Pastor’s Corner July 2004

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

Pastor Nathan, Elder Mike Preston, and I attended the 32nd General Assembly of the PCA in Pittsburgh, PA. June 14-18. Of all the fruitful discussions, deliberations, resolutions, and overtures that filled the Assembly, the most important matter for our time was a resolution we adopted as a denomination to represent our position on Marriage and Sexuality. Here is that statement:

PCA Statement on Marriage and Sexuality
Therefore be it resolved that the 32nd General Assembly:
a) Humbly call on the civil governments of Canada and the United States and all nations of the earth to act within their lawful powers and use whatever legislative and judicial instruments they deem most useful to ensure that marriage is legally defined and interpreted throughout their jurisdictions as existing exclusively between one man and woman. In support of this call the Presbyterian Church in America declares to the Church, the Nation, and the World that:
– God is truth.
– God’s truth is firmly rooted and grounded in His immutable Nature and Being; it is not a construction of men; it is not variable, nor relative, nor dependent upon social or cultural context.
– God has made His truth known to human beings most necessarily in the Holy Scriptures.
– Among the truths that God has declared to human beings is the truth that the institution of marriage has been created by Him, from the time of the creation of human beings, and that it is ordained and defined by Him to be the lifelong union of one man and one woman (Genesis 1-3; Matthew 19:5-6).
– God’s ordinance concerning marriage is binding upon all human beings in all places and at all times; it cannot be altered by legislative, judicial or cultural action. It is possible to deviate from God’s ordinance, but it is not possible to change it.
– God has ordained civil authorities “under Him, and over the people, for His own glory and the public good” (Westminster Confession of Faith 33-1), to the end that good (as defined by Him) may be encouraged and defended and evil (as defined by Him) may be suppressed and punished.
“God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God will hold those whom He has placed in authority accountable for their actions, and He has declared:
Woe to those who call evil good
And good evil,
Who put darkness for light
And light for darkness,
Who put bitter for sweet
And sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And shrewd in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20)
b) Call upon the Presbyteries and Sessions of the PCA to strengthen the marriages in its own churches and exhort its elders to be bolder and more caring shepherds of Christ’s flock that we might help stem the scandalous rising tide of divorce in the church.
c) Call upon the Presbyteries and Sessions of the PCA to encourage all men and women, boys and girls within the PCA to live chastely for the sake of the Savior who bought them, whether in marriage or in singleness, whether they must do battle against heterosexual or homosexual temptation in seeking to be faithful to their Lord who loves them.
d) Call upon its members to be “the salt and light of the earth” in this context by exercising their full responsibilities as citizens including:
(1) Communicating the biblical faith of the PCA on this matter;
(2) Protecting and defending the biblical teaching on marriage, according to their own best judgment as citizens, in all spheres of public and private discourse.
e) And that these “calls” be communicated by the [PCA] Stated Clerk to all who have inquired and may inquire concerning these matters.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich