Teaching Them to Observe All That I Commanded You (Completing the Great Commission)

By Mr. David S. Gifford

Christian leaders often fault the typical American believer for his lack of commitment to Jesus's commands. Wanting the blessing of God, she seeks it in carnal ways. The Great Commission, however, commands Church leaders to teach their disciples "to observe all" that Jesus commanded. This book, therefore, has the underlying assumption that diminished faithfulness to commandments may stem from exegetical oversight. First, Christians may be overlooking the full meaning and significance of the Greek verb behind "observe." A literature review revealed that the word implies four independent concepts, the primary one being observation; the others are guardianship, cognition, and obedience. Because of this etymological link with the sense of sight, and fully supported by scripture, this book proposes that disciplers must personify Jesus' commands so their students can observe them optically and behaviorally. The second exegetical oversight this book suggests is that Church leaders may be incorrectly identifying the Great Commission's core curriculum. A literature review discovered that there is no consensus surrounding the content of "all." Many theologians simply assume everyone already knows what it means. Of those that directly address the issue, however, a multitude of views exist. Some scholars, nevertheless, do rally around Jesus' commands in Matthew as the content of "all"-but even these have a variety of interpretations. One major issue they disagree over is Jesus' support for commandments in the Old Testament. Based on a variety of factors, this book concludes that the in situ meaning of "to observe all" in Matthew 28.20 is that Jesus' disciples shall observe all the Jesus commanded in the Gospel of Matthew. Because of Matthew 5.17-48, this also includes observing everything commanded in the Old Testament as it is reinterpreted in the light of Christ.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1511641312
• ISBN13: 9781511641319
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.2" x 6.0"