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Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and
conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom
of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the
churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to elicit, combine,
and direct the energies of our people in the most effective manner. Members of
New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the
missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ's
Kingdom. Christian unity in the New Testament sense is spiritual harmony and
voluntary cooperation for common ends by various group of Christ's people.
Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations, when the
end to be attained is itself justified, and when such cooperation involves no
violation of conscience or compromise of loyalty to Christ and His Word as
revealed in the New Testament. |
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the Christian and the social
order |
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Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme
in his own life and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement
of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and
permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the
individual by the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus. The Christian should
oppose, in the spirit of Christ, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. He
should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the aged, the helpless, and
the sick. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society
as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and
brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to
work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in
the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
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