Note 4 at Mt. 28:19: The reason we can go into all the world and share the gospel is because Jesus now has all power in heaven and earth, and as His ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), we have that power, too.

Note 5 at Mt. 28:19: Notice that teaching is mentioned twice in this commission. We have not been commanded to proclaim only, but we are supposed to explain also, and provide training. This is the cornerstone of Jesus' plan of evangelization.

The present day church has put the majority of its evangelistic efforts into just proclaiming the gospel with little or no thought to discipleship (see note 8 at Jn. 8:31, p. 232). The consequences have been that people have responded and been born again, but the new believers as a whole don't mature to a place where they can reproduce their Christian faith in others. This has placed the burden of evangelism on a few individuals and mass crusades.

If one man led 1,000 people to the Lord each year, in 35 years there would be 35,000 converts through his ministry. However, if the same man only led one person to the Lord every six months, then discipled those converts so that they could share their faith as he does, in ten years he would have 1,048,576 converts. In fifteen years he would have evangelized over 1,000,000,000 people, and in just over 16 years he would have evangelized the present population of the entire world. Jesus' plan is the best.

Note 6 at Mt. 28:19: In the same way that this commission is to every believer, not just to ministers, the command to baptize is to every believer, too. It is proper for any believer to administer the ordinance of water baptism.

Note 7 at Mt. 28:19: Here Jesus commands us to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, yet there is no recorded instance where the believers did so. Instead, the instances of baptism that are recorded in the book of Acts (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), show people being baptized in the name of Jesus only.

Because of this noticeable difference, doctrines have come into being that teach that there is no Trinity (see note 2 at Mk. 1:10, p. 35), and unless water baptism is administered in the name of Jesus (only), with faith in the water baptism, a person cannot be saved. This is not what the Bible teaches and it has actually damned many people.

Water baptism is an outward witness of the inner change which has already taken place. In Acts 10:44-48, Cornelius and his friends were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues, proving that they were already born again (see note 27 at Jn. 14:17, p. 432) before they were baptized in water (see note 8 at Mk. 16:15, below).

The harmony between this commission of Jesus and the practice of the early church is simple. When we baptize in the name of Jesus, we are baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost because "in him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Therefore, baptizing in the name of either the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or the name of Jesus is correct as long as Colossians 2:9 is understood.