Church Covenant

 

Paragraph One: Entering Into The Church Covenant

Terms:

Church: a community of baptized believers in Christ, associating together to carry out His commands.

Covenant: agreement between two or more persons, parties or groups to do or keep from doing a specified thing.   

The church covenant is a summary of how church members agree to live, more importantly IT IS A SUMMARY OF HOW GOD WOULD HAVE US TO LIVE! The church covenant does not include every command regarding obedience, but it does give a general summary of what it means to live as a disciple of Christ!

    1. The Way of Salvation
      A.  We (Baptist) believe that God takes the initiative in bringing about the salvation to every person.            John 6:44; 15:16
             B. Salvation is a voluntary matter, contingent on each person receiving Jesus Christ for himself.        John 1:12-13

II. The Way of Confession 
Upon believing in Jesus Christ we should enter a life-long pilgrimage of confessing him. Romans 10:10-11

III. The Way of Baptism
A saved person who has publicly confessed Christ as Savior must be baptized as directed by the Lord in Matthew 28:19-20.

IV. The Way of Church Organization 
The simplest form of the New Testament church is found in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or more are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Paragraph Two: Striving For Church Advancement
    1. I. Our Pledge ( Numbers 30:2; Ecclesiastes 5:1-2,4)We engage: We vow, promise or agree.

A. “By the aid of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4:6; John 15:5;
Philippians 4:13)

B.  “Walk Together” conveys the idea of unity. (Acts 4:32)

II. In Christian Love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
A. Christian Love is the Love of Christ

III. In Knowledge
A. “…strive for the advancement…” means to be dedicated enough to put forth the labor, exertion, and the time necessary … for the church to move forward.”

IV. In Holiness (Ephesians 5:27)

A. Holiness is the inward principle of Divine life. It is the habit of being of one mind with God.
 (Romans 8:1-5)

V. In Affections (Comfort) Romans 15:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:26