Prefatory Statement of Purpose
Declaration on the Essential Unity of the Human Race
The Bible teaches the church to confront the sins of the world lest they influence her members. As DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) reigns in government and corporate departments, it divides people based upon group characteristics ignoring the essential unity of humans as God created them. In the church “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal.3.28). And outside the church there are sinners who need to hear the gospel. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ who seek to divide or separate from other believers along ethnic or racial lines are similarly making divisions that not only ignore the essential unity of humans but further err by dividing that which the Lord Jesus has made one, His Body.
Declaration of the Essential Unity of the Human Race, and the Salvation of All Men and Nations not in Ethnic Separation but by Faith in Jesus Christ, the Second Adam
March 2024
We affirm that God has made of one blood all the people who live upon the face of the earth (Acts 17:26), that he has placed them where he has pleased, and that they have one federal head, Adam, in whose condemnation all men have partaken to their everlasting ruin (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:22); therefore, the human race is fundamentally unified by creation and covenant headship in Adam.
We affirm that there is one second Adam and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who has purchased a people for himself from every tongue, tribe, and nation (1 Cor. 15:45); that his redeeming work constitutes the saints as a “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9); this “whole family” (Eph. 3:15) calls upon the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Father; God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), for all have sinned; no man is saved or condemned because he is part of a particular ethnic group; all men and nations deserve God’s everlasting wrath in hell; the deadness of man in sin (Eph. 2:1) and the sovereignty of God in salvation (Rom. 9:11-17) preclude any notion of intrinsic merit leading to salvation or demerit precluding salvation in any man or group of men (Rom. 3:22-23).
We affirm that the Word of God emphasizes the necessity of the second birth, i.e., regeneration, over and above the significance of natural birth (Jn. 3:3-8). While this reality is presented with far greater clarity in the full light of New Covenant blessings purchased by the blood of Christ, it was by no means absent before the coming of our Savior. Salvation has always been a matter of circumcision of the heart (Deut. 10:16) and inward washing by the Holy Spirit (Ezek. 36:25-27). The original promise to Abram included the anticipation of worldwide blessing upon all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3), which would be realized by supernatural birth regardless of natural (Ps. 87:4-6).
We affirm that the body of Christ worldwide is the family of God, that in Christ there is and ought to be a cherished unity and love among all who profess his name, and that all ideologies, attitudes, and words that tend to divide the body of Christ along ethnic lines are evil and to be repented of among those who profess the name of Jesus Christ, the elder Brother of all who believe upon his name for life and salvation (Matt. 23:8; Rom. 16:17).
We also affirm that men tend to congregate among their own people-groups and that our particular histories and heritages, especially among Christian peoples, should be cherished as a gift from the Lord and a constant reason to celebrate his grace, not our cultural successes, as if we have anything that we have not received from him (1 Cor. 4:7); God’s grace in our histories should be defended against the tendency toward historical forgetfulness of his mercies, and against the Christ-hatred of statist Babel-building, past and present, who love to erase history because they hate the Lord of history and his special grace to his professing people in all nations; we equally affirm that all people-groups have particular sins, that all have sinned and sinned against others; that none is better before God, for all have sinned and partaken in Adam’s condemnation.
We affirm that natural preference for one’s own ethnic or people groups must not be allowed to: (1) undermine the oneness that all believers in these groups have in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:28, 6:15-16); (2) encourage feelings of ethnic superiority or separatism (Gal. 2:11-14); (3) make us denigrate those who differ from us outwardly by using slang-terms that diminish and therefore abuse men, who are image-bearers of God, whatever their family connections (Jas. 3:8-10); or (4) disobey our Savior’s call to make disciples of all nations, so that all men may come to know of his great salvation and his unsearchable riches and benefits, in this life, and especially in the next (Rev. 7:9).
We reject that Christians have a moral obligation to marry within their own ethnic groups, i.e., that a mixed-ethnic marriage, assuming each is a Christian, is sinful (Num. 12:1), or that a mixed-ethnic couple should be viewed negatively or suspiciously; we reject also that modern nations should work toward ethnic purity within their boundaries – Israel did not (Exod. 12:48-49), and they were God’s old covenant holy nation; modern nations should work toward spiritual purity and unity among all the peoples within their borders, by upholding faith in his person and work, and obedience to his word, as the source and foundation of national blessing and prosperity (Rev. 2:27).
We reject ethnic (racial) bigotry, attitudes of ethnic supremacy, and ethnic elitism and separatism; we equally reject the notion that the Black peoples are still under the curse of Ham, for by faith in Jesus Christ all curses are removed from men and nations (Acts 2:5; Rom. 8:1; Gal. 3:28).
We affirm that Satan is very active today encouraging divisiveness, hatred, and violence, and that Christians in these times should guard against becoming radicalized and tribalistic, for this breeds violence, enmity, suspicion, and hateful language that are a denial of the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:11-14), the fundamental unity of the human race in Adam (Acts 17:26), and the fallenness of all men because of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:12).
We urge all believers to be clothed with the meekness and gentleness of Jesus Christ, to love our enemies, pray for those who hate us, and do good to those who persecute us, so that we may be children of our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:44-48).
We, finally, urge all believers to remember that the Great Commission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ transcends political agendas and national boundaries, that it is the church’s great call to see all men brought to faith in Jesus Christ and the “obedience to the faith of all nations,” to the Jew first, and also to the Gentiles (Rom. 1:16).
Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC), Buford Georgia
Heritage Presbyterian Church (OPC), Royston, Georgia