To All Nations
God’s Word declares that Christ is the door to salvation (Jn. 10:9) and the way to the Father
(Jn 14:6). One must believe that Jesus took on flesh (I Jn 4:2), died and rose again (I Cor. 15:4)
and confess the Lord Jesus with our mouth (Rom. 10:9). There are no other avenues for
salvation.
As Christians, we are commissioned to proclaim the gospel for God’s glory, not for the
glorification of man. The simple message of God’s Kingdom must be free from “extras” such as
adherence to cultural norms or other types of “works salvation.” At the Jerusalem Council (Acts
15), Paul modeled this formula and affirmed this when he said:
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1
Cor. 2:2 NKJV).
Our role is clear—to herald the message of the Kingdom of God to all nations (Matt. 28:19-
20). Scripture asserts that unbelievers cannot hear without a preacher (Rom. 10:14). Simply
witnessing to a political nation state does not fulfill the command to go to “all nations.” Piper
explains that in the Great Commission, the word “nations” does not reference a political nation
state as commonly understood today. The Greek word is “ethne,” denoting “people groups” or
“ethnic groups.”1 Based on factors such as culture, language, religion, etc., individual countries
of the world have multiple people groups, representing the largest group that can be discipled.
In fact, in the 195 countries in the world today, there are over 5,000 “people groups.” This is
profound in that the task seems ever more daunting; however, the Holy Spirit empowers
(Acts 1:7-8) and helps us in our weakness (Rom. 8:26).
1 John Piper “Discipling All The Peoples.” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 4th edition, el.
Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne. (Pasadena: William Carey Library 2009), 132.
