JESUS IS LORD

Not all Presbyterians interpret doctrine in the same way. We are united, not by monolithic theology, but by our mutual need for the forgiveness of sins, a representative system of Government, and a shared ministry of helping and healing. And we are one in proclaiming Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. We declare that we have found new life in Him - new life as individuals, new life together.

Although all Presbyterians do not answer the great questions that have to do with God, humankind, and the world in exactly the same way, we have for more than four hundred years been making the following case for the claims of Jesus Christ:

The God of the Christian revelation is Lord of history. God acts through history, cares about it, wants us to care about it. God is not chiefly understood as an essence to be contemplated, but a sovereign to be served. In the long run, God's purposes prevail.

God sent Jesus into the world, not to condemn it, but to save it. Jesus is the promised Christ - not the Messiah who was expected, but the one who uniquely reveals God as the love that will not let us go, that will not let us down, and that will not let us off.

We are saved by grace rather than by good deeds, correct beliefs, or human ceremonies. Salvation is unearnable. It can only be accepted with thanksgiving and joy. Grateful persons are too busy being grateful to hate.

Jesus is Liberator. He frees us from the tyranny of ourselves, the tyranny of tyrants, the tyranny of systems - including theological ones.

We need one another. We cannot be human alone, nor Christian alone. Private Christianity is a myth.

We are both the reconciled and reconciling. Jesus has commissioned us to continue his work. We pray: "Make me bread. Lord, break me up and pass me around."