Matthew 28:20, “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Disciples (students of Jesus) are not only to be taught everything Jesus commanded, but also they are to go out and teaching others all that Jesus commanded.  In other words, “disciples make disciples.”

Jesus’ teachings can be found in the New Testament (27 books) both in His own words and in the words the Holy Spirit gave the disciples after He ascended to heaven.  Jesus said in John 16:12-13, “12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

As a result, the best way receive Jesus’ teachings would be to obey all the New Testament writings.  Here is a helpful way to understand the purpose of the 27 books; (a) FOUR GOSPELS | Stories about the life and teachings of Jesus, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John; (b) ONE HISTORICAL BOOK | The book of Acts recounts the history of the early church and disciples, (c) TWENTY ONE EPISTLES | Letters written to the various churches and leaders by the disciples, 13 by Paul (Romans-Philemon), 1 by an unknown author (Hebrews), 1 by James (James), 2 by Peter (1-2 Peter), and 3 by John (1-3 John); and lastly, (d) ONE PROPHECY | A book about the end times given to John (Revelation).

There are a total of 260 chapters in the New Testament, thus if you were to read just three chapters a day you could read the entire NT over 4x each year!  Now ofcourse, we believe the Old Testament is useful for teaching as well.  However, the OT must be taught through Jesus and His commands.

Therefore, I challenge you to read the whole New Testament, obey Jesus’ commands, and then be obedient to the command to go into all the world and teach them to others!

Reflection

Are you a disciple that makes disciples?

Action

  1. Repent for breaking any of the commands Jesus taught.
  2. Be faithful to the read the Bible- especially the commands of Jesus.
  3. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the wisdom to teach Jesus’ commands to others!