The primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas.
How, then, should we proceed in our interactions with other faiths, other denominations, and other ministries? Let us be guided by the words of Marco Antonio de Dominis[1] that became the motto of the Reformers in the 16th century:
In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.
(Unity in the essential matters, liberty in the unclear and not-yet revealed, charity in all)
In the essentials of Christian faith and conduct, we are in complete union and agreement with our fellow, Scriptural Protestants; in the non-essentials and in cases where Scripture is open to different interpretation, we lean toward a more conservative reading of the Word but relish our academic arguments with our Christian Brothers and Sisters; in our differences in matters of practice, we defer to love and charity.
In the matter of church practice, we seek unity rather than uniformity, asking that we might be spared criticism until we are better informed, as “it is too great [an] arrogancy for any man or church to think that he or they have so sounded the Word of God unto the bottom, as precisely to set down the Church’s discipline without error in substance or circumstance, that no other without blame may digress or differ in anything from the same.”[2]
STATEMENT OF FAITH
This Statement of Faith serves as the spiritual and practical foundation of our Assembly.
Section 1: God
We believe in one God, Creator of the universe, who has revealed Himself in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Section 2: The Revelation of God
We believe that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His creation and through His Word.
Section 3: The Word of God
We believe that the Word of God, fully and solely contained in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired and inerrant Word of God.
Section 4: Interpretation of the Word
We believe that, for the mature Christian, the Holy Spirit is the best and all-sufficient teacher; we acknowledge that He does not always teach when we desire but that we may have to entreat Him again and again with prayer while patiently waiting for the explanation He has promised to give.
Section 5: Salvation by Faith Rather than by Works
We believe that salvation is received by grace alone and through faith alone and that no man comes to the Father but by the Son. At the same time, we believe that, while good works are not a requirement for salvation, good works and right behavior are the inevitable result of that salvation and are the visible manifestation of the Effectual Call of the Holy Spirit.
Section 6: The Last Things
We believe that our Heavenly Father will bring an end to the world in His own time, that the resurrected Christ will personally and visibly return in the clouds for the rapture of His Elect, and that He will return to the earth in wrath and glory to bring about the End of the Ages. We believe that, in the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will rise for judgment, and that the Elect will receive eternal reward while the many will suffer eternal damnation.
Section 7: The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
Fully acknowledging that God foreordained His Elect before the foundation of the world and fully acknowledging that no event transpires outside the decretive or permissive wills of God, we acknowledge that many of even our loved ones will not be called to believe and will thus deservingly suffer eternal damnation. In this, we acknowledge that God is the sovereign Creator of all things and submit ourselves to the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR
Section 8: The Chief and Highest End of Man
We believe that the chief and highest end of each man and woman is to glorify God and fully to enjoy Him forever (The Westminster Larger Catechism, question 1[3]).
Section 9: The Duty which God Requireth
We believe that the duty which God requireth of each man and woman is obedience to His revealed will (The Westminster Larger Catechism, question 91).
Section 10: The Law of God
We believe that the decretive Will of God is outlined in His Ten Commandments, whose meanings and effects are revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in our study of Scripture and which are given to us as a yardstick of measurement so that we might appreciate His great gift of salvation in spite of our flawed and fallen nature.
Section 11: The Law of Man
As these have been appointed by God, we believe that we are bound to obey our secular authorities; nevertheless, we believe that we are commanded to obey our secular authorities only until such time as the law of man conflicts with the Law of God.
Section 12: The Equality of Man & Woman
We believe that man and woman, although assigned different duties and authorities, are created as equals in the image of God.
Section 13: The Sanctity of Life
We believe in the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death and in the obligation to preserve life: our own, of the unborn, the lives of those in peril, and the lives of those who are drawn toward death.
Section 14: Sex
We believe that sex is a gift of God, a duty to our spousal partner, good and pleasurable and meant to be thoroughly enjoyed beyond its necessary role in procreation but a blessing to be enjoyed solely within the boundaries of marriage.
Section 15: Marriage
We believe that the marriage Covenant was ordained by God to be a union of one biological man and one biological woman. Such Covenant is to serve as the model for Christ’s relationship with His Church, as the model for love and forgiveness, as the model for loyalty and permanence, and as the model for the consensual hierarchy established by our Creator. Once joined in that Covenant, we believe that man and woman are inseparable save for the death or adultery of the spouse and that, once entered in Covenant, the primary responsibility of each is to help the beloved die in a state of grace.
Section 16: The Reprobation of Same-Sex Intimacy and the Difficulties of Gender Identity[4]
We believe that God created two genders, man and woman, and that His gift of physical intimacy was ordained to be shared only between one biological man married to one biological woman; counseling and “gender-affirming” care must focus solely on helping the bewildered to live comfortably in one’s given biological body, no matter how difficult; we view the “Pride” flag not as an expression of free speech but as a willful misappropriation of a symbol of God (Genesis 9:13-17), flown purposely to celebrate sin (Romans 1:17-31) and to mock a God who will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7).
Section 17: The Great Commission
Fully acknowledging that not all will be called to salvation, we believe that fulfilling the Great Commission is the bounden duty of every man and woman called to Christ, and that it is the bounden duty of all believers to witness to the Truth of God’s Word either by active evangelism or by the support of the evangelic work of those more suited and able.
Section 18: The Tithe
As a matter of obedience and to support the work of the Church, members of the Assembly are expected to tithe of their income.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CHURCH PRACTICE
Section 19: The Continuity of the Assembly[5]
In essential matters of faith, we rely on the Word of God and its interpretation given to us by the Holy Spirit; in non-essential matters of practice and in matters left unexplained by the Holy Spirit, we seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we engage in prayer and spirit-led debate.
Although the Puritans embraced the teachings and reforms of the Genevan theologian John Calvin and traveled to the New World as “Separatists” from the Church of England, we recognize that there was never a full agreement on what defined a “Puritan-Calvinist.”
We, at First Puritan, believe that the Separatist movement—while it may have been necessary at the time—was largely nationalistic and, at times, went too far in moving away from profitable customs and traditions that godly men and church practice had established over many centuries. As John Calvin himself observed, the true task before us is to become “Christian” rather than to be a slavish adherent to a “denomination” more concerned with adoring and idolizing itself rather than Christ.
Section 20: The Independence of the Assembly
We believe that matters of church practice unrelated to faith and right conduct are matters of the particular Assembly.
Section 21: The Independence of Pulpit & Pew
To preserve the institutional separation of pulpit and pew, the minister, upon considering the advice of the Elders, holds full authority in matters of teaching, application, and pastoral care whereas the Council of Elders, upon considering the advice of the minister, holds full authority in matters of church practice and administration, so long as such practice conforms to Scripture.
Section 22: The Separation of Church & State
To preserve the institutional separation of church and state, no member of the Assembly may serve as a ruling Elder of the Assembly while concurrently serving as a civil magistrate (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
THE MINISTER’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE ELDERS AND TO HIS ASSEMBLY
Section 23: Theological Error
Although we do not suggest a democracy in matters of theology, we believe it is the primary duty of the Elders to protect the church from error. Consequently, let the Elders read through the minister’s lessons prior to their delivery so that all are, or can be convinced to be, in accord of the message.[6]
Section 24: Public Confession
As the chief of sinners at First Puritan, let the minister call the Elders (and all else who would come) before the first service of the Sabbath to hear his public confession.[7]
Such an awkward and humiliating example is not, of course, so that the Elders might “forgive” (reserved for God alone) his transgressions but for the minister’s own correction and guidance, and so to keep him from the seed of all sin, which is PRIDE.
Section 25: Moral Compass
Hypocrisy exposed on social media to the detriment of the Church—whether true or not true or merely inferred—is a weapon of choice that the Devil uses against those who oppose Him. If the minister is without wife, let the Elders not be averse to helping their shepherd walk a path that is without reproach.
Therefore, as shepherd to the Assembly who must lead by example, the minister ought
- to submit to a rigid, moral oversight by the Elders, providing unscheduled access to his living quarters (if unmarried) as well as to his laptop and cell phone, likewise providing access to all internet history as well as passwords to all pastoral, social media, and bank accounts;
- to keep from any situation that would give even the slightest temptation or appearance of compromise or suspicion—neither traveling nor dining with, neither meeting nor counseling nor confessing—any woman or child minor who is not accompanied by a spouse, parent, Elder, or such chaperone as designated by the Elders;
- to keep from communicating with any woman or child minor without the full knowledge and consent of the spouse or parent or, as may be necessary in some cases, the Elders; and
- to keep from unnecessary distraction in the civil management of the church, avoiding direct contact with funds and assets of the church and leaving these to be collected, dispersed, and monitored by the Elders.
__________________________________________________
[1] Marco Antonio de Dominis (1560-1624), Catholic Archbishop of Split (Spalato), in his anti-Papal De Republica Ecclesiastica (1617).
[2] William Bradford (1590-1657), Puritan Separatist and Governor of the Plymouth Colony, Of Plimouth Plantation, (diary entry of 1626).
[3] The Westminster (Larger) Catechism, published in 1647 in a 196 question-and-answer format, is the central catechism of the Reformed Church. This format of the catechism was popularized by Martin Luther as an aid to learning the fundamental elements of faith; prior to the Reformation, “religious instruction” for the illiterate masses was largely a matter of having the Christian memorize the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles’ Creed, and of hearing the Church’s reinterpretations read from the pulpit.
[4] In Scripture, “reprobate” is used “to describe individuals who are morally corrupt, rejected by God, or beyond the hope of salvation due to their persistent sinfulness and refusal to repent. The concept of reprobation is closely associated with themes of divine judgment and the consequences of a hardened heart.” See “Reprobate,” in Biblehub.com. Paul, in Romans 1:18-32, confirms these as “morally corrupt,” “rejected by God,” and “beyond hope of salvation.”
[5] As in most Protestant denominations, we believe that Christ prescribed the ordinances of baptism and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, practiced “foot-washing,” and encouraged the examination of conscience and the confession of sin. We use the term “ordinance” rather than “sacrament” to distinguish ourselves from the Catholics who have added ceremonies that have no Scriptural basis.
[6] In addition to the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the commentaries of learned men, the diversity of our collective experience, stages of life, genders, depths of theological understanding, etc. provide insights into the Holy text to which the minister, alone in his study, may never come.
[7] Regarding the matter of the examination of conscience and the confession of sin, Luther was a strong advocate of such confession; Calvin spoke openly of the things he had done wrong, claiming there was little use in hiding his sins because God and the angels already knew of them. And so what should the minister care if the Elders or even the entire Assembly would know that he is a sinner if the Elders would assist him on his far more important walk with Christ? And so, likewise, what should the penitent care if the minister would know that he is a sinner if the minister would assist him on his own walk with Christ?
It would do all of us well to consider the words of Dr. Luther:
More and greater sins are committed when people are alone than when they are in society. When Eve, in paradise, walked by herself, the devil deceived her. In solitary places are committed murders, robberies, [and] adulteries . . . for in solitude the devil has place and occasion to mislead people. But whosoever is in honest company is ashamed to sin, or at least has no opportunity for it; and moreover, our Savior Christ promised: When two or more are gathered in my name, there will I be in the midst of them.
Martin Luther, “Of Temptation and Tribulation” (DCLXIII), in Table Talk (1566). Table Talk is a collection of discussions in which Martin Luther engaged at the dinner table and elsewhere, reconstructed from notes of students and visitors and published in 1566.
Although First Puritan does not provide the opportunity for the public confession of sin by anyone but the minister, let the shepherd offer the private examination of conscience under the Anglican banner of none “must,” all “may,” and most “should” . . . as we must not throw profitable tradition out with the bathwater.