The theme of redemption runs through the entire Scriptures. One of the places that we see it is in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Because we are God's children first by creation and secondly by redemption we must understand what it means to live in light of that theme.
The Great Commandment is rooted in creation. Because we are created by God we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We are to work along side our unbelieving neighbours to help make this world a better place.
However, the Great Commission is different. It is rooted in redemption. The role of the church is to make this redemption known to the world through going, teaching and baptising. The church cannot confuse the two or it will become ineffective in the world.
When we confuse the two and the church preaches issues like justice and social issues and ignores the Gospel then the church becomes irrelevant. However, the church must instruct its members to deal with the justice and social issues.
A great example of this is Newton and Wilberforce. Newton remained faithful as pastor of his church to proclaim the Gospel but he encouraged Wilberforce as a member of his congregation to fight for justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment