Don’t forget the world for very long, but for a few minutes, think about the Great Commission and how it applies to YOU.
Just you.
Let’s review the Great Commission:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
Because you are reading this site, there is a good chance you have made a decision to follow Jesus. Most likely you’ve also already been baptized.
The question is, how is your obedience to the rest of it going for you? Are you a disciple of Jesus who obeys everything he taught?
If the answer is yes, you can stop reading and keep doing whatever you are doing, but if like most of us a you feel you are far away from obeying everything Jesus taught, read on.
What does it mean to obey everything Jesus taught?
If we don’t know what obedience to Jesus’ commands looks like, it’s hard to know if we measure up. Fortunately the solution to knowing what obedience to his commands looks like isn’t a huge theological puzzle. God did not leave us in the dark, leave us to stumble a slave to feelings and the teachers of the moment.
God gave us the Bible. Using inspired human authors, he wrote in great detail the problem of our sin and rebellion from our Creator, his plan of salvation and the history of how he supernaturally worked it out in history and along the way gave detailed instructions of how he wants his people to live. When Jesus came he fulfilled the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, in flesh and blood illustrated how we are supposed to live, died and rose again for our salvation. To explain his life and teach his followers how they are supposed to live because of it, the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the New Testament.
The solution is pretty simple. Read the Bible. Or listen to it–you’ve got lots of options today. The point is, you must get to know the Book if you are going to obey everything Jesus taught.
Today why this is more important than ever
We live in a post-Christian world, far more like the pre-Christian world of New Testament times than few times in history. The values of our society, of our world are in total opposition to the values and teachings of the Bible.
The challenge is that many of them sound so good and it’s hard to discern what is a viewpoint of the world and what is the way to live as God commands. If we don’t know the Bible and know it well, we won’t be able to tell the difference.
We also live in a time where media creates authorities in the spiritual world who are kind, good and appealing people—but many are false teachers. We must know the Bible well to discern what is correct and what is false, no matter how many books someone sells or how powerful their media presence.
Once again the solution is to get to know the Bible.
For me what has worked best is to read through it in chronological order every year. Though I find this method is the most helpful for me, the important thing is to get into God’s Word daily. Getting to know God’s Word well is the foundational spiritual discipline in my Christian life because if I don’t know what God wants me to do (which he has clearly spelled out in his Word), I can’t pray correctly, worship properly, or live in a way that pleases him. In addition, without knowing the Bible, I won’t have proper expectations of God and what I can expect of him for time and eternity. Many people become disappointed with God or angry with him because they think he is supposed to do something he never promised.
Helping you do this is the purpose of this site, where I am sharing lessons and content from teaching the Bible over many years. They may be useful, if not, google many of the excellent sites online that can help you grow in your knowledge of and obedience to God’s Word.
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Even if you don’t sign up for the newsletter, commit to reading or listening to the entire Bible this year. The link below is just one of many resources, but it’s a great one, so check it out:
Back to the command to reach the world in the Great Commission
A funny thing happens when we become obedient to God and commit our lives to obeying his commands. The previous guilt-producing commands concerning evangelism slowly become encouragements. We want to share because we know in the day-to-day of our lives that we’ve been given the words of eternal life and that by sharing them we grow closer to the Lord who gave his life to us.
Fully fulfilling the Great Commission—by both helping people come to know Jesus as Savior and then helping them grow to mature discipleship requires that you know God’s Word well. Pick up your Bible, read it and you’ll know what you need to do to obey everything Jesus commands.