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Paul, his name as a freed slave and and consequently a Roman citizen, (Saul, his Jewish birth name) wrote or was written about more than anyone else in The New Testament. Twenty-three per cent of the New Testament written record is attributed to Paul, and thirteen per cent to his life, vision and mission, in the acts of the Apostles. “In one sense Acts is the most important book in the New Testament. It is the simple truth that if we did not possess Acts, we would have, apart from what we could deduce from the letters of Paul, no information whatever about the creation, formation and mission expansion of the early Church. And in analysing the founding of the church, we must not overlook the unenviable task assigned to the first disciples. Jesus had not yet been tried, crucified, buried, raised - and rumors about the disappearance of his body had circulated. Our twenty-first century concepts of God's Good News, atonement, justification by faith, Christ's victory over death, and more, —were not even in the picture. They were dispatched two by two, sent out to announce the imminent visit of their Master, and the promise of healing and the forgiveness of sin, long before the story as we know it had occurred and developed into an emotionally compelling and convincing appeal and faithful following. Although the book never makes clear, from the earliest times Luke, the only Gentile contributor to the NT, has been held to be its writer. Luke was a physician, and he was one of Paul's most valued helpers and most loyal friends, Luke opens a series of windows and gives us vivid glimpses of the great moments in Paul’s life - the mission successes and personalities of the early six decades of the 1st century. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians approximately 20 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. In chapter 15 Paul reminds them that Jesus died and was raised from the dead for the salvation of man. This is the very foundation of the gospel. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul deals with the resurrection of Jesus, because there were those who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. Paul discusses the resurrection of Jesus on the heels of dealing with other questions and problems the Corinthian church was having. It would be very hard to argue or dispute the many credible witnesses. Paul goes on to state that there were more than 500 people, witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. In addition to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul mentions the resurrection of Jesus in Romans 1:4 and 6:5; Philippians 3:10-11, and in 2 Timothy 2:18 where he addresses the issue of only a spiritual resurrection (that was not a literal physical resurrection) as Paul dealt with the false teaching of the Gnostics; that it was more or less an allegory.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things have become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not implying their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Paul was the only New Testament writer to use the noun katallage (reconciliation) and verb katallasso (to reconcile). The basic idea is to change, transform or make different. In Paul's writings, God is always the reconciler. Confession of sin and repentance are the means by which reconciliation with God is effected. The initiative is with God who changes a relationship of animosity to one of friendship. This is accomplished through Christ, that is, through his sacrificial death on the cross. (Rom 5:10). Godprepared everythingnecessaryto effect a perfect reconciliation .and all that remains is His appointed agents, each according to his opportunity, experience, knowledge, ability and grace to go among the sons of men, and exercise “the ministry of reconciliation,” veilingHis glorious majesty by sending man. Paul says that God “has given to us the ministry of reconciliation,” that is, it was preferable that He should send to men by men. He has committed to us, the word of reconciliation” because we can, in this matter, speak from personal observation and experience. We can say, “We know it is so, for we have felt it.” We can enter, with full sympathy, into the case of our friends who are still unreconciled to God….. And we also know something of the sweetness of peace with God through Jesus Christ, for we are living in the enjoyment of it! The work of reconciliation He committed to His Son—the word of reconciliation He has committed to us! It is our high privilege to tell the tidings of the wondrous work by which God is reconciled, so that, without any violation of His justice, He can have mercy upon those who have offended Him. Notice particularly that the ministers of God are not sent to reconcile God to you. That great work is already done! As the righteous Judge, He was angry with all sin, but now, seeing that an acceptable sacrifice has been presented, He is able to meet you with forgiveness in His heart. We are not even sent to find out a way of reconciling you to God, for He “has committed unto us the word of reconciliation” as well as “the ministry of reconciliation,” so that all we have to do is, as it were, to translate into today’s language that which God Himself has written in this Book. We have to speak out in simple, earnest, living words, the message which has been dictated to us—not to make up a message, but to act as the mouthpiece of God! v.20. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’ s stead, be you reconciled to God. He bids His ministers plead on His behalf. In the name of God…. Ambassadors do not generally beseech men—they stand on their dignity, they make demands for the honor of their sovereign—but Christ’s ambassadors know of no dignity which should keep them from pleading with men. [1] The founding of The Salvation Army can be traced to the streets of East London when, in 1865, the thirty-six-year old Methodist, William Booth, abandoned the familiar church pulpit, and brought God’s word directly to those that were not particularly welcomed by the established churches. He stood in front of the Blind Beggar Pub, preaching to the people assembled on the Mile End Road in East London, trying to save the souls of the unconverted. Booths' dogma was John Wesley's Arminiantheology of “free salvation for all men and full salvation from all sin.”[2]
The Christian Mission (1865-1878) William Booth then conducted ‘the first of nine Sunday evening meetings in an ancient tent lit by naphtha flares and pitched on a disused Quaker burial ground.’ And each Sunday a larger number of the collective motley company gathered on the hard, backless benches, professed conversion. From that 9-week campaign a movement was born. Such was the zeal of the small band of missioners. God was at work in East London; the uprising was not of man. The Booths founded the Christian Revival Association, an independent religious association, and which became known as the East London Christian Mission, to encourage both social and spiritual transformation among society’s most vulnerable and marginalised people. The Booths founded an independent religious association, named the East London Christian Mission, organised after the Wesleyan tradition. William Booth and his wife Catherine adopted the idea of militant, aggressive Christianity. They believed that autocratic leadership was more effective in spreading evangelisation to uneducated and unchurched working-class masses than traditional forms of pastoral care. Paul proclaimed as a minister of reconciliation spelled out in verses 19-20: God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ . . .
The nature of Paul's appointment was to serve as one of Christ's ambassadors. An ambassador was someone who represented the interests of his or her nation abroad. Paul was appointed by God to administer the gospel on Christ's behalf (Eph 3:2). Reconciliation is both an accomplished fact (v. 18) and a continuing process (v. 19). Although it is a done deed as a result of Christ's work on the cross, it nonetheless must be personally appropriated. This is where Paul and the gospel ministry fit into the picture. He, and those like him, function as God's agents in proclaiming what has been accomplished. To use Paul's language, God has appointed them to preach the word of reconciliation (v. 19) and so they proclaim: Be reconciled to God (v. 20). The mission of the laity, people belonging to a religious order who are not in the clergy,might have seemed to have no mission. Sensing the advent of a new situation. Emergence of free churches, missions, and to offset the forces of secularism, the popes at the beginning of the twentieth century began to involve the laity in the ministry of the Church. Pius X established Catholic Action, and Pius XI assiduously fostered its growth. As a general description of what the lay faithful are to do, the Vatican II council selected the term “apostolate”. The council defined the apostolate as the sum total of the activity whereby the Mystical Body spreads the kingdom of Christ and thereby brings the world to share in Christ's saving redemption. The discussion suggests that lay ministries in the Church, properly conducted, can greatly help.[3]
William Booth’s resolve in assigning the mission of the laity to SA soldiers, recruits and converts was no less adamant! Every ‘conscript’ was an activist. No nominal membership for William Booth. This meant that every officer could require the active co-operation of every soldier of the corps, and every soldier expected to be called upon for duty according to his capacity and availability. This was the foundation of the evangelistic work and witness to be seen to this day. Finally, it was from these soldiers and recruits that William Booth drew his future leaders. 'We shall grow our own stuff,' he said. Even in Christian Mission days he prophesied that the time would not be far distant when he would accept no candidate for service who had not been converted in, or trained by, the Mission. Ian Thomason says that the most important verse in the entire book is Acts 1:8. Where it says: “… but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” According to Thomason Luke bases his entire book on this one phrase. He says that essentially Acts of the Apostles was written to demonstrate the fulfilment of the commission given to the apostles by the resurrected Lord, and in order to ensure a proper understanding it is important that we know exactly what Jesus promised. Jesus did not make a universal declaration, for ‘the end of the earth’ was a common phrase in those days meaning the very western edge of the Roman Empire. Jesus was far more specific than that, and it was around this specificity that Luke wrote his account. We must pay attention to this when we read acts and try and see things through his eyes rather than our own. When Jesus stood up to preach in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, he declared his destiny using the words of the prophet Isaiah. In doing so, he linked the destiny of the Church with His own and the first community of followers was formed.
He opened the scroll, and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
Christianity’s missionary expansion was launched within days of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The resurrection celebrates his conquest of death, and the ascension his rapture of honor and authority at the right hand of the Father. Because Christ humbled himself to death on the cross, he has been exalted to the heights, and given the name above every name, in order that every knee should bow to him and every tongue confess him Lord” (Phil. 2:9-11).
Here lies the supreme motivation. It is neither obedience to the great commission, nor compassion for the lost, nor excitement over the gospel, but zeal for the honor of Christ's name. Thus, Paul writes of his vocation to preach to the Gentiles 'for his name's sake' (Rom. 1:5), and John describes some early missionaries as having gone out 'for the sake of the Name' (3 John 7). He does not even identify the name, but we recognize it. It is the name above every name. No incentive is stronger than the longing that Christ should be given the honor that is due to his name.[4]
Going out and preaching that Jesus’ name is above every name is indispensable to the world-wide spread of Christianity… Preaching is central and distinctive to Christianity, and has been recognized throughout the Church's long and colorful story, from the very beginning. The only place to begin is with Jesus himself. ‘The Founder of Christianity was himself the first of its preachers.' [5]
1878 London
When William Booth and his associates met in London in 1878 to transform their evangelistic organization - the East London Christian Mission - into The Salvation Army, they announced their reason in no uncertain terms: “The Christian Mission has met in Congress to make War. It has organized a Salvation Army to carry the blood of Christ and the fire of the Holy Ghost into every corner of the world.”
The first action of their new, more militant magazine (first called The Salvationist) described the fledgling Army as the people of God joined, “after a fashion most effective and forcible to liberate a captive world.” The Salvation Army clearly saw itself from the beginning as a great missionary enterprise.
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Sven Ljungholm
Sven Ljungholm
[1]Adapted from The C. H. Spurgeon Collection, Version 1.0, Ages Software.
[2]Murdoch, Norman Origins of the Salvation Army P.2
[3]Cardinal Dulles, Avery. (2008). The Mission of the Laity. 10.5422/fso/9780823228621.003.0035.
[4]www.whatsbestnext.com/2014/10/john-stott-on-the-motive-for-the-great-commission/
[5] Global Training Network, Newsletter
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