What is the Great Commission?

What is the Great Commission? How do we fulfill the Great Commission and who exactly has been mandated to fulfill this commission?

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Great Commission is Christ’s command to every Christian believer to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all people from all nations and backgrounds.
The Great Commission is not only for pastors, evangelists or missionaries. Instead every born again Christian has been given the duty to share the Gospel.

The Great Commission is a recognition that all Christians are part of the priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9) and therefore all Christians are ministers of God who have the right to minister and share the Gospel.
Not every Christian can become a missionary or pastor, but every Christian can minister by sharing the Gospel to friends, workmates, neighbors or even total strangers.

The message to be shared as we fulfill the Great Commission is the true Gospel which relates to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of the world.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 says: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Jesus was crucified on the cross to pay the debt for sin that we could not pay. Christ became our Substitute and took our punishment so that we could receive forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift if we believe in Him.

The true Gospel is what brings people to experience genuine salvation so that they become disciples of Christ.

What is a Disciple?

The word disciple comes from the word “discipline”. A disciple is a person who is a disciplined follower of Jesus Christ. A disciple not only grows in Christ but a disciple will also make other disciples.

Therefore the Great Commission goes beyond just sharing the gospel but it also involves teaching and equipping people to live a godly life.
The Great Commission is about teaching people the cost of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Great Commission is also about teaching people to become more like Jesus Christ.

The Great Commission does not discriminate – but we are to disciple “all the nations”.

As we fulfill the Great Commission, we do not disciple people to follow men, or to follow a particular church denomination. Instead we disciple people to follow Jesus Christ alone and to follow the commandments of Christ.

So the Great Commission is about bringing the lost to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and then equipping them to be able to also share the gospel and to disciple others to our Lord Jesus Christ.