Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2002 23:07:58 -0600 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN UNITY IN GOD'S LOVE
FOR ALL HIS CHILDREN MADE RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST

The following four things are suggested here, for all Christians to
consider, as a starting point to begin to work for unity with brothers and
sisters in Christ.  The intent is to establish Biblically correct criteria
to encourage Christians from different denominations and groups to begin
discussions together concerning Christian unity while regarding one another
as brothers and sisters together in Christ.  This Statement is in no way
intended as a comprehensive statement of faith or belief for any particular
Christian denomination or group, nor for any of those Christian individuals
who do agree with the points of the Statement, but is only a method to
facilitate Christian unity discussions.  For use within this Statement, the
meaning of the word, "Christian", as well as the kind of "unity" intended in
the phrase "Christian unity", is defined within the statement itself.

1. THE WORD - All Christians agree the Bible is the word of God.

* Allowing that Christians may disagree in both interpretation, and in
method of interpretation of some parts of the Bible, we yet agree that the
Bible is the basis we will use for discussions that are for the purpose of
Christian unity, because all Christians agree that the Bible is the
inspired, authoritative word of God, wherein God reveals Himself to us
through human language;
* that the Bible is without error in all that it teaches about repentance,
faith, morals, and eternal salvation;
* and that anything that contradicts the Bible is automatically false.

2. THE NAME - All Christians agree Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one
described in the Bible, is the Son of God, and undeniably part of the triune
God.

* Jesus of Nazareth, born a Jew of a virgin daughter of Israel, at Bethlehem
at the time of King Herod the Great and the emperor Caesar Augustus, a
carpenter by trade, who died crucified in Jerusalem under the procurator
Pontius Pilate during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, is the eternal Son
of God made man.
* Jesus came from God, descended from heaven, and came in the flesh.  He
suffered and died for us and now, after rising, is living with us forever.
Only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and allow us to
share in the life and Spirit of the triune God.  Believing in Jesus Christ
and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining
that salvation.
* Allowing that Christians may not fully agree in understanding of the
triune God, we yet agree that no Christian denies the triune God, in which
Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Ghost in the one Spirit of God, in
which the three are one.  This allows us to receive the little children, and
the unlearned babes in Christ, as children of God needing to be taught
further about Jesus and the triune God, while we reject any who would
persist to deny the deity of Jesus in the triune God.

3. THE BLOOD - All Christians agree to repent of sin, claim the blood of
Jesus, and do righteousness.

* We agree that only by God's mercy in the sacrificial death of Jesus do we
have salvation from our sins, of which we do repent and leave behind,
allowing His Spirit to live in the heart of each of us sisters and brothers
in Christ.

4. THE FRUIT - All Christians agree to love and forgive all other Christians
as our brothers and sisters in God's eternal family.

* We agree to bear agape brotherly love and all the rest of the fruit of the
Spirit, to whosoever believes in Jesus to repentance and salvation,
including all who both believe in Jesus and agree to love together as
children of God; and,
* to identify and know one another by the fruit of righteousness and love we
each manifest, as we work together with God to perfect in us His love for
all His children by the love we have for one another in Christ, bearing much
fruit of the Spirit to the glory of God; and,
* to unite together in our obedience to the new command of Jesus to love one
another with our lives laid down so the world will know God sent Jesus; and,
* to unite in love for one another with our brothers and sisters where they
are, in whatever Christian denomination, church, ecclesial body,
congregation, or doctrinal group, to all of which we intend no corporate
harm in any way, and no corporate change other than the increase of our
mutual love, and wherein we judge no other man's servants in the worship our
brethren in Christ offer in their service to our Lord Jesus; and,
* to unite in the righteousness of God that He by grace gives in equal
measure to each of us through faith in Christ; and,
* to forgive all our brethren in Christ of their failure to understand and
agree with us fully in the truth of any further Christian doctrine than that
described and agreed to here in this Statement, while we reserve the right
to teach and promote any and all truth of God as we understand it, including
that which we may believe to be additionally required for salvation, (such
as water baptism, etc) or any other doctrine as we deem fit to edify the
body, speaking the truth always in love; and,
* to receive as children of God and as our equal members in the eternal body
of Christ, all who likewise agree in this Statement, while reserving the
right to cut off any member of the body of Christ who persists to offend or
drive away any little one who does so agree in all these things, knowing no
brother or sister of ours hates another child of God in Jesus.

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God
whom he hath not seen?

The above four are not intended as any kind of catechism or creed.  Any such
creed, especially if it has already been identified with a particular
denominational group, will unnecessarily drive away some of the other
Christian groups.  Christians want to unite in Jesus, not in any set of
words for which some other denomination or group can take credit.

As a starting point for unity, the specific words used in the above four
items are not important.  They could be replaced with any of several
synonyms, or restated in several different ways that would result in exactly
the same meaning.  We don't need to play any more Christian word games, or
to use Christian jargon favored by any one group in order to try to find a
place to start uniting.  It is the meaning of the words that counts.  And
the meanings here are four simple Biblical concepts.

******************************************