AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING ESSENTIAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES, PART IV
AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING UNIVERSAL SALVATION AND THE ETERNAL FATE OF THOSE WHO DO NOT TURN TO CHRIST IN REPENTENCE AND FAITH
(Affirmations and Denials have not yet been written.)
AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST
I. We affirm that for the purposes of salvation, the Saviorhood of Christ and the Lordship of Christ cannot be separated (Christ becomes Savior when one receives Him as Lord).
We deny that anyone can receive Christ as his Savior while he consciously rejects Him as Lord. This is deception.
II. We affirm that the attempt of some theologies to define Jesus for the purposes of salvation as simply the "God-man," without any reference to the authority of His Lordship, is to present a false Christ.
We deny that repentance is simply or only a change of mind about the identity of the God-man.
III. We affirm that saving faith is always an instrument or means through which Christ saves a sinner. It is never a meritorious basis of salvation.
We deny that a person can come to saving faith unless the Spirit of the Lord draws that person.
IV. We affirm that repentance is prerequisite to salvation and entails acknowledgment of the mind and heart of the sinner concerning his sinfulness, his lost estate, and his need for turning from his sin.
We deny that one has the prerequisite repentance if he believes he can adequately deal with his sin by simply implementing a plan of reform.
V. We affirm that saving faith is a gift of God's grace that involves a number of implicit elements in one event: repentance, obedience to Christ's call, and volitional trust in Christ alone to impart new and eternal life.
We deny that salvation occurs without the elements of recognition of need for Christ or without trust and obedience in the heart.
VI. We affirm that in sharing the gospel with others, it is perfectly biblical to confront an individual with the issue of his acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ.
We deny that this method of presenting the gospel adds "meritorious works" to salvation or that yielding to the Lordship of Christ at conversion constitutes a "meritorious work."
VII. We affirm that the New Testament teaches the inextricable relationship of justification and sanctification. The New Testament perspective on "salvation" is that forensic justification will issue forth in a life of progressive sanctification as the believer responds to the Lordship which was accepted and begun at the time of salvation.
We deny that the progress of sanctification is uniform for all believers or that it implies perfection or the absence of intermittent sin or struggle.
VIII. We affirm that all Christians are at various stages of the progressive, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, without which there is no "salvation" at all in the biblical, New Testament sense.
We deny that the New Testament teaches two classes of Christians: (1) those who have accepted Christ as Savior but remain in a static state of immaturity or carnality (so-called "secret believers" or "carnal Christians") and (2) those who have gone on to obey Christ as Lord and thereby then become His "spiritual disciples." This distinction is an artificial expedient and false conception of the Body of Christ.
IX. We affirm that some may accept Christ and be saved who have not consciously focused on the issue of Christ's Lordship, but who have implicitly submitted themselves to His direction.
We deny that acceptance of Christ as Lord requires the formulation of any particular verbal expression.
X. We affirm that some who profess acceptance of Christ, without explicitly or implicitly facing the issue of Christ's Lordship, are not saved; and we affirm that these, over a period of time, will likely, by persisting in an unregenerate way of life, make this evident.
We deny that such a persistent life of disobedience to the Lord can, in fact, be the life of a "carnal Christian" or any true Christian, nor can there be a true theology where Christ is considered Savior apart from His being Lord.
AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
I. We affirm that the Bible, in likening the Church to a human body and its intended unity of function, includes references to all the believers of given levels or spheres of human community.
We deny that the Bible's likening of the Church to a human body and its intended unity of function is limited in reference only to individual local congregations or to the worldwide body of believers.
II. We affirm that those in a geographical locality whom God has called as elders and leaders among congregations of believers within that locality are called also to show familial and bodily oneness among themselves, and to teach by word and example the divinely intended unity of all the believers in the locality.
We deny that the divinely intended unity of believers in a locality necessarily implies a need for frequent large gatherings, or of community-wide sharing in all projects undertaken by believers there.
III. We affirm that biblical unity among congregations in a locality calls for a unified way of peacefully resolving, conciliating, or ameliorating conflicts among believers which transcend the lines of single local congregations. We further affirm that biblical unity calls for a unified way of exercising discipline when believers are involved in serious sin with which individual congregations are unable to deal adequately without help from outside their congregations.
We deny that, when some applicable agreement of cooperation with others does not exist, individual congregations are obliged to share with outside persons or jurisdictions responsibility over conflicts or sinful behavior within a congregation.
IV. We affirm that leaders of congregations within a locality are not realizing God's full providential intent for their leadership if there exists some unaddressed great distress across the local community or some other unmet great opportunity for witness by the Body of Christ.
We deny that it is necessarily the responsibility of leaders of congregations within a local community to give corporate attention to every problem which is stirring the people of the community.
V. We affirm that to more nearly fulfill the intent of the biblical picture of the Body of Christ as a human body, and to realize health and purposefulness in the Body, the leaders of congregations and Christian organizations within a city or county should together prayerfully create plans for sustained ongoing cooperative Christian ministry in and for their community, and seek with the Lord's enablement to call these plans into life among their congregations and organizations.
We deny that the leaders of congregations and Christian organizations will fully realize their callings if they fail to prayerfully and cooperatively share their gifts for unified ongoing ministry in their local community.
[NOTE: Additional affirmations and denials are being drafted, including one set dealing with the need for inter-church, community cooperation in the education of the young.]
AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH
(Affirmations and Denials have not yet been written.)
AFFIRMATIONS AND DENIALS CONCERNING CHURCH DISCIPLINE
I. We affirm that Christ, out of love and concern for the nourishment, concord, unity, correction, and purity of His Body, has instituted and established through His Word certain ordinances for the discipline of the Church.
We deny that members of Christ's Church may be disciplined by the Church for, or that their consciences may be bound by, any human law or invention beyond what Holy Scripture requires or permits to be required.
II. We affirm that the purpose of Christian discipline in the institutional church is instruction and government and that this discipline encompasses the communication of the knowledge of God's will and the regulation of practice.
We deny that the rigors of human discipline are sufficient to subdue the power of sin; at the same time we deny that Biblical discipline is a barrier to realization of the divinely ordained potential or destiny of any person.
III. We affirm that the purpose of admonition and discipline in the Church is at least threefold: to maintain the honor of God, to restore sinners, and to remove offense from the Body of Christ.
We deny that the purpose of Church discipline is to impose retribution and vengeance for offenses against mere human traditions or worldly institutions within the church.
IV. We affirm that disciplinable offenses include both violations of the Divine Will (i.e., transgressions of a moral and ethical nature and delinquency in spiritual obligations) and violations of sound doctrine, teaching, and Biblical truth (i.e., errors in belief that have the potential to dishonor God or bring offense to the truth).
We deny that Church discipline is limited in scope to unethical actions involving personal relationships and/or acts of moral turpitude.
V. We affirm that vigilant admonition, reproof, and rebuke; loving nurture; and sound teaching are necessary and crucial as "preventive" measures to safeguard members of the Church from falling into sin.
We deny that churches, elders, and individual believers have fully discharged their duty to discipline if they fail to be continually vigilant in reproof, nurture, and sound teaching.
VI. We affirm that discipline in all of its biblical aspects is non-optional; that is, it is required by God and scripture for all Church members, including leaders, and is given great weight as an ecclesiastical duty.
We deny that the Church may neglect or abdicate its disciplinary duties out of fear of reprisal, threat of civil lawsuit, or any other external sanction. We further deny that the civil magistrate has any right or jurisdiction to apply sanctions against the Church for meeting its scriptural duty to discipline its members.
VII. We affirm that in every church disciplinary action, biblical justice is to be maintained and truth must be carefully established by due process and strict procedural safeguards in the case of any accusation of wrongdoing. We further find and hereby advise that it is wise for churches to require consent to biblical disciplinary procedures as part of the covenant of membership.
We deny that any charge may be accepted for adjudication by Church authorities without the corroboration of two or three witnesses and other measures of standard due process.
VIII. We affirm that the components and procedures outlined in the 18th Chapter of the Gospel According to St. Matthew constitute scripture's primary guidelines for the exercise of Christian discipline involving private sin. We find that these components and procedures include:
1. Self-discipline (vss. 7-9)
2. Mutual discipline (vss. 15-16)
3. Church discipline (vss. 17-20)
We find further that self discipline consists in self-examination, guarding oneself against falling into temptation and against enticing others away from the Kingdom of Christ. We find that mutual discipline consists in brotherly vigilance against sin and loving confrontation of brethren in sin, first in private and then, if necessary, in the presence of witnesses. We find that church discipline consists in: (1) admonition of the sinner and intercession for him by the ordained authorities and membership of the local congregation; (2) adjudication of the cause against any unrepentant offender; (3) appropriate rebuke, punishment, or order of restitution for offenders found guilty, including repentant offenders; (4) excommunication, disfellowship, continued prayer, and evangelization of unrepentant offenders; and (5) restoration and readmission of any offender upon repentance and evidence of sufficient spiritual growth.
We deny that Matthew 18 is the exclusive scriptural revelation concerning Christian discipline.
IX. We affirm that active affiliation of all believers with the Church on earth is commanded by scripture, without which membership biblical discipline is hampered or rendered impossible.
We deny that, apart from any unique or special circumstances which God may in His wisdom bring to pass, Christians can fully maintain their sanctification and spiritual growth apart from the Body of Christ.
X. We affirm that duly ordained office-bearers of the Church have God-given authority to determine and declare the status of individuals' membership within the communion of the saints, the Body of Christ. We further affirm that in making such determinations, the office-bearers of the Church act on behalf of God Himself, Who will seal in heaven those decisions made in accordance with His will and word.
We deny that the authority of ordained office-holders over sinners and penitents is limited to mere fact-finding concerning guilt or innocence.
XI. We affirm that public sins should be publicly exposed, publicly adjudicated, and, if guilt is found, publicly punished by duly ordained and constituted Church authority. We further affirm that this authority may be vested in Church office-holders (elders, bishops, presbyters, overseers) or in Councils of the Church.
We deny that public sins are adequately addressed through private or confidential disciplinary actions.
XII. We affirm that local congregations have a responsibility toward one another for inter-church, mutual care and discipline, for the maintenance of purity in practice and doctrine. We affirm further that local congregations must honor and respect one another's discipline of delinquent members, when that discipline has been carried out in accordance with the dictates of scripture.
We deny that any congregation is a totally independent entity and has no accountability elsewhere within the true universal Body of Christ. Moreover, we find reprehensible and unscriptural the common practice of certain churches to accept, without consultation and examination, members of other churches who are or have been under biblical discipline, censure, disfellowship, or ban of excommunication in another congregation.
(The following two affirmations and denials have not yet been considered by the Church Council Executive Committee.)
XIII. We affirm that on the basis of the Word of God it is possible to discern the True Church of Christ and to distinguish it from the false church. We affirm that the True Church is known by its acknowledgment of Christ as Head of the Church, by the pure preaching of the Gospel, by pure administration of the sacraments, by faithful exercise of Christian discipline, by the management of all things according to the Word of God, and by the rejection of all things contrary thereto.
We deny that a church may consider itself pure or part of the True Body of Christ if it elevates any authority above Christ and His Word, neglects the Biblical administration of sacraments, admits the validity of non-biblical or extra-biblical doctrines of man, or persecutes those who live holy lives in accordance with the Word of God.
XIV. We affirm that no true Christian believer may rightly before Christ separate himself from the True Church.
We deny that a true Christian believer may rightly join himself to or remain a member of a false church. They place themselves in grave spiritual danger who, for the sake of tradition, expedience, status, convenience, or other false motives, refuse to separate themselves from the false church or to bring that church under righteous judgment.
