Online Church (ICYM) is a
confessional virtual church whose system
of doctrine is formulated in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
The Westminster Confession adopts a theology that may be defined as
catholic, evangelical and reformed.
Its theology is "catholic" in that it reaffirms the doctrines of
historic Christian orthodoxy such as those defined by the Apostles
Creed and the great ecumenical councils of the first millennium of
Christian history such as the Councils of Nicea, Chalcedon,
Constantinople, and others. These catholic doctrines include such
affirmations as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the atonement of
Christ, and other doctrines that are integral to historic
Christianity.
This theology is "evangelical" in that it affirms with historic
Protestantism such vital doctrines as Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.
Sola Scriptura refers to the article that the Bible, as the
inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God, is the sole written
revelation that rules the faith and practice of the Christian
community and alone can bind the conscience. Sola Fide refers to the
doctrine of justification by faith alone whereby the believer is
justified before God by the free grace of God by which He imputes
the righteousness of Christ to the believer. The sole ground of our
justification is the merit of Jesus, which is imputed to all who put
their trust in Him. Though good works flow necessarily and
immediately from all justified persons, these works are not the
meritorious grounds of our justification.
The theology is "reformed" in that, in addition to catholic and
evangelical doctrine, the distinctive doctrines of the magisterial
Reformers such as Luther, Calvin and Knox are also embraced in a way
that distinguishes the Reformed tradition from other Protestant
bodies. Reformed theology places great emphasis on the doctrine of
God, which doctrine is central to the whole of its theology. In a
word, Reformed theology is God-centered. The structure of the
Biblical covenant of grace is the framework for this theology. The
concept of God's grace supplies the core of this theology.
The historic five points of Calvinism, simplified in the acrostic TULIP,
distinguish Reformed theology at the key points of issue, but in no
way exhaust the content of the Reformed faith. These five points
include:
-
T - total
depravity
-
U -
unconditional election
-
L - limited
atonement
-
I - irresistible
grace
-
P - perseverance
of the saints
Briefly, total depravity declares that all men are corrupted by the
Fall to the extent that sin penetrates the whole person, leaving
them in a state by which they are now by nature spiritually dead and
at enmity with God. This results in the bondage of the will to sin
by which the sinner is morally unable to incline himself to God, or
to convert himself, or to exercise faith without first being
spiritually reborn by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
Unconditional election refers to God's sovereign and gracious work
of election by which, from all eternity, God determines to exercise
saving grace to a particular group of people chosen from out of the
mass of fallen humanity. God gives this saving grace according to
the good pleasure of His will, and not according to some foreseen
actions, responses, or conditions met by men. God's election is
based purely on His sovereign grace and not upon anything done by
humans. The elect are brought to saving faith by the work of the
Holy Spirit. The elect receive special grace from God. The non-elect
receive common grace, but in the end receive the justice of God.
Limited atonement means that though the value and merit of Christ's
atonement are unlimited and sufficient to save the whole world and
are offered to all who repent and believe, the efficacy of the
atonement is applied only to the elect, and that, by God's design.
This means that in God's eternal plan of salvation the atonement was
designed to accomplish redemption for the elect and that God's plan
of redemption is not frustrated by the refusal of the impenitent to
avail themselves of its benefits. In this sense all for whom the
atonement was designed to save, will be saved.
Irresistible grace refers to the grace of regeneration by which God
effectually calls His elect inwardly, converting them to Himself,
and quickening them from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Regeneration is the sovereign and immediate work of the Holy Spirit,
working monergistically. This grace is operative, not cooperative,
meaning that those who are regenerate always come to saving faith,
as they are made willing to come to Christ to whom they most
certainly flee and cling for their redemption.
Perseverance of the saints means that those who are truly regenerate
and truly come to saving faith will never lose their salvation. They
may fall via manifold temptations and spiritual weakness, even into
radical sin but never fully and finally because God, by His grace,
preserves them. The intercession of Christ for the elect is
efficacious unto eternity.
This is a brief summary of the articles contained in the Westminster
Confession of Faith. Adherence to the system of doctrine is not
required for membership in Online church,
but is required of all officers of the church and of those who
teach.
