No 10

(The Great Commission, Part Two)

Let’s look together at what the second part of the great commission is all about and what is required to fulfill it. We saw last time that evangelism is main idea behind the passage in Matthew 28:19, 20 but evangelism is not the only emphasis; there is another very important aspect and that is teaching. When we saw the gifts of the Body, the Bible has three lists that they are found in Romans 12: 6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:18 and Ephesians 4:11. All three lists are different but it is significant that the only gifts that are repeated in all three lists are prophesy and teaching (by prophesy, we mean speaking out). That tell us that the gift of teaching is most important to the Body and by extension, it is important in accomplishing the Great Commission. “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.” (Matt 28:19,20). The Lord commanded us to make disciples and a disciple by definition is a person who “helps spread another’s teaching” (Merriam Webster’s dictionary). So if this person is to spread another’s teaching, he must be taught by someone who is familiar with the subject in question. This can only be accomplished by diligent teaching of the Gospel and all that God instructs us in His Word. Therefore, it could even be said that teaching is more important than evangelism for the Body of Christ if we consider the fact that salvation and regeneration are the work of the Holy Spirit and teaching and preaching are left to us, as Christians. By the way, it is not necessary to have the gift of teaching to teach someone; it could be just sitting down with a new Christian and looking at passages of the Bible. The Bible, however does warn about teachers in James 3:1 “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”