Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church

The Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church is a Christian denomination of the Reformed tradition founded in late 2004. The first member churches were received in 2005. According to information on its webite, the ERPC's formation was in response to a perceived acceptance by churches such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian Church in America of departures from Biblical doctrine in a number of areas, including:

*the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone, apart from good works
*the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy
*the teaching of baptismal regeneration
*failure to discipline ministers, elders, and seminary professors who hold such views
*the development of what the ERPC considers to be un-Presbyterian bureaucratic structures that impede discipline and undermine spiritual vitality in the churches.

The ERPC is governed by a General Synod, presbyteries, and elders (sessions) elected by the local congregations. Under the denomination's "Form of Government", local congregations delegate specific and limited powers to presbyteries and synods, designed to promote orthodoxy, evangelism, and the spiritual well-being of the membership while strongly limiting denominational bureaucracy.

Doctrinal distinctives

The ERPC states the following doctrinal distinctives in chapter one of its "Form of Government":

Affirmations

* We are united in submission to the inspired and inerrant Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which are the only authoritative rule of faith and practice given by Christ to His Church. We are united in the belief that the only infallible rule for the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself.

* We are united for the purpose of Christian fellowship in the communion of saints.

* We are united in doctrine, each minister and elder of this church subscribing to grammatical-historical principles for the interpretation of Scripture, and subscribing, without reservation,to the plain and normal meaning of the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.

* We are united in carrying out the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ to preach the Gospel to all mankind.

* We are united in our belief that the covenant of grace is the Gospel and that the sacraments are only symbols (that is, signs and seals) of the Gospel.

* We are united in our belief that God justifies sinners at conversion by grace alone, through faith alone apart from works, in Christ alone, and that this faith itself is the gift of God; that believers’ sins are imputed to Christ, and the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed to them; that believers are acceptable to God not on account of the worthiness of their faith or any righteousness of their own, but because only the righteousness of Christ constitutes their righteousness before God, and it cannot be received or applied to them any other way than by believing on Christ.

* We are united in our conviction that the Gospel should be fervently proclaimed in preaching to the end that souls may be saved, congregations established, Christians built up in our most holy faith, backsliders reclaimed, and the careless warned.

* We are united in our conviction that the Gospel is to be freely offered to all men. The free offer of the Gospel does not entail universal salvation, nor is it contrary to the doctrine of man’s total inability to save himself, nor is it contrary to the doctrine of God’s complete sovereignty in salvation. The free offer of the Gospel is God’s means of calling His people to repentance, and the rejection of the Gospel offer is also the condemnation of the lost.

* We are united in maintaining reverence in the worship of the Lord, and a godly and dignified manner of worship, based upon the regulative principle, as taught in the Bible and affirmed in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

* We are united in the conviction that the association of local congregations within the presbyterian Form of Government is a voluntary relationship, based upon love and mutual confidence under the authority of the Word of God and the headship of Jesus Christ, and is never to be maintained through force or coercion. We are further united in the belief that local congregations delegate limited powers to the wider assemblies (presbyteries and synods) of the church through its Constitution, and that all powers not specifically granted to those assemblies are reserved to the local congregations.

* We are united in our belief that the Scriptures teach that the true Church of Jesus Christ bears these three marks: the faithful proclamation of the one true Gospel; the faithful administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; and the faithful administration of godly discipline.

* We are united for the purpose of providing pastoral guidance and assistance to any congregation that requests such help.

* We affirm that the Scriptures teach that the heavens and the earth were created in six literal and contiguous twenty-four hour days, and that the Scriptures teach a recent origin for the entire creation.

* We affirm that the Scriptures teach that charismatic gifts, such as speaking in tongues and new prophetic revelations, ceased at the end of the apostolic period and are not operative in the church today.

* We affirm that the Scriptures teach that it is not permissible to ordain women to the office of minister, elder, or deacon.

* We affirm that the Scriptures teach that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination before God. However, we also affirm the teaching of Scripture that homosexuals who come to repentance and faith in Christ by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit receive God’s forgiveness, and that they will also be empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in newness of life and to obey God’s command to forsake the lusts of the flesh.

* We affirm that the Scriptures teach that life begins at conception, and that while it is not un-Biblical to avoid conception it is sinful to destroy human life once conceived, and that all reasonable measures should be taken to both preserve and protect it. Therefore, we oppose abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and medical research that involves the destruction of human life.

Denials

* We deny interpretations of Biblical law which teach that: a.) the civil magistrate is to serve as the enforcer of man’s duty toward God in the first four of the Ten Commandments, or to exercise any other ecclesiastical authority; b.) the ceremonial law given to Israel is in any way binding upon Christ’s church today; or that c.) the judicial law given to the nation of Israel is in any way binding upon mankind today, except to the extent that “the general equity thereof may require” (WCF XIX:4).

* We deny the teaching and practice of paedocommunion, that is, the administration of the Lord’s Supper to children who are not yet of an age to be able to understand the significance of the sacrament, and have not yet made a public confession of faith in Christ.

* We deny interpretations of the doctrine of justification which teach that: a.) justification is anything other than a one-time judicial act of God by which the sinner is declared not guilty based on the merits of Christ’s righteousness alone, b.) justification is not complete and final at the conversion of the sinner, or that c.) justification is in any manner dependent upon the believer’s good works.

* We deny the teaching that Scripture permits membership or involvement in any secret society.

The ERPC website also states its rejection of the Federal Vision and New Perspective on Paul.

Governmental distinctives

The ERPC Constitution also contains a number of governmental distinctives, including these:

*Local congregations delegate specific and limited powers to presbyteries and synods, designed to promote orthodoxy, evangelism, and the spiritual well-being of the membership while strongly limiting denominational bureaucracy.
*Pastors are members of the local congregations as well as their presbyteries
*Elders are ordained for life, but active service is term-limited
*Licensing of elders and deacons to preach (but not to perform other ministerial functions), after examination by presbytery and under supervision of the local pastor
*No permanent committees except in the local congregation (ad hoc committees with specific time limits are permitted in presbyteries and synods)
*No denominational ownership or financing of church properties
*Time limits to ensure prompt action on judicial matters
*A provision, as a last-resort disciplinary measure, for judicial action against a congregation 'in serious and prolonged cases where there is evidence of corporate responsibility'

Constitution of the ERPC

*The Bible
*The Westminster Standards
*The ERPC "Form of Government", "Book of Discipline", and "Book of Worship"

External links

* [http://www.erpchurch.org/ Official denominational website]