2017 – The Greatness of the Great Comission

The Greatness of the Great Commission

 

Whereas Jesus Christ gave His disciples His command of the Great Commission at the conclusion of His 40-day post-resurrection ministry with them, just before His ascension back to Heaven; and

 

 Whereas He gave it upon His declaration of all authority in heaven and in earth to issue such a command to all His disciples (Mat. 28:18); and

 

 Whereas Jesus promised the sending of the Holy Spirit to help His disciples to fulfill His Great Commission, to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8); and

 

 Whereas the task of the Great Commission is first the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation by God’s grace through faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, apart from our works, for the forgiveness of our sins through his blood, thereby granting us the hope of eternal life and, as His witnesses, to take the Gospel to “every creature” (Mark 16:15), as far and as wide across all creation as all believers are able until the Rapture, with the further task of the Great Commission being the edifying of believers, teaching them to “observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:20a); and

 

 Whereas the fulfillment of the Great Commission is the responsibility of every believer and the primary mission of the Church; and all believers since the birth of the Church are to be witnesses for Jesus Christ until the Church is taken home in the Rapture,   

 

 Be it therefore resolved that we, the members of the IBFNA, meeting in Kittery, ME, June 20-22, 2017, do hereby declare our dedication to the fulfillment of Christ’s Great Commission as the essential task of every believer and the church. Furthermore, we find no scriptural support for the cessation of the Great Commission or its commands being limited to the Apostolic Age. The Apostle John affirms that missionary efforts, like those of the Apostles, will bear the fruit predicted in Rev. 5:9, where in Heaven there will be those redeemed by the blood of Christ “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

 

 Be it further resolved that we will teach and preach the Great Commission throughout the ministries of our local churches, encouraging our people to engage in personal witnessing to the lost and that we will undertake the support of missionaries, both foreign and domestic, to accomplish its objective, beyond our own local ministries and outreaches.

 Be it finally resolved that we are committed to the edifying of all believers throughout all our ministries, because the Great Commission extends beyond salvation to cultivating true disciples of Jesus Christ.