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Confessing Church Resolution for
Preamble Resolved, that the Session of the Presbyterian Church of Islip meeting the 10th day of May, 2001 announces our commitment to the Confessing Church Movement within the Presbyterian Church (USA). In doing so, we join faithful believers throughout the Church in confessing the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture and God's standards for holiness. We have made this decision out of our concern about the course which elected officials of our denomination are following. Many actions which are being promoted and sanctioned by those elected officials stand in opposition to "the faith once delivered"1 as stated in Scripture, the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order. By this resolution we reaffirm our commitment to the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the Book of Confessions, and reflected in the Book of Order, as standards for the guidance and governance of the church, "subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him."2 We therefore endorse the following statements: "Jesus is Lord" Jesus said, . . .‘I am the way, the truth and the life.
We believe and confess that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation. As it is the primary mission of the Church to proclaim "the gospel for the salvation of humankind,"3 no minister of the Word and Sacrament, elder or deacon can proclaim that there are other ways to God, other ways to salvation, apart from Jesus Christ.4 Jesus Christ alone: is "the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father;"5 is the Word of God by Whom all things were made;6 came into the world to die on a cross for "us and our salvation," to "cleanse us from all sins;"7 "at the cost of his blood. . .has redeemed us body and soul from sin and all the dominion of the devil, and has bought us for his very own;"8 provides, by his death, reconciliation between God and his people;9 is the only true source of eternal life for all who confess faith in him.10 "It is written. . ." Man shall not live by bread alone,
We believe and confess that Holy Scripture, as immediately inspired in Hebrew and Greek, and "kept pure in all ages," is the Triune God's revealed Word, the Church's only infallible rule of faith and life.11 The Holy Spirit bears witness to us that the Bible is "the most complete exposition of all that pertains to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God,"12 therefore the authority of Scripture is from God not from counsels of men.13 "Be transformed. . ." Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
We believe and so confess that God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life -- a call to walk according to the Spirit, under the grace and mercy of God, and not according to the wisdom of the world.14 We believe that the call to holiness includes honoring the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.15 We call upon all officers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) who share these historic Christian convictions to renew their commitment to the standards and essential tenets contained in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). We call upon members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to urge their session and presbytery to affirm these confessions and to declare that they will not ordain, install or employ in any ministry position any person who will not affirm them. We urge the 2001 General Assembly to instruct the General Assembly Council to require that all program personnel uphold these confessions and ensure that these confessions are followed faithfully in all programs and policies of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Signed:
Endnotes The following references are representative of the Scriptural and Constitutional support for the preceding statements. 1 Jude 3; also see Minutes of the 206th General Assembly (1994), Part 1, p.88. 2 G-2.0200 3 Mt.28:18-20; Lk. 24:46-47; Acts 1:8; G-1.0100b-G-1.0200 4 Acts 3:16; 4:12; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 19:16; Barmen, 8.11; G-1.0100a 5 Lk. 9:35; Jn. 10:30; 17:1-5; Nicene, 1.2; Apostles’, 2.2; Scots, 3.01; 3.06; Helvetic, 5.016; Westminster, 6.013; SC, 7.006; LC, 7.119-121 6 Jn. 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2ff.; Scots, 3.01; Helvetic, 5.032; Westminster, 6.022 7 Jn. 1:29; Rom. 3:21-26; 1Jn. 1:9; Nicene, 1.2; Heidelberg, 4.040; 8 Matt. 26:28; Lk. 22:20; Acts 20:28; Col. 1:20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5; 5:9; Scots, 3.09; Heidelberg, 4.034 9 Rom. 5:6-10; 2Cor. 5:18-19; Helvetic, 5.076; Barmen, 8.14; 1967, 9.07 10 Lk. 12:8; Jn. 3:16-17; Acts 2:37-39; Rom. 10:8-11; 1Jn. 5:20; Heidelberg, 4.029-030; Helvetic, 5.062-079; Westminster, 6.078-080; SC, 7.021; LC, 7.146; 1967, 9.11; Brief, 10.2 11 Westminster, 6.002; SC, 7.002; LC, 7.113; G-1.0307 12 Jn. 16:13-14; 1Cor. 2:6-16; Scots, 3.19; Helvetic, 5.001; Westminster, 6.004-006; SC, 7.089; LC, 7.114; 1967, 9.27; W-2.2001 13 2Tim. 3:16; Scots, 3.19; Helvetic, 5.002-003; Westminster, 6.010; SC, 7.002-003; LC, 7.112; 7.115; 7.265; 1967, 9.49 14 Ps. 1; 24:3-5; Hos. 10:12; Mic. 6:8; Mt. 5; 10:38-39; Lk. 1:74-75; 6:40; 9:23-25; Jn. 8:1-12; Rom. 6:1-7; 8; 12:1-2; 1Cor. 6:9-11; 2Cor. 7:1; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 2:1-6; 4:17-24; 5:1-21; 1Tim. 5:22; Heb. 12:14-16; 1Pet. 1:13-16; 2Pet. 3:11-18; Scots, 3.12-3.14; Heidelberg, 4.086-091; Helvetic, 5.093-094; Westminster, 6.075-077; LC, 7.185-186; Barmen, 8.13-15 15 Gen. 2:20-24; Mt. 5:31-32; Mk. 10:6-9; Eph. 5:22-33; 1Tim. 3:12; Heb. 13:4; Heidelberg, 4.108-109; Helvetic, 5.246; Westminster, 6.133-139; LC, 7.248; SC, 7.070-072; G-6.0106b; W-4.9001
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