Preamble
“We who desire to walk together in the fear of the Lord, do, through the assistance of His Holy Spirit, profess our deep and serious humiliation for all our transgressions.
And we do solemnly, in the presence of God and of each other, in the sense of our own unworthiness, give up ourselves to the Lord in a church state, according to the apostolic constitution, that He may be our God, and we may be His people, through the everlasting covenant of His free grace, in which alone we hope to be accepted by Him, through His blessed Son Jesus Christ, whom we take to be our High Priest, to justify and sanctify us, and our Prophet to teach us; and to be subject to Him as our Lawgiver, and King of Saints; and to conform to all His holy laws and ordinances, for our growth, establishment, and consolation; that we may be as a holy spouse unto Him, and serve Him in our generation, and wait for His second appearance, as our glorious Bridegroom.
Being fully satisfied in the way of church communion, and the truth of grace in some good measure upon one another’s spirits, we do solemnly join ourselves together in a holy union and fellowship, humbly submitting to the discipline of the Gospel, and all holy duties required of a people in such a spiritual relation.”
The Solemn Covenant
Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)
And we do solemnly, in the presence of God and of each other, in the sense of our own unworthiness, give up ourselves to the Lord in a church state, according to the apostolic constitution, that He may be our God, and we may be His people, through the everlasting covenant of His free grace, in which alone we hope to be accepted by Him, through His blessed Son Jesus Christ, whom we take to be our High Priest, to justify and sanctify us, and our Prophet to teach us; and to be subject to Him as our Lawgiver, and King of Saints; and to conform to all His holy laws and ordinances, for our growth, establishment, and consolation; that we may be as a holy spouse unto Him, and serve Him in our generation, and wait for His second appearance, as our glorious Bridegroom.
Being fully satisfied in the way of church communion, and the truth of grace in some good measure upon one another’s spirits, we do solemnly join ourselves together in a holy union and fellowship, humbly submitting to the discipline of the Gospel, and all holy duties required of a people in such a spiritual relation.”
The Solemn Covenant
Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)
I.
We AFFIRM the Confession and Constitution of Cornerstone Church as documents that faithfully reflect biblical doctrine, biblical example, and/or biblical wisdom, and we promise to abide by them in all matters of faith and practice for as long as we are members of Cornerstone Church.
II.
We AFFIRM the elders of Cornerstone Church as those who rule over us in the Lord and watch out for our souls as those who must give account, and we promise to submit ourselves to their just and Scriptural authority, esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake, attend with constancy their preaching and teaching, pray for them without ceasing, support with zeal their ministerial pursuits, inform them of matters that bear upon the physical or spiritual well-being of an individual or the church, and defend them against the groundless attacks of others.
III.
We DENY that opinions, preferences, scruples, or disagreements regarding the doctrine or practice of Cornerstone Church or her Elders are valid reason for causing strife, contention, discord or division in the church, and we promise to receive one another in love just as Christ also received us, keeping those differences to ourselves before God and refusing to act as judge over or against our brother while we pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which we may edify one another (Romans 14:1-23).
IV.
We DENY any biblical warrant for complaining, criticizing, gossiping, slandering, backbiting, talebearing, or repeating any matter over or against our Christian brother or sister (James 5:9), and we promise to deny any opportunity for such soul and church destroying sin by seeking swift resolution to any offense (Matthew 5:23-24, 18:15-20), by sincere love for the brethren (Romans 12:9-21, 1 Corinthians 13:4-13), by humbling ourselves (Matthew 7:1-5, Ephesians 4:1-6), by praying for them, giving thanks for them, forgiving them, and pursuing peace.
V.
We AFFIRM the necessity for individual church members to labor in maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, pursuing peace with each other as much as depends upon them, while recognizing that there may at times be a need to make known to their elders any matter of importance that occurs within the scope of their observation or experience, relating to the church corporately or members individually, that may have escaped their Elders’ notice (1 Corinthians 1:11). We promise to keep watch over our conduct and conversation in the church for maintaining church order and protecting church peace and prosperity. We are not ignorant of Satan’s schemes or the destructive force of man’s sin in the assembly of the Saints (Hebrews 12:14-15, Acts 20:29-31).
VI.
We AFFIRM the biblical practice of church discipline as the responsibility of the church under the leadership and authority of her Elders as informed by the Word of God, summarized by our confession, and outlined by our constitution. We promise to abide by that process which begins with going privately to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and when unrepentant sin requires the excommunication of a church member, we promise to submit to the decision of our Elders by fully enforcing the determination of church discipline concerning the withdrawal of fellowship from any disciplined member or members. We affirm that our loyalty lies first and foremost with the head of the church who has established church discipline for the protection of the church and the restoration of the sinner, and we promise to carefully uphold this practice and the determinations of church discipline in hope of the sinner’s restoration and the church’s preservation (Matthew 18:15-20, Romans 16:17-20, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, Titus 3:9-11).
VII.
We AFFIRM the perpetuity of a positive, moral commandment appointing one day in seven to be kept holy to the Lord, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath. We promise to observe a holy rest all that day from our own works, and to prioritize the exercises of His worship, the duties of necessity and mercy, and attendance upon all the services and functions of the Lord’s Church.
VIII.
We AFFIRM that the mission of the church is that Great Commission given by our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20) wherein we are commanded to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and teaching those disciples to observe all that He has commanded us. Under the leadership and guidance of our elders, we further affirm our commitment to pursuits that may directly or indirectly serve that mission and we promise to zealously support Cornerstone Church in its pursuit of that mission with our own personal evangelism and the personal commitment of our time, energy, and resources.
IX.
We AFFIRM the primacy of sincere Christian love as the bond of our steadfast and enduring commitment, loyalty, duty, and service to Cornerstone Church. We acknowledge the priority of that commitment to be above and before all institutions of human origin knowing that a sincere love for God is always accompanied by a sincere Christ-like love for our brethren and that a sincere Christ-like love for our brethren is manifest evidence of a sincere love for God (1 John 4:7-21). We promise therefore to deny ourselves, submit our preferences, esteem others more highly than ourselves and serve the ministry and mission of Cornerstone Church with our gifts, time, energy, and resources. We promise to pray for the church and her elders, tithe to support her work, give as the Lord has prospered us, and to love one another without hypocrisy (Romans 12:9-21).
X.
We AFFIRM the providence of God in our appointment to Cornerstone Church (1 Corinthians 12:18) and we affirm the biblical necessity to seek first the will of God before leaving Cornerstone Church and forsaking our covenant commitments (Matthew 6:33). We deny that ‘feeling led’ or ‘praying about it’ or attempting to interpret circumstances, among other such subjective notions, are, in and of themselves, a valid or sufficient means by which the hidden or revealed will of God may be discerned, but rather we promise to apply the Word of God and seek the counsel of our elders with prayer in pursuit of mutual agreement before making decisions that might impact our ability to fulfill these commitments as a member of Cornerstone Church.
XI.
We AFFIRM that any amendment to this document by support of the elder board and a three-quarter majority vote of the membership present or represented at the time of the vote during a regular or constitutionally called meeting of the membership where a quorum of the Elder Board is present or represented at the time of the vote, shall be binding on all members, and we promise to uphold these covenant affirmations and commitments striving in all things to be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, and being of one mind after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:1-11).
These and all other Gospel duties we humbly submit unto, promising and purposing to perform, not in our own strength, being conscious of our own weakness, but in the power and strength of the blessed God, whose we are, and whom we desire to serve.
To whom be glory now and for evermore. Amen.
To whom be glory now and for evermore. Amen.