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Resolutions Passed of the Bible Presbyterian Church
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Resolution 71:6
The Departure of the Christian Reformed Church from the
Biblical Standard for Church Officers
On June 9, 2007, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in North America convened its annual Synod at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This year, the 150th anniversary of the denomina- tion, should have been an occasion to rejoice in the faithfulness of the Church to the Word of God through decades. Instead, the CRC evidenced further decline from its historic submission to the author- ity of Scripture as it approved the ordination of women to the gospel ministry nationwide. Prior to this Synod, CRC congregations and classes had the option regionally to approve such ordination; now, it is national. Women were also approved to serve as delegates to future synods. These actions bring to a conclusion the efforts of over 40 years to move the CRC to approve these erroneous views.
The teaching of Scripture regarding women in the spiritual leadership of the Church is plain and is not to be explained away as a cultural anomaly that has no bearing upon the ecclesiastical practice of today:
- The Creation order is normative for all ages, transcending all cultures (Genesis 1:18-24);
- The Creation order places women in a submissive role in the home and in the church (Genesis 2:18-23; 1 Timothy 2:13);
- The Mosaic pattern of public, corporate ministry clearly allows only men in positions of spiritual leadership in the life of the Old Testament Church (Exodus 28, 29; Leviticus 1-7; et al.);
- God made allowance for women in positions of secular leadership as judges in Israel, but only in the absence of male leadership (Judges 4,5);
- The New Testament clearly carries over and further delineates the terms of male spiritual leadership, with references back to the foundational Creation order (1 Timothy 2:11-15; Ephesians 5:22-33);
- Church leaders are to specifically be the “husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2); and
- The Savior rebukes women who strive to take to themselves the leadership of the Church and seduce it (Revelation 2:20-23).
The 71st General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church, meeting in Cape Canaveral, Florida, August 2-7, 2007, hereby resolves to call the Christian Reformed Church to repent of its departure from the Biblical standard for church office bearers and return to obedience to prophetic and apostolic revelation without reservation. We hereby call upon faithful believers within her ranks to walk no more with a church that will not abide by the authority of the plain teaching of Scripture and unite with a body that faithfully and obediently walks in submission to the Word of God as the Lord enables. We would extend this call to all branches of the Christian Church which have fallen away in this area. Furthermore, we affirm the necessity of holding firm on this doctrine in the face of mounting societal pressure to abandon the historic Christian faith in every particular.
Adopted by the 71th General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church,
meeting in Cape Canaveral, FL, August 2-7, 2007.
