Ours is a day of remarkable interest in evangelical Christianity. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is now believed by new millions across the world. Such interest, along with testimonies of a born-again experience has laid a unique groundwork for the furtherance of the biblical message in our generation. The media attention afforded evangelicals in magazine and newspaper articles, television and radio broadcasts and the content of public addresses is indicative of an awareness and an openness to the Bible not apparent in the recent past. We believe this present, salutary situation has come in response to earnest prayer, biblical evangelism and the gracious moving of the Spirit of God.

At such a time, we recognize the far-reaching responsibility we have to make the message of redemption in Christ known to that part of the world which is acquiescing to its immoralities, anguishing in its inhumanities, and frustrated by its poverties. While men everywhere are desperately groping for some foundation for living, we must never lose sight of the need for individual commitment and collective response to the issues of human justice, global compassion, and personal holiness. This conviction is indelibly rooted in the threefold expression of God’s mandate spoken in the words of the Prophet Micah, “To do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Justice is indeed one of the critical words of our time. Evangelicals are called upon to seek justice for people in diverse circumstances everywhere. In our efforts, we must remember that justice means being fair, giving what is deserved. With respect to the relationship of God to humanity, we affirm that if we were to receive justice, all would be instantly judged, condemned, and consigned to an eternal hell without hope. It is only because of the mercy of God, whose Son Jesus Christ, atoned for sin on Calvary’s cross, that justice with justification are both possible. We rejoice in the fact that, because of Calvary, the justice of God has been tempered by the mercy of God as manifested in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as those who have been redeemed by the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and are obligated to accept the mandate of justice for people everywhere – the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, the lost – justice that unites with the mandate “to love mercy.” Our mission must always be to proclaim God’s loving grace in Jesus Christ and to call people everywhere to repentance and faith in Him. We Christians, of all people, should then embody honesty, integrity and fairness in all of the ways in which we relate to our fellow man. Justice and mercy met at Calvary, requiring us to affirm our responsibility to demonstrate the gracious kindness of God by word and deed in our lives. This justice and mercy requires that God’s people make God’s eternal standards for societal life known to the highest realms of power and authority.

Finally, we resolve that our response to whatever temporal blessings have come to us by the grace of God shall not produce in us sinful pride, but godly humility. We recognize that prestige and power are dangerous. We must ever be alert to the possibility of becoming rich and increased with goods, and assume we have need of nothing (Revelation 3:17). Rather, in humility, we affirm the Pauline truth, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (I Corinthians 4:7 NASB) Therefore, we arrogate to ourselves no sense of personal ownership, but rather the acceptance of the stewardship of goods to be used for the glory of God.

As servants of Christ, we gladly accept the blessed bondage of His operative principle, “To whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48). As humble recipients of divine grace, we desire to translate the manifold blessings of God, which have been poured so that when we stand for judgment in the presence of our Savior – as soon we shall – we may hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).