It is a wonderful world that we live in! The joy of the Lord can be found in almost everything around us: in nature, in our family, in our friends and even in our work. Yes, Satan is out there running around like a mad lion: seeking someone to destroy. Satan, however, is already defeated and cannot destroy those who are in the Lord. So you see, it is a great life for a Christian. Best of all is the peace that comes from being in the shelter of God’s love. When you get right down to it, the life of a Christian is good.
It is kind of sad, however, that our Christian family is so dysfunctional. We not only whine and cry about things but we also bicker and fight with one another. In 1809 Thomas Campbell tried to bring the family together with his publication of the Declaration and Address. For a decade or so things looked promising but Christian siblings just don’t play well together.
Still, the basic premise of the Declaration and Address was sound, in spite of being a very lengthy paper and one that is not the easiest thing to read. Its theme, however, is excellent and its message is just as applicable today as it was at the start of the 19th century. The Declaration and Address contained thirteen propositions, which I have paraphrased below.
1: There is but one Church. The Church of Jesus Christ consists of all those in every place that profess their faith in Christ, are obedient to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and manifest the same by their tempers and conduct.
2: There should be no divisions in the Body of Christ. The Church will exist in particular and distinct societies locally separate one from another, yet there ought to be no schisms, no uncharitable divisions among them.
3: Church authority is found in the Bible. Nothing ought to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of faith; nor required of them as terms of communion, but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word of God.
4: The Church exists under New Testament design. The New Testament is our constitution for the worship, discipline, and government of the New Testament Church, and the rule for particular duties of its members.
5: Where the Bible is silent we shall be silent. If it is not clearly declared in the Bible it is not criteria for membership in the Body of Christ. No human authority has the power to interfere from scripture laws for the Church or to impose new commands or ordinances upon the Church.
6: Inferences and deductions are a human evil. Inferences and deductions from Scripture premises may have usefulness for some believers but they must never become universal burdens placed on the backs of others. Our faith must not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power and veracity of God.
7: Human reasoning cannot carry scriptural authority. The body of Christ must not establish terms of Christian communion base on human reasoning, even when the inferential truths are useful in living Christian lives.
8: The knowledge required to be a Christian is not detailed or complicated. A person only needs a due measure of Scriptural self-knowledge respecting their lost and perishing condition and the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a profession of their faith in and obedience to Jesus, in all things, according to his word.
9: There is no alternative to unity in the Body of Christ. All that are enabled through grace to make a profession of faith in Christ, and to manifest the reality of it in their tempers and conduct, should consider each other as members of the Body of Christ.
10: Evils of division in the Body of Christ. Division among Christians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils.
11: Causes of divisions in the Body of Christ. Division results from a partial neglect of the expressly revealed will of God as recorded in scripture and from an assumed authority for turning human opinions and human inventions into requirements for Christians.
12: The foundational principles of Unity. All that is necessary is, first, that none be received as members but such as having that due measure of Scriptural self-knowledge described above, do profess their faith in Christ and are obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her communion longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their profession by their temper and conduct. Thirdly, that her ministers inculcate none other things than those very articles of faith and holiness expressly revealed and enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their administrations they keep in adherence with the New Testament; without any additions whatsoever of human opinions or inventions of men.
13. Manmade rituals and traditions have no divine authority. We should limit the introduction of human contrived Christian expedients (wine verses grape juice or the terminology of baptism or music verse A cappella) and make it explicitly clear that such expedients carry no divine authority.
As wonderful as life is with Christ, wouldn’t it be even more glorious if we could all live as Christian in light of these thirteen propositions? This doesn’t mean that we all join together in one mega church or that we all take on the same denominational name or all come under the same church structure. It just means that we start communicating with one another, loving one another, and edifying one another. Perhaps we could try it in our own little corner of the family. Who knows it just might catch on with some of the folks around us.