The Mission of the Church
Via Pieper’s “What is Christianity?”
Jheronimus Bosch, "Paradise" (ca. 1490)
…it is the mission of the Church to assist men in acquiring a good conscience toward God and thus to insure to them the greatest happiness in this world. The Christian Church should serve men in such a way that under all circumstances – even in sickness, poverty, and death – they may say: “I know that my God is gracious: He no longer is angry with me, but He loves me as a father loves his dear child.” If a Church cannot accomplish this, it is absolutely of no value in the world. Christ’s last will and testament was: “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you.” John 14:21. This testament of the Lord His Church must execute. But how can the Church do this? By what means does it impart peace of conscience to men? How can it instill into the heart of man the assurance “I have forgiveness of sins and a merciful God”? Only through the Gospel, only through faith in Christ, the Savior of sinners. St. Paul rites: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope for the glory of God.” Rom. 5:1-2. Upbraided and condemned by the divine Law, man’s conscience can never be quieted by any doctrine of works or by trust in his own morality. The Law of God is such a tremendous factor because it is a divine factor. It is not only contained in Scripture, but is also inscribed in our heart, and so it never ceases to condemn us and to cause us to have a guilty conscience as long as the slightest vestige of sin is to be found in us. The divine verdict of condemnation can never be abrogated by our own efforts of works, but only through another divine verdict, namely, that of the Holy Gospel, by which God Himself for Christ’s sake absolves us from all sin. Man’s guilty conscience can be appeased only by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
