Matthew 28:18-20 (ASV)
18 And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
The great commission gives us the last marching orders from Jesus to all His followers. We all have different parts to play in this. All the things Jesus Christ instructed us to do are not done by our own authority using our own abilities but we are to do them under and in His authority and by the abilities, gifts and talents He gives us. He is the one working through us. He is the head and we are His body i.e. His hands and feet.
Today let us continue to look a little bit more at “teaching” that we covered over the last two days as well as the aim, which is the 4th part of His instructions.
One thing we talked about yesterday was asking and answering questions. To add to that Jesus Christ as well as the writers of the epistles also asked rhetorical questions in His/their teachings “Matthew 5:43-48 (ASV) Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 44 but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same? 48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”.
Now, let us look at what we are to teach? In the “The great commission – TEACHING – 2024.06.13” devotion found here https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/13/the-great-commission-teaching-2024-06-13/ we talked about the gospel and foundational doctrines. When the foundation is laid we are to teach things that help us grow in Jesus Christ, to become more like Him “Hebrews 6:1-2 (ASV) Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, LET US PRESS ON UNTO PERFECTION; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”. In summary we are to all teach the things that Jesus Christ commanded/said and to actually do them“James 1:22-24 (ASV) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. 23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: 24 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” That includes growth in character that is the fruits of the Holy Spirit and walking in the Holy Spirit “Galatians 5:22-25 (ASV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. 24 And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. 25 If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.” which will reflect more and more Christ in our lives.
Therefore there are three parts for us as we learn: one it knowing (when we hear the Word of God – this is when faith comes [Romans 10:17]) and second is understanding (actually it be more accurately defined as revelation received from the Holy Spirit – and it can come at the same time when we hear or after hearing the Word of God multiple times and also grow as we keep receiving the Word of God) and the third is observing (doing and obeying).
It is important not to teach for the sake of teaching and learning for the sake of learning but for the sake of growing in maturity, wanting to become more obedient to Jesus Christ. This brings us back to being a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ “The great commission – MAKE DISCIPLES (not mentoring) – 2024.06.11” found in https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/11/the-great-commission-make-disciples-not-mentoring-2024-06-11/. We therefore as disciples of Jesus Christ want to please Jesus, and obey Him because of GOD’s love for us and our love for GOD. Faith in Jesus Christ is what saves us, out of that comes Christian growth, obedience to Him and the working of the good works He has prepared for us to do. As we grow in Jesus Christ (learning His ways) our obedience to Him grows as as well. “Ephesians 2:1-10 (ASV) And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, 2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; 3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest:– 4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus: 8 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, that no man should glory. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”

NOTE: Here is the list of all the devotions on the great commission so far:
The great commission – GO – 2024.06.10 https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/10/the-great-commission-go-2024-06-10/
The great commission – MAKE DISCIPLES (not mentoring) – 2024.06.11 https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/11/the-great-commission-make-disciples-not-mentoring-2024-06-11/
The great commission – baptising – 2024.06.12 https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/12/the-great-commission-baptising-2024-06-12/
The great commission – teaching – 2024.06.13 https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/13/the-great-commission-teaching-2024-06-13/
The great commission – MORE ON TEACHING – 2024.06.14 https://missioncommunities.network/2024/06/14/the-great-commission-more-on-teaching-2024-06-14/