[CS-FSLUG] RFC: Change of Statement of Faith
Timothy Butler
tbutler at ofb.biz
Sun Sep 4 16:53:01 CDT 2005
Dear List Members:
You administration team has been discussing changing the
ChristianSource statement of faith. Ultimately, our goal is to have a
statement that follows the motto:
"In Essentials, unity,
In non-essentials, charity,
In all things, Christ."
-Chrysostom.
The existing statement of faith, we have agreed, needed some
improvements in this regard. It has gone unchanged since January
2002, when CS was established. Instead of modifying the existing
statement, and continuing to promote yet another such document, we
have agreed to adopt the Sakamuyan Declaration, already in use by
Sakamuyo Christian Fellowship, another internet-based ministry. The
Sakamuyan Declaration has several more years of experience and two
very excellent additional authors over the CS statement, which I
believe makes it better, while still including some of the good ideas
from the CS statement. You'll find the primary component of the
statement included below.
For what it is worth, the new statement was authored by two CS-
FSLUG members (Ed Hurst and myself) and one former CS member (Kevin H.).
Before we institute this change, we would like to take the time
to invite list members to comment on the change.
Blessings,
Tim
------
The Sakamuyan Declaration
Sakamuyo Christian Fellowship Declaration of Faith and Belief:
We, as members of the Sakamuyo Network [replace with ChristianSource,
in our case], affirm the essentials of the faith expressed in the
Apostle's and Nicene creeds. We also affirm the following points as
the essentials of the Christian faith and as the minimum requirements
to become a part of the earthly expression of the one true and holy
church of Jesus Christ.
I. We affirm the one true God of the Bible, all powerful, all knowing
and eternal; we affirm that God exists in three persons, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit and that these three are one.
II. We affirm the Earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
affirm His existence as God made flesh, both fully God and fully Man.
We believe in his physical death and his physical resurrection after
three days in the tomb.
III. We affirm the presence of the Holy Spirit in all believers as
the divine comforter sent by God to provide support and guidance
since the time of Pentecost.
IV. We affirm all humanity was made in the image of God, but through
willful disobedience fell into a corrupt state of sin. In this fallen
state we are totally depraved and unable to in anyway bring about our
own salvation.
V. We affirm God, in His mercy and despite our depravity, chose to
bestow completely unmerited grace upon anyone who would personally
accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior through repentance and
faith. This is made possible through the vicarious atonement provided
by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was sinless and
innocent of the punishment bestowed on him for our sake. We believe
that works after salvation show only the fruit of the Spirit and in
no way are necessary to obtain or retain saving grace. A personal
relationship with Jesus is the key to true membership in the Church.
VI. We affirm the Bible as the true, holy and divine revelation of
God. We accept the universally accepted 27 books of the New Testament
and the Jewish canon of 39 books as the inspired Word of God through
which other revelations ought to be interpreted. While the full Truth
of God is larger than the Bible, the Bible is wholly Truth. We affirm
the validity of the scripture canon and believe the entirety of God's
Word must be included in our theology. We believe between the front
and back covers of the Bible in its original form, we find what God
intended to have written.
VII. We affirm Baptism and Communion as sacraments instituted by
Christ for this age as outward signs of inward spiritual grace.
Neither baptism nor communion are necessary for salvation nor the
continued remission of sins.
VIII. We affirm all professing Christians ought make every effort to
keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
IX. We believe in the triumphant return of the Son at the end of the
age, the judgment of all the people of the world, and the eternal
sentence to bliss or condemnation.
X. We affirm all Christians, as members of the body of Christ, are
called to follow the Great Commission given to us by our Lord before
he ascended to Heaven. Christians, regardless of status as laity or
clergy, should seek to make disciples and be instrumental in
baptizing and teaching them the commandments of Christ to the very
end of this age.
---
Timothy R. Butler | "Now that I am a Christian I do have moods
Editor, OfB.biz | in which the whole thing looks very improbable:
tbutler at ofb.biz | but when I was an atheist I had moods in which
timothybutler.us | Christianity looked terribly probable."
-- C.S. Lewis
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