Together For The Gospel 2010: Breakout Session

David Platt

Gospel Theology Necessitates Urgent Missiology

Audio


There are about 6.8 billion people in the world. The most liberal estimate would put the world at 1/3 Christian. Even if all those people really are genuine believers, that still leaves over 4.5 billion people who are perishing. The Joshua Project tells us that about half of those have little to no access to the gospel right now. 645,000 people groups who have no access to the gospel. We don’t have time to play games. Gospel theology necessitates urgent missiology.

If we believe the gospel, then we will be compelled to sacrifice our lives for the sake of getting this gospel to the ends of the earth. And if we are not passionate about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and giving our lives and the churches we lead to that cause, then there’s reason to question whether or not we really believe the gospel.

Some within the church ask the question, "Can those who are have never heard be saved?" But what they really should be asking is "Can those who have heard and don’t take the gospel to those who haven’t heard really be saved?"

Have we not created entire missions structures so that we can send out checks and never have to go do missions ourselves? The core issue here is do we believe that people are going to hell without hearing about Christ? If we really do, then gospel theology necessitates urgent missiology.

Here are 8 simple truths from the book of Romans that show us that gospel theology necessitate urgent missiology. When Paul wanted to get the local church to mobilize and support missions, his strategy was to give them the gospel.

1) God’s revelation is universal (Romans 1:18-20) – This is general revelation. There is not one person on the planet among the 6.8 billion people who is hidden from the revelation of God. God is making Himself known in moment to His creation.

2) Man’s depravity is terrible (Romans 1:21-1:32) – This is a fundamental truth that we can’t assume is a foundation in the hearts of many in our churches.

3) All people stand infinitely guilty before a holy God (Romans 2:1-3:20) – If you were to ask what happens to the innocent guy in Africa who has never heard the gospel when he dies, based on the authority of the Word of God, he’s going to heaven. The only problem is that that God doesn’t exist. And there is no innocent man in Africa or Asia or anywhere else. All people are guilty and that’s why we need the gospel.

4) All people stand eternally condemned before a wrathful God (Romans 2:6-11) – God will give to each person according to what he does. There’s a common thought among followers of Christ who think that certainly if someone has never heard the gospel, they would not be sent to hell. Certainly God will welcome them into heaven. The problem with that not only is Scripture but that if that were the case (that people were going to heaven because they have no gospel), then what is the worst thing we could do for their eternal state? Tell them the gospel. This misses the whole point. We stand condemned not because we have heard and haven’t responded but because we have all offended a holy God whether or not we’ve heard.

5) God has made a way of salvation through the atonement of Christ (Romans 3:21-26) – Even this we are tempted to minimize. We are not saved from our sins because of what some soldiers decided to do to Jesus on the cross. We are saved from our sins because Jesus consumed the full dregs of the cup of His Father’s wrath. This is good news to the nations.

6) God has decreed the means of salvation to be faith in Christ (Romans 3:27- Romans 5) – We don’t go to the nations with a list of things to do. They already have that. The more we see the gospel in our context as a list of boxes to check off the less we will have the ability when we go into their context and call them away from that.

7) God ordains His church to proclaim the gospel to all peoples (Romans 10) – Christ sends His servants to those who haven’t heard. What do His servants do? They preach the gospel. As servants of Christ, we are all called to proclaim the gospel. When we preach, people hear. When people hear, they believe. When they believe, they will call on the name of the Lord. And in calling on the name of the Lord, they are saved. The only breakdown here is when servants who are entrusted with the gospel do not go and proclaim it. Is our theology going to propel us there?

8) God ordains His Son to receive glory form all peoples (Romans 1:1-5, 16:25-27) – Jesus is the resurrected Lord and what that means is that He is worthy of the obedience of all nations. The reason we go is because God has ordained His Son to receive glory from all peoples. This is what drives us. People who believe that Christ is worthy of glory among all peoples will sacrifice their lives and spend the resources of the church to make sure that His gospel and His glory are made known to the ends of the earth.