Article
4 Doctrine (of the Constitution of Life Bible-Presbyterian
Church)
4.1
The doctrine of the Church shall be in accordance with
that system commonly called "the Reformed Faith"
as expressed in the Confession of Faith as set forth by
the historic Westminster Assembly together with the Larger
and Shorter Catechisms.
4.2
In abbreviated form, the chief tenets of the doctrine
of the Church, apart from the Apostles’ Creed, shall
be as follows:
4.2.1
We believe in the divine, verbal and plenary inspiration
of the Scriptures in the original languages, their consequent
inerrancy and infallibility, and as the Word of God, the
Supreme and final authority in faith and life;
4.2.2
We believe in one God existing in three co-equal and
co-eternal Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
4.2.3
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God,
was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
and is true God and true man;
4.2.4
We believe that man was created in the image of God,
but sinned through the fall of Adam, thereby incurring
not only physical death but also spiritual death, which
is separation from God and that all human beings are born
with a sinful nature and become sinners in thought, word
and deed;
4.2.5
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died a propitiatory
and expiatory death as a representative and substitutionary
sacrifice, and that all who repent of their sins and believe
in Him are justified before God on the grounds of His
shed blood;
4.2.6
We believe in the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His exaltation
at the right hand of God, where He intercedes for us as
our High Priest and Advocate;
4.2.7
We believe in the personal, visible and premillennial
return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to judge this
world and bring peace to the nations;
4.2.8
We believe that salvation is by grace through faith,
not by works, and that all who repent and receive the
Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour are born again
by the Holy Spirit and thereby become the children of
God;
4.2.9
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to
glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and to convict and regenerate
the sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct and empower the
believer for godly living and service;
4.2.10
We believe that Christ instituted the Sacrament of Baptism
for believers and their children and the Sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper, which sacraments shall be observed
by His Church till He comes;
4.2.11
We believe in the eternal security, bodily resurrection
and eternal blessedness of the saved, and in the bodily
resurrection and eternal conscious punishment of the lost;
4.2.12
We believe in the real, spiritual unity in Christ of
all redeemed by His precious blood and the necessity of
faithfully maintaining the purity of the Church in doctrine
and life according to the Word of God, and the principle
and practice of biblical separation from the apostasy
of the day being spearheaded by the Ecumenical Movement
(2 Cor 6:14-18, Rev 18:4).
Article 6 Principle and Practice of Biblical
Separation (of the Constitution of Life Bible-Presbyterian
Church)
6.1
The doctrine of separation from sin unto God is a fundamental
principle of the Bible, one grievously ignored in the
church today.
6.2
This doctrine arises out of the holiness of God. Both
the purity and righteousness of God (Luke 1:75) are involved.
"Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Pet 1:16, also
3:11; Exod 15:11; Isa 6:3; 2 Cor 7:1)
6.3
The Bible does speak of cooperation ("be of one
mind," "that they may all be one," "labourers
together," "keep the unity of the Spirit,"
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord," also 1 Cor 12:25).
However, biblical cooperation is based upon TRUTH. It
involves the united effort of God’s people. This
is not a cooperation borne of a spirit of undiscerning
pluralism, or that of seeking "truth" in all
religions.
6.4
We maintain that Scripture teaches a separation that
is based on the holiness of God, producing purity in all
of life, personal and ecclesiastical.
6.5
It is the duty of all true churches of the Lord Jesus
Christ to make a clear testimony to their faith in Him,
especially in these darkening days of apostasy in many
professing churches, by which apostasy, whole denominations
in their official capacity, as well as individual churches,
have been swept into a paganising stream of modernism
under various names and in varying degrees.
6.6
There has been a notable growth of autocratic domination
on the part especially of modernistic leaders by whom
the rightful powers of true churches are often usurped
and are now being usurped.
6.7
The commands of God to His people to be separate from
all unbelief and corruption are clear and positive: "Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers"
(2 Cor 6:14; see also Matt 6:24; Rom 16:17; Gal 1; Eph
5:11; 2 Thess 3:6, 14; 2 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 3:10; 2 Pet 2:1-3;
1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-11; Jude 3:20-24; Rev 18:4). We
reach out to those who are part of any human system which
involves compromise with error, and who thus ought to
"come out from among them" (2 Cor 6:17), separate
themselves unto the "Father...the Lord Almighty"
(2 Cor 6:18), thus "cleansing themselves" and
perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor 7:1).
6.8
In loyalty to the revealed Word, we, as an organised
portion of the people of God, are obliged to oppose all
forms of modernism, cultism, Romanism and false religions.
Dialogue for the purpose of reaching a compromise between
all true Bible believers and representatives of such beliefs
is impious, unbiblical, treasonous and unfaithful to the
holy God, as He has revealed Himself to us in His infallible,
inerrant Word.
6.9
We are opposed to all efforts to obscure or wipe out
the clear line of separation between these absolutes:
truth and error, light and darkness. (See Jer 5:20; 2
Cor 6:14-18.) We refer to such efforts by New Evangelicals,
Charismatic Christians, promoters of ecumenical cooperative
evangelism and of the social gospel, and all churches
and other movements and organisations that are aligned
with or sympathetic to the Ecumenical Movement.
6.10
The Church, having been founded on the principle of
Biblical Separation, and being affiliated with the B-P
Church of Singapore, which is a member of the International
Council of Christian Churches (ICCC), is likewise affiliated
with the ICCC as long as the ICCC faithfully maintains
its stand on Biblical Separation.