Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)
We are ministers and members in the Reformed Church in America and we write to share with you from our hearts. We worship our heavenly Father. We confess that Jesus is Lord. We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. We delight in the Word of God. We are committed to church multiplication and revitalization. We are passionate about local evangelism. We are broken hearted over injustice and unrighteousness. We rejoice in ministries of mercy done in Jesus’ name. We long for the gospel to be proclaimed among those who have never heard the good news of salvation found in Jesus Christ alone. We love the church.
And we love the Reformed Church in America. In the walls and ministries of her churches thousands of believers have been built up, thousands of mourners comforted, and thousands of sinners brought to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God for these and a million other blessings. We are grateful for the gospel work that has been and continues to be done in and through our little household of faith.
But a house is only as strong as their foundation. And we fear that our foundation is deteriorating. The bricks and mortar of biblical doctrine and reformed theology are being eroded. The message of grace that we proclaim and the ministry of grace that we embody can only be strong and solid when they are built upon the foundation of truth. Truth without grace, however courageous and principled, is nothing but belligerence, which is not the gospel. Grace without truth, however accepting and welcoming, is nothing but unconditional affirmation, which is also not the gospel.
Jesus, who came from the Father full of grace and truth, calls us to a better way.
Jesus is all grace. He reached out to sinners – prostitutes, drunks, and outcasts. He had compassion on the crowds when they were hungry and far from home. He welcomed little children to come to his arms. He healed lepers, the lame, and the blind. He saved the criminal on the cross, who, in his dying breath, confessed that Jesus was truly the Son of God.
Jesus is all truth. He fulfilled the law and obeyed his heavenly Father. He talked about hell more than he talked about heaven. He prophesied judgment on Jerusalem for their unrepentant hearts. He exhorted the crowds to repent and regarded the Scriptures as unbreakable. He believed himself to be the way, the truth, and the life, and the only path to the Father.
We call upon all those who worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to declare and demonstrate his grace, built upon the foundation of his truth.
We write this letter out of a spirit of concern and hope. We are concerned by the creeping moral relativism, theological compromise, and doctrinal ambiguity we find in many churches in North America and even in parts of our own denomination. We see, at times, a discounted truth which affirms only the most nebulous and undefined doctrinal parameters. And we see a counterfeit grace which offers inclusion in place of redemption and acceptance instead of transformation. Because of these concerns, we are compelled to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
We are also full of hope. There are many wonderful missionaries, godly lay people, committed staff members, thriving churches, effective pastors, and promising young leaders in the RCA. In some ways we are a stronger body of churches than we were a generation ago. But we need the integrity of truth and grace. That is why we are praying for reformation and revival in the RCA. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to show us our sin, bring us to repentance, and lead us into all truth. We want to be a denomination that boldly stands for lavish grace in the context of unswerving truth.
Therefore, it is in hope that we pledge ourselves to a Covenant for Integrity in the RCA. Our Covenant is not meant to replace the Bible or the Standards of Unity. At times in the life of the church, however, it becomes necessary to clarify doctrinal boundaries and re-establish cherished truths. At times we must preserve and strengthen the foundation. We have pledged ourselves to this Covenant for such a time as this.
If you share these same hopes and concerns, please take time to read through the Covenant for Integrity in the RCA. A brochure of this Covenant which includes information on the purposes and commitments of RCA Integrity is available for download at our website. Please share the brochure with your elders, consistory, congregation, and classis. Our goal is to raise up and bring together hundreds of Integrity churches, ministers, missionaries, and members in the RCA.
For more information on RCA Integrity, including how you and your church can join RCA Integrity, visit our website at: www.integrityrca.org.
Yours in Christ,
The RCA Integrity Steering Committee
(RCA Integrity is not officially affiliated with nor sanctioned by the Reformed Church in America)