2000 – Resolution on The Defense of the Gospel

WHEREAS Bible-believers down through the ages have been obedient to the Word of God in earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Philippians 1:7,17,27; Jude 3), and

WHEREAS separation is a clear principle of Scripture, practiced by all who believe and were obedient to the fundamentals of the Faith, and

WHEREAS fundamental Baptists are known for their separatist positions, whereby they do not fellowship with apostates or those who compromisingly fellowship with them, and

WHEREAS separation may be defined according to the Scriptures as

1.          The Mark of God’s Holiness, whereby believers are separated unto the Lord (I Peter 1:16), bearing His name as a redeemed Christian (I Peter 1: 18), believing and obeying His Word as a necessity for His service and our blessing (Psalm 1:1-3; John 15:5,7), being fruitful in proclaiming His Gospel, and militantly standing in defense of His Word against all unbelief and compromise (Psalm 97:10; Ephesians 5: 11).

2.          Personal Separation, whereby a believer is in the world, but not of the world, having no friendship with it (James 4:4), no favor from it (John 15:18-21; I John 3:1,13), no fellowship nor affiliation with it (II Corinthians 6:14-17).

3.          Ecclesiastical/Corporate Separation, whereby the Body of Christ, His Church, exercises discernment by identifying apostasy and fellowship with apostasy and unbelief so that it may be reproved (Ephesians 5:11), rebuked (II Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9-16), and rejected (II John 9-11; I Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 1:6-9; II Timothy 3:5).

4.          Political Separation, whereby the things that belong to Caesar are rendered unto Caesar and those things which are God’s are duly rendered unto Him (Luke 20:25; John 18:36; John 17:12-16; Philippians 3:20), which separation has been purchased at great cost to our Baptist forefathers here in America, who won our First Amendment freedoms so that no state church would be established, nor could government interfere with the doctrines and practices of churches.

WHEREAS separation, as defined above, must be consistently applied and practiced to be effective and has been the distinctive hallmark of this Fellowship over the ten years of its existence.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the members of the Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America, meeting in annual session at Bethel Baptist Church, Sellersville, PA, on June 20-22, 2000, do hereby reaffirm our agreement with the historical practice and position held by this Fellowship and with its doctrinal statements regarding separation and resolve to mark, separate from and preach against apostasy, wherever and whenever it may be found and at any cost to ourselves. Furthermore, we resolve to separate from unrepentant, disorderly brethren (II Thessalonians 3:6,14; Romans 16:17, 18) who persist in memberships, affiliations and fellowships (including evangelistic crusades, youth movements, missions agencies, etc) where their leaders and peers deny Bible doctrines and do not respect the Baptist distinctives we cherish and hold to be the truth, according to the Word of God. We further resolve to separate from brethren who persist in immorality (I Corinthians 5:10) or cause unnecessary divisions among the brethren (Romans 16:17,18; Titus 3:9-11).

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we will guard our churches and ministries against the compromise of attempting unscriptural means to achieve God glorifying ends, whereby principle is sacrificed for expediency and pragmatism becomes the governing rule over our ministries. Furthermore, we pledge to strive for a consistent and coherent testimony for our churches and ministries, whereby there is no question to either our brethren or to the unbeliever as to the things we hold to be true from God’s Word.