THEOLOGY of PPC
Presbyterianism and Providence
Presbyterians are distinctive in two primary ways: adherence to a pattern of religious thought known as "Reformed theology" and practice of a form of connectional (local, regional, and national) government that stresses the active, representational leadership of both pastors and church members. As such, Providence is a participant member of Charleston-Atlantic Presbytery (http:///www.chas-atlanticpresbytery.org), the Synod of the South Atlantic (http://www.synodofsouthatlantic.org/ ), and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (http://www.pcusa.org/).
In response to ongoing concerns with actions of the General Assembly, by Session action, Providence is aligned with The Confessing Church Movement (http://www.confessingchurch.homestead.com/ ) within the PCUSA. The three theological standards of The Confessing Church Movement are:
- That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.
- That holy Scripture is the Triune God's revealed Word, the Church's only infallible rule of faith and life.
- That God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.
The basic principles of Presbyterian and Reformed theology are: (reprinted with permission from San Diego Presbytery)
In preparing this summary we have distinguished between "essential tenets" and "Reformed distinctives," following the lead of John Calvin who wrote an extensive treatise on this very topic, entitled The Necessity of Reforming the Church (1543). Calvin, speaking metaphorically, differentiated between those things in the Christian religion that pertain to its very soul and those secondary things that, while important, pertained to its body. For Calvin, the soul or essence of the Christian religion consists in two things: first, in the due worship of God, and second, in "the source from which salvation is to be obtained." In the metaphorical category of "body," Calvin included the sacraments and church government.
In his summary of this treatise, Dr. John Thompson describes Calvin’s concept of the "soul" of Christianity accordingly:
Worship looks not only to the purity and intentions of our actions, but also to the sovereignty of God and the preeminent place to be given to the Word of God.
Salvation looks not only to the eternal well-being of human beings, but also to an acute and necessary awareness of sin and to the exclusive agency of Jesus Christ as our deliverer and redeemer, our expiation and righteousness. (The Reformation as a Living Tradition, published text of an address at Fuller Theological Seminary, May 8, 2002.)
Calvin’s reflection on theological tradition guided our committee. We consequently distinguished between "essential tenets," which are generally the most catholic elements of our Reformed tradition, and "Reformed distinctives," which distinguish us from other major theological traditions and are more the exclusive property of Presbyterian and Reformed Christians. Following Calvin, we listed among the essentials the doctrines of Scripture, God (Trinity, Creation, Sovereignty), Sin, Christology, and Atonement; listed as Reformed distinctives are the doctrines of Election and the Sacraments.
In pressing for confessional fidelity, we are occasionally challenged by a historic phrase from our tradition and the Book of Order: "God alone is Lord of the conscience." The implication is that no one but God may bind our theological conscience in terms of what is to be believed. And we agree! The full quote explains the proper context and understanding of this phrase:
God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. (G-1.0301(1))
In other words, precisely where God’s Word has spoken and precisely in matters of faith and worship—that is where our conscience is bound and not free. The Lord who has spoken through his written Word binds our conscience in matters of faith and worship. It is entirely appropriate and even necessary, therefore, for the ordained leadership of the church to diligently direct, teach, correct, and make inquiry concerning the doctrines that elders, deacons, and ministers of Word and Sacrament "sincerely receive and adopt"—that these doctrines are consistent with the Bible and our Reformed standards.
This document is our thoughtful and intentional effort to fulfill that responsibility.
SECTION 1
ESSENTIAL TENETS
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s uniquely revealed and written Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are the church’s first and final authority in all areas of faith and life including theological doctrine, mission, church order, character, ethical behavior, and lifestyle choices.
The Bible speaks to us with the authority of God himself. We seek to understand, love, follow, obey, surrender, and submit to God’s Word—both Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God, which bear true and faithful witness to Jesus Christ.
GOD
We worship the one only living and true God who is revealed in the Bible and who is the source of all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness.
Trinity. With the holy catholic church in all ages, we confess the mystery of the holy Trinity—that there is one God alone, infinite and eternal, Creator of all things, the greatest good, who is one in essence or nature, yet who exists in a plurality of three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Creation/Providence/Sovereignty. God in the beginning created the universe and everything in it for the manifestation of God’s glory, eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the sovereign ruler of creation, working all things according to the counsel of his omnipotent and righteous will. In gracious providence God continually upholds, directs, oversees, and governs creation—all creatures, actions, and things.
In sovereignty God has seen fit to accommodate free will among moral creatures, resulting in great cultural and cosmic good and terrible evil, disorder, and disobedience. Nevertheless, God is in no way the author of evil or sin, but continues to govern creation in such a way as to cause all things to work together for good. God opposes all evil and will certainly triumph over it and bring creation to a glorious consummation.
Grace. God is a God of love. In grace God chooses to show love and mercy. When we were dead in trespasses and sin, God made us alive with Christ, saving us by grace through faith, as a sheer gift of sovereign love.
Worship. God—and God alone—is worthy of worship. We respond to God by consciously and intentionally seeking to declare, explore, celebrate, and submit to God’s righteous and gracious kingship over all of creation and over every aspect of our individual and corporate life, and thereby "to glorify him and enjoy him forever." (Westminster, 7.01) This is true worship.
HUMANITY—ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FALL INTO SIN
Human beings were created by God in God’s own image—in true righteousness and holiness—to know, love, and obey God and be righteous stewards of the creation. Our earliest forebears, instead of acknowledging, worshiping, and obeying God, became disobedient sinners and brought sin and death upon themselves and all creation.
There is now a radical brokenness and corruption in human nature that is the result of and results in sin. Sin is rebellion against God. No human effort can fully resolve or redeem this defect. Sin is destructive, contagious, parasitical, polluting, disabling. Human beings are sinners by nature, by influence, by choice, by action.
While there is an inalienable glory and nobility to human beings because they are God’s image bearers, this image is now broken and distorted, and even our best and noblest actions are contaminated by sin. Every part of our human being—our personality, intellect, emotions, will, motives, virtues, and actions—is corrupted by sin. The human will, originally free and righteous, is now crippled and defective.
As a result, human beings are in bondage to sin and subject to God’s holy judgment. Without God’s intervening grace and salvation, they are lost and condemned.
JESUS CHRIST – INCARNATION OF THE ETERNAL WORD
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God uniquely entered human history and became a real human being. He is truly the Word of God (Jn 1:1-3)—that is, the perfect and culminating expression of God’s mind and heart, of God’s will and character—present in the intimate fellowship of the Holy Trinity from eternity and fully engaged with the Father in the work of creation and redemption.
Becoming human, Jesus was "all of God in a human body" (Col 1:19) and "God with us" (Matt 1:23)—a living tabernacle of God’s holy presence, "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14-18). His divine-human identity is corroborated by the true witness of scripture—in his divine conception and virgin birth, in God’s own testimony concerning Jesus, in Jesus’ supernatural works of healing and deliverance, in his obedience to the point of sacrificial death, and in his bodily resurrection from the dead and exaltation to heaven. He is now Lord over everything in creation.
The early church in the creeds of Nicea and Chalcedon accurately interpreted and expressed the apostolic testimony concerning Jesus—fully God and fully human. The significance of this is: in Christ we are dealing with God himself; in Christ we have a human being who truly represents us.
Jesus Christ is God’s only Mediator between God and humankind and God’s unique agent for the salvation of the world. He is also the perfect expression of what humanity was designed to be. In his complete obedience, he became the representative Human Being, a second Adam, modeling for us human life and offering to God on our behalf human life that is rightly in God’s image—reflecting God’s glory in a wholly submitted life of steadfast love and righteousness.
This same Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as attested in scripture, is to be the center of the Christian Church’s proclamation, worship, discipleship, and mission. As we eagerly and prayerfully anticipate that "he will come again to judge the living and the dead" and to establish God’s righteous kingdom in fullness and perfection, we say, "Come Lord Jesus!" (Rev 22:20)
JESUS CHRIST – HIS ATONING WORK
Jesus’ death on the Cross was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. In this act of obedience to God’s will and love for humankind, Jesus acted as the divine agent for the salvation of the world. In his death he perfectly fulfilled the office of High Priest and was also the perfect sacrifice for sins—"the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (Jn 1:29) The Cross became an altar on which his life was sacrificed as a substitute for ours, and satisfaction and expiation for sins were completely accomplished. On the sole basis of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, sinners may now be reconciled to a holy God and set free from their bondage to sin and death to live for God in holiness and joy.
Exalted to the place of honor beside God the Father, Jesus Christ the eternal Son, now Lord of heaven and earth, continues his saving work, advocating and interceding on behalf of the church and functioning as our eternal prophet (God’s living and revealed Word), priest (ever making intercession and mediation for us), and king (ruling his church by Word and Spirit and with sovereign love and power).
SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
Salvation is God’s gracious work through Jesus Christ to reclaim humankind and all creation from sin and its consequences. Christ’s righteousness and atonement are the sole basis for human salvation. Faith in Christ is the only instrument by which this righteousness is received by individual believers, resulting in their justification.
Justification is the righteousness of Christ imputed to a sinful woman or man through faith alone in Christ. Their faith appropriates Christ’s atonement, resulting in their sins atoned for and forgiven and God reckoning them to be righteous.
Scripture also describes salvation as a ransom or redemption from slavery (Mk 10:45); a sacrificial substitution (Christ’s death for our death); reconciliation of sinners with a holy God; our sins being sacrificially expiated, satisfied, covered over, forgiven, and removed. All of these ways describe how God has given us "the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work." (Heidelberg, 4.021)
Faith is (1) accepting the message of salvation as true and (2) trusting God to apply this salvation to us. Faith is "certain knowledge" and "wholehearted trust," that is created in us by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In faith we accept, receive, and rest "upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace." (Westminster, 6.080)
APPENDIX A
ESSENTIAL TENETS:
SCRIPTURE AND CONFESSIONAL REFERENCES
This appendix contains biblical and confessional references on which each tenet is based as well as an explanation of doctrines and theological directions that cannot be affirmed.
AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE
Scripture
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2Timothy 3:16-17 NRSV)
When you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers. (1Thessalonians 2:13 NRSV)
[Jesus] answered, "It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Matthew 4:4 NRSV)
Confessions
2nd Helvetic Confession
We believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and to have sufficient authority of themselves, not of men. For God himself spoke to the fathers, prophets, and apostles, and still speaks t us through the Holy Scriptures. And in this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has the most complete exposition of all that pertains to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God; and in this respect it is expressly commanded by God that nothing is to be added to or taken from the same. (5.001)
Scripture is the Word of God. (5.003)
We hold that interpretation of the Scripture to be orthodox and genuine which is gleaned from the Scriptures themselves (from the nature of the language in which they were written, likewise according to the circumstances in which they were set down, and expounded in the light of like and unlike passages and of many and clearer passages) and which agree with the rule of faith and love, and contributes much to the glory of God and man’s salvation. (5.010)
Westminster Confession of Faith
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. (6.006)
The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. (6.009)
The Larger (Westminster) Catechism
Q.3. What is the Word of God?
A.3. The holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.
Q.4. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the Word of God?
A.4. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God, by their majesty and purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation. But the Spirit of God, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very word of God. (7.113-114)
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm any doctrine—
- seeks to invalidate or subvert scriptural teaching concerning what is to be believed or how we are to live;
- that attempts to subordinate biblical authority to any human authority, cultural norm, or ideology—whether religious, ecclesiastical, governmental, political, economic, psychological, sociological, scientific, historical, philosophical, or other—as though the church should listen primarily to another voice than the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ as expressed in scripture;
- that seeks or asserts a revelation from the Spirit of God which contradicts the Bible as Word of God, or that attempts to separate the Spirit from the Spirit-inspired words of Scripture, or that elevates the authority or modernity of the Spirit’s revelation above the revelation of Scripture;
- that rejects as historical fact the witness of Scripture to the incarnation, birth, ministry, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ (as, for example, summarized in 1Cor 15:3-7 and Acts 10:38);
- that seeks to follow a "Jesus Christ" apart from the Person, Work, and Will of Jesus Christ revealed in scripture.
- that regards Scripture as subjectively, but not objectively, God’s written Word, or that maintains the Scriptures contain the Word of God, but are not in themselves the Word of God;
We cannot affirm any notion of a Church "reformed and reforming" that moves outside the boundaries of the authority of Christ and confession of his Lordship which are clearly revealed in Scripture.
We cannot affirm any ecclesiology or morality that attempts to subvert the headship of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture in the interests of an "inclusive" and overbroad institutional concern for "unity, peace, and purity."
Jesus Christ is Lord of the church, and he rules the church through the written word of scripture, illumined by the Holy Spirit.
GOD
Scripture
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV)
I am the LORD, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:5 NRSV)
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. (Exodus 20:4-5 NIV)
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19 NRSV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2Corinthians 13:14 NRSV)
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God." (Luke 1:35 NRSV)
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." (John 14:26 NKJV)
[They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:23)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1 NIV)
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." (Rev 4:11 NIV)
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! (Psa 47:2 NIV)
To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:25 NIV)
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Rom 8:28 NLT)
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, … according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. …In [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Eph 1:7-11 NKJV)
Confessions
Nicene Creed
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified. (1.3)
Scots Confession
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. (3.01)
Westminster Confession of Faith
In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. (6.013)
Brief Statement of Faith
In life and in death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve. (10.1)
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. (1.1)
Heidelberg Catechism
Q.27. What do you understand by the providence of God?
A.27. The almighty and ever-present power of God, whereby he still upholds, as it were by his own hand, heaven and earth together with all creatures… (4.027)
Westminster Confession
God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. (6.014)
Westminster Confession of Faith
There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection…almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, …abundant in goodness and truth.
God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient. (6.011-012)
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm any doctrine—
- that denies this doctrine of God’s triune nature, or refuses to confess the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
- that minimizes this doctrine as an unessential or secondary Christian tenet;
- that asserts that all religions are essentially true, that all religious beliefs are essentially in accord; or that the views of God held by the world’s major religions are equally valid;
- that confesses or celebrates belief in multiple gods or goddesses, or that identifies God as a goddess, or that worships God’s uncreated glory through idols or images representing creatures or creation.
The biblical doctrine of God’s sovereignty excludes:
- the notion that, if God is sovereign, our human efforts are in vain;
- the deistic notion that God created the cosmos like a watchmaker but is no longer personally involved in its operation or unfolding;
- any theology that denies or downplays the reality of evil or the enmity between evil and a holy God or the moral responsibility of humankind for sin.
HUMANITY—ORIGINAL RIGHTEOUSNESS AND FALL INTO SIN
Scripture
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:26-27, NRSV)
One man's trespass led to condemnation for all. …By one man's disobedience the many were made sinners. (Romans 5:18-19 NRSV)
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Ps 51:5 NIV)
No one living is righteous before you. (Ps 143:2 NIV)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV)
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man. (Matthew 15:19-20 NKJV)
As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin… For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:10-23 NIV)
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. …There is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? (Rom 7:18-23 NIV)
For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. (Rom 8:7 NLT)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3 NIV)
Confessions
Brief Statement of Faith
In sovereign love God created the world good and makes everyone equally in God’s image, male and female, of every race and people, to live as one community. But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator. Ignoring God’s commandments, we violate the image of God in others and ourselves, accept lies as truth, exploit neighbor and nature, and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care. We deserve God’s condemnation. (10.3)
Confession of 1967
In sin, men claim mastery of their own lives, turn against God and their fellow men, and become exploiters and despoilers of the world. They lose their humanity in futile striving and are left in rebellion, despair, and isolation. …All human virtue…is found to be infected by self-interest and hostility. All men, good and bad alike, are in the wrong before God and helpless without his forgiveness. Thus all men fall under God’s judgment. No one is more subject to that judgment than the man who assumes he is guiltless before God or morally superior to others. (9.12-13)
Heidelberg Catechism
God created man good and in his image. That is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might rightly know God his Creator, love him with his whole heart, and live with him in eternal blessedness, praising and glorifying him. (4.006)
By nature I am prone to hate God and my neighbor. (4.005)
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven, both against our inborn sinfulness and our actual sins, and he will punish them according to his righteous judgment in time and in eternity. (4.010)
Westminster Larger Catechism
The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually; which is commonly called original sin, and from which to proceed all actual transgressions. (7.135)
The Fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with God, his displeasure and curse; so we are by nature children of wrath, bondslaves to Satan, and justly liable to all punishments in this world and that which is to come. (7.137)
Scots Confession
By this transgression, generally known as original sin, the image of God was utterly defaced in man, and he and his children became by nature hostile to God, slaves to Satan, and servants to sin. And thus everlasting death has had, and shall have, power and dominion over all who have not been, are not, or shall not be reborn from above. (3.03)
What Is Not Affirmed…
We cannot affirm any doctrine—
The notion that human nature is basically good and self-redeemable through good effort, discipline, improved environment, etc.
The notion that man’s defective nature is the result of heredity or environment to such a degree that human beings are not morally responsible for their nature or behavior.
The notion that God is the author of sin or that sin is part of his original plan to educate and improve humankind.
JESUS CHRIST – INCARNATION OF THE ETERNAL WORD
Scripture
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. …The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. …From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. (John 1:1-3, 14-18 NIV)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20 NIV)
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV)
For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all—this was attested at the right time. (1Timothy 2:5 NRSV)
You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:31-35 NIV)
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. (2Corinthians 5:19 NKJV)
Just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19 NIV)
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. (1John 4:2-4 NIV)
Confessions
Nicene Creed
We believe…in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. (1.1-1.2)
Westminster Confession
The Son of God, the second Person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man’s nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof; yet without sin: being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. (6.044)
Brief Statement of Faith
We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. (10.2)
Confession of 1967
Jesus Christ is God with man. He is the eternal Son of the Father, who became man and lived among us to fulfill the work of reconciliation. …In Jesus of Nazareth, true humanity was realized once and for all. (9.07-9.08)
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm any doctrine—
- that affirms the deity but not the full humanity of Christ, or the humanity but not his full deity (as, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses do);
- that asserts that Jesus was an inspired or extraordinary or holy man, but was merely human in nature and not the incarnation in history of the eternal Son of God (as, for example, some classic liberal theology asserts);
- that attempts to supplement the authoritative revelation of the Old and New Testament scriptures concerning Jesus Christ and to propose a corrected or revised revelation of Jesus (as, for example, the Book of Mormon and Mormon teaching do);
- that discounts or discredits as untrue or as unhistoric myth all or portions of the New Testament record concerning Jesus (as, for example, the Jesus Seminar does);
- that does not affirm as biblical and true the death of Christ as the central saving act of our Christian faith, or
- that asserts that Jesus is merely one example, however noteworthy, of a divinely approved or divinely enlightened life;
- that asserts that Jesus is one Mediator between God and humankind among other religious options or among other spiritual or enlightened teachers or mediators;
- that contends that the Jesus Christ attested by scripture (and proclaimed by the church catholic) is essentially and significantly different from the historic Jesus of Nazareth;
- that misrepresents Jesus’ mission in New Age terms, compatible with pantheism or panentheism—namely, a message of human self-fulfillment and divine self-realization, that God is one being with the world or that human beings are essentially divine, and that all religious truth is harmonious and convergent.
- that detracts from Jesus’ supreme authority over every human authority, over the church, and over our individual moral lives.
JESUS CHRIST—HIS ATONING WORK
Scripture
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins... (1Cor 15:3 NKJV)
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. …For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2Cor 5:19,21 NKJV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1Jn 2:2 NIV)
For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. (Rom 3:25 NLT)
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. (1Peter 3:18 NRSV)
So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever. (Heb 9:11-12 NLT)
Christ has rescued us from the curse. …When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. (Gal 3:13 NLT)
You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt 1:21 NRSV)
… according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:19-23 NKJV)
Confessions
Confession of ’67
God’s reconciling act in Jesus Christ is a mystery which the Scriptures describe in various ways. It is called the sacrifice of a lamb, a shepherd’s life given for his sheep, atonement by a priest; again it is ransom of a slave, payment of debt, vicarious satisfaction of a legal penalty, and victory over the powers of evil. These are expressions of a truth which remains beyond the reach of all theory in the depths of God’s love for man. They reveal the gravity, cost, and sure achievement of God’s reconciling work. (9.09)
Heidelberg Catechism
Q.37. What do you understand by the word "suffered"?
A.37. That throughout his life on earth, but especially at the end of it, [Jesus Christ] bore in body and soul the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race, so that by his suffering, as the only expiatory sacrifice, he might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and might obtain for us God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life. (4.037)
Scots Confession
Christ’s death, passion, and burial. That our Lord Jesus offered himself a voluntary sacrifice unto his Father for us, that he suffered contradiction of sinners, that he was wounded and plagued for our transgressions, that he, the clean, innocent Lamb of God, was condemned in the presence of an earthly judge, that we should be absolved before the judgment seat of our God; that he suffered not only the cruel death of the cross, which was accursed by the sentence of God; but also that he suffered for a season the wrath of his Father which sinners had deserved. But yet we avow that he remained the only, well beloved, and blessed Son of his Father even in the midst of his anguish and torment which he suffered in his body and soul to make full atonement for the sins of his people. (3.09)
Heidelberg Catechism
Q.31 Why is he called CHRIST, that is, THE ANOINTED ONE?
A.31 Because he is anointed by God the Father and anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, fully revealing to us the secret purpose and will of God concerning our redemption; to be our only High Priest, having redeemed us by the one sacrifice of his body and ever interceding for us with the Father; and to be our eternal King, governing us by his Word and Spirit, and defending and sustaining us in the redemption he has won for us. (4.031)
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm any theology—
- that does not affirm as biblical and true the death of Christ as the central saving act of our Christian faith, or
- that rejects these teachings—atonement, substitutionary sacrifice, expiation for sins on the basis of Christ’s death—as obsolete, unworthy, unessential, or irrelevant, or
- that seeks to substitute some other basis or to promote some "more culturally relevant paradigm" for our salvation, justification, and reconciliation with God than Christ’s death on the Cross for us.
We also do not affirm the notion that Christ’s atoning work is universally applied to all or most of the human race, so that all or most are saved, regardless of their religion or non-religion and apart from hearing the gospel and believing in Christ.
Additional Scripture
We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1Cor 1:23-25 NIV)
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1Corinthians 2:2)
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)
SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
Scripture
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:22-26 NIV)
Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (Romans 5:1 NIV)
We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ. (Galatians 2:16 NRSV)
By grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (John 3:16 NRSV)
There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them. (Acts 4:12 NLT)
Confessions
2nd Helvetic Confession
All of us are by nature sinners and godless, and before God’s judgment seat are convicted of godlessness and are guilty of death. But…solely by the grace of Christ and not from any merit of ours or consideration for us, we are justified, that is, absolved from sin and death by God the Judge. …For Christ took upon himself and bore the sins of the world, and satisfied divine justice. Therefore, solely on account of Christ’s sufferings…[God] imputes Christ’s righteousness to us as our own. …Because we receive this justification, not through any works, but through faith in the mercy of God and in Christ, we therefore teach and believe with the apostle that sinful man is justified by faith alone in Christ. …Faith receives Christ our righteousness and attributes everything to the grace of God in Christ. (5.107-109)
WHAT IS FAITH? Christian faith is not an opinion or human conviction, but a most firm trust and a clear and steadfast assent of the mind, and then a most certain apprehension of the truth of God presented in the Scriptures an din the Apostles’ Creed, and thus also of God himself, the greatest good, and especially of God’s promise and of Christ, who is the fulfillment of all promises. …This faith is a pure gift of God. (5.112-113)
Heidelberg Catechism
Q.21. What is true faith?
A.21. It is not only a certain knowledge by which I accept as true all that God has revealed to us in his Word, but also a wholehearted trust which the Holy Spirit creates in me through the gospel, that, not only to others, but to me also, God has given the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation, out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work.
Q.60. How are you righteous before God?
A.60. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. In spite of the fact that my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have not kept any one of them, and that I am still ever prone to all that is evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of my own, out of pure grace, grants me the benefits of the perfect expiation of Christ, imputing to me his righteousness and holiness as if I had never committed a single sin or had ever been sinful, having fulfilled myself all the obedience which Christ has carried out for me, if only I accept such favor with a trusting heart.
Brief Statement of Faith
We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith.
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm—
any effort to earn salvation or work for righteousness—as though God’s favor or acceptance, salvation or righteousness could be obtained any other way than through faith in Jesus Christ.
We cannot affirm any doctrine—
- that asserts that salvation can be obtained through other religions or that other religions have equally valid solutions to the human problem, or that there is salvation in some other name besides Jesus Christ;
- that denies the radical sinfulness of human beings, their condemnation before a holy God, their lostness apart from Christ, or their need for a Savior;
- that teaches that God saves or will save everybody (or nearly everybody) regardless of their faith in Jesus Christ or whether they hear the gospel or not or whether they put their faith explicitly in Jesus Christ or not.
SECTION 2
REFORMED DISTINCTIVES
ELECTION FOR SALVATION AND SERVICE
Our salvation and sanctification are based entirely on God’s initiative and God’s grace. It is not primarily about our choice but God’s choice. The Reformed understanding of election is that God has chosen us in Christ for salvation and service—
- To be redeemed,
- To be God’s own "treasured possession," a holy nation and a kingdom of priests,
- To live holy and exemplary lives, zealous for good works,
- Resulting in praise for the glory of God’s grace.
Our salvation is not an accident we stumble into or a destiny we create. It is God’s gracious purpose for our life and it is for God’s glory.
God has elected us out of grace.
God has elected us from eternity.
We are elected (or predestined) in Christ, that is—
- Christ is God’s elected Son, chosen to redeem God’s creation and to be Mediator and Savior for humankind. Our election is not direct, but indirect—we are elected on account of Christ, with the result that those who are now grafted into Christ by faith are also be elected.
We are elected for a definite purpose—
- to glorify God by our redeemed and sanctified life.
Our faith in Christ and our good works are evidence and confirmation that we are elected.
Election is a doctrine intended to reassure Christians of the security of their salvation and of the steadfast love of God for them, and to instill in them a sense of divine purpose and a zeal for good works.
A person may know with complete assurance, on the basis of the promises of scripture and God’s faithfulness, that if they are trusting in Christ for their salvation, they indeed are in Christ and are elected.
COVENANT AND COVENANT LIFE
Covenant, in the cultural context of the Bible, described the strongest relationship of love and loyalty between persons. It was a solemn relationship and bond, often with explicit oaths and obligations, often sealed solemnly with the blood of sacrifice. Reconciliation after hostility and conflict was often marked by a covenant ceremony. A covenant was entered into by faith as a relationship of trust and solemn promises; it was held together by faithfulness. Covenant faithfulness led to blessing and life; breaking covenant invoked a curse. Covenants described the relationship between rulers and subjects, wife and husband, business partners, neighboring nations. God adapted this covenant model to describe his special relationship and bond with the people he redeemed.
God’s covenants had different forms and details at different times in salvation history (for example, with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David), but they reflected a single sovereign and gracious purpose to redeem, sanctify, and preserve a people who belonged to God. The divine covenant was always initiated by God; it was sustained by God’s faithfulness in spite of humankind’s history of unfaithfulness; it was an expression of God’s steadfast love (Heb., hesed); and it reached a culmination and fullness in the "new covenant" (Lk 22:20) established and perfected by Jesus Christ.
In Jesus, the promised Messiah, we encounter personally and directly the Mediator of God’s perfect and everlasting covenant (Heb 9:15). Jesus has perfectly fulfilled the obligations of the covenant for us; he has demonstrated complete faithfulness to God as a covenant partner. In his substitutionary death he took on himself the curse for our covenant breaking, ended the hostility our sins had caused, reconciled us and made us right with God. Those who put their faith in Christ are spiritually united with him, enter the new covenant where there is salvation and redemption, become members of the covenant community called the church, and enjoy the covenant promises of eternal life and blessing.
Every believer is called to be a faithful and participating member of a local church, where "the community of the new covenant" has local expression and where they can be discipled into holiness and maturity. The community of the new covenant is to be a demonstration of the supernatural reality and power of the kingdom of God—what the world looks like and might become where God is acknowledged as King; a community of love and wholeness; a ministry extending the healing, deliverance, and grace that marked the life of Jesus and his disciples.
SACRAMENTS
The church receives from the Lord Jesus Christ two sacred and symbolic actions, called sacraments, which enact and perform (symbolize and seal) the promises of the gospel. These sacraments are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is the sign and seal of incorporation into Christ and of the washing away of sin through his sacrifice. The Lord’s Supper, using bread and wine, is the sign and seal of our ongoing communion with the living Christ and of his life continuing to nourish us. Both sacraments point to and remind us of the holy sacrifice of Christ for us. The Holy Spirit uses these sacraments—the common signs of water and of bread and wine, combined with the promises in the gospel of eternal life and forgiveness through Christ—to convey grace, salvation, and the real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, which are received in faith by the believing community in their worship together.
SANCTIFICATION AND THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the individual and collective life of believers effects real transformation—a life of increasing holiness, righteousness, power, and love, as we are changed more and more into the image of Christ. Though Christians are marred by sin and imperfect until Christ returns, there is a substantial manifestation of the righteousness and power of the kingdom of God in the believer, the church, and the world through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit connects us to the life of Christ and releases in us the supernatural and saving power of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and glory.
PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS
Every believer, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, is called to participate in his priestly ministry. A priest functions to reconcile people to God. Jesus Christ is the eternal high priest of God’s new covenant, who offered himself as an atoning sin offering on our behalf and who is our eternal advocate before the throne of God. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." All believers are called as disciples to do this ministry of Jesus—to participate in his priestly work of reconciling the world to God by proclaiming the gospel, doing the works of Jesus, and manifesting the reality and power of the kingdom of God in the world. This ministry is not reserved exclusively for ordained clergy and officers, but is the vocational privilege and responsibility of every Christian.
MISSION OF THE CHURCH
God’s redeeming and reconciling work in the world was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and continues through the church, the body of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven in the world.
Jesus Christ, as the Lord of the church, calls the church into being, declares its mission, and supernaturally equips it for its work. Its mission is:
- To be the provisional demonstration of the new reality God intends for humanity;
- To proclaim the good news of salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, leading persons to repentance, acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord, and new life as his disciples;
- To make disciples of all nations;
- To demonstrate new life in Christ tangibly through its love for one another and the quality of its common life together, sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
- To participate in God’s activity in the world through its life for others.
The church is to commit itself fully to this mission, waiting for and hastening the Lord’s coming again.
STEWARDSHIP
God has given us all that we have and all that we are. He charges us with the responsibility of using all our abilities and gifts in his faithful service and to his glory—and especially to further the work and mission of the church, to relieve suffering and help the poor, to resist the devil and overcome evil. In particular God has ordered us to manage and care for creation as grateful stewards and obedient servants.
Jesus Christ is Lord of every area of our life—our spiritual life and our physical life; our social life including marriage, politics, justice, and culture; our intellectual life; our work life and our recreational life; the use of our bodies, our possessions, our resources, and our money. We are to be stewards of all of these things to manifest and extend the kingdom of God in the world, to extend the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, and to bring glory to the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
APPENDIX B
REFORMED DISTINCTIVES:
SCRIPTURE AND CONFESSIONAL REFERENCES
This appendix contains biblical and confessional references on which each distinctive is based as well as an explanation of doctrines and theological directions that are not to be affirmed.
ELECTION FOR SALVATION AND SERVICE
Scripture
For he chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:4-7)
In [Christ] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:11-13)
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last." (Jn 15:5,8,16 NLT)
[God] saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, (2Timothy 1:9 NIV)
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Ps 139:16)
Confessions
2nd Helvetic Confession
- From eternity God has freely, and of his mere grace, without any respect to men, predestinated or elected the saints whom he wills to save in Christ. (5.052)
- Not on account of any merit of ours, God has elected us, not directly, but in Christ, and on account of Christ, in order that those who are now ingrafted into Christ by faith, might also be elected. (5.053)
- The preaching of the gospel is to be heard, and it is to be believed; and it is to be held as beyond doubt that if you believe and are in Christ, you are elected. …Let Christ, therefore, be the looking glass, in whom we may contemplate our predestination. (5.059-60)
Scots Confession
That same eternal God and Father, who by grace alone chose us in his Son Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world was laid, appointed him to be our head, our brother, our pastor, and the great bishop of our souls. (3.08)
What Is Not Affirmed
We cannot affirm any doctrine--
- That denies God’s initiative in calling person’s to Himself.
- That asserts that all people will ultimately be reconciled to God.
- That asserts a profession of faith without bearing any fruit.
COVENANT AND COVENANT LIFE
Scripture
- God’s covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18) included a promise to never again destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:8-17).
- God’s covenant with Abraham included a promise of land and descendents (Genesis 17:1-8).
- God’s covenant with the people of Israel included release from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 19:3-6).
- His covenant with David included a promise that his descendents would have an everlasting kingdom and that his throne would be established forever (2Samuel 7:12-16).
- Through the prophets, God did speak of a new covenant to come—God’s same covenant of relationship, but fulfilled in a new way (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 31:31-34; Isaiah 9:6-7).
And for this reason He (Jesus Christ) is the mediator of a new covenant…(Hebrews 9:15 NASB)
Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ… and strangers to the covenants of promise…But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13 NASB)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation… (I Peter 2:9,10 NASB)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28 NASB)
Confessions
Scots Confession
As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we firmly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk… (3.16)
Second Helvetic Confession
What is the Church? The Church is an assembly of the faithful called or gathered out of the world; …those who truly know and rightly worship and serve the true God in Christ the Savior, by the Word and Holy Spirit, and who by faith are partakers of all benefits which are freely offered through Christ. (5.125-5.126)
Confession of 1967
To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as his reconciling community.… The church maintains continuity with the apostles and with Israel by faithful obedience to his call. (9.31)
What Is Not Affirmed
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