BRF Witness
Volume 25, Number 5
September/October 1990
PREAMBLE
We evangelical renewal leaders from North American mainline churches gathered at Wheaton in DuPage County, Illinois March 19, 20, 1990 express our concern for the church of Jesus Christ in its drift away from the evangelical faith. What is needed, we believe, is a genuine revival rooted in the Word of God. We, therefore, present this declaration: A Call to Biblical Fidelity.
This declaration represents our understanding of theological and moral issues that are now in dispute in our churches. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of church doctrines and concerns.
It is offered in the spirit of Christ, our Savior and Judge, who calls each of us to confess our complicity in private and public sin, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God” (1 Peter 4:17, NIV; cf. 2 Timothy 4:1-5). We resolve to serve Him with total fidelity and obedience to His Word.
DECLARATION
I
We affirm the Trinitarian name of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We deny that these designations are mere metaphors drawn from the cultural experience of the past and may therefore be replaced by new symbols reflecting the cultural ethos of today.
II
We affirm that God has revealed Himself fully and decisively in Jesus Christ as attested in Holy Scripture.
We deny that there are other revelations in nature or history that fulfill or complete this one revelation of God.
III
We affirm that there is only one way to salvation–God’s way to us in Jesus Christ, which is apprehended by faith alone through God’s grace.
We deny that other religions are pathways to salvation, or that one can be in a right relationship with God apart from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
IV
We affirm that Jesus Christ is God incarnate in human flesh, fully human and fully divine, different from all other human beings in kind, not simply in degree.
We deny that Jesus Christ is essentially the flower of humanity, a spiritual master, a paradigm of what all human beings can become.
V
We affirm that Holy Scripture is the written Word of God, the uniquely inspired testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the history of biblical Israel culminating in Jesus Christ. The scriptures of the Old and New Testaments take precedence over experience, tradition and reason and are therefore our infallible standard for faith and practice.
We deny that Holy Scripture is a merely human document that records the religious experiences of a past people, that it is only an aid in understanding our experiences in the present rather than a rule that is used by the Spirit of God to direct the people of God in every age.
VI
We affirm the biblical guidelines for human sexuality: chastity outside of marriage, lifelong fidelity and holiness in marriage, and celibacy for the sake of the kingdom.
We deny that premarital or extramarital relations, trial marriages, cohabitation outside of marriage, homosexual relations and so-called homosexual unions, can ever be in genuine accord with the will and purpose of God for his people.
VII
We affirm the sanctity of human life at every stage based on our creation in the image of God and our election by God for service in his kingdom.
We deny, for example, that the personal choice of either parent takes precedence over the right of the unborn child to life in the service of God’s glory. We deplore the continuing traffic of abortion as the slaughter of innocents, which can only be an abomination in the sight of God.
VIII
We affirm that the mission of the church is to spread the good news of salvation by word and deed to a lost and despairing humanity. This mission to proclaim the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to all nations calls people of faith to discipleship and obedience in the pursuit of personal and social holiness. We further affirm that the fruit of the gospel proclamation is justice, mercy and peace.
We deny that the mission of the church is the self-development of exploited peoples or the political liberation of oppressed peoples.