Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 10:1 (Spring 2013)
Article: Commentary On Article 10: The Great Commission
Author: Preston Nix

JBTM 10:1 (Spring 2013) p. 36

Commentary On Article 10:
The Great Commission

Preston Nix

Preston Nix is Professor of Evangelism and Evangelistic Preaching, occupying the Roland Q. Leavell Chair of Evangelism. He is also Director of the Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health and Chairman of the Pastoral Ministries Division at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Article Ten: The Great Commission

We affirm that the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned His church to preach the good news of salvation to all people to the ends of the earth. We affirm that the proclamation of the Gospel is God’s means of bringing any person to salvation.

We deny that salvation is possible outside of a faith response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 51:13; Proverbs 11:30; Isaiah 52:7; Matthew 28:19–20; John 14:6; Acts 1:8; 4:12; 10:42–43; Romans 1:16, 10:13–15; 1 Corinthians 1:17–21; Ephesians 3:7–9; 6:19–20; Philippians 1:12–14; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Timothy 4:1–536 37

Not only did God provide the means whereby lost humanity can be saved, but also God ordained the method whereby the message of salvation is to be communicated to the lost world. Of all the methods that the Lord could have employed to communicate the gospel to a lost and dying world, God in His sovereignty chose to use the method of human instrumentality to accomplish that task. Jesus commissioned the church to communicate His saving grace to all peoples in all the nations of the world throughout all time. This call in Scripture to join the Lord in reaching the world with the message of salvation is known as the Great Commission. The term itself indicates that followers of Jesus Christ are expected to partner with the Lord in His mission of reaching the world with His message of salvation, hence the word “Commission,” indicating a joint mission effort between God and man.

The Great Commission ha...