What is missions, who is a missionary, where do missionaries serve, how do missionaries do their work, and why is missions important? These are essential questions for the church and the missionaries she sends out. This series of short articles is to help you build a foundation of biblical missiology, an understanding of God’s mission for his church from his Word. The core biblical text for this foundation is Romans 1:1-6 and 15:18-22. First, what is missions?

What Is Missions?

Terms like mission, missions, and missionary have long been problematic, or at least, their definitions are numerous and varied. Some limit missions to those who cross cultural or linguistic barriers. Others assign all manner of social and ecological concerns to missions, insisting that issues such as social justice, human trafficking, and climate change are constituents of Christian missions. Still, others assert that everything is missions, everyone is a missionary.

In everyday use, mission refers to a significant assignment, but for the sake of the church, we need to flesh out the parameters of the task. My goal in this article is to set forth a biblical definition of missions, the purpose for which we send missionaries, and that which missionaries do—the missionary-mission.

Drawing upon Romans 1:1-6 and 15:18-22, the missionary-mission is:

to bring about the obedience of faith among the nations for the sake of his name among all the nations, beginning where Christ has not been named so those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand to the glory of God.

In this series, we will examine several elements of this definition but for now, I want to focus on two aspects of the missionary-mission: first, that the gospel of God is at the heart of missions, and second, the obedience of faith is its task.

The Gospel of God.

The goal of missions is that those who have never been told of him, never heard of Christ would see and understand. This refers to the gospel. The gospel is the very heart of missions. In Romans 1:1, Paul writes of his missionary service, saying he was “set apart for the gospel of God.” He uses this same phrase in chapter 15, writing that he is “a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God” (Rom 15:16). Clearly, Paul understands his mission in terms of the gospel, and so too must missionaries nowadays. Missionary service is nothing if not centered on the gospel of God.

Gospel literally means good news. In his letter, Paul is specific about this gospel. He explains that the gospel is that which was promised through the prophets in the Scriptures (Rom 1:2). At the center of missions stands Jesus, the Son of God, a physical descendant of David (Rom 1:3-4), who was confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit through the power of his resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:4).

The gospel of the missionary-mission is promised by the prophets of old in the Scriptures; through Isaiah, the Lord God foretold of a Messiah who would proclaim good news to the poor (Isa 61:1-2) and be a light for the Gentiles, whose salvation would extend to the very ends of the earth (Isa 49:6). And among the many more things the Scriptures say of the gospel of God, they foretell of a Messiah who will be a suffering servant (Isa 53), the forgiveness-bearing Lord of the new covenant (Jer 31:31-34), the faithful and compassionate one (Mic 7:18-20) who is a cleansing fountain (Zech 13:1) and the healing son of righteousness (Mal 4:2). These promises and more, tell of Jesus the Son of God, of the household of David, who died for our sin and was raised to give us life (2Cor 5:15; Rev 1:18); these foretell the gospel.

The gospel is about Jesus Christ, our Lord, the divine Son of God, a man and descendant of David who died on our behalf but was raised to life by the power of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the gospel promise. This gospel is at the heart of the missionary-mission

The Obedience of Faith.

The obedience of faith is the gospel work. In Romans 1:5 and 15:18, Paul tells us that the task of missions is to bring about the obedience of faith. To be sure, salvation is the work of God, not man. We are made righteous by Christ’s obedience, not ours (Rom 5:19). Accordingly, some scholars prefer to translate the original Greek phrase as faith’s obedience or the obedience that results from faith, is required of (not for) faith, the proper response of faith, or is part of faith.[1] In keeping with the Bible’s teaching on salvation by grace through the gift of faith and not by works (Eph 2:8-9), we should understand the obedience of faith as a result of, or proper response to, the gift of faith, demonstrating our faith “deeds in keeping with repentance” (Acts 26:20). Moreover, we should see this obedience of faith as a mark of salvation. In keeping with understanding obedience this way, Paul commends the Romans for their reputation of obedience to the Lord, for which he expressed thanksgiving toward the end of his epistle (Rom 16:19). The outworking of the gospel seen and understood is the obedience of faith.

A natural question is, if obedience is a result or response to the gift of faith, how should missionaries bring it about? Asserting first and foremost that any righteous accomplishment worthy of mention is that which is wrought by Christ through him, Paul states that his part in bringing about the obedience of faith, is by word and deed (Rom 15:18). He taught and modeled a gospel-infused, Christ-obedient life. We will look into this aspect of the missionary-mission a bit more deeply in a subsequent article. For now, suffice it to say that missionaries bring about the obedience of faith as Christ works through their words and works.

Summary

From God’s Word, we have the assurance that the missionary-mission is to bring about the obedience of faith among the nations for the sake of his name among all the nations, beginning where Christ has not been named so those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand to the glory of God. In this article, we gave attention to how the gospel of God, and the obedience of faith play into this definition. Next, we will answer the question, who is a missionary?

 

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[1] Longenecker, Richard N. 2016. The Epistle to the Romans: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Edited by I. Howard Marshall and Donald A. Hagner. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Morris, Leon. 1988. The Epistle to the Romans. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press. Stott, John R. W. 2001. The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World. The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.