Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is Lord of history, and is at work in history! We, His disciples, are called to be workers together with Him (I Cor. 3:9). We must accept and fulfill this responsibility in spite of:

… moral problems — the moral decadence all too evident on a home front plagued by issues prompted by situation ethics, and leading to corruption on national, local and personal levels;

…theological issues – the rise of certain movements in Christendom which are defining “salvation today” in sub-biblical terms and are interpreting it to mean a restructuring of society by human means rather than by Christ’s transforming power;

…national problems – the energy crunch, questions of ecology, the economic crisis, racial and group tensions, the increase of crime, a spirit of anarchy;

…international problems – the trying quest for peace and for détente, the horrors of continuing bloodshed and strife, the fear of wondering who will be the next victim of kidnapping of banditry.

Jesus said, “the night cometh, when no man can work.” There is no time to waste. We dare not engage in meaningless activity, or be paralyzed by fear and feelings of inadequacy. These days of great need are also days of great opportunity as we realize that we must be “workers together with God.”

Acknowledging, therefore, our responsibility, we declare ourselves as follows:

WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE MESSAGE WE PREACH
We believe that God is working out His purpose in the movements of history, calling out a people for His name. This conviction is based on our recognition of the far-reaching effects of the redemption which is ours through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. It points to the day when, at Christ’s second coming, all shall acknowledge the truth that “God has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” (Phil. 2:11 NASB). Our message includes acknowledgement of the personality, purpose and power of Satan and his ceaseless opposition to the false teachers – those who deny the truth and are among the apostate – who deaden the consciences of many, either by alleging a universalism which holds that all men will ultimately be saved, or by advocating a syncretism that brings all religions together as equally correct ways to God and divine truth.

In light of the Bible’s word on the coming judgment and the eternal damnation of the unrepentant sinner, we are committed to, and must earnestly proclaim God’s clear message found only in the Bible and pray that many more will join us in this task. The words of Christ are still relevant two millenniums later: “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. You pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2).

Such a commission comes at a time when we have unprecedented tools for proclamation and evangelism.

WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE TASK OF WORLD EVANGELIZATION
To say that God is working out His purpose through Jesus Christ is to remind us that the risen Christ said to His disciples, “As my father has sent me, so send I you” (John 20:21). He also commanded, “Go… and teach (disciple) all nations” (Matt. 28:20). The call of any hour is to evangelize and disciple those yet unreached.

Perhaps the greatest danger facing evangelicals today is the dissipation of an evangelistic and missionary passion, an insensitivity to a world that really is lost without Christ. The secular spirit of the age and its by-products – temporality and materialism – have invaded evangelical churches and homes. Parents are reluctant to give their children to God for mission ministries in the world. The attitude of many evangelicals is: “Here am I, Lord – send my neighbor.”

Thus we must remember that evangelizing and discipling is at the heart of our task. Every believer is to be a responsible, reproducing Christian. Evangelism for evangelicals does not stop with the proclamation of the Gospel, nor with the public professions of faith in the Gospel, nor even with relating converts to the church through baptism and teaching. The evangelistic goal is fulfilled when new Christians become reproducing disciples reaching others who, in turn, reach still others in a continuous process of evangelism/church growth.

Such a goal cannot be accomplished through human effort alone. Our most elaborate plans will fall apart from total dependence on the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of men. Only God’s Spirit can draw sinners to Christ and give them a desire to reach others. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).

WE ARE COMMITTED TO WORKING WITH EVANGELICALS WORLDWIDE
This demands cooperation in dimensions not heretofore attained. We recognize that each believer is linked to every other believer in the delicate function of the Body of Christ. The Church is worldwide. This commitment links evangelicals related to the NAE with evangelicals in every part of the world. We are united in our common commitment to Christ and to the fulfillment of the evangelistic mandate which He gave to the Church. Gladly we will cooperate with those of “like precious faith.”

But we call for discernment lest there be compromise with unbelief and apostasy. There are many who profess allegiance to Christ that have either failed to see the necessity of basing their faith on the person and work of Christ as revealed in the infallible Word of God or have openly denied that such a faith is essential to becoming a Christian. While such people need to be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, we cannot identify with them in cooperative efforts lest our involvement compromise the message we preach and confuse those seeking for the truth and spiritual reality.

We call, therefore, for our leaders to seek out leaders in other nations with whom we can move together in a great worldwide evangelistic thrust. We pray for two significant international events in Switzerland this summer – the International Congress on World Evangelization (ICOWE) and the Third General Assembly of the World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF). We pledge our prayer and cooperation to make these two events starting points for new dimensions of outreach as “workers together with God.”

We believe these commitments – to the biblical message we preach, to the task of world evangelization and to working with evangelicals worldwide – provide sure guidelines to assist us in fulfilling our God given task.

With conviction and with joy we affirm the covenant of the Wheaton Declaration (1966):

WE

the delegates here assembled
in adoration of the Triune God,
with full confidence in Holy Scripture,
in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and looking for His coming again,

DO COVENANT TOGETHER

for God’s eternal glory,
and in response to the Holy Spirit,
and with renewed dedication,
and in our oneness in Christ as the people of God,

TO SEEK

under the leadership of our Head,
with full assurance of His power and presence,

THE MOBILIZATION OF THE CHURCH

its people, its prayers, and resources,

FOR THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD IN THIS GENERATION

So, help us God!
AMEN.