The Great Commission and Hermenuetics?

Question

The last words of Christ as given to the disciples and a few others. Theologians say that the great commission still applies to us today.

What rules of interpretation were used in order to derive the applicability of this last command to us even today?

The context definitely did not include us but the disciples and the 150+ who were there at that time.

How then could you equate the intergenerational transmission of this great commission when the Apostle Paul was not bound by it but by rather a definite calling as an apostle to the gentiles?

Or even argue the fact that the epistles specify a gift of evangelism and apostleship, when the idea of a commission is not just giftedness but obedience to the Lord's commands?

Answer 1

I must disagree with your conclusion. The great commission applies to all believers today. There is nothing to suggest that it only applied to those who heard it spoken that day by Jesus in person.

Paul had a ministry to the gentiles but he often spoke and reasoned with the Jews trying to win them to Christ.

Not everyone has the spiritual gift of evangelism but that doesn't mean we shouldn't tell people about Jesus Christ if we don't have the gift. It is just that God wants to use more extensively in evangelism, those people to whom He gave that spiritual gift.

Answer 2

The great commission is stated this way in Mathew 28:19-20;
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

In Mark 16:15, Jesus said, 15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Base on this two verses, the command is to preach to all nations and to all creation. If you are a keen observant, you will notice that this commission is until now not yet fullfill. So may tribes in the remote areas have not yet heard of the Gospel of Christ. In North Korea, where there are suppression of religion at present, so may have not heard the good news of salvation. This people has to hear the good news before the 2nd coming of Jesus (Mathew 26:14). The original apostle can not do it anymore today. We Christians have now the mandate to continue what the original apostles have done. The 12 Apostle only preach to the Jews while Paul preach from Jerusalem to Rome during his ministry. They did not cover 1/4 of the world. The command is to all Nation and creature, remember? Therefore Mathew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16 is trans generational.

Again all nation have to hear the gospel before the end comes.
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Answer 3

To a large extent I am inclined to agree with your premise, but I am not sure what practical differences it would make in the conduct of the Christian church throughout history or today. We are still taught by Paul to preach the Word of God.

Edit: You might also consider the fact that the word "charisma" is never in the Bible ever associated with evangelism, nor with the gifts of the Spirit of God. The word gift in Ephesians is not "charisma", but "doreo" (I thnk) and is a gift from Christ, not the spirit because it is a gift of authority which Christ gave as the Head of the Church.