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The
Pentecostal
Holiness
Church
is committed to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. This
commitment involves a biblical lifestyle. We believe
that the Bible is God's infallible Word and the
believer's guide and final authority for both faith and
conduct (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We are totally committed to
the Bible as God's written Word to man. We believe that
a top priority of Christians in this world is to
multiply believers and multiply churches as a means of
extending the
kingdom
of
God
. We must, therefore, follow a lifestyle that gives
impetus to this purpose. As members of the army of God
we are involved in spiritual warfare, and thus under
military discipline (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Other
considerations must take second place to our primary
purpose in life. We are mobilized on a wartime basis.
Every facet of our lives must come under divine
authority (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Since our bodies are the temples of
the Holy Spirit and instruments of righteousness (1
Corinthians 6:19; Romans 6:13), we must keep our bodies
clean and consecrated for the Master's use. From the
beginning of our existence as a denomination we have
expected our members to abstain from the use of tobacco,
alcoholic beverages, and addictive drugs. We have also
maintained a strong position against premarital,
extramarital, and deviant sex, including homosexual and
lesbian relationships, refusing to accept the loose
moral standards of our society. We commit ourselves to
maintaining this disciplined lifestyle with regard to
our bodies (Romans 12:1-2).
The mind is also the dwelling place of
God. We believe that our minds should be kept pure and
positive in the midst of an impure and negative world
(Philippians 4:7-8). It is for this reason that our
members are to govern their "mental" diet. The
profanity and pornography that pervade our modern media-
both print and video-make it imperative that Christians
discipline their minds by refusing to feed upon that
which is profane, vulgar, or hedonistic. Thus
Pentecostal Holiness members are to avoid material that
panders to the profane and pornographic, while
consciously replacing it with wholesome material that
nurtures and strengthens the spiritual man. We hold a
deep commitment to the study of the Bible.
Our commitment includes our spirits.
The spirit of this world is hostile to the spirit of the
Christian (Galatians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14). The
spirit rulers of this present darkness are ever at work
to establish strongholds in the minds of unsuspecting
believers, to impose upon them the mind-set of the
world. We must guard against the hatred and hostility
that breed so easily in the human spirit. The greed and
selfishness that motivate much of our modern culture is
contrary to our Christian faith and testimony. We
therefore urge all our members to exhibit the "mind
of Christ" in all their attitudes (Philippians
2:5-11).
Our speech reveals much about us
(Matthew 12:34-37). The Christian should be known by his
wholesome conversation. Our members are to refrain from
speaking anything that is unclean, untrue, unkind, or
unprofitable. We must make sure that our talk affirms,
rather than hinders, our testimony.
Our relationships reveal our
preferences and positions. Thus our people are not to
align themselves with organizations or movements that
stand in contradiction to Christian principles (2
Corinthians 6:14-18). The believer's commitment to Jesus
Christ stands above his commitment to any political
party or economic structure or social institution. Any
time there is a conflict between the Christian's
commitment to Christ and his commitment to any other
relationship, he must recognize that all other
commitments are governed by this highest commitment
(Luke 14:26-27). All our members are to be honest and
ethical in all their relationships (Romans 12:17).
The family is the basic unit of
society. The divine origin of the family makes it of
vital concern both to the church and to society. Our
commitment to a biblical lifestyle profoundly impacts
the family. We give priority to the sanctity of marriage
and to the biblical pattern of relationships in the
home. While the husband is recognized as the head of the
home, he is also commanded to love and cherish his wife
as his own body (Ephesians 5:25, 28). Wives are to
respect and honor their husbands (Ephesians 5:22-23).
Parents are to teach and correct their children, but at
the same time refrain from provoking them to anger and
resentment (Ephesians 6:1-4). Children are to respect
and obey their parents. Christian families should
worship together, play together, and work together. The
relationships in the Christian family should reflect the
healing that Christ brings to all human relationships.
Our commitment to Jesus Christ
includes stewardship. According to the Bible everything
belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). We are stewards of His
resources. Our stewardship of possessions begins with
the tithe (Malachi 3:8-10). All our members are expected
to return a tenth of all their income to the Lord. This
tithe is to be paid into the "storehouse."
This storehouse is the treasury of the local church or
conference to which this member belongs. In addition to
the tithe, all our members are expected to give
offerings out of the ninety percent of God's wealth
which He allows them to use (1 Corinthians 16:2).
Stewardship also includes our time, talent, and
spiritual gifts, as well as our money (Ephesians 5:16;
Romans 12:3-8; Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27).
Loyalty to Christ and His church are
basic to the success of the
Pentecostal
Holiness
Church
. The faithful participation of every member, both lay
and clergy, and every local church and quadrennial
conference in the various ministries of the church is
necessary if the
Pentecostal
Holiness
Church
is to fulfill its mission. Loyalty involves commitment
to all the ministries of the denomination. Since leaders
should be role models, all those in leadership in the
local church, the quadrennial conference, and the
general church should set an example by their
faithfulness in supporting the ministries of the church.
Loyalty involves attendance at the gatherings of the
church. This is vital at local church, quadrennial
conference, and denominational gatherings (Hebrews
10:25). Loyalty involves financial support. Faithfulness
in tithes and offerings is essential to the prosperity
of God's people (Malachi 3:8-12). This applies to local
church members, quadrennial conferences, and all other
individuals and entities of the church. Loyalty involves
affirmation. The morale of the church requires the
positive affirmation of the leadership and ministries of
the denomination. While negative criticism tears the
church apart (Galatians 5:12-26), positive affirmation
builds it up (Ephesians 4:16).
This Covenant of Commitment is
intended as a guideline for all our members, not a
system for monitoring and judging one another. Neither
is this Covenant of Commitment to be considered an
exhaustive statement concerning a biblical lifestyle.
The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is our complete
and final authority. A careful, conscientious, and
continual study of God's Word will reveal to the
believer a growing understanding of what it means to
live worthy of our calling in Christ Jesus. Any member
having difficulty in following a biblical lifestyle or
this Covenant of Commitment should be given loving
nurture and patient instruction in order to lead him to
maturity and restoration, if needed (Galatians 6:1).
There are times when, in spite of every effort to
nurture and restore a member, no alternative but
excommunication can be found. When a member refuses to
heed the loving admonitions of the church to follow a
Christian lifestyle, he or she must be excommunicated
from the fellowship of the church. However,
excommunication is a last resort, and is administered
only in flagrant cases of heresy, divisiveness, or
immorality (Matthew 18:15-17; Titus 3:10; Romans
16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5). The primary purpose for
this commitment to a disciplined lifestyle is to
strengthen the position of our members as Great
Commission Christians, and thus to firmly establish our
denomination as a Great Commission movement. We feel
that the
Pentecostal
Holiness
Church
has a vital part to play in world evangelism. Our aim is
to make the multiplying of believers and the multiplying
of churches a top priority of the denomination.
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