2002 Issue 1 - Presbytery News - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 2002 Issue 1 - Presbytery News - Counsel of Chalcedon

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The Joy ofJoining the RPCUS

y Pastors Jeffery M. Black Henry E. Johnsonof Trinity Presbyterian Church

Editor's Note: On the Jveekend ifFebrttary 22-23,2002,Covenant Pres1?Jteryi he Rejormed Pres1?Jterian Churchin the United States (RPCUS) met at Trinity Pres1?JtetianChurch in TazeJve 1, Virginia and, qfter examining itso/jicers, accepted it and its mission work in WYtheville,V into the RPCUS. Henry Johnson was the organiiing

pastor i Ttinity Pres1?Jtetian Church and has served there23 years. He is a graduate i Westminster TheologicalSeminary. Providence Refotmed Preslytelian Church, themission Jvork in WYtheville,Virginia, began in 1997 and isserved ?J Trinity Associate Pastor JiffBlack. Jiffpreachesthere and hopes to assist in its eventual organization as achurch. The congregants i Providence currentlY have theirchurch membershipsunder the care i Trinity.

What a privilege to take our standwith the godly elders, deacons and

congregations of the ReformedPresbyterian Church in the United States(RPCUS). A stand firmly planted upon the Wordof God, the Bible. A stand unashamedly foundedupon the Rock of Ages, our Lord Jesus Christ. Astand determinedly fixed upon the faith once forall delivered to the saints. A stand deliberatelyresolved upon the Westminster Standards as anaccurate and glorious summary by godly men ofwhat the Scriptures teach. To join the RPCUShas been the express desire of our Session for

many years. God has granted this prayer in Hisgood time and we rejoice together with the wholecongregation.

Covenant Presbytery graciously traveled tomeet with us here in Tazewell, Virginia to examineour Associate Pastor, the Reverend Jeff Black; ourtwo Ruling Elders: Mr. Bill Alicie and Dr. EricShrader; and our Deacon, Mr. Larry Lambert.

We enjoyed wonderful fellowship before,during and, after the exams, experiencing whatthe Psalmist describes in Psalm 133:

Behold, howgood and bowpleasant it is For brothersto dJvel1together in unity

It is like theprecious oil upon the head, ComingdOlJJnupon the beard, Even Aaron s beard, Comingdown upon the edgei his robes.

It is like the dew i Hermon Coming down uponthe mountains i Zion; For there the LORD

commanded the blessing-lifejoreveJ:

As we witnessed the exams, we were remindedthat indeed the Word of God is truth and the

only standard of truth. Our hearts were thrilledto hear the great old truths of the reformed faith,Biblical Christianity, being declared by these dearmen, both the elders examining and those beingexamined. The truth of God and His revelationof Himself in Holy Scripture made our heartsburn within us as it did the disciples on the roadto Emmaus when the L ord Jesus was expoundingthe Scriptures and declaring His glory to them as

recorded in Luke 24

We also had some good laughs duringthe weekend. Covenant Presbytery had meton Friday evening to hear Pastor Jeff Black'sexamination, which he passed with flying colors.Our other officers were anxiously awaiting theirown exams on Saturday. The officers were not

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exactly sure what to expect and the long night ofwaiting was finally over s the exam began for Dr.Eric Schrader and Mr. Bill Alicie, ruling elders;and Mr. Larry Lambert, deacon. The three wereexamined s a group regarding Christian experienceand systematic theology. The first question was putto Mr. Bill Alicie by the Rev. Joe Morecraft whoasked, 'In the light of the ontological trinity wouldyou please explain the hypostatic union of thenatures in Christ?' Bill looked somewhat surprisedwhen he heard the question but quickly recoveredand responded, We don't speak in tongues here.

The exam continued throughoutthe morning and theofficers were commended for theirScriptural knowledgeand faithfulness s

they defended Biblical and confessionaldoc-trines. The bulkof the exam consistedof going chapter bychapter through theWestminster Confession of Faith, askingquestions.

After these men had been sustained in theirexams and a vote had been taken to receive theminto the RPCUS, one of them was overheard saying,

I rejoice to be in a denominat ion tha t takes the Biblemore seriously than Robert's Rules of Order. Somecomments were made concerning the Rules forDiscipline. It was noted that there were only threeparagraphs pertaining to this and that there wereno rules regarding dates and postmarks on officialletters. This was answered by someone pointingout that the RPCUS desires no rules or regulationswhich cannot be derived from the Scriptures.Further, it was pointed out that the length of theRules of Discipline is inversely proportional to thetrust which the men have for one another.

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The remainder of the afternoon was free and thevarious men spent the time either in fellowship orresting with the exception of Pastor Joe Morecraft,who had an appointment to video tape an interviewin which he was asked many questions concerningthe history of and answering objections to Calvinismand the doctrines of grace. This was arranged byJerry Johnson who is spearheading a project for Reelto Reel Ministries' President Eric Holmberg. Ericand Jerry are interviewing several leading Reformedmen in order to produce a brief video on the History of Calvinism which they hope will be useful forcommunicant classes and for evangelism.

At 7:00 PM, JohnOtis reconvenedCovenant Presbyteryfor a glorious event:A worship service inwhich the Trinity congregation was officiallyrecognized s havingbeen received into theRPCUS. Charges weregiven to the officersand the congregationto be faithful to ourgreat God. The cove-

nant vows were renewed by the officers in a movingand solemn declaration of I do. Then, Pastor JoeMorecraft proclaimed God's Holy Word beginninga four part series on Christian Hope. What an encouragement and blessing to be a people who havehope, real hope in our Lord Jesus Christ with ll Hisglorious promises.

The meeting with Covenant Presbytery culminated the action taken by the congregations ofTrin-ity Presbyterian Church and its daughter missionwork, Providence Reformed Presbyterian Churchof Wytheville, VA, when, in a congregational meeting on Sunday evening, December 30, 2001, theyunanimously voted to leave the Presbyterian Churchin America (PCA) and overwhelmingly to join theRPCUS.


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By God's grace, in years to come, the weekend of our joining the RPCUS will be remembered not onlyas a great milestone for our congregation but also, we pray, for the furthering of His Kingdom throughout

southwestern Virginia and beyond. We praise God to be a part of a denomination that actually lives out

the motto that ought to be in every faithful church: True to the Scriptures, True to the Reformed Faith

and True to the Great Commission *. The Trinity Session prays the Lord will yet bring many of the

other churches of our former Westminster Presbytery (PCA) to join with us in this faithful and godly

denomination, the RPCUS. May God in His mercy keep us so.

For more information about this former motto rf he PC and about the RPCUS please rifer to my article, f , f ; 7 ~IWant to join the RPCUS, in the special denominational isme rf he Council rfChalcedoll, dated jlllle/ llb 1999 Available

online soon at 2vlvlv.chalcedon.org/ o u n s e ~

Stated MeetingCovenant Presbytery, Reformed Presbyterian Church in

the United States (RPCUS), held its stated meeting on June 2

and 22, 2002 at Chalcedon Presbyterian Church in Cumming,Georgia. The presbyters in attendance were Teaching EldersJohn Otis, Joe Morecraft, Robert Lester, Chris Strevel, PaulMcDade, Dona ld Crowe, Wayne Rogers, Henry Johnson, and JeffBlack as well as Ruling Elders Jess Stanfield and Lenny Auton.

Brian bshire ReceivedOne of the highlights of the meeting was the examination

of Teaching Elder Brian Abshire for admission into the RPCUS.Brian's examination in the areas of personal testimony andChristian experience and .commitnlent to the WestminsterStandards as the system of doctrine taught in the Scripture wasmoved and passed to be sustained as a whole. Btlan was receivedinto the RPCUS with permission to labor out of bounds ofPresbytery as pastor of Highland Reformed Chur ch in Spokane,Washington. John Otis administered a reaffirmation of ordinationvows to Brian and Paul McDade prayed on his behalf.

e s o l u t i o n s a s s e d

The other highlight was the unanimous adoption of two resolutions. The first resolution, submitted by JoeMorecraft, is entitled With Reference to the 'New Perspective on Paul' Movement . The second, submittedby Paul McDade, Jeff Black, and Henry Johnson, is entitled A Call to Repentenance. I t was also unanimouslyapproved that these two resolutions be made public and be communicated to the appropriate courts ofjurisdiction and to the men themselves along with the offer to provide substantiating materials to the courtsupon their request. The Resolutions are reproduced on the follOJving twopages.

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With Reference to theN ew Perspective on Paul Movement

BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

Any doctrine of justification that denies that faith alone,sola fide, s a resting upon Christ alone for salvation, is theonly instrumental means of justification is contrary to theBible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine of justification by faith t hat defines faith sfaithful obedience to God is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards.

Any doctrine of justification that denies the forensicnature of justification is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards. Therefore to define to justify

s to make righteous and not to declare and constitutes righteous is contrary to the Bible and the Westminster

Standards.

Any doctrine of justification that teaches that justificationis a process beginning with baptism, which is contingentupon continual obedience to the Law of God, whichcan be lost by apostasy, and which is not completeduntil Judgment Day is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards.

Any doctrine of justification that does not teach thatimmediately upon believing in Jesus, God instantlyimputes the perfect righteousness of Christ to thatbelieving sinner, so that on that basis he stands forgivenand accepted by God forever is contrary to the Bible andthe Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine of justification that blends justification andsanctification, or the imputing of righteousness and theimparting of righteousness, into one is contrary to theBible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine of the atoning death of Christ that does notteach that the death of Christ was a satisfaction o f God'sjustice and a propitiation of His anger by the merits ofChrist's life and death s the substitute of God's elect iscontrary to the Bible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine of baptism that teaches that ll who arebaptized with water are by that baptism incorporatedinto Christ and are recipients of ll the benefits of Christ'saccomplished work, e.g., regeneration and justification, iscontrary to the Bible and the Westminster Standards.

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Any doctrine of baptism that explains water baptism s

the moment in which we are regenerated or s the pointof transfer from death to life is contrary to the Bible andthe Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine of election that teaches that the elect canapostatize or that baptism is the proof of election iscontrary to the Bible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine that believers in Jesus can lose theirjustification and salvation is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards.

Any doctrine that teaches that God accepts less thanperfect obedience by Christ in behalf of the elect forfulfilling the conditions of salvation is contrary to theBible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine that denies the Covenant of Works iscontrary to the Bible and the Westminster Standards.

Any doctrine that denies that the covenant ojgrace was madewith Christ as the second Adam and in Him with all the electas His seed is contrary to the Bible and the WestminsterStandards.

Any doctrine of the covenant that denies that the Lord'sSupper is to be served onlY to such as are ojyears and abilityto examine themselvesor that all ignorant and ungodlYpersons, as

thry are unfit to el fqy communion Jvith him, so are thry umvortf?yoj the Lord's Table, and cannot, without gl'eat sin againstChrist, while thry remain such, partake oj these holY mysteries,or e admitted thereunto is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards.

Any doctrine of Biblical revelation that denies thepropositional and systematic nature of the verbal andwritten revelation of God is contrary to the Bible and theWestminster Standards.

Any ridiculing of the doctrines of sola gratia, sola fide, soloChristo, sola scriptura or Soli Deo Gloria is ridiculing theteaching of the Bible and the Westminster Standards.

Any ridiculing of the Westminster Standards s beinga Greek and Hellenistic, and therefore inadequate,interpretation of the Bible is ridiculing of BiblicalChristianity in it purest human expression.

- Adopted unanimously by Covenant Presbytery,Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States,June 22, 2002.


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2002 Issue 1 - Presbytery News - Counsel of Chalcedon