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The Anawim Commitment
In the New
Testament, the
term 'faith' is often placed in the context of a relationship with a
king, God
the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.
We are to have fealty
(or
allegiance) to that king, to trust
that king, and to be faithful
to
that king, all of which are different aspects of our faith
. Most
doctrinal statements reflect what one intellectually believes
, and while that is an important aspect of
faith, we
believe that a statement of commitment better expresses the faith of
our Lord
who told us not just to believe in him, but to do what he said. I. Our Commitment Regarding God
z
We affirm
that we have
no king apart from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son
and no kingdom
apart from God's reign (I Peter 2:9-10; John 18:36-37; Romans 10:9-10).
z
We commit
ourselves to
depend on God alone and to entrust ourselves to him alone for our
wholeness,
salvation, peace, well-being and righteousness. We
will ask God alone for our salvation (Psalm 37:3-7;
Romans 4:18-24; Luke 18:7-8; Isaiah 40:10-11, 28-31).
z
We will love
God with
all of our hearts, all of our souls, all of our minds and all of our
strength. We will display this
love through our submission to him, through our obedience to him,
through our
praise of him and our thanksgiving to him (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark
12:28-34;
Deuteronomy 7:9-15; John 14:23-24; Hebrews 13:15).
z
We commit
ourselves to
Jesus Christ:
v
That his
death and
resurrection alone bring our salvation (John
6:53-56; Romans 5:6-11; Luke 22:19-20);
v
That we will
remain
faithful to his commands (Matthew 7:24-27; Matthew 5:19-20; John 3:36);
v
That his
life is our
example and model (Galatians 2:20; I Corinthians 11:1);
v
That we will
await our
final salvation when he returns (Matthew 24:30-44; II Peter 3:10-13).
v
That we will
be baptized
and regularly partake of the Lord's Supper as indications of our
commitment to
him (Mark 16:16; I Corinthians 10:16).
z
We commit
ourselves to
the Holy Spirit, whom we receive, listen to and submit to as he leads
us to be
like Christ in acts of love (John 20:22; John 14:26; Romans 8:9-12;
Galatians
5:22-25). II. Our Commitment Regarding God's Family
z
We commit
ourselves to
build each other up toward maturity in Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13;
Hebrews
10:24-25; Romans 15:2).
z
We commit to
use our
Spirit-given abilities for the wholeness of the community of God
(Romans
12:4-8; Galatians 6:2; Romans 15:1).
z
We commit to
listen to
each other and to empathize with each other in our joys and trials
(James 1:19;
Romans 12:9-10, 15).
z
We commit to
help each
other as we have supply (I John 3:16-17; Galatians 6:10).
z
We commit to
be open
about our lives to each other (I
John 1:5-10; Ephesians 5:8-14).
z
We commit to
confront
each other when the other sins and to restore the relationship with a
sinner
after he or she repents (Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1; Luke 17:3-4).
z
We commit to
not judge
each other in harshness or on the basis of anything outside of God's
Word
(Galatians 6:1; Romans 14:1-4).
z
We commit to
pray for
each other ( I Timothy 2:1; I Thessalonians 5:17). III. Our Commitment Regarding Sin
z
We commit to
remain pure
from sin that separates us from God, including:
Idolatry,
occultism, hostility, hatred, sexual immorality, theft, falsehood,
greed,
divisiveness, gossip, envy, cowardice, alcohol or drug abuse,
arrogance,
rebellion, foolishness, causing others to sin,
recognizing
that to continue in such sin is to be separate from God's kingdom
(Galatians
5:19-21; Romans 1:28-32; Ephesians 5:3-5; Mark 7:20-23; Revelation
22:14-15).
z
We commit to
separate
ourselves from anything that causes us to sin (Matthew 18:7-9; Luke
14:25-26).
z
We commit to
confess our
sins to God and one another (I John 1:5-10).
z
We commit to
repent of
all known sin and to ask forgiveness and make amends when it is needed
(Luke
13:5; Matthew 5:23-26).
z
We submit to
the
discipline of the family of God as it is done privately and gently,
according
to the word of our Lord (Matthew 18:15-17; Ephesians 5:21).
z
We commit to
resist the
evil one, who tempts us to fail in our faith (I Peter 8:8-9; James 4:7;
Ephesians 6:10-13). IV. Our Commitment Regarding The World
z
We commit to
keep
ourselves separate from the world, not participating in partnership
with those
unfaithful to Christ (II
Corinthians 6:14-7:1; I Corinthians 5:9-11; II John 7-11).
z
We commit
ourselves to
not resist those who do evil against us, as follows (Matthew 5:38-39):
v
We will
submit to all
earthly authorities except when they command us to do something against
God's
will (Romans 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-3:1);
v
We will not
take
vengeance (Romans 12:17-21);
v
We will not
seek
suffering for ourselves, fleeing from all persecution, yet we will
rejoice in
suffering for Jesus' name when God has allowed us to follow Christ's
example in
this way (Matthew 10:23; Acts 5:41; Matthew 5:10-12).
z
We commit to
do good to
those outside the family of God, especially to those who do evil
against us
(Romans 12:21; Hebrews 13:16; Luke 6:27-31).
v
We will show
mercy to
them (Romans 12:20; Luke 6:33-34);
v
We will be
at peace with
them, in as much as we are able (Romans 12:18);
v
We will pray
for them to
be blessed and healed (Matthew 5:44; Matthew 10:8; Romans 12:14);
v
We will cast
demons out
of them (Matthew 10:8);
v
We will seek
God's
forgiveness for them (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:59-60);
v
We will give
them the
gospel and encourage them to a full commitment to Christ Jesus (Mark
16:15-18;
Luke 24:46-47).
V. Our Commitment
to the Outcast
z
We commit to
stand with
and assist the poor and outcast:
v
In a context
of
relationship, we will call the unbelievers among them to believe in the
gospel
(Mark 2:13-17);
v
We will
welcome them to
be a part of the family of God if they repent and have faith in Jesus
(Luke
19:1-10;Matthew 12:46-50);
v
We will meet
their needs
as we are able. (Luke 12:33);
v
We will
treat the
outcast who are disciples as equals in the kingdom of God, showing no
favoritism (James 2:5-9; Romans 3:29-30).
z
We will
communicate to
those in power, especially those in the kingdom of God, to follow our
Lord's
commands to the poor (Mark
11:15-17).
z
We do this
recognizing
that we will be identified with the outcast, and at times become
outcast
ourselves because of it (Luke 15:1-2; Matthew 10:25).
All this we
commit, praying
that the Lord God will grant us grace to enact this faith and love in
all of
our lives, neither turning to the right or to the left, but doing all
for His
glory and name on the earth.
In addition to this commitment, specific to the context of Anawim Christian Community, we also affirm the Confession of Faith of the Mennonite Church. |
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