CHURCH COVENANT
Forasmuch as Almighty God by His grace has been pleased to call us (whose names are underneath subscribed) out of darkness into His marvelous light, and all of us have been regularly baptized upon a profession of our faith in Christ Jesus and have given up ourselves to the Lord and to one another in a gospel church way to be governed and guided by a proper discipline agreeable to the word of God; We do therefore in the name of our Lord Jesus and by His assistance covenant and agree to keep up the discipline of the church we are members of in the most brotherly affection towards each other while we endeavor particularly to observe the following rules:
In brotherly love to pray for each other, to watch over one another and if need be in the most tender and affectionate manner to reprove one another; that is, if we discover anything amiss in a brother, to go and tell him his fault according to the direction given by our Lord in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, and not to be whispering and backbiting. We also agree with God's assistance to pray in our families, attend our church meetings, observe the Lord's day and keep it holy, and not absent ourselves from the communion of the Lord's Supper without a lawful excuse; to be ready to communicate to the defraying of the church's expenses and for the support of the ministry.
These things we do covenant and agree to observe and keep sacred in the name of and by the assistance of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
ARTICLES OF FAITH
1. We believe in the Divine Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures – both Old and New Testament and receive them as a gracious revelation of the mind and will of God (Deut 4:2; Ps. 19:7; Prov. 30:5,6; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; Rev. 22:18; John 5:39). We believe that therein are revealed all the doctrines and truths which we here state and believe (2 Tim. 3:15-17). [Of the many translations of the Bible from the original language, we believe the King James translation to be the best.]
2. We believe that there is but one living and true God (Exo. 3:14; Deut. 4:35; Deut. 6:4; Num. 23:19; 1Sam. 2:2,3; Ps. 90:2, Ps 115:3, Ps 139:7-10; Ecc. 3:14; Isa. 46:9; Jer. 10:10, Jer. 23:24; Mal. 3:6; Mark 12:29; John 4:24; 1Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16); that there are Three Persons in the Godhead – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19; John 1:1; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 John 5:7; Jude 20,21); and that these Three Persons are equal in nature, power and glory, and we believe that the Son and the Holy Ghost are as truly and as properly God as the Father (John 10:15, John 10:30; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 1:3, Heb. 9:14).
3. We believe in the everlasting and unchangeable love of God (Jer. 31:3) and that before the foundation of the world the Father did elect a certain number of the human race unto everlasting salvation whom He did predestinate unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will (Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:2-11; 1 Thes. 5:9; 2 Tim. 1:9; 1 John 3:1; 1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 2:9) and we believe that in fulfilling this gracious design He did make a covenant of Grace and peace with the Son and with the Holy Ghost on behalf of those persons thus chosen (John 1:17) and that in this covenant the Son was appointed a Saviour and all spiritual blessings provided for the elect, and also that their persons with all the grace and glory designed for them were put into the hands of the Son as their Covenant Head and made His care and charge (Ps. 111:8,9; Isa. 54:10, Isa. 55:3; John 6:37, John 17:2; Acts 4:12; Rom. 8:29,30; Eph. 2:13; Heb. 2:13; Heb. 6:17,18; Heb. 8:8-13).
4. We believe in the Fall of Adam and that by it the whole of the human race became involved in and guilty of Original Sin; and that as they are born into the world the whole of their posterity are in consequence actual transgressors against God (Rom. 5:12-21; Ps. 58:3) and we believe that by the fall all men were rendered both unable and unwilling spiritually to believe in, seek after, or love God until born again and called by the Holy Ghost (Gen. 6:5; Gen. 8:21; Job 19:4; Job 24:4; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 13:23; Rom. 3:10-24; 1 Cor. 15:22; Eph. 2:3, 1 John 5:19).
5. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, being set up from everlasting as the Mediator of the new Covenant and having engaged to be the Surety of His people, did in the fullness of time really and truly assume human nature, and not before in whole or in part (Prov. 8:23). We believe that though He existed from all eternity as the eternal Son of God (John 1:18; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 1:5,8; 2 John 3; Rev. 1:8), the human soul of the Lord Jesus did not exist before it was created and formed in His body by Him who forms the soul of man within him, when that body was conceived under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Luke 1:26-38: John 1:14; Gal. 4:4) and that in it He really suffered, bled, and died as the Substitute and Surety for His people in their room and stead and for no others (John 10:15, 20; John 17:9, 13) whereby together with His holy spotless life, He fulfilled the law and satisfied all the claims of justice as well as made a way for all those blessings which are needful for His people both for now and eternity (Heb. 9:22-28).
6. We believe that the eternal redemption which Christ has obtained by the shedding of His blood is special and particular (Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:12-15) – that is to say, that it was intentionally designed only for the Elect of God, the sheep of Christ, who therefore alone share in the special and peculiar blessings thereof (Isa. 35:10; John 10:15; Acts 13:48; Acts 20:28; Rom 5:8-10; Rom 8:33, 34; Rom 9:13, 15, 16).
7. We believe that the justification of God's elect is only by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ being imputed to them (Isa. 45:24; Isa. 64:6; Jer. 23:6; Matt. 7:18; Rom. 4:4, 5; Rom. 5:19; Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9; Titus 3:5) without consideration of any works of righteousness before or after calling done by them and that the full and free pardon of their sins past, present, and to come is only through the blood of Christ according to the riches of His grace (Rom. 3:20-27; Rom 4:2; Rom. 9:11; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 1:3; Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 3:18).
8. We believe the new birth or being born again is not an act of man's free will and natural power but that it springs from the operation of the mighty, efficacious and irresistible grace of God (Psa. 110:3; John 1:13; John 3:7,8; John 6:44; John 6:63,65).
9. We believe in the resurrection of the body both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15), that the just, the elect shall be raised up in glory and honor (Matt. 24:31) and be openly acknowledged and fully acquitted in the Judgment Day before angels, devils, and sinners and made fully and eternally blessed both in body and soul; and that the wicked shall be raised up to be condemned body and soul, to the unspeakable torments of Hell forever and ever (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28, 29,/a>; Acts 23:6; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 8:11, Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:52; Job 19:25-27).
10. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of Christ to be continued in His assembly until His second coming and that believers are the only proper subjects for baptism and that immersion is the only mode, and that none except those who have been regularly baptized are admitted in the communion service; and that the washing of the saint's feet is an example of love and humility which should be practiced by the members of our assembly (Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 11:24-29; Acts 8:36-38; John 13:1-17; 1 Tim. 5:10).
11. We believe that God has ordained good works; that His children should walk in them and that good works are only such as God hath commanded in His word (Eph. 2:10). We do not believe that the Doctrine of Election, Special Atonement, and Final Perseverance of the Saints will induce a Child of God to live ungodly but being born again by the Holy Ghost, he will desire to do good works having lost his love of sin (John 15:16; Titus 2:14).
12. We believe that the Church is a congregation of baptized believers (Matt. 16:18; Matt. 18:17), and it is the only ecclesiastical authority on earth subject alone unto Christ her head for all her acts (Acts 6:3) and that her form of government is congregational, each member having an equal voice in all her acts (Col. 1:18).
13. The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice, but we do subscribe to the London Confession of Faith as a means of identifying ourselves.
Crown Point, Indiana
United States
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