[CS-FSLUG] RFC: Change of Statement of Faith

[Nigel Ridley]

Timothy Butler wrote:
> 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
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ChristianSource FSLUG mailing list
> Christiansource at ofb.biz
> http://cs.uninetsolutions.com
> 
> 

Tim,

Isn't the following (not the baptism part) going to create difficulties
for Roman Catholics?:

> 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.

It basically excludes them..........

Blessings,

Nigel

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