The Official Position Statements on homosexuality and race relations were adopted by Council, November 1, 1999.

Official Position Statement on Homosexuality

Homosexuality

The position of Covenant United Reformed Church on homosexuality is that taught by Scripture in Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." Romans 1:26–27 says, "for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." God says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have known from God, and that you are not your own."

Furthermore, a “marriage” between a male and a male or between a female and a female is not a marriage at all, even if the civil government were to recognize or declare such “bonds” as marriage. God has established marriage as a sacred institution that can only exist between a male and a female by covenant (Genesis 2:24, Malachi 2:14).

The extent of God’s laws on sexuality includes not only outward acts but also private thoughts and desires. Jesus Christ taught us in Matthew 5:28 “that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” If Jesus Christ announced God’s displeasure with heterosexual lusts directed outside of the bond of marriage, it is unreasonable to believe that God is pleased with any homosexual lusts. Part of God’s condemnation of homosexuality includes His explicit condemnation of private homosexual desires (Romans 1:27).

Furthermore, not only are homosexual acts and desires sinful, but also speech and actions that promote or excuse homosexual lifestyles. These include public displays and flaunting of homosexual lifestyles as is sometimes done in parades as well as vandalism directed against public and private property. These also include name-calling, threats and violence directed against those who criticize homosexuality as well as against their families and their property. Every person has a moral duty before God to encourage all others to obey God’s commands, and not to tempt others to break those commands (Genesis 18:19, Exodus 20:10, Leviticus 19:17, Deuteronomy 6:6–7, Hebrews 10:24–25, 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Jude 23, Colossians 3:21).

God provides an abundance of comfort for those who repent of their sins and who trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Repentance is not only necessary but also is possible for all of these sins — including homosexuality — as shown by the next verse: "And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" (emphasis added).

This is God speaking, and this is God's will. God alone has the right to define what is right and what is wrong, and "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man," the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31). God also tells us in Hebrews 10:30-31: "For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

We are not permitted to add to nor to take away from God’s word: "And if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:19). We plead with all those who are guilty of homosexual lusts and actions to repent of them, to trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation; and, in so doing, " to flee from the wrath to come" (Matthew 3:7) at the day of judgment (Acts 17:31).

The Church's Response to Homosexuality

Homosexual lusts and actions are sinful. God gave to His Church and to all individual Christians the task of making His moral law known to all peoples and to all nations (Deuteronomy 31:11b–12, Psalm 51:13, Isaiah 24:1–6, Matthew 28:19–20, Romans 13, and 2 Timothy 4:1–5). However, some of the responses that some professing Christians and others have made to homosexual actions and lifestyles have also been sinful. Among these responses have been unlawful acts of violence directed against homosexuals.

We confess that the actions of some professing Christians and of some groups claiming to be Christian churches that have been made against homosexuals have violated the laws of both God and men. No private citizen has the right to take the law into his or her own hands. Instead, we are to submit to the lawful rule of the civil government, which prohibits unlawful violence against people and property, and which alone has the right to “bear the sword” (Romans 13:1–7). By engaging in such sinful and unlawful actions, these professing Christians have brought dishonor to Jesus Christ and to His Church.

The Church's primary response to homosexuality and to those who endorse or profess the homosexual lifestyle should be the preaching of the full extent of God's revelation found in the Bible. That preaching should include preaching against all forms of sin — including the sins of homosexual lusts and actions — as well as the preaching of the gospel of salvation. And because the Church and other Christian organizations share God-given duties to preach and to teach against homosexual sins, no church nor any other Christian organization should knowingly employ professed homosexuals, who are unrepentant, in teaching or in leadership positions.

Adopted by Council, November 1, 1999

Official Position Statement on Race Relations

Race Relations

The position of Covenant United Reformed Church on race relations is that taught by Scripture in a variety of passages. Genesis 1:27 says that "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Scripture does not say that God created white men or black men in His image, but that all were created in His image. We are commanded in the Great Commission to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) God’s people are drawn "from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues" and these will stand "before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes" (Rev. 7:9).

The practice of racial discrimination is inconsistent with what God has told us about the nature and purpose of the one humanity that He created (Genesis 1:27–28). It is also inconsistent with Jesus Christ’s command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The practice of racial discrimination must therefore be regarded as sinful.

We repudiate and consider as heretical the teachings of all those that claim the supremacy of one race over another in the eyes of God. God redeems people from all races and from all nations. No one race or nation is more precious to God than any other. For that reason, God requires the Christian church on earth to seek to include people from all nations and races through the preaching of the gospel. What matters to God is not what nation or race to which one belongs, but what one does with the claims and demands of Jesus Christ.

Accordingly, we also believe that it is permissible for a believing member of one race to marry a person of another race, as long as that other person is also a believer. Moses himself, one of the greatest of all the biblical prophets, was a partner in an interracial marriage for which God did not condemn him. (Numbers 12:1–10).

The Church's Response to Racial Discrimination

The practice of racial discrimination is sinful. God gave to His Church and to all individual Christians the task of making His moral law known to all peoples and to all nations (Deuteronomy 31:11b–12, Psalm 51:13, Isaiah 24:1–6, Matthew 28:19–20, Romans 13, and 2 Timothy 4:1–5). However, some professing Christians have at times engaged in unlawful acts against people of other nations or races — or against interracial married couples — for nationalistic or racial reasons.

We confess that the actions of some professing Christians and of some groups claiming to be Christian churches that have been made against people of other races have violated the laws of both God and men. No private citizen has the right to take the law into his or her own hands. Instead, we are to submit to the lawful rule of the civil government, which prohibits unlawful violence against people and property, and which alone has the right to “bear the sword” (Romans 13:1–7). By engaging in such sinful and unlawful actions, these professing Christians have brought dishonor to Jesus Christ and to His church.

The Church's primary response to those who willfully endorse or practice racial discrimination should be the preaching of the full extent of God's revelation found in the Bible. That preaching should include preaching against all forms of sin — including the sin of racial discrimination — as well as the preaching of the gospel of salvation. And that same preaching must be directed to all people — to people of all races and of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20, Revelation 7:9).