mh fobou to mikron poimnion oti eudokhsen o
pathr umwn dounai umin thn basileian.
Fear not, little flock, for your Father delights to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32.
C O V E N A N T C H R I S T I A N V I S I ON
FOR
C O V E N A N T C H U R C H E S.
T H E N E E D.
If God exists- and he most assuredly does- if our souls have the potential for everlasting life- as they certainly do- then nothing can be more vital to us than to know that we are eternally safe and right with God in the only true religion.
Only Biblical Christianity provides assurance of acceptance by God, and of a happy unending life to come. To keep this vital religion pure and unchanging- the only genuine article- God graciously provided a rule book: the Holy Bible.
Everything that we need to know about God, about ourselves and our needs, of how we can be right with God, of how to live our lives on earth in view of the everlasting life to come, of how to worship and glorify God as he requires, of how to form, gather, organise and run true churches: all of these are spelled out for us in the Bible. Required are two things: accurate Bibles (in the original languages and in translation), and how we may be taught to understand and apply the Bible.
T H E P R O B L E M.
In the 2,000 years since the Bible was completed man has repeatedly drifted away from the teaching of the Bible, has rebelled, and has failed to follow God’s rules.
Salvation requires a divine Saviour- Jesus Christ the Messiah. From the call of Abraham down to the ministry of Jesus Christ true religion was entrusted to the Jews (to ensure and prove the earthly line of descent of Christ). When the Lord Jesus had completed his saving work the religion was completed, with its Jewish phase being fulfilled (not abolished). This completed religion, encapsulated in the Bible, was, under the dynamic guidance of God the Holy Spirit, released to become world-wide. It is important to note that the Jewish background is the root, the foundation, on which Christianity depends. The Gentile (Western) peoples received a completed religion, divinely suited to all peoples and races, but as heirs of a deposit passed on to them from the Jews, completed in all its parts. The religion, and the churches, were pure so long as this was kept in mind.
However, after two-thousand years in which Bible Christianity has been under Western control, these foundational and essential facts have become increasingly blurred. Western thinking and philosophy, and even European superstitions, have made massive inroads, As a result, as we now see all around us, what is called and often believed to be Christianity has evolved, has been modified and distorted and re-interpreted, and then has divided and fragmented into a myriad of sects and denominations. This is the result of prevailing Western humanism, leading to men stepping aside from the rules given in the Bible, adding new things and seeking to reason from man to God, rather than listening to God speaking to us and revealing his will for us. Typical churches, even those professing to be Bible-believing, are now overwhelmingly man-centred, rather than God-centred. Putting aside the great ritualistic denominations that have long departed from the Bible, it is shocking to see, today, that even churches that are evangelical and seek a born-again membership have so departed from the strict regulative and interpretive rule of the Bible that they are, in sober fact, teaching and practicing a new, modern, wholly Gentile religion under the name of Christianity. The immediate invisible presence of God is almost unknown, entertainment has filled a vacuum where holy awe and reverence once where. Some may have luxuriant (numerical) growth, but the roots are withered or disposed of entirely. In this environment people may be saved (God has and calls his elect) but it is typically against the prevailing church culture, never because of it. God is far from honoured, and Christianity becomes less and less relevant to today’s people and society. As a result there can be no doubt that professing churches today- those that genuinely and sincerely desire to know, obey, and please God, are in a desperate situation.
A truly Biblical stand must once again be made.
I S T H E RE A S O L U T I O N ?
God is certainly building his church and bringing his people into it, but the health and wellbeing of the church depends on our understanding of the IMMENANCY and the SOVEREIGNTY of God: that is, that he is not a distant God but rather is invisibly present with us, and that he, as Lord and King, requires loving and wholehearted obedience to his will. This obedience mandates surrender to his word, acknowledging that the Bible lacks nothing but- being given directly by God- contains all that we need to know in order to function as Christian people and Christian churches in ways that are approved by God and acceptable and pleasing to him, and will gain his blessing and approval in time and for eternity to come.
Covenant Christian Vision has been developed over many years as an attempt to break the fatal pattern of drift from this regulative principle embodied in the Scriptures, and to aid men and women and covenant families to seek for, learn, understand, and apply and live the whole original Bible Christian faith.
FIRSTLY: we seek to clarify and explain exactly what God lays down in the Bible about SALVATION, DISCIPLESHIP, EVANGELISM, CHURCH PLANTING, CHURCH ORGANISATION, and SCRIPTURAL WORSHIP.
SECONDLY: to provide materials and encouragement to promote the establishment of Covenant Christian Churches, and associated groups and individuals, in many lands, on the Scriptural basis of a common and agreed doctrinal understanding, and the application of a common method of worship and of organisation and practice. As it was in the early church, in these days of massive apostasy in professing Christianity, and in the face of a hostile world, such fundamental rebuilding can only be done locally, from the individual on upwards.
Covenant Christian Vision, whilst seeking to aid and empower local efforts, does not seek in any way to control emerging groups. The endeavour is rather to freely provide the material, the information, the platform on which to build, and to provide a medium to collate and distribute information from those God calls to take on the vision, and so to empower and promote local efforts to form, at all levels, according to the guidelines provided. Covenant Christian Vision asks only this: nothing in the doctrinal standards must be changed or altered in any way. The entire basis of a unified, Bible-based reformation from the grass-roots up would be destroyed, and yet more of the current chaos be generated, should any group seek to employ part of what is offered, but in any way change or modify any part of it. Covenant Christian Vision invites anyone who can say, after due prayer and consideration, that what they read on this site is now truly the basis of their own faith, to join with us. Where there are doctrines and practices that differ from what you have previously assumed or been taught, please take time to study what is presented on the site prayerfully, and over an open Bible. If you find that you cannot in conscience agree with all that is presented then, please, seek to serve God in another communion.
THE AIMS OF THIS WEBSITE
The aims of this website are:
To be a means of helping to bring God’s elect to salvation in Christ.
To facilitate the gathering and formation of like-minded groups for mutual spiritual support and encouragement leading (if God so wills and grants) to the emergence of new Bible based churches, on a common and agreed Scriptural doctrinal basis. To aid in this the intention is:
- To provide theological and pastoral studies and materials to train and deepen and encourage believers and emerging leaders in a closer walk with God, and to foster voluntary unions to build study and prayer groups and (for those called and willing to do so) to organise local churches and wider associations under the ‘Reformation Christian Churches’ banner.
- To purify the existing Church of God and help to reform it in accordance with God’s Word, in order to be more obedient and to please Him until the Church is complete and Christ returns.
To this end:
All material on the Covenant Christian Vision website is offered freely. We only ask that if anything is copied or passed on, Covenant Christian Vision’s copyright is respected, and no changes whatsoever be made.
DISCLAIMER
Covenant Christian Vision is not an ecumenical programme, recognising as it does that many professing Denominations that accede to organisations such as the World Council of Churches are far away from the original, Apostolic, Biblical Christianity. Nor does it seek or adhere to an evangelical coalition by which existing churches and groups adhering to a broadly evangelical basis pledge co-operation and mutual recognition, as such do not accept the regulative principle of the Bible and thus permit a wide range of doctrines and practices, many of which are man-centred and far removed from the historic Reformation faith.
Covenant Christian Vision, in contrast, is simply an effort to provide materials and encouragement for God’s scattered flock to encourage them gather and organise from the local level upward on a strictly Bible based Reformation regulative principle basis.
In no way will the Administration claim any oversight or control over individuals, emerging groups, or churches, or existing churches adhering to the Covenant Churches doctrine and structure.
The Administration exists solely to facilitate and co-ordinate local efforts, share information, and act as a central hub and contact medium at all levels. Any personal information received (names, addresses, email numbers) will be held in strict confidence, and only employed by permission to put like-minded local Christians into contact with each other.
All that we ask, as already stated, is that interested parties wishing to become part of the Reformation vision accept the Standards (Doctrine, practice, worship, organisation, and titles) of Reformation Christian Churches wholly, entirely, and without alteration in any way at all. (This is vital to preserve the spiritual unity of the entire effort and ministry.)
We respectfully request that those who sincerely cannot accept our entire doctrinal basis to take up freely whatever they see as good and beneficial in the studies on this website, and to take up membership in other churches, as they see best to honour God in their profession.
THE SITE OPERATES AT TWO LEVELS:
- For anyone wishing to learn about the Reformed and Biblical Christian faith for their own individual spiritual advancement, or to aid others in coming to, and advancing in, that faith, without any commitment to any connection.They are invited to use any or all of the following resources freely (requiring that copyright is respected, and no alterations are made):
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
DOCTRINAL STATEMENT WITH SCRIPTURE PROOFS
THEOLOGY STUDIES
BIBLICAL STUDIES
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
UNDERSTANDING BAPTISM
UNDERSTANDING SUNG WORSHIP
UNDERSTANDING SOME ESSENTIAL MATTERS
EVANGELICAL MYTHS & MISUNDERSTANDINGS
SHORT QUOTATIONS FROM EARLIER WRITERS
2. For those who might wish to form or organise new Covenant Churches locally, and seek affiliation with other like-minded groups:
These are invited to use and employ the above material as their doctrinal basis, and also the following:
HOW TO
COVENANT CHRISTIAN AFFIRMATION
TRUTHS SUPPORTED & ERRORS REJECTED
IS THIS VISION FOR YOU?
To ascertain whether the Covenant Churches doctrinal basis is, or will become, sincerely your own true conviction please access and study prayerfully the document The Christian Faith, being a summary of Bible Doctrine.* This is the Confession of Faith and key and essential doctrinal basis of Reformation Christian Vision and Reformation Christian Churches. Those who become convinced that this, in its entirety, IS the Bible Christian faith that they wish to confess and promote as their own sincere conviction may wish to copy and sign the Covenant Christian Affirmation either for their own personal records, or as part of registering an interest in possibly meeting others with a view to forming a local groups and ultimately a local church (see CONTACT).
* For deeper study see the Summary of Bible Doctrine with full Scripture Proofs (possibly the most comprehensive Bible-proofed outline of Reformed Systematic Theology available today.)
ουκ ενι ιουδαιος ουδε ελλην ουκ ενι δουλος ουδε ελευθερος ουκ ενι αρσεν και θηλυ παντες γαρ υμεις εις εστε εν χριστω ιησου.
There is now neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:27.