JETS                                                                                                   Dr. Jack L. Arnold

ECCLESIOLOGY

THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

Lesson 6

 

The Mission of the Church

 

I.               TO GLORIFY GOD

A.   To bring glory to God is the primary purpose of the church (Rom. 15:6, 9; 2 Thess. 1:12; 1 Pet. 4:11).  To glorify God means to magnify, extol, praise, exult God for His being, attributes and acts.  Everything said and done is to glorify the God who called the church to salvation.

B.    Glorification of God may be done in several ways:

1.     By worshipping God (John 4:23; Phil. 3:3; Rev. 22:9).  Worship includes reverence of God (John 4:23) and service (Phil. 3:3; Rom. 12:1-2).  As believer-priests (1 Pet. 2:9) Christians offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise, good works and moneys (Heb. 13:15-16).

2.     By prayer and thanksgiving (1 Thess. 5:18; Phil. 4:6).

3.     By living godly lives (Eph. 1:4-5; Titus. 2:11-15; 1 Pet. 2:9).

 

II.             TO CARE FOR ITS OWN WELL-BEING

A.   The church is to build itself up (Col. 2:1; 1 Thess. 5:11).  The purpose for edification is that the church may stand against error (Eph. 4:11-16).

B.    The church is to be purified (Eph. 5:26-27).  The Father will purify believers by disciplining them (John 15:2; 1 Cor. 11:32) if the believer does not purify himself (1 Cor. 11:28-31; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 3:2).  There is also a church-wide purification by way of church discipline (Acts 5:11; Matt. 18:17; 1 Cor. 5:6-8, 13; Rom. 16:17; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14; Titus 3:10-11; 2 John 10).

C.    The church is to educate itself.  The members of the universal church are to be instructed in the Word of God (Eph. 4:11-12; Matt. 28:19; 2 Tim. 2:1-2).

D.   The church is to take care of its own (1 Tim. 5:9-10).

 

III.           TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD

A.   The Great Commission aims at world evangelization (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48), but does not guarantee world conversion.  The church has been called to be a witness to the world (Acts 1:8) and is a debtor under obligation to give the whole world an opportunity to hear the gospel and accept Christ.  Of those that hear, some will be saved (cf. Acts 15:14-15).

B.    Every individual in the universal church should be missionary minded because all Christians are missionaries (Ňones sentÓ).  Every person in this world is either a missionary or a mission field. Thus missionary zeal should find expression in:  (1) missionary intercession (Matt. 9:38); (2) missionary contributions (Phil. 4:15-18); (3) the sending of missionaries (Rom. 10:15); and in going forth to the mission fields (Mark 16:15; Acts 13:1-4).