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unbiblical. While the sinner may - indeed must - seek

the new birth, it is God’s to grant in His timing. ‘The
wind blows where it wills, you hear the sound of it, but
do not know where it comes from and where it is
going; so is everyone who is born of the spirit.’ (John Reformed Congregational Church
3:8).

15 Christ in us is the guarantee of holiness - WWB

W
Being remade in the likeness of Christ, this
‘new heart’ and ‘new spirit’ loves truth and God more
than the old nature loved sin and unrighteousness. The
believer is one who is a slave of righteousness and God.
It is impossible, therefore, for the Christian to continue

C
in the same life of sin which preceded his conversion. oram Deo is a Protestant Reformed Church which
‘Whoever is born of God cannot continue in sin ... aligns itself with the biblical doctrine of Salvation
because he is born of God.’ (1 John 3:4-9). as it reemerged at the time of the Reformation.

That historical movement represented not only a

reaction against the many moral abuses present in the
life of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but a
theological renunciation of its understanding that
Christian Salvation embraces concepts of human
ability and merit. In particular, the Reformation
rejected the notion that man in his natural condition is
possessed of free will, or that man is capable of making
even the smallest contribution towards his own
righteousness before God.

The following doctrines represent the essential beliefs

which define Protestantism as Protestant, and in their
entirety set us apart from Roman Catholicism. They
have been universally believed by all the major
Coram Deo currently meets traditions represented by the historic Reformation
Reformed Congregational Church

at the Dana Point Youth Facility churches; Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed.

What We Believe & Why

Dana Point, CA 92629-4047

34451 Ensenada Place The doctrine of Original Sin - that all men
Dana Point Harbor, CA 92629 1 sinned in Adam. ‘... by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon
Post Office Box 4047

Sundays: 11:00 am all men ... through the offense of one many be dead ...’
(Romans 5:12-15).
and at 33145 Santiago Drive,
Dana Point, CA 92629 The doctrine of imputed guilt - that this sin has
Wednesdays: 7:30 pm
2 made all men liable to punishment and
condemnation. ‘ ... the judgment was by one unto

© Copyright, 1995 by Anthony D. O’Sullivan continued on inside…

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condemnation ... by the offense of one man death reigned
by one ... by the offense of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation ...’ (Romans 5:15-19). ‘... you are
by nature children of wrath ...’ (Ephesians 2:3). ‘... in
Adam all die ...’ (1 Corinthians 15:22).
The doctrine of constitutional depravity - that man
3 is born with a sinful nature. He sins by disposition
not by choice. ‘Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of
man was very great, and that every intent of the heart was
always, only and continually evil.’ (Genesis 6:5). ‘Can the
leopard change his spots? So then neither can you who are
accustomed to doing evil, do good.’ (Job 14:4). ‘In
iniquity I was conceived, and in sin I was brought forth..’
(Psalm 51:5). ‘Now there is no one good, not one, nor are
there any that seek after God ...’ (Romans 3:10-18).
4 The doctrine of total depravity - that man is not
only born with a sinful disposition, but that such
dominates and controls his entire nature. The natural man
neither understands, desires nor pursues righteousness, but
hates it, together with God Himself Who is the author of
such righteousness. ‘Light has come into the world, but
men hate the light because their deeds are evil ..’ (John
3:19-20). ‘... the carnal mind is opposed to God; for it is
not subject to God’s law, indeed it can not be. So then,
those who are in the flesh can not please God.’ (Romans
8:7). ‘... the natural man does not receive the things of the
Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, he cannot
understand them ...’ (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The doctrine of substitution and satisfaction in the
5 atonement of Christ - that in the same manner as sin
of one man - Adam - is reckoned to the whole human
race, so the sins of many were imputed to One, - Christ.
Having taken sin upon Himself He then fully endured the
wrath of God. ‘... God made Him who knew no sin to be
made sin on our behalf...’ (2 Corinthians 5:21). ‘Whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation .. through His
blood.’ (Romans 3:25). ‘... the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29). ‘We have been
made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ ...’ (Hebrews 10:10).
The doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness -
6 that Christ’s perfect obedience to the law as well as His
satisfaction for sin is reckoned as belonging to those who
believe. ‘But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who is made
unto us .. righteousness ...’ (1 Corinthians 3:21). ‘For you
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.’
(Colossians 3:3).
7 The doctrine of justification on account of the merits
of Christ alone - a man or woman is only justified
because of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, ascension and
intercession and not by anything he does, even the act of
believing. ‘... being justified by .. the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus.’ (Romans 3:24). ‘... having now been justified
by His blood ...’ (Romans 5:9). ‘For as by one man’s sin
many were made sinners, so through one act of righteousness
there resulted in justification of life ... through the obedience of
one many will be made righteous.’ (Romans 5:17-19).
‘He is able to save eternally ... since He ever lives to make
intercession.’ (Hebrews 7:25).
Faith is only the instrumental cause of justification,
8 not the meritorious cause - in other words faith is the
method by which we are made alive to justification, not the
grounds (the reasons for) that justification. ‘Knowing
therefore, that a man is not justified by the works of the law
but by the faith of Christ Jesus, even we who have believed
in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ Jesus.’ (Galatians 2:16. KJV).
The faith which justifies is not man’s contribution to
9 the saving process but rather the gift of God - It is
what God freely gives us that we might be saved. ‘It is by
grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of
yourselves it is the gift of God...’ (Ephesians 2:8-9). ‘... born
not of the will of man, but the will of God ...’ (John 1:12-13).
‘...You did not chose me, but I chose you ...’ (John 15:16).
‘So then, it is not of him that wills, nor him that runs, but
God who shows mercy...’ (Romans 9:16).
Christ requires that the sinner diligently seek
10 saving faith from the hand of God - Jesus
commanded, ‘Strive to enter in,’ (Luke 13:24) with the
promise, ‘Seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall be given
unto you.’ (Matthew 7:7).
The faith that saves is possessed of a sure
11 trust and confidence in the mercy of God -
‘a sure trust and confidence which a man hath in God,
that through the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven,
and he reconciled to the favor of God’ - all who have
faith know that Christ died for them. ‘... Now faith is
the assurance of things not seen, the conviction of
things yet to come...’ (Hebrews 11:1). ‘... If you believe
in your heart and doubt not, but believe that you have
already received ... you will receive what you have asked
for.’ (Mark 11:23-24). ‘... Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded
that what He had promised He was also able to perform,
and therefore, it was imputed to him as righteousness.’
(Romans 4:18-22).
The gift of faith flows out of the new birth -
12 that divine act by which the sinner is renewed
in the likeness and image of Christ’s righteousness.
‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us
to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead…’ (1Peter 1:3).
The new birth consists in a two fold
13 operation of death and life - the Adamic
nature is ‘crucified’ and ‘buried’ and replaced with a
new disposition which results from our being mystically
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. ‘Don’t you know ...
that we were baptized into His death ... we were united
in His death ... our old man was crucified with Him ...
that hence forth we should not serve sin. For he that is
dead is freed from the power of sin.’ (Romans 6:3-22.)
‘Therefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creation,
old things are passed away, and all things have become
new.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The new birth is occasioned not by any
14 volitional or external act of man, but is
sovereignly the gift of God - the Reformers denied that
the new birth was man’s to induce by baptism, laying
on of hands (confirmation), etc., similarly for man to
promise the new birth upon condition of a sinners
prayer, a commitment or decision for Christ, is
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