The Confession of Faith
Evangelical United Brethren
Dennis Bratcher, ed.
From the Discipline
of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, 1963
The Evangelical United Brethren Church was
formed in 1946 by the merger of The Church of the United Brethren in
Christ and the Evangelical Church. In 1968, the Evangelical United
Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to form the United
Methodist Church (US).
Article 1—God
We believe in the one true, holy and living God, Eternal Spirit, who is
Creator, Sovereign and Preserver of all things visible and invisible. He
is infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, and rules with
gracious regard for the well-being and salvation of men, to the glory of
his name. We believe the one God reveals himself as the Trinity: Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence
and power.
Article 2—Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, in whom the divine
and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal
Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, born of the Virgin
Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. As ministering Servant he lived,
suffered and died on the cross. He was buried, rose from the dead and
ascended into heaven to be with the Father, from whence he shall return.
He is eternal Savior and Mediator, who intercedes for us, and by him all
men will be judged.
Article 3—The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from and is one in being
with the Father and the Son. He convinces the world of sin, of
righteousness and of judgment. He leads men through faithful response to
the gospel into the fellowship of the Church. He comforts, sustains and
empowers the faithful and guides them into all truth.
Article 4—The Holy Bible
We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of
God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received
through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice.
Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not
to be made an article of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to
salvation.
Article 5—The Church
We believe the Christian Church is the community of all true believers
under the Lordship of Christ. We believe it is one, holy, apostolic and
catholic. It is the redemptive fellowship in which the Word of God is
preached by men divinely called, and the sacraments are duly administered
according to Christ's own appointment. Under the discipline of the Holy
Spirit the Church exists for the maintenance of worship, the edification
of believers and the redemption of the world.
Article 6—The Sacraments
We believe the Sacraments, ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges
of the Christian's profession and of God's love toward us. They are means
of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening and
confirming our faith in him. Two Sacraments are ordained by Christ our
Lord, namely Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
We believe Baptism signifies entrance into the household of faith, and
is a symbol of repentance and inner cleansing from sin, a representation
of the new birth in Christ Jesus and a mark of Christian discipleship.
We believe children are under the atonement of Christ and as heirs of
the Kingdom of God are acceptable subjects for Christian Baptism. Children
of believing parents through Baptism become the special responsibility of
the Church. They should be nurtured and led to personal acceptance of
Christ, and by profession of faith confirm their Baptism.
We believe the Lord's Supper is a representation of our redemption, a
memorial of the sufferings and death of Christ, and a token of love and
union which Christians have with Christ and with one another. Those who
rightly, worthily and in faith eat the broken bread and drink the blessed
cup partake of the body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner until he
comes.
Article 7—Sin and Free Will
We believe man is fallen from righteousness and, apart from the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, is destitute of holiness and inclined to evil.
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. In his own
strength, without divine grace, man cannot do good works pleasing and
acceptable to God. We believe, however, man influenced and empowered by
the Holy Spirit is responsible in freedom to exercise his will for good.
Article 8—Reconciliation Through Christ
We believe God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The
offering Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect and sufficient
sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming man from all sin, so
that no other satisfaction is required.
Article 9—Justification and Regeneration
We believe we are never accounted righteous before God through our
works or merit, but that penitent sinners are justified or accounted
righteous before God only by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe regeneration is the renewal of man in righteousness through
Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made
partakers of the divine nature and experience newness of life. By this new
birth the believer becomes reconciled to God and is enabled to serve him
with the will and the affections.
We believe, although we have experienced regeneration, it is possible
to depart from grace and fall into sin; and we may even then, by the grace
of God, be renewed in righteousness.
Article 10—Good Works
We believe good works are the necessary fruits of faith and follow
regeneration but they do not have the virtue to remove our sins or to
avert divine judgment. We believe good works, pleasing and acceptable to
God in Christ, spring from a true and living faith, for through and by
them faith is made evident.
Article 11—Sanctification and Christian
Perfection
We believe sanctification is the work of God's grace through the Word
and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from
sin in their thoughts, words and acts, and are enabled to live in
accordance with God's will, and to strive for holiness without which no
one will see the Lord.
Entire sanctification is a state of perfect love, righteousness and
true holiness which every regenerate believer may obtain by being
delivered from the power of sin, by loving God with all the heart, soul,
mind and strength, and by loving one's neighbor as one's self. Through
faith in Jesus Christ this gracious gift may be received in this life both
gradually and instantaneously, and should be sought earnestly by every
child of God.
We believe this experience does not deliver us from the infirmities,
ignorance, and mistakes common to man, nor from the possibilities of
further sin. The Christian must continue on guard against spiritual pride
and seek to gain victory over every temptation to sin. He must respond
wholly to the will of God so that sin will lose its power over him; and
the world, the flesh, and the devil are put under his feet. Thus he rules
over these enemies with watchfulness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Article 12—The Judgment and the Future
State
We believe all men stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ,
both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead;
the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation.
Article 13—Public Worship
We believe divine worship is the duty and privilege of man who, in the
presence of God, bows in adoration, humility and dedication. We believe
divine worship is essential to the life of the Church, and that the
assembling of the people of God for such worship is necessary to Christian
fellowship and spiritual growth.
We believe the order of public worship need not be the same in all
places but may be modified by the church according to circumstances and
the needs of men. It should be in a language and form understood by the
people, consistent with the Holy Scriptures to the edification of all, and
in accordance with the order and Discipline of the Church.
Article 14—The Lord's Day
We believe the Lord's Day is divinely ordained for private and public
worship, for rest from unnecessary work, and should be devoted to
spiritual improvement, Christian fellowship and service. It is
commemorative of our Lord's resurrection and is an emblem of our eternal
rest. It is essential to the permanence and growth of the Christian
Church, and important to the welfare of the civil community.
Article 15—The Christian and Property
We believe God is the owner of all things and that the individual
holding of property is lawful and is a sacred trust under God. Private
property is to be used for the manifestation of Christian love and
liberality, and to support the Church's mission in the world. All forms of
property, whether private, corporate or public, are to be held in solemn
trust and used responsibly for human good under the sovereignty of God.
Article 16—Civil Government
We believe civil government derives its just powers from the sovereign
God. As Christians we recognize the governments under whose protection we
reside and believe such governments should be based on, and be responsible
for, the recognition of human rights under God. We believe war and
bloodshed are contrary to the gospel and spirit of Christ. We believe it
is the duty of Christian citizens to give moral strength and purpose to
their respective governments through sober, righteous and godly living.
-Dennis Bratcher,
ed. Copyright ©
2018, Dennis
Bratcher, All Rights Reserved
(No copyright claims are made for the text of the original document.)
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