The Baptist Faith And Message 2000 XI: Evangelism and Missions
In the introduction to the Baptist Faith and Message we discussed a little of the history of the Southern Baptist Convention. And we saw there that the SBC was created for the purpose of evangelism and missions. That is why these churches have decided to associate with each other. In my estimation evangelism and missions is the very heartbeat of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Here is the statement on Evangelism and Missions from The Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Evangelism and Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 9:37-38; 10:5-15; 13:18-30, 37-43; 16:19; 22:9-10; 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 10:1-18; 24:46-53; John 14:11-12; 15:7-8,16; 17:15; 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2; 8:26-40; 10:42-48; 13:2-3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 3:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 4:5; Hebrews 2:1-3; 11:39-12:2; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 22:17.
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations.
We understand that some people are gifted as evangelists in ways that the rest of us are not.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:11-12 ESV)
I have met a few people that I felt were gifted in this way. And we have all heard the name of some of these people, the late Billy Graham would be one of these people. God gifted these evangelists in a special way and they seem to produce much fruit in spreading the gospel.
But that does not mean that people who are not evangelists are exempt from this task.
Every believer has the duty and privilege of making disciples of all nations. And every church has the duty and privilege of making disciples of all nations.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
We speak of this text often, as we should. It is the commission that the Lord gave the Church. And that point should be stated clearly.
The Great Commission was given to the Church. These are our marching orders. Though these words were spoken to Jesus’s Disciples, we understand that they are words given to us as well. We understand that this is for us and for all believers who come after us.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross as the punishment for sin. He perfectly achieved our righteousness before God. And God raised Him from the dead. And notice what happened when Jesus was raised.
“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:16-23 ESV)
Where was Jesus seated after His resurrection, or more specifically His ascension into Heaven. He was seated at the right hand of the Father “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come”. This authority is the reason that we go. Jesus has all authority, so we go.
We go and tell because Jesus has all authority. That is the simple statement that Jesus makes. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. And Jesus doesn’t have more or less authority than He had when He made that announcement. He had and still has power and dominion over all people, places, and things. His is the name that is above every other name. And because He has this authority we go everywhere and at any time.
I have the right to walk into any location and proclaim the lordship of Christ. It is He who reigns supreme and we announce to the world that Christ is Lord over all and He has made a way for people to become part of His Kingdom.
The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life,
In Section IV on Salvation, we discussed regeneration. In it we read, “It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit…”. This change of heart causes us to have a love for others that moves us to disciple the nations.
“We love because he first loved us.” (1John 4:19 ESV)
While this text does primarily apply to the believer’s love for other believers. God’s transforming love for us causes us to share God’s grace and mercy with the lost that surround us.
This is not something that we can do on our own or in our own power. We are given the desire to go by the new birth. But we are also empowered to go by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8 ESV)
The disciples were told to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, otherwise they would not have been able to do the work of spreading the gospel. And when He came, they were going to be the Lord’s witnesses.
It is the same for us today. We work in the power of the Holy Spirit to disciple the nations. It is a task that we cannot do on our own, but the Lord will do through us.
And, we also understand that when we are talking with people, unless God the Holy Spirit works to open blinded eyes, they will never respond to the good news.
One very good example of this in the Bible is Lydia from the Book of Acts.
“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14 ESV)
I use this illustration because it hits on everything we’ve just discussed. Paul saw a vision that led him to believe the Lord was calling them to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). And so, he went. He travelled and was there a few days and preached on the Sabbath to a group of women at a place of prayer (Acts 16:13). Lydia heard the gospel, the Lord opened her heart, and she repented and believed the gospel and was baptized (Acts 16:14).
We are regenerated and given the desire to share with others the good news. We are not left to ourselves in this task, rather God empowers us to go. And God is also at work in those who come to faith in Christ.
and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ.
We have already covered this idea in an earlier in the Great Commission and again in Acts 1:8. But there are other passages of Scripture that we can turn to in order to see that we are repeatedly commanded to disciple the nations.
The Sermon on the Mount repeatedly calls upon God’s people to spread the Good News of God’s Kingdom to the world. That is the meaning behind the description of God’s people as salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16.
We are told to be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). That is the passage we get the word “apologetics” from. And that is what “apologetics” is all about. But apologetics is useless if it does not lead people back to Christ and His finished work.
And notice how Peter describes God’s people and what they are to be doing.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1Peter 2:9 ESV)
We are called “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). We are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. And we are representing Him in the middle of this dark world. Paul goes on to say that we have been entrusted with “the message of reconciliation”. That message is how a sinful people can be justified by a holy God and brought into His Kingdom.
And this understanding gets all the way to the root of what a pastor is supposed to be doing. Pastors have been given to churches, not so that they can be made happy in what they are doing or to pander to everyone’s whims but “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12 ESV). I am to be at work, equipping you to do the work of the ministry.
The end of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 brings us to a conclusion today. These last few sentences repeat with force what we have been saying throughout the rest of this statement.
The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.
We are commanded to preach the gospel to all nations. And we seek to do this “verbally”. By that we mean we should preach the gospel with words.
It has often been said that we should do “lifestyle evangelism”. And by that people mean that people should be able to see their good deeds and come to faith in Christ. The problem is that this is not how things work, nor is it what is commanded of us.
I am commanded to live a lifestyle that matches my proclamation. I am a believer and am to act as a believer in the world. I am part of God’s Kingdom, and my actions should match up to that. But a person needs to hear the gospel message. And we are commanded to share it.
“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” (Romans 10:13-15 ESV)
R. Dwain Minor