Reconciliation

God saves a person according to His grace (and not our works) in order to fulfil His purpose/plan, which is to have Himself and mankind reconciled. The purpose and grace that was given Paul and other believers “in Christ Jesus before the world began” was not exclusive to them but also given to the rest of the world. God’s purpose of redemption and the grace involved in it is for “ALL PEOPLE.”

As unflattering as it may be to the human ego, the coming of Christ was not only to save us from our sins. According to Ephesians, our salvation is not the ultimate purpose of the coming of Christ. God’s eternal purpose is the “summing up of all things in Christ.”

All of us are called to belong to the new people of God. Wherefore this people, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and must exist in all ages, so that the decree of God's will may be fulfilled. In the beginning God made human nature one and decreed that all His children, scattered as they were, would finally be gathered together as one. It was for this purpose that God sent His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, that He might be teacher, king and priest of all, the head of the new and universal people of God. For this too God sent the Spirit of His Son as Lord and Life-giver. He it is who brings together the whole Church and each and every one of those who believe, and who is the well-spring of their unity in the teaching of the apostles and in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

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The Church

The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into His Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in Him into His own glory (cf. Jn 17:22). To profess faith in the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is to believe in one God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8): the Father, who in the fullness of time sent His Son for our salvation; Jesus Christ, who in the mystery of His death and resurrection redeemed the world; the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church across the centuries as we await the Lord’s glorious return.

 Let The Church Say Amen (extended) - Andrae Crouch feat. Marvin Winans 

In the Power of the Spirit

The fifth statement of the Lausanne Covenant states that:  We love God the Holy Spirit

We love the Holy Spirit within the unity of the Trinity, along with God the Father and God the Son. He is the missionary Spirit sent by the missionary Father and the missionary Son, breathing life and power into God's missionary Church. We love and pray for the presence of the Holy Spirit because without the witness of the Spirit to Christ, our own witness is futile. Without the convicting work of the Spirit, our preaching is in vain. Without the gifts, guidance and power of the Spirit, our mission is mere human effort. And without the fruit of the Spirit, our unattractive lives cannot reflect the beauty of the gospel.

In a world which works to re-invent itself at an ever-accelerated pace, some things remain the same. These great truths provide the biblical rationale for our missional engagement.

• Human beings are lost. The underlying human predicament remains as the Bible describes it: we stand under the just judgment of God in our sin and rebellion, and without Christ we are without hope.

• The gospel is good news. The gospel is not a concept that needs fresh ideas, but a story that needs fresh telling. It is the unchanged story of what God has done to save the world, supremely in the historical events of the life, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus Christ. In Christ there is hope.

• The Church's mission goes on. The mission of God continues to the ends of the earth and to the end of the world. The day will come when the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ and God will dwell with his redeemed humanity in the new creation. Until that day, the Church's participation in God's mission continues, in joyful urgency, and with fresh and exciting opportunities in every generation including our own.

Enter Through Prayer

 

Compassion is a mighty demonstration of love which shows its involvement and interest in other matters not according to their own self interest or profit, such as how much will this hospital make or what fame will be reckoned to me in such a university. Genuine compassion is the outpouring of love of someone in need. The passion involved is not dependent on what he can see himself doing, but what God wants to do through him. And this is where we need to pay special attention to in the book of Nehemiah. Godly compassion will demand that we regularly come to God for beseeching help that He alone is able to do. This type of intercessory prayer is powerful. For it gets God involved in places where He longs to pour out His wonderful grace and mercy.

Strategy of Suffering

 

In his work called Apology, the Latin apologist Tertullian made this now-famous comment: "The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed." Somehow, the suffering of some Christians spurred others to more faithful living. The apostle Paul noted that "most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear" (Phil. 1:14). Through all the terrible persecutions of the early centuries the church continued to grow.

"I have never been the same since sitting at the feet of Richard Wurmbrand. It was literally at his feet. He took off his shoes and sat in a chair on the slightly raised platform at Grace Baptist Church in south Minneapolis. (I learned later it had to do with damage to his feet during the torture that he had received in a Romanian prison.) Before him -- and below him -- sat about a dozen pastors. He spoke of suffering. Again and again he said that Jesus "chose" suffering. He "chose" it. It did not merely happen to him. He "chose" it. "No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of my own will" (John 10:18). He asked us if we would choose suffering for the sake of Christ."  from Desiring God

Others too have given their lives and God uses this for His glory. Christians in Islamic contexts are often persecuted. Throughout history suffering has been part of Christian witness and vital to the growth of the church. Dietrich Bonheoffer said that “when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.” Josef Tson put it this way: “When the ambassador of Christ speaks the truth in love, and meets death with joy, a strange miracle occurs: the eyes of unbelievers are opened, they are enabled to see the truth about God” The grave speaks louder than life itself.

Jesus seemed to be saying that the kingdom of God would come, not through human strength, but through weakness, not through military victories, but through apparent defeat, not through hatred, but through sacrificial love. How could this be possible?

Why do I suffer persecution?

“And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offense of the cross ceased” (Galatians 5:11).

Paul’s Gospel had teeth. It bit hard into the kingdom of darkness and ripped chunks from it wherever it came. He didn’t make his message smooth and soft in order to suit the fancies of the religious majority. His Gospel was a sharp word that exalted Christ, lifted the cross up high, proclaimed total commitment to Christ the King, and utterly stripped people of all self-reliance, shattering self-righteousness, tearing down false religion, and leaving people stripped bare before God in utter dependence on His free grace alone to save them.

And of course, with a Gospel like this, Paul suffered persecution wherever he went. Yet he didn’t dare water-down the potency of the truth of God. He didn’t compromise his message in order to make it more acceptable to the people. He didn’t pervert it to make it look pretty. He proclaimed, “This is the way, the only way! Walk ye in it!” and pronounced a thundering “Anathema!” on anybody that dared to tamper with the message and preach another gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).

They who have this faith live in the hope of the revelation of the sons of God and keep in mind the cross and resurrection of the Lord. In the pilgrimage of this life, hidden with Christ in God and free from enslavement to wealth, they aspire to those riches which remain forever and generously dedicate themselves wholly to the advancement of the kingdom of God and to the reform and improvement of the temporal order in a Christian spirit. Among the trials of this life they find strength in hope, convinced that "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

The Will of God

“You might say `I’m not called to plant churches.’ Yes, you are! It’s always the will of God to have a people who worship His Son in the nations. You’ll never have to worry about making God mad if you try to plant a church. It seems crazy to me that people are under the delusion they need a special calling to save souls, to disciple them, and to get them together to love Jesus” ("Apostolic Passion", Floyd McClung. "Perspectives on the world Christian Movement", 1999, William Carey Library, Pasadena California . Pg 186c)
 

It is sad to see such a truncated, warped ecclesiology hold back what could be a wave of highly committed, gifted, apostolic leaders.  We should be grieved at the wounds that are inflicted by such a view of the Church that is so biblically, theologically, historically and missiologically deficient.

If what Paul understood to be needed in his outreach to the Greeks had been easily explainable to the Jewish followers of Christ back in Jerusalem, we would not have needed the detailed information in the New Testament. Rarely, down through history, has the exact nature of the need on the field been readily explainable to the people within the sending cultural situation.”  - Missiologist Ralph Winter

Against the backdrop of the 1st century and the common understanding of Jewish proselytizing bands, there was little reason to write about it. Paul and the 40+ people who made up his missionary operation simply lived it out. What they demonstrated by their actions was a ministry dynamic that was a common, well-understood practice of the day.

It’s not the structure that takes new ground nor is it on the cutting edge of the new, particularly when faced with cultural, social, linguistic, or economic barriers. Rather the modality preserves what is and provides a place where all can belong. When healthy, it presses for deeper commitment and vibrant spirituality. It is particularly effective in its own immediate cultural milieu and has a transformation kingdom impact. But when people get really committed, watch out!

When sodalities are healthy, they do two major things for modalities. First, sodalities renew modalities. Secondly, sodalities multiply modalities.   Most of the evidence throughout the history of the Christian movement points to the fact that more modalities have emerged as the result of sodality activity than as a result of the activity of other modalities.


 God will make a way

Apostolic Preaching

The Scripture is to be proclaimed, heard, read, received and experienced as the word of God, in the stream of the apostolic tradition from which it is inseparable.

The apostolic faith testifies that the eternal Word became one of us. The divine Word is truly expressed in human words.

To nourish ourselves with the word in order to be "servants of the word" in the work of evangelization: this is surely a priority for the Church at the dawn of the new millennium. Even in countries evangelized many centuries ago, the reality of a "Christian society" which, amid all the frailties which have always marked human life, measured itself explicitly on Gospel values, is now gone. Today we must courageously face a situation which is becoming increasingly diversified and demanding, in the context of "globalization" and of the consequent new and uncertain mingling of peoples and cultures. We have a summons to a new evangelization. We must rekindle in ourselves the impetus of the beginnings and allow ourselves to be filled with the ardour of the apostolic preaching which followed Pentecost. We must revive in ourselves the burning conviction of Paul, who cried out: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (1 Cor 9:16).

Power of the Holy Spirit

Christians are instructed to teach others about Jesus Christ and the entirety of His truth. We can't profess Christ as Saviour and Lord, while rejecting certain parts of His teachings. As we teach Christ's truths, we can be confident, in faith, that Jesus Christ will support us. This fact has proven trustworthy throughout the centuries as millions of believers have heard, accepted and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yes, Christ has ascended back to heaven, but He is present by the power of the Holy Spirit in every believer!

The apostles, prompted by the Spirit, invited all to change their lives, to be converted and to be baptized. Immediately after the event of Pentecost, Peter spoke convincingly to the crowd: "When they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, 'Brethren, what shall we do?' And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'" (Acts 2:37-38). That very day some three thousand persons were baptized. And again, after the healing of the lame man, Peter spoke to the crowd and repeated: "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out!" (Acts 3:19)

The Church's universal mission is born of faith in Jesus Christ, as is stated in our Trinitarian profession of faith: "I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father.... For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man." The redemption event brings salvation to all, "for each one is included in the mystery of the redemption and with each one Christ has united himself forever through this mystery." It is only in faith that the Church's mission can be understood and only in faith that it finds its basis.

One may not separate the kingdom from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since she is ordered toward the kingdom of God of which she is the seed, sign and instrument. Yet, while remaining distinct from Christ and the kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both. Christ endowed the Church, His body, with the fullness of the benefits and means of salvation. The Holy Spirit dwells in her, enlivens her with His gifts and charisms, sanctifies, guides and constantly renews her.  The result is a unique and special relationship which, while not excluding the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundaries, confers upon her a specific and necessary role; hence the Church's special connection with the kingdom of God and of Christ, which she has "the mission of announcing and inaugurating among all peoples."

The kingdom aims at transforming human relationships; it grows gradually as people slowly learn to love, forgive and serve one another. Jesus sums up the whole Law, focusing it on the commandment of love (cf. Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28). Before leaving His disciples, He gives them a "new commandment": "Love one another; even as I have loved you" (Jn 13:34; cf. 15:12). Jesus' love for the world finds its highest expression in the gift of His life for mankind (cf. Jn 15:13), which manifests the love which the Father has for the world (cf. Jn 3:16). The kingdom's nature, therefore, is one of communion among all human beings-with one another and with God.

Two parts of the missionary task

The traditional view of missions equates the missionary task with evangelism (with winning people to faith in Christ). Missionaries tried to provide education, medicine, shelter, and food through their schools, hospitals, orphanages, and relief work. But the ultimate objective for all mission activity is to make Jesus Christ known to all people as the only Saviour, the only Mediator between sinful humanity and a holy God (Acts 4:12). The emphasis in true mission activity is placed on proclaiming the Good News that Jesus died as a Substitute for us, establishing congregations of people who accept the Gospel message, and nurturing the newly converted Christians in the disciplines of the Christian faith-so that these persons in turn can become agents for further evangelism.

"I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings" (1 Cor. 9:22-23)
 

We must be careful not to assume that any religion or religious writings that bear similarities to Judaism (like Islam) be essentially equated with Judaism. Salvation is not from any other people or religion, nor do any other religious writings have the power to save. New believers who are truly repentant and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ will eventually and inevitably feel compelled to sever all connections with their former Christ-denying religion and way of life. (Acts 19:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore, we should be careful not to violate the teachings of our Lord Jesus, or the consciences of new believers, by instructing them to remain cultural/religious "insiders" (Mt. 10:21-25; Lk. 9:59-62).

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Issue of Gospel and Culture

James did not ONLY reframe the conflict, he also proposed a solution that addressed both groups. He quoted Scripture confirming apostolic experience among the Gentiles and concluded, “We do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles” (Acts15:19). James the peacemaker focused on truth. He concluded that the gospel is free from Jewish law. It is about Jesus plus nothing. Salvation is by grace alone!

Being a Witness

The great movement of Christianity seemed to have reached its tipping point at the moment the Jewish council attempts to restrain it by arresting Peter and John.  They threaten the Apostles, and charge them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus; Peter and John contemn the threat, calling upon the council to judge whether it be right to hearken unto the council rather than unto God. The members of the council could not inflict punishment upon the two Apostles, on account of the people, who glorified God on account of the great miracle of the lame beggar who sat at the gate for so many years. Peter and John, being freed from custody, return to the other Apostles. They all give glory to God and pray for boldness to speak the word of God. After the prayer the place shakes, and they are filled with the Holy Ghost.

“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even upon the menservants and maidservants
in those days, I will pour out my spirit."  Joel 2:28-29

"Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."  Revelation 19:10

Barnabas and Paul (the letter mentions Paul in second place) are called “our dear friends” and “men who have risked their lives” for the gospel (Acts 15:26).

 

“People are drawing conclusions about your God and about your gospel and about your Saviour and about your Bible and about your way of life based on you.” 

“As a Christian, you may be the only ‘living Bible’ that some people ever read.”

 Dr. Ravi Zacharias: Being a Witness in a Multicultural City


 

 

Strategy of suffering

"If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself."  2 Timothy 2:13 

Let suffering saints remember, and look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God. We must not think it strange if the best men meet with the worst treatment; but this is cheering, that the word of God is not bound. Here we see the real and true cause of the apostle's suffering trouble in, or for, the sake of the gospel. If we are dead to this world, its pleasures, profits, and honours, we shall be for ever with Christ in a better world. He is faithful to his threatenings, and faithful to his promises. This truth makes sure the unbeliever's condemnation, and the believer's salvation. Matthew Henry
 

 Down from the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus confronts the suffering caused by Satan and sin. To seek and to save the lost, who are showing their lack of faith, Jesus mercifully casts out a demon from a boy, whom his disciples could not help. Knowing the evil powers of Satan are about to be unleashed against himself as well, Jesus tells his disciples that he will be betrayed, which they do not understand, Luke 9:37-45

"A witness is what you are far more than it is something that you do.  God arranges for His servants to display what they declare.  By public testimony in the face of hostility,ordinary people accomplish fare more than merely affirming the truth of Christ.  Witnesses establish the value of following Christ.  Their persuasive power is not only because their words match their life - their words and their life match those of Christ Himself.  It is as if Christ Himself stands to testify before the world." Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
 

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Relate and Investigate

Relate Christianity to contemporary world views as much as possible without compromising doctrinal integrity. We err when we are either divorced or married to a contemporary world view. When we are divorced from it, our gospel is not heard as being relevant to modern life. When we are married to it, our gospel becomes outdated as soon as the next world view comes along. This is a very difficult balance to maintain, but we must strike that scriptural balance of being in the world without being of the world (John 15:19, 17:15-16). We must be all things to all people that we may win some (1 Cor. 9:22), yet not compromise the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). It means we must relate intelligently to modern scientific paradigms without resorting to materialism. It means we should be concerned with practical results meeting needs in human life without making pragmatism the final judge of truth. It means we must have compassion for those driven to the underculture without affirming their values. It means we must demonstrate the rational evidence for the Christian faith rather than retreating into obscurantistic pietism, yet without making reason the final arbiter of truth. It means we must emphasize the individual's appropriation of truth without denying the objectivity of truth.

Investigate other world views continually as a part of your witness preparation.We might have made the evangelistic harvest much more manageable by arbitrarily cutting out a large part of the harvest. If you are going to make use of the opportunity to witness to someone from another world religion, and how helpful it would be to know the basic concepts of that world view. That was not an essential part of witness training a few decades ago, but it is now.  In fact, because someone has an Asian or Hispanic surname certainly did not guarantee that they were not a Christian. In fact, some of them might be better Christians than we are! But if they indeed weren't Christian, then what is witnessing about? Is it not bringing the good news of salvation to those who need to hear it? We must be prepared to witness to a much more diverse world than in the past.

Fundamentalists, faithful to the clear one-way teaching of Christ, often conclude from this that pagans, Buddhists, et cetera, cannot be saved. Liberals, who emphasize God's mercy, cannot bring themselves to believe that the mass of men are doomed to hell, and they ignore, deny, nuance, or water down Christ's own claims to uniqueness. The Church has found a third way, implied in the New Testament texts. On the one hand, no one can be saved except through Christ. On the other hand, Christ is not only the incarnate Jewish man but also the eternal, preexistent word of God, "which enlightens every man who comes into the world" (Jn 1:9). So Socrates was able to know Christ as word of God, as eternal Truth; and if the fundamental option of his deepest heart was to reach out to him as Truth, in faith and hope and love, however imperfectly known this Christ was to Socrates, Socrates could have been saved by Christ too. We are not saved by knowledge but by faith. Scripture nowhere says how explicit the intellectual content of faith has to be. But it does clearly say who the one Saviour is.

A cursory glance at ancient history shows clearly how in different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at the same time the fundamental questions which pervade human life: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life? These are the questions which we find in the sacred writings of Israel, as also in the Veda and the Avesta; we find them in the writings of Confucius and Lao-Tze, and in the preaching of Tirthankara and Buddha; they appear in the poetry of Homer and in the tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles, as they do in the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle. They are questions which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has always compelled the human heart. In fact, the answer given to these questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their lives.

The proclamation of the apostles and evangelists rests on their association and encounter with Jesus before and after Easter and on the work of His Spirit who opened their eyes to Him. Our faith rests on their proclamation, to which the Spirit opens our heart. Our faith is based on the encounter in the Spirit with our Lord and Saviour who lives and who lived on earth. In that respect, the question of whether the factuality of all the details of the gospel story can be demonstrated with historical research is of less importance.

When we articulate our faith in Jesus Christ, we listen carefully and reverently to the Bible and as well deal with the questions which present themselves today. We listen with an eye to those questions and try to answer them from Holy Scripture. Fortunately, we have more than Scripture and the questions of our own time. We are part of a community of faith which transcends the boundaries of our own time and place, namely the church of all times and places. We are not the first and only ones who believe and confess. Many have gone down this road before us. We are conjoined with them. We are thankful for what they have transmitted to us. We recognize in their faith and their struggle our faith and our struggle. Their words inspire and hearten us, give direction to our search and serve as a touchstone for the question of whether we are still on the right path. Therefore we listen also to these fellow believers and precursors and are willing to let them have their say. We can and only want to believe in fellowship with the confession of generations who came before us.

Can one believe without subscribing to dogmas? Indeed, our faith is not in dogmas but in the living Lord. Our faith lives from the biblical message, not from parsing dogmatic concepts. For ourselves we can do without dogmas to experience and articulate the faith. However, if we want to share the faith with others, we have to define it and deal with the question of what can be said and what not. That makes rules for discourse indispensable. Therefore we make thankful use of dogmas to ascertain whether the sharing of the faith within and outside of the church is in harmony with the Bible. The church community cannot do without reflection on the faith. If we were to drop independent and critical scrutiny of what the faith is about, it would eventually evaporate into a vague and nondescript emotion. It would mean losing touch with the surrounding culture and intellectual world and we would no longer be able to articulate our faith in understandable language. The discipline of systematic theology is an exercise in talking clearly and intelligibly about the faith, inside and outside the church, without being able to mark precisely the boundary between inside and outside.

"Jesus Christ is Lord" is a foundational biblical, personal faith-confession that corrects the traditional pluralist, inclusivist, and exclusivist positions held by Christians concerning other religions and calls God's missionary people to be mobilized by the Holy Spirit to participate in Christ's mission which is culturally pluralist, ecclesiologically inclusivist, and faith particularist.

 

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Imitating Christ

"Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”  John 20:21 RSV 

 The first form of witness is the very life of the missionary, of the Christian family, and of the ecclesial community, which reveal a new way of living. The missionary who, despite all his or her human limitations and defects, lives a simple life, taking Christ as the model, is a sign of God and of transcendent realities. But everyone in the Church, striving to imitate Jesus, can and must bear this kind of witness; in many cases it is the only possible way of being a missionary.

Sometimes even the apostolic desire for a ready passport into secular society and the determination to make oneself acceptable to people and particularly to the youth of today, prompts certain people to lay aside the principles which characterize our faith and to reject the sort of dignity which gives meaning and force to our determination to make contact with others and makes our teaching effective. Is it not, perhaps, true that some of the younger clergy and religious, in their laudable endeavor to come closer to the masses and to particular groups, aim at becoming like them rather than different from them? By this worthless imitation they forfeit the real value and effectiveness of their endeavors.

All nations

In the Great Commission Jesus instructs the disciples to "make disciples of all nations, ... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). This implies that Jesus' teaching will spread among the nations and will be understood and obeyed. But that means that His teaching has to become available to these nations and they speak thousands of different languages. Therefore, when Jesus gave the Great Commission it implied that His followers eventually would have to translate His teaching into many different languages. Translation of Jesus' teaching (and, by implication, the message of the whole Bible) plays a part in the total process of fulfilling the Great Commission.

The singular use of ethnos in the New Testament always refers to a people group. The plural use of ethnos sometimes must be a people group and sometimes must refer to Gentile individuals, but usually can go either way. The phrase panta ta ethne must refer to Gentile individuals only once, but must refer to people groups nine times. The remaining eight uses may refer to people groups. The combination of these results suggests that the meaning of panta ta ethne leans heavily in the direction of “all the nations (people groups).”

In Genesis12:3 and 28:14 the Hebrew phrase for “all the families” (kol mishpahot) is rendered in the Greek Old Testament by pasai hai phulai. The word phulai means “tribes” in most contexts. But mishpaha can be, and usually is, smaller than a tribe. For example when Achan sinned, Israel is examined in decreasing order of size: first by tribe, then by mishpaha (family), then by household (Josh 7:14). So the blessing of Abraham is intended by God to reach to fairly small groupings of people.

The globe has been circumnavigated by God’s messengers, but there remain untouched areas geographically. The annual discovery of previously unknown languages elongates the noble task of getting the message into all the world’s tongues. And by no means has the gospel reached all the earth’s “peoples,” regardless of how they are defined.

For everyone

We should seek to have all we do become loving service to Him. Paul had this sense of worship in mind when he wrote at the beginning of the application section of the book of Romans, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (12:1-2).

Universalism in the seventeenth century should be seen partly as reaction to the particularism of high Calvinism, which with its doctrine of limited atonement excluded any kind of divine will for the salvation of all people. Revulsion against the apparent cruelty of the God who created the reprobate for no other purpose than to damn them, led firstly to Arminianism, in which the Gospel genuinely offers salvation to all people; a further step leads to the Quaker doctrine that saving grace is given to all people, but may be resisted; the extreme position is that all people will actually be saved. A further factor promoting universalism was the Platonic tradition, revived during the Renaissance, along with an interest in Origen and the early Greek Fathers, who could plausibly be thought to represent a form of Christian doctrine earlier, and therefore purer, than Augustine, to whom the Calvinists appealed.

With regard to salvation, God has always had only two categories of people those who are His people and are saved and those who are not His people and are lost.

If an isolated person responded to God’s revelation in his heart and in nature, how would he ever hear about Christ?

1. God desires that all men be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
2. God seeks for those who acknowledge their spiritual need and seek Him (Ezekiel 34:11; Luke 19:10).
3. When people are seeking the true God two things happen:
a. God brings the message to them by prompting a Christian to go to them (Acts 16:6-10).
b. The person hearing the message will respond in faith (Acts 16:13,14).
 
An illustration: Suppose a person was lost underground in a dark cave and suddenly found a little lighted arrow pointed a certain direction. Whose fault would it be if he failed to follow it? Obviously his own. God’s “little arrows” are His revelation in man’s heart and nature. We can trust the good and loving Savior to bring the message of salvation to the one who seeks Him.

 Everyone who is saved may not have every i dotted or every t crossed on a fancy doctrinal statement, but they WILL have right beliefs about God, including comprehension of and humble acknowledgement to the belief that Jesus is the ONLY way to God, and that no-one comes to the Father but by him. (John 14:6)

 

 

Uniqueness of Christ

To introduce any sort of separation between the Word and Jesus Christ is contrary to the Christian faith. Gospel of John clearly states that the Word, who "was in the beginning with God," is the very one who "became flesh" (Jn 1:2, 14). Jesus is the Incarnate Word-a single and indivisible person. One cannot separate Jesus from the Christ or speak of a "Jesus of history" who would differ from the "Christ of faith." The Church acknowledges and confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16): Christ is none other than Jesus of Nazareth: He is the Word of God made man for the salvation of all. In Christ "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Col 2:9) and "from his fullness have we all received" (Jn 1:16). The "only Son, who is the bosom of the Father" (Jn 1:18) is "the beloved Son, in whom we have redemption.... For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his Cross" (Col 1:13-14, 19-20). It is precisely this uniqueness of Christ which gives Him an absolute and universal significance, whereby, while belonging to history, He remains history's center and goal: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (Rv 22:13).

The four Gospels bear witness to a certain pluralism within the fundamental unity of the same mission, a pluralism which reflects different experiences and situations within the first Christian communities. It is also the result of the driving force of the Spirit himself; it encourages us to pay heed to the variety or missionary charisma's and to the diversity of circumstances and peoples. Nevertheless, all the Gospels stress that the mission of the disciples is to cooperate in the mission of Christ; "Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:20). Mission, then, is based not on human abilities but on the power of the risen Lord.

In the Gospel John, this salvific universality of Christ embraces all the aspects of His mission of grace, truth and revelation: the Word is "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9). And again, "no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (Jn 1:18; cf. Mt 11:27). God's revelation becomes definitive and complete through his only-begotten Son: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world" (Heb 1:1-2; cf. Jn 14:6). In this definitive Word of His revelation, God has made himself known in the fullest possible way. He has revealed to mankind who He is. This definitive self-revelation of God is the fundamental reason why the Church is missionary by her very nature. She cannot do other than proclaim the Gospel, that is, the fullness of the truth which God has enabled us to know about Himself.

The missionary thrust therefore belongs to the very nature of the Christian life, and is also the inspiration behind ecumenism: "that they may all be one...so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17:21).

Of course Jesus entrusts this work to human beings: to the apostles, to the Church. Nevertheless, in and through them the Holy Spirit remains the transcendent and principal agent for the accomplishment of this work in the human spirit and in the history of the world.

Missionary evangelization is the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity in the modern world, a world which has experienced marvelous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself. "Christ the Redeemer," "fully reveals man to himself.... The person who wishes to understand himself thoroughly...must...draw near to Christ.... [The] Redemption that took place through the cross has definitively restored to man his dignity and given back meaning to his life in the world.

The urgency of missionary activity derives from the radical newness of life brought by Christ and lived by His followers. This new life is a gift from God, and people are asked to accept and develop it, if they wish to realize the fullness of their vocation in conformity to Christ. The whole New Testament is a hymn to the new life of those who believe in Christ and live in His Church. 

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Missionary Mandate

All the Gospels, when they describe the risen Christ's meeting with His apostles, conclude with the "missionary mandate": "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,...and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28:18-20; cf. Mk 16:15-18; Lk 24:46-49; Jn 20:21-23).

This is a sending forth in the Spirit, as is clearly apparent in the Gospel of John: Christ sends His own into the world, just as the Father has sent Him, and to this end He gives them the Spirit. Luke, for his part, closely links the witness the apostles are to give to Christ with the working of the Spirit, who will enable them to fulfill the mandate they have received.

The different versions of the "missionary mandate" contain common elements as well as characteristics proper to each. Two elements, however, are found in all the versions. First, there is the universal dimension of the task entrusted to the apostles, who are sent to "all nations" (Mt 28:19); "into all the world and...to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15); to "all nations" (Lk 24:47); "to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Secondly, there is the assurance given to the apostles by the Lord that they will not be alone in the task, but will receive the strength and the means necessary to carry out their mission. The reference here is to the presence and power of the spirit and the help of Jesus himself: "And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them" (Mk 16:20).

John is the only Evangelist to speak explicitly of a "mandate," a word equivalent to "mission." He directly links the mission which Jesus entrusts to his disciples with the mission which He himself has received from the Father: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (Jn 20:21). Addressing the Father, Jesus says: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18). The entire missionary sense of John's Gospel is expressed in the "priestly prayer": "This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3). The ultimate purpose of mission is to enable people to share in the communion which exists between the Father and the Son. The disciples are to live in unity with one another, remaining in the Father and the Son, so that the world may know and believe (cf. Jn 17:21-23). This is a very important missionary text. It makes us understand that we are missionaries above all because of what we are as a Church whose innermost life is unity in love, even before we become missionaries in word or deed.