Overture 76

On the Authority of Holy Scripture and the Lordship of Christ—From the Presbytery of San Joaquin

The Presbytery of San Joaquin overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to approve the following:

1. In the belief that the Old and New Testaments of Holy Scripture is the authoritative Word of God, the 217th General Assembly (2006) does affirm that “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16, NRVS) and is “… most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased” (The Book of Confessions, The Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.001).

2. The 217th General Assembly (2006) also does affirm that “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God” (The Book of Confessions, The Westminster Confession Faith, 6.004).

3. The 217th General Assembly (2006) also does affirm that because Holy Scripture is the authoritative Word of God, we, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), believes that Jesus Christ is “... the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [him]” (John 14:6, NRSV) and that “God has put all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and has made Christ Head of the Church, which is his body” (The Book of Order, Form of Government, G-1.0100a).

4. Insofar as God’s will for the Church is set forth in Holy Scripture, it is to be obeyed as the infallible and authoritative guide to our worship and life together as God’s people. Therefore, the 217th General Assembly (2006) does reaffirm that, “those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament” (The Book of Order, Form of Government, G-6.0106b).

5. The 217th General Assembly (2006) also does affirm that any deviation from or compromise of the authoritative Word of God and the historic confessional standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitutes conformity to the world and its culture, and weakens the witness of the church as God’s transforming agent in the world, and separates us from God’s good and acceptable and perfect will (cf. Rom. 12:2, NRSV).

Through unclear, muddled, and deceptive language, misinterpretation of Scripture, and blatant disregard of and unwillingness to enforce the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the following three issues have left this denomination in shambles, a mere shell of the great church it once was: (1) the controversy concerning the authority of Scripture as the Word of God; (2) faith in Jesus Christ as exclusively Lord and Savior; and (3) the continued efforts of some to divide the church by repeatedly attempting to repeal established church law: the ban against practicing homosexuals from ordination (1978 “Authoritative Interpretation” and G-6.0106 passed in 1997). We believe that proper conclusions regarding issues such as these that result in serious concern and debate within the church can be best settled by searching, studying, and prayerfully discerning God’s will as disclosed in his revealed Word. To adapt, mold, or conform the church in accordance with contemporary mores and patterns of sinful life will separate us from God and from God’s will. The system of doctrine revealed in the Holy Scripture, and as interpreted faithfully by The Book of Confessions, do clearly reveal God’s will for the church (cf., Overture 9 to the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from the Presbytery of Mississippi).