1.We affirm our continuing
commitment to the Lausanne Covenant as the basis of our cooperation in the
Lausanne movement.
2.We affirm that in the Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments God has given us an authoritative disclosure of
his character and will, his redemptive acts and their meaning, and his mandate
for mission.
3.We affirm that the
biblical gospel is God's enduring message to our world, and we determine to
defend, proclaim and embody it.
4. We affirm that human
beings, though created in the image of God, are sinful and guilty, and lost
without Christ, and that this truth is a necessary preliminary to the gospel.
5. We affirm that the Jesus
of history and the Christ of glory are the same person, and that this Jesus
Christ is absolutely unique, for he alone is God incarnate, our sin-bearer, the
conqueror of death and the coming judge.
6. We affirm that on the
cross Jesus Christ took our place, bore our sins and died our death; and that
for this reason alone God freely forgives those who are brought to repentance
and faith.
7. We affirm that other
religions and ideologies are not alternative paths to God, and that human
spirituality, if unredeemed by Christ, leads not to God but to judgment, for
Christ is the only way.
8. We affirm that we must
demonstrate God's love visibly by caring for those who are deprived of justice,
dignity, food and shelter.
9. We affirm that the
proclamation of God's kingdom of justice and peace demands the denunciation of
all injustice and oppression, both personal and structural; we will not shrink
from this prophetic witness.
10. We affirm that the Holy
Spirit's witness to Christ is indispensable to evangelism, and that without
this supernatural work neither new birth nor new life is possible.
11. We affirm that
spiritual warfare demands spiritual weapons, and that we must both preach the
word in the power of the Spirit, and pray constantly that we may enter into
Christ's victory over the principalities and powers of evil.
12. We affirm that God has
committed to the whole church and every member of it the task of making Christ
known throughout the world; we long to see all lay and ordained persons
mobilized and trained for this task.
13. We affirm that we who
claim to be members of the Body of Christ must transcend within our fellowship
the barriers of race, gender and class.
14. We affirm that the
gifts of the Spirit are distributed to all God's people, women and men, and
that their partnership in evangelization must be welcomed for the common good.
15. We affirm that we who
proclaim the gospel must exemplify it in a life of holiness and love; otherwise
our testimony loses its credibility.
16. We affirm that every
Christian congregation must turn itself outward to its local community in
evangelistic witness and compassionate service.
17. We affirm the urgent
need for churches, mission agencies and other Christian organizations to
cooperate in evangelism and social action, repudiating competition and avoiding
duplication.
18. We affirm our duty to
study the society in which we live, in order to understand its structures,
values and needs, and so develop an appropriate strategy of mission.
19. We affirm that world
evangelization is urgent and that the reaching of unreached peoples is
possible. So we resolve during the last decade of the twentieth century to give
ourselves to these tasks with fresh determination.
20. We affirm our
solidarity with those who suffer for the gospel, and will seek to prepare
ourselves for the same possibility. We will also work for religious and
political freedom everywhere.
21. We affirm that God is
calling the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. So we determine
to proclaim it faithfully, urgently and sacrificially until he comes.