. In short order, they were plying the waters along the coast of islands in the Caribbean and along the coast of the Southeastern U. S. and Central and South America. From the beginning, these ventures into the New World included the plan to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the indigenous natives of the new world. Spanish explorers pursued establishing Christian missions with great vigor, and the French followed suit in the interior of the Eastern U. S. and in Northeast Canada.

This passion for taking the Gospel to the non-white peoples of the earth has continued to burn in Christians from every denomination. We are now 500 years into foreign missions, with no abatement in sight. Sadly, after five centuries of gargantuan effort expended by the Christian West, the world remains largely in the hands of other religions, including more than one billion Muslims. Moreover, where Christianity allegedly has been established successfully in some African states, it is a far cry from authentic Christianity. The theology, morals, music, and culture of these allegedly Christianized places does not equate with the Christianity of my Bible.

Five centuries of world evangelism has produced very little enduring Christianity in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. The efforts to export Christianity to the non-white world have not yielded much fruit at all! Five hundred years of world evangelism, and in the 21^st Century the world remains largely unconverted! Perhaps the testimony of Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), arguably one of the most highly profiled missionaries in history, summarizes the quest for taking the Great Commission to the non-white races of the earth. After spending much of his life among the Blacks of Gabon and seeking to civilize Africa through his endless, benevolent acts and tireless work in caring for the sick, Albert Schweitzer had this to say in is 1961 book From My African Notebook:

“I have given my life to alleviate the sufferings of Africa. There is something that all white men who have lived here, must learn and know; that these individuals are a sub-race; they have neither the intellectual, mental or emotional abilities to equate or share in any of the functions of our civilization.

“I have given my life to try to bring unto them the advantages which our civilization must offer, but I have become well aware that we must retain this status; white, the superior, and they the inferior, for whenever a white man seeks to live among them as their equal, they will either destroy him or devour him, and they will destroy all his work; and so for any existing relationship or for any benefit to this people let white men from anywhere in the world who would come to help Africa remember that you must continually retain this status; you the master, and they the inferior, like children that you would help or teach. Never fraternize with them as equals, never accept them as your social equals; or they will devour you; they will destroy you.”

On Point with Biblical and Historical Truth

Before proceeding, allow me to say this: God is the author and creator of every separate and distinct race, and He found all of them very good (Genesis 1:31). In the principle of Original Design, God has a place, a purpose, and a future for representatives of every pure race that He created. God is not the author of nor is He responsible for the hybrid races that have emerged from violating His law of Kind after His Kind, appearing ten times in Genesis chapter one! Every race deserves the respect, honor, and dignity that God purposed for them. But God did not place all the distinctive races of the created world under covenant and law. Only Adam Kind, per Genesis 1 and 2, was placed under covenant and law. Adam and his posterity alone—not the other races—were placed under covenant and law and charged with the liability of sin. Not having been placed under the law and with no liability for sin, the other races share no guilt for sin and share no complicity in the ethical fall of Adam and his posterity.

The Bible places only Adam and his posterity under covenant and law; therefore, they alone are responsible for breaking covenant and transgressing God’s law. In fulfilling the Law of Kinsman Redeemer (Leviticus 25:47-49), Jesus Christ took on the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16; Romans 9:5) to provide the means of redemption for those who were sold under the guilt of sin and under the judgment of God. The Word of God is clear! The law is applicable to those who were under the law. Jesus Christ came to redeem those who were under the law (Galatians 4:5).

The Bible defines sin as the “transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:…” (Romans 3:19). Moreover, God declares this in Romans 4:15: “…for where no law, there is no transgression.” That is not all! Scripture declares in Romans 5:13 that “…sin is not imputed where there is no law.” In Adam’s sin, all the posterity of Adam fell (Romans 5:12).

Yes, death passed upon all the other races because in Adam’s fall, the whole creation fell. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression. . .” (Romans 5:14—emphasis ours). Adam was given lordship over the entire world (Genesis 1:28-29). His fall occasioned the fall of the entire creation: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). Adam and his posterity alone bear the judgment for breaking the covenant and transgressing the law.

The non-white races of the world do have and practice a communion with the Creator, but are not under covenant or law. They have no place for atonement for sin, and every religion non-whites endorse works with a plethora of gods. Only in Christianity did uncreated God step out of time and eternity to become man to save His people from their sin. In all other religions, mortals seek to become god. Again, only in Christianity did God become man in the Person of Jesus Christ to save His people from their sin.

The Bible is the record of Adam and his posterity (Genesis 5:1-2) alone. Other races may appear in the narrative of the Bible, but only because they influenced or in some way interacted with Adam and his posterity, and Israel in particular. The Bible is a family history of Adam Kind; beginning in Genesis 12, it becomes the history of one man: Abraham and his posterity. Trying to make the Bible applicable to all the races of the earth would be no different than taking a handbook for a Ford Focus and making that manual the handbook for every vehicle manufactured in the world. The Bible is no more applicable to all races of the world than trying to learn how to operate a Porsche by reading the manual for a Ford Focus.

The Premise Does Make A Difference

The current theological interpretation of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:16-20 and elsewhere in the New Testament rests upon the following presuppositions. Examine these premises and remember this: if the premises are faulty, the whole foundation for world evangelism rests on the sinking sand of humanism. The idea of taking the Gospel to Asia, Africa, and the rest of the non-white world is built from these false premises:

1) All races share a unity in Adam. World evangelism assumes that all races are descended from Adam and Eve. The Bible does not teach this.

2) They believe that all races descended from Adam, all were under covenant, and therefore all are responsible for keeping God’s law. The Bible does not teach this.

3) They believe that all races suffered liability in Adam’s fall and therefore all races must be saved from sin. Again, the Bible does not teach this.

Time for a Reality Check

After 500 years of world evangelism and taking the Great Commission to all nations of the earth, what does the record show? What is the fruit from this planting? Is it asking too much to examine the fruits of taking the Gospel to all races of the earth? What do the facts show?

1) After five hundred years of world evangelism, not a single nation in all of Africa or Asia has truly embraced Christianity in its biblical and apostolic form. Where it has been “accepted,” it has been integrated with the religion of the indigenous people, watered down, mixed thoroughly, and is hardly recognizable as the faith once delivered to the saints. Remember Christ’s warning to His disciples about casting the pearls of His Kingdom to the wrong people? (Matthew 7:6).

2) World evangelism and foreign missions have accelerated the non-white immigration into America and all the other Anglo-Saxon nations fixated with taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the non-white world. Missionaries have beaten a path into Asia, Africa, Mexico, and Central and South America. The result? Millions of their alleged converts have followed them back to America and the rest of the Anglo Saxon world. This racial fusion is clearly against the teaching of Scripture.

3) Exporting the Gospel to the non-white world has inspired the integration of the races as much as any other single event. The walls of segregation were torn down brick by brick as foreign missions and non-white immigration flooded America and the Christian West. The pews of many denominational churches were the very first to be fully integrated in the U. S. This social movement has fueled the passion for interracial marriage.

The Great Commission in Biblical Perspective

The Great Commission consists of the instruction given by Jesus Christ to His apostles during the forty days following His resurrection from the dead. The most complete account of the Great Commission is recorded in Matthew 28:16-20. Other accounts are found in Mark 16:14-18, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, and Acts 1:4-8. Each of these accounts should be studied in detail, and as these words are harmonized, they bring together the full and essential elements of all that Jesus intended for His disciples and those who followed them to understand about the Great Commission.

The words of instruction found in St. Matthew’s Gospel are generally conceded to be the most comprehensive in regard to the Great Commission. Following His resurrection from the dead, the eleven disciples had gone to an appointed mountain in Galilee where Jesus Christ, in His own person, came and delivered these words: “All power is given me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing g 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 always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).

The context for the Great Commission found in Matthew and in all other accounts is the total Bible. The words of Jesus Christ to His disciples cannot be removed from the context of the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, as Jesus Himself is so careful to tell us (Luke 24:24). The important question that must be decided is this: for whom did Jesus intend the Great Commission? Did Christ intend for the Great Commission to be inclusive of all races on earth, or did He intend for His instruction to be exclusive to the people chosen in election before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4,5; II Timothy 1:9; Romans 9:4,5; Isaiah 45:4, 17, 25, Psalm 77:15)?

If Jesus intended for the Great Commission to be inclusive of all races, one must conclude that Jesus Christ must be very disappointed, for only a small percentage of the people in every generation for the past two thousand years has ever professed Jesus Christ as Savior. In fact, for the past two thousand years, the earth has remained a largely unconverted world, and this continues right into the 21^st Century in the midst of instantaneous communication.

If, on the other hand, the Great Commission were exclusive to the people for whom Jesus Christ died, one can conclude that the sovereignty of God has been fully satisfied, for in every generation, a faithful remnant has received the good news of the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. While there has never been a generation that witnessed anywhere near a complete conversion, there has not been a single generation where a faithful remnant has not been called out of darkness into the marvelous light of the Gospel. In truth, God has never been frustrated in the matter of the Great Commission. Every soul numbered in the election of God the Father has been drawn to Jesus Christ for salvation (John 6:44, 65).

Reflect upon the words of Jesus Christ in John 17:2: “As thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” As many souls as were ordained by God the Father to be the recipients of salvation have come to that saving grace. Every soul in the election of God the Father will be effectually called to the good news of the Gospel.

God will not be frustrated. All who are part of the elect will come to a state of salvation: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). No soul numbered in the elect of God will be lost. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). None will be lost that are drawn to Jesus Christ by God the Father. Some may come dragging their heels and resisting with all their might, but they will still come. “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). Of this you may be certain: “ …as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

The Great Commission has not arrived stillborn for the people for whom Jesus Christ died. The precious blood of Jesus Christ extended to the outer limits of God’s election. Not one soul in the elect of God has been or will be left behind. The atonement of Jesus Christ was limited to the exact number of souls in God’s elect. Our Father chose, named, and numbered the elect before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5; II Timothy 1:9). His sheep hear His voice, and a stranger they will not follow: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

Sadly, religious television networks, radio, and the Internet are overflowing with well-intentioned preachers who believe it is their bounden duty to fulfill the Great Commission and take the Gospel to every creature under heaven. With passion they fund and send missionaries into every corner of Asia, Africa, South and Central America, Mexico, and elsewhere to convert the world. Almost every church budget in the U. S. allocates the funding for foreign missions. With due respect to these highly motivated evangelists, they have simply misinterpreted Scripture. Had they followed the counsel of Jesus Christ, His apostles, and the disciples who followed them, they would have realized the Gospel is exclusive to the sheep people whom the Father chose in election (Matthew 10:5- 6; 15:24; I Peter 1:1-2; Acts 26: 6-7; James 1:1, etc.).

The following are a mere sampling of the multitude of verses that confirm the fact that the Great Commission is exclusive to those chosen in election by God the Father, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and effectually quickened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1: The salvation of the elect rests upon Jehovah’s covenant of promise to Abraham that He would be a God unto Abraham and his seed after him: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Genesis 17:7).

2: That the Abrahamic Covenant upon which salvation rests was exclusive to Isaac and not Ishmael or any other of Abraham’s issue is confirmed in Genesis 17:19, 21: “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” Ishmael was excluded from the covenant (Genesis 17:20, 21); at a later time, the bondwoman Hagar and her son Ishmael were cast out (Genesis 21:10, Galatians 4:30).

3: God’s choice of Israel for His elect is confirmed in Deuteronomy 7:6: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” This choice was in confirmation of the sworn oath Jehovah made with Abraham (Deuteronomy 7:8). Out of his seed would come the people who were the objects of Jehovah’s unfailing love (Genesis 15:5, 17:7, Jeremiah 31:1-3).

4: Throughout Scripture, God confirms Israel to be the people chosen in election: “For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God” (II Samuel 7:24).

5: Jehovah chose one people in the earth to receive His inheritance: “For thou didst separate them (Israel) from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance…” (I Kings 8:53).

6: Among all the peoples of the earth, God chose Israel alone to be the recipients of His covenant of salvation: “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have called thee by thy name …” (Isaiah 45:4).

7: The exclusivity of Israel is punctuated by the Prophet Amos, who speaking of Israel declared this: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth …” (Amos 3:2).

8: Jehovah made Israel His exclusive choice among all the peoples of the earth: “At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people…I have loved thee with an everlasting love …” (Jeremiah 31:1, 3).

9: Israel, alone among all nations of the earth has been chosen as the peculiar treasure of Jehovah: “For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure” (Psalm 135:4).

10: Jesus Christ declared Israel to be the exclusive object of His salvation grace: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).

10: Jesus announced in the call of Zacchaeus that he, being a son of Abraham, was a fit vessel for salvation: “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:9-10).

11: The Lord Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the good shepherd that has come to give his life for (Israel) the sheep people of the Bible: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus further announced that His sheep knew His voice, and a stranger they would not follow (John 10:4-5, 27).

12: Jesus also declared that the sheep people had been given Him by the Father: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all: …” (John 10:27-29).

13: St. Paul declares that the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, the promises, and even Jesus Himself is the exclusive property of Israel: “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came …” (Romans 9:4).

14: Consider this compelling announcement about Israel and the exclusivity of the salvation given them: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people…to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father, Abraham, …To give knowledge of salvlation unto his people by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:68, 72-73, 77).

The above Scriptures are but a mere introduction to the biblical literature available to confirm the exclusive nature of the Great Commission. For those who believe otherwise, all the Scripture in the world may not be sufficient to change their minds. But those who build their worldview from the Bible will clearly understand that the Great Commission is intended for the people chosen in election before the foundation of the world. God is not frustrated by the billions who have never been saved. Instead, God has saved the exact number of souls in every generation Whom He chose for salvation.