Reformed Evangelical Synod of America

Posts Tagged ‘Manhattan Declaration’

Today a group of prominent Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders took the microphone at the National Press Club to discuss the unveiling of “The Manhattan Declaration”, a document outlining the commitment of many Christian believers in America to the notions of the sanctify of life, family, and faith which are under attack from various circles.

With the United States Senate set to take up debate on the hotly contested topic of health care reform, the Manhattan Declaration comes at an opportune time to remind legislators and citizens alike that many Christian believers cannot conscience what the United States is becoming.

The Declaration itself, which is available online, is a relatively succinct and eminently cogent manifest of conservative Christian beliefs; one that is sure to draw instant criticism from the leaders of the political and cultural institutions of the country and, sadly, from other Christian leaders as well.

In its two-thousand year history, Christianity has been its most faithful when faced with secular opposition, and the contemporary era gives no less of an opportunity for believers to stand up for the teachings of the Scripture with confidence and joy. Unfortunately, much of the Church in North America has sold itself out to “social justice”, so-called, at the expense of what is supposed to be her first love, the truth as revealed in Jesus Christ.

When the Church turns its back from the defense of life, endorses unbiblical concepts as ‘enlightened’ progress, and conforms herself more to society at large than to Christ, she, in effect, abandons the faith once delivered and surrenders herself into the ready embrace of the Antichrist. All too often, such ecclesiastical bodies become almost indistinguishable from the society surrounding them, and, in the process, subverts the Gospel, reducing it to a ‘lowest common denominator’ belief system or, more accurately, a form of humanism with an object of affection.

Christianity, while always seeking for reconciliation, compassion, and love among all peoples, is also a religion that teaches (and has taught for two-thousand years) in accordance with a high moral and ethical code, one that is rooted in recognizing that human beings are fallen, sinful creatures whose very reason has been corrupted as a result of our own perverse selfishness. Freedom thus means, for the believer, a deliverance from that corruption in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ’s redemptive act and His transforming power alone are the only true basis upon which humane society can even be envisioned, let alone implemented.

While civil government has its place, the civil governments of North America (as well as other parts of the world) have taken steps to marginalize those who hold to the central moral and ethical teachings of the Scriptures; steps which then trample on the rights and freedoms of individual believers and upon religious assemblies.

As committed Christian believers who recognize the calling of the Scripture as witnessed through countless generations of the faithful, the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America must speak out against the continued erosion of the fundamental right to life, which has been so seriously eroded away by the blight of Abortion… and which stands to be further minimized by the continued policies of the civil government which allow for and even encourage (fiscally) the destruction of human life. We cannot remain silent about God’s plan for the family, which forms our opposition to any and all personal relationships which are not in keeping with the Word of God, nor can we remain silent about the very real threats to men and women of conscience to speak their minds freely based on their faith without being accused of promoting hatred and facing civil, revenue, or criminal penalties for exercising not simply their right to free speech, but their God given responsibility to speak out on behalf of the truth.

It is with great confidence and solemnity that the ministers and members of the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America join those who endorse “The Manhattan Declaration”, and affirms her commitment to preach the truth about God’s plan for his people, regardless of the cost.