Lancaster Affirmation

Preamble

We, the undersigned Elders of Lancaster Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a member of the Presbytery of Western New York, feel compelled to express our convictions relating to our faith and practice because of the widespread defection within our beloved church from the historical Christian and Reformed faith.

We, the undersigned, do express our deep concern that the traditional Reformation view of "liberty of conscience" has been replaced in our blessed fellowship by a view that exalts the subjective over the objective. The philosophy of relativism has become the prevailing consensus of the PC (U.S.A.), and "every person does what is right in their own eyes." Subjective human experience has become the judge of truth and the judge of the authenticity of religious experience.  In short, Sola Scriptura is no longer a functioning doctrine within our denomination.

Therefore, we the undersigned remind our brothers and sisters that our confessional standards still bind the consciences of our officers to the historical Christian, Reformed Faith.

We, the undersigned, do declare and affirm our loyalty to and love for our denomination as it is constituted in our Book of Confessions and Book of Order.  We receive and adopt its tenets and historical principles of church government. Our hope is that this affirmation increases awareness of our constitution, fosters a love for it and a fidelity to it, and enables many others to either reaffirm or affirm their agreement with it.

WE AFFIRMthat we believe in and worship only one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who is the only true God, blessed forevermore.  God is the creator of all that exists, whether visible or invisible.  God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.i   It is to God whom all people of the earth owe their existence, praise and future hope. He is the only God; all other gods are idols existing in the vain imaginations of sinful human beings.

THEREFORE WE REJECTpolytheism implicit or explicit. We reject any worship of gods or goddesses, ancient or modern.  "Truly we detest many gods because it is expressly written 'The Lord your God is one Lord' (Dt.6:4), 'I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me' (Ex. 20:2-3), 'I am the Lord, and there is no other god besides me.  Am I not the Lord, and there is no other God beside me?' (Is. 45:4,21). 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.' (Ex. 34:6)ii

WE AFFIRMthe doctrine of the Trinity. God is one, yet He has revealed Himself to us in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We affirm anew the teaching of the Westminster Confession of Faith: "In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.   The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the son."iii

THEREFORE WE REJECTany teaching that denies or cannot affirm the doctrine of the Trinity. We reject non-Trinitarian views of God, Socinianism, Arianism, Modalism, or any modern reformulation of these fatal errors.

WE AFFIRMthat God has revealed to us His will, His nature, His purpose, the way of Salvation in two ways: through the Holy Scriptures, the written Word of God, and through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ expresses the love of God and God's plan to save human beings from eternal destruction.  The Scriptures give specific, flawless information about God’s nature, the nature of His Son, and the way in which salvation is to be obtained. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.iv

THEREFORE WE REJECTany doctrine that denies that the Scriptures, the Word of God written, bear unique witness to Christ and are the final rule of faith and practice for the Church.

WE AFFIRMthat Jesus Christ was chosen by God according to His eternal purpose to be the sole mediator and savior of humanity.  "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ..." (1 Tim. 2:5 NIV), "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved"  (Acts 4:12 NIV).

THEREFORE WE REJECTany notion that human beings can experience the saving grace of God through any other religion, spiritual experience or mystical encounter.

WE AFFIRMthe bodily resurrection of Christ. We agree with the testimony of the church that we believe in: "the resurrection of the flesh; It [the resurrection] was also confirmed by the testimony of his angels, by the senses and judgment of the Apostles and others, who had conversation, and did eat and drink with him after his resurrection ...  We do not doubt but that the selfsame body which was born of the virgin, was crucified, dead, and buried, and which rose again, did ascend into heaven..."  We believe and teach that the same Jesus Christ our Lord, in his true flesh in which he was crucified and died, rose again from the dead, and that not another flesh was raised other than the one buried, or that the spirit was taken up instead of the flesh, but that he retained his true body ...  We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ, the same flesh, ascended into the highest heaven." v

THEREFORE WE REJECTany doctrine that denies the real resurrection of Christ's flesh. We also reject any doctrine which teaches that those who put their trust in Christ will not also experience the resurrection of the body.

WE AFFIRMthat God through Christ instituted and ordained the visible (institutional) Church.

WE AFFIRMthe biblical diversity of the Church.  John the Revelator wrote: "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb" (Rev. 7:9 NIV). The Church is diverse, yet it is united. Its unity is expressed in its common doctrine. We agree with John Calvin: "We ought ... to remember .... that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.'  Let it, therefore, be a fixed point, that a holy unity exists, when consenting in pure doctrine, we are united in Christ alone."  The church's unity and peace consists in the purity of her common confession.

WE AFFIRMonce again our agreement with John Calvin, "It is not enough, therefore, to throw out the name of the Church, but judgment must be used to ascertain which is the true Church, and what is the nature of its unity ... beware of separating the Church from Christ its Head.  --- the uniform characteristics of a well-ordered Church are the preaching of sound doctrine, and the pure administration of the sacraments."vi

WE AFFIRMthat it is possible for a Church to apostatize.  Therefore, vigilance must be maintained in the areas of Word, Discipline, and Sacrament.  We affirm the Reformation principle that the tendency of human beings is to move away from God as opposed to moving toward Him.  From time to time the church needs to take stock of itself and be reformed to the standard of Scripture.

THEREFORE WE REJECTsectarianism that seeks to denigrate the need for the visible Church.  We also reject those who collapse the visible Church and Invisible (Holy Catholic) Church into one and the same thing.  We reject any notion that the Reformers believed or taught that the Church is reformed by or to the standard of the culture.  We reject any doctrine that seeks to exclude people from Church membership solely on the basis of race, nationality, or gender.

WE AFFIRMthat the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament is charged to: "Preach the Word in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2 NIV). The ministry is a sacred office and it requires that those holding this office maintain moral and spiritual holiness, with all integrity.

WE AFFIRMthe Protestant Reformation as being a genuine awakening wrought by the Holy Spirit.  We affirm anew the great watchwords of the Reformation: Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, and God's Glory Alone.

WE AFFIRMChristian marriage.  "For marriage (which is the medicine of incontinency, and continency itself) was instituted by the Lord Himself, who blessed it most bountifully, and willed man and woman to cleave one to the other inseparably, and to live together in complete love and concord (Matt. 19:4 ff). Whereupon, we know that the Apostle said: "Let marriage be held in honor among you all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled." (Heb. 13:4)vii

WE AFFIRMthat because of original sin our sexuality is corrupted and needs redemption.  There are no exceptions. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God..." (Rom 3:23 KJV).

THEREFORE WE REJECTany statements and actions that intentionally or unintentionally bless human conditions and behaviors as either gifts from God or faithful responses to God which, nevertheless stand in contradiction to God's revealed will for human relationships.  We refuse to condone what God intends to redeem. Redefinitions of either marriage or sexual boundaries to accommodate culture, experience, political pressure, or even loved ones are further expression of sinfulness and confusion.  Such redefinitions and accommodations deny biblical notions of fidelity and integrity and further alienate us from God.

TRUSTING NOT IN OUR OWN POWER OR WISDOMto reform the church, we commit this statement to our great God, "who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us; and to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! AMEN."

Rev. Douglas A. Brandt, Moderator
Richard Troidl, Clerk of Session
William Stortz
Roy Koepf
David Harty
Mark Miller
Robert Young
Jane Carlsen
Richard Fitzgerald
David Genders
James Allein
Daniel Bender
Peter Gawron
Laura Stotz
Norman Richard
 

i The Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 4,7.004.
ii Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 3,5.015.
iii  Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 2, sec. 3,6.013.
iv The last sentence was added by the Session of Lancaster Presbyterian Church on September 25, 2001.
v  The Scots Confession, chapter 10 & 11, 3.10-11.
vi John Calvin, “The Necessity of Reforming the Church�, Selected Works of John Calvin: Tracts and Letters, Vol.1, edts. Henry Beveridge & Jules Bonnet (Grand Rapids: 1983 pp.213-214.
vii Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 29, 5.246.