seen, too, in its nature as proclamation. The very word "gospel"
78 THE BIBLICAL BASIS
religions, partial, time-conditioned, fallible. The historic Christian Church is not the criterion of final truth, but Jesus Christ. In full humility, therefore, and in full recognition of how far historic Christianity has failed either adequately to embody or to witness to the truth in Christ, the Church, as the bearer of final revelation, is inescapably impelled to witness to all men. The witness must be made in full recognition of the fact that the Gospel "is as responsible for those who proclaim it as it is for those to whom it is proclaimed. It is the advocate of both." ®
2. That mission is involved in the nature of the Gospel may be seen, too, in its nature as proclamation. The very word "gospel" means "good news," and news must be "heralded." The nature of revelation as God's objective action in the history of Israel and in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ demands that these events should be told. "Faith comes from what is heard"
(Rom. 10:17). "And how are [men] to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14). To believe that in Jesus Christ God has spoken His full and final word to all men lays on the believer the responsibility of bearing witness to this and of seeking to persuade others to a like faith.
This is not a mere matter of propagandizing others, or of seeking to dominate their thinking by overwhelming pressures. It is rather a question, of obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. "Grace means bearing witness to the faithfulness of God which a man has encountered in Christ, and which, when it is encountered and recognized, requires a corresponding fidelity toward God. The fidelity of a man to the faithfulness of God—the faith, that is, which accepts grace—is itself the demand for obedience and itself demands obedience from others. Hence the demand is a call which enlightens and rouses to action; it carries with it mission, beside
which no other mission is possible." 1°
3. The nature of the Gospel as invitation also means mission. From the question of God to man in the Garden of Eden, "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9), to the thrice-repeated "Come" on its last page (Rev. 22:17), the Bible is the record of one great search on
_ the part of God for man. God is the great "extrovert" who has
*Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans (London: Oxford University
Press, 1933), p. 35. "Ibid. p. 31.