Introduction
We praise God for his great salvation and rejoice in the fellowship he has given us with himself and with each other. We believe the gospel is God’s good news for the whole world, and we are determined by his grace to obey Christ’s commission to proclaim it to all mankind and to make disciples of every nation.
1.THE PURPOSE OF GOD
We affirm our belief in the one eternal God, Creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who governs all things according to the purpose of his will (Isaiah 40:28). He has been calling out from the world a people for himself, and sending his people back into the world to be his servants and his witnesses, for the extension of his kingdom, the building up of Christ’s body, and the glory of his name (John 17:18, Matthew 28:19). We rejoice that, even when borne by earthen vessels, the gospel is still a precious treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7), and we are committed to the task of making that treasure known in the power of the Holy Spirit.
2.THE AUTHORITY AND POWER OF THE BIBLE
We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16). We also affirm the power of God’s word to accomplish his purpose of salvation (Isaiah 55:11, 1 Corinthians 1:21). God’s revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable (Matthew 5:17, 18; John 10:35). The Holy Spirit speaks today through the Scriptures to enlighten the minds of God’s people in every culture and thus discloses to the whole Church ever more of the many-sided wisdom of God (Ephesians 1:17,18).
3.THE UNIQUENESS AND UNIVERSALITY OF CHRIST
We affirm that there is only one Saviour and only one gospel: Jesus Christ, being himself the only God-Man, who gave himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the only mediator between God and people (1 Timothy 2:5,6). All men and women are perishing because of sin, but God loves everyone, not wishing that any should perish but that all should repent (2 Peter 3:9). Yet those who reject Christ repudiate the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God (John 3:16-19). To proclaim Jesus as ‘the Saviour of the world’ is to proclaim God’s love for a world of sinners and to invite everyone to respond to him as Saviour and Lord in the wholehearted personal commitment of repentance and faith (Matthew 11:28). We reject as derogatory to Christ and the gospel every kind of syncretism and dialogue which implies that Christ speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. There is no other name by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus Christ has been exalted above every other name; we long for the day when every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess him Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).
4.THE NATURE OF EVANGELISM
To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3,4), and that, as the reigning Lord, he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe (Acts 2:32-39). Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:11, 20). In issuing the gospel invitation we make plain the cost of discipleship: Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community (Mark 8:34; Luke 14:25-33). The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.
5.CHRISTIAN SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression (Micah 6:8). Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, colour, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited (Genesis 1:27). Both evangelism and social action are necessary expressions of our doctrines of God and Man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ (Mark 12:29-31). The message of salvation implies also a message of judgment upon every form of alienation, oppression and discrimination, and we are not to be afraid to denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. We seek not only to exhibit Christ’s kingdom but also to spread its righteousness in the midst of an unrighteous world (Matthew 6:33). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).
6.THE CHURCH AND EVANGELISM
We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly permeation of non-Christian society (Matthew 28:19-20). In the Church’s mission of sacrificial service, evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very centre of God’s cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:18). But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance (2 Corinthians 6:3,4). The church is the community of God’s people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology.
7.COOPERATION IN EVANGELISM
We affirm that evangelism summons God’s church to unity, because our oneness strengthens our witness, just as our disunity undermines our gospel of reconciliation (John 17:21, 13:35). We who share the same biblical faith should be closely united in truth, worship, holiness, fellowship, work and witness (Ephesians 4:3, 4). We cooperate with our brothers and sisters in Christ for the furtherance of the Church’s mission, for strategic planning, for mutual encouragement, and for the sharing of resources and experience (Philippians 1:27).
8.CHURCHES IN EVANGELISTIC PARTNERSHIP
We rejoice that a new missionary era has dawned, demonstrating that the responsibility to evangelize belongs to the whole body of Christ. A growing partnership of churches will develop and the universal character of Christ’s Church will be more clearly exhibited (Philippians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8). We also thank God for agencies which labour in Bible translation, theological education, the mass media, Christian literature, evangelism, missions, church renewal and other specialist fields (1 Peter 4:10). They too should engage in constant self-examination to evaluate their effectiveness as part of the Church’s mission.
9.THE URGENCY OF THE EVANGELISTIC TASK
More than two decades into the 21st century, one-third of humanity’s population has yet to be evangelised. And yet, there is now in many parts of the world, an unprecedented receptivity to the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:36-37). We are convinced that this is the time for churches and para-church agencies to pray earnestly for the salvation of the unreached and to launch new efforts to achieve world evangelization (Matthew 9:38, John 9:4). Missionaries should flow ever more freely from and to all six continents in a spirit of humble service (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). The goal should be, by all available means and at the earliest possible time, that every person will have the opportunity to hear, to understand, and to receive the good news. We cannot hope to attain this goal without sacrifice.
10.EVANGELISM AND CULTURE
Culture must always be tested and judged by Scripture. Because men and women are God’s creatures, some of their culture is rich in beauty and goodness. Because they are fallen, all of it is tainted with sin and some of it is demonic. The gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and righteousness, and insists on moral absolutes in every culture (Romans 3:10-11). Missions have, all too frequently, exported with the gospel an alien culture, and churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than to Scripture (Mark 7:8, 13). Christ’s evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity in order to become the servants of others, and churches must seek to transform and enrich culture, all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 9:19-23).
11.EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP
We confess that we have sometimes pursued church growth at the expense of church depth, and divorced evangelism from Christian nurture (Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 4:20-21). We recognize that there is a great need to improve theological education, especially for church leaders (Colossians 1:28). In every nation and culture there should be an effective training programme for pastors and laity in doctrine, discipleship, evangelism, nurture and service (Hebrews 5:12-14). Such training programmes should not rely on any stereotyped methodology but should be developed by creative local initiatives according to biblical standards.
12.SPIRITUAL CONFLICT
We believe that we are engaged in constant spiritual warfare with the principalities and powers of evil, who are seeking to overthrow the Church and frustrate its task of world evangelization (Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:3,4). We know our need to equip ourselves with God’s armour and to fight this battle with the spiritual weapons of truth and prayer (Ephesians 6:13-8). For we detect the activity of our enemy, not only in false ideologies outside the Church, but also inside it in false gospels which twist Scripture and put people in the place of God (Galatians 1:6-9, 1 John 4:1-3). We need both watchfulness and discernment to safeguard the biblical gospel. We ourselves are not immune to worldliness of thought and action, that is, to a surrender to secularism. The Church must be in the world; the world must not be in the Church (John 17:15).
13.FREEDOM AND PERSECUTION
We affirm the Bible’s position that it is the God-appointed duty of every government to secure conditions of peace, justice and liberty in which the Church may obey God, serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and preach the gospel without interference (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We stand with all who have been unjustly imprisoned, and especially for those who are suffering for their testimony to the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 13:3). We promise to pray and work for their freedom (Luke 4:18). At the same time we refuse to be intimidated by their fate. God helping us, we too will seek to stand against injustice and to remain faithful to the gospel, whatever the cost (Matthew 5:10-12). We do not forget the warnings of Jesus that persecution is inevitable (John 15:18-21).
14.THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his Spirit to bear witness to his Son; without His witness ours is futile (John 3:6-8, 15:26). Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth, missions and Christian growth are all his work (Acts 1:8). A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit (Acts 1:8). Worldwide evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love and power. We therefore call upon all Christians to pray for such a visitation of the sovereign Spirit of God that all his fruit may appear in all his people and that all his gifts may enrich the body of Christ (Psalm 85:4-7). Only then will the whole Church become a fit instrument in his hands, that the whole earth may hear his voice.
15.THE RETURN OF CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, in power and glory, to consummate his salvation and his judgment. This promise of his coming is a further spur to our evangelism, for we remember his words that the gospel must first be preached to all nations (Matthew 24:14). We believe that the interim period between Christ’s ascension and return is to be filled with the mission of the people of God, who have no liberty to stop before the end. We also remember his warning that false Christs and false prophets will arise as precursors of the final Antichrist (Mark 13:21-23). We therefore reject the notion that people can ever build a utopia on earth. Our Christian confidence is that God will perfect his kingdom, and we look forward with eager anticipation to that day, and to the new heaven and earth in which righteousness will dwell and God will reign forever (2 Peter 3:13). Meanwhile, we re-dedicate ourselves to the service of Christ and of people in joyful submission to his authority over the whole of our lives.
Conclusion
Therefore, in the light of this our faith and our resolve, we have entered into a solemn covenant with God and with each other, to pray, to plan and to work together for the evangelization of the whole world and discipling of people from all nations. We call upon others to join us. May God help us by his grace, and for his glory, to be faithful to this our covenant! Amen, Alleluia!