Continued...
11. The church exists so that its members might edify one another. Jesus' Great Commandment to love one another, when obeyed, is the primary sign to the world that we belong to Him. It is for this mutual edification that He binds us together in one body with many gifted parts. The Holy Spirit imparts gifts to each member so that each one needs the others, and each one has something to contribute to the whole. The true church exercises loving discipline and accountability as well as encouragement and love.
12. The church exists to evangelize the world. Jesus' Great Commission outlines our calling; He sends us as the Father sent Him. We are to be ambassadors of heaven to the world, charged with the ministry of reconciliation as if God were pleading with the world through us.
13. The church is destined to rule the world (the universe?) as co-regent with Christ.
14. The church has been given no single, universal shape to her ministries or to her government, being given instead the freedom to implement whatever functional forms serve God's unchanging mission in each time and place. The new wine of Christ will not always fit the wineskins of previous generations.
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