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Theology > Church > The Purpose of the Church > Mission: Affirmation of Truth


MISSION: AFFIRMATION OF TRUTH

The mission of the Church is the affirmation of Truth, the proclamation of the Gospel. And the Gospel is synonymous with Christ, His person and His work. Scriptures are emphatic regarding the obligation of believers to be witnesses of the Gospel to the world (Matt. 28:19-20; Lu. 24:46-47; Acts 1:8); Jesus Himself gave the command to the Church: “you shall be witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

The mission of affirming the Truth is anchored in the essence of the Church, meaning the Church does what it does because it is what it is. Its responsibility flows from its nature. To the degree that the Church has an accurate understanding of its existence, to that degree its comprehension of its assignment is Biblical—the Church has a status and a task. Spoken differently, the Church does not have a missionary organization; it is a missionary Church.

The mission is because of Christ.

The mission of the Church is necessary because Christ has come; He has lived and He has died. In His condescension He came to earth, humbling himself and becoming obedient unto death, the death of the Cross. As a sacrifice He died, paying the penalty for the sins of men, and providing salvation for His sheep.

Because of Him the mission is mandated. Without His person and work, there is no message; if He had not come, then the Church would be under no responsibility. But not only is there an obligation, there is also an urgency. Because He came into the world, the Church is to go into the world. If He had not come, there would not even be a Church with the call to go.

The Church must go because Christ told His followers to go and speak. Christ gave the Great Commission, and the mission is predicated on His authority. Without Christ there is no Commission. The Commission is not the creation of the Church, nor an approach that the Church deemed potentially effective; rather, the mission of the Church is the mission that Christ gave to the Church.

The Great Commission is not the same as the Cultural Mandate; the Mandate is for all men, while the Commission is for believers. The Mandate encompasses Creation, while the Commission involves Christ.

The mission is about Christ.

The mission is about the Gospel, and the Gospel is about Christ. Without Christ there is no Gospel. According to Paul Christ is the Gospel:

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel . . . for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures . . . so we preach and so you believed (I Cor. 15:1, 3-4, 11).

The content of the mission is Christ because the content of the Gospel is Christ. The Gospel is about who He is and about what He did, His life and His death; it is about the accomplishment of redemption, His accomplishment. The Gospel proclaims the ultimate triumph of Christ, for He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16). And it is His name that every tongue will confess,  confess who He is to the glory of the Father (Phil. 2:9-11).

To speak of someone else or of something else is to fail to speak the Gospel. Creativity is not the prerogative of the Church, rather, faithfulness in relating what God has done for man in Christ is the only option.

The mission is to the whole world.

The Gospel is to the whole world because the Gospel is for the whole world. The Great Commission commands the believers to go to all the peoples of the earth, so none are excluded and all are included; the world needs the Gospel.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father  and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19-20);

Then He said to them . . . that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Lu. 24:46-47);

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Through Abraham, God promised, all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3); this promise and prophecy is made effective by Christ and the message of Christ that is taken by the Church to the world. Note in the above verses: “all the nations” (Matt. 24:19), “to all nations” (Lu. 24:47), and “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). What was promised to Abraham is being fulfilled today.

Assurance is given in the Scriptures that in eternity there will be individuals from all the world standing before the throne, and accepted by God because of the Lamb.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hand, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:7-10).

The affirmation of the Gospel to all peoples of the world is that the necessity of every individual of the world, if there is hope for any individual in the world, is the Gospel. All men are equal in that they are created by God, are fallen before God, and can only be redeemed by God because of Christ, who is the Gospel.


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