New Hampshire Alliance
Concerning Ethnicity and the Good News of the Kingdom of God
Believing that Jesus is Lord,
And holding fast to the central doctrines of Christianity1, the abiding ethics of the Judeo-Christian heritage2, and our shared experience of communion with our heavenly Father and one another3,
And considering the times and the devices of an enemy who seeks to steal and to kill and to destroy,
After prayer and consideration of God’s Word, it seems good to us that we speak with one voice concerning sin, forgiveness, and the hope that has come for all the people groups of the earth.
Therefore we affirm that:
- God created all human beings in His own image.
- All ethnic groups have descended from one man and are destined to be one heavenly family.
- We all have a sin problem. We all fell in Adam, marring our fellowship with the Almighty.
- All people in all times and places have been guilty of all manner of transgressions.
- It is sinful to use skin color or ethnicity to hate, oppress, favor, control, or manipulate others.
- According to the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount such hatred is murderous.
- Systems of murderous hatred are idolatrous false superiority and an affront to the glory of the Lord.
We further affirm that:
- Every sin deserves and requires God’s just punishment.
- In the cross of Christ, the justice and mercy of God have met, so that sin might be forgiven.
- The resurrection of Jesus declared to the world that Christ has conquered sin, death, and hell.
- Jesus is Lord. We give our lives to Him who had no sin and who died the death we deserved.
- The Good News that we now proclaim is all about the victory of Jesus and the reign of God.
- We pray together, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
- By the power of the Holy Spirit, we turn away from sin, forgive others, and follow Jesus.
Standing together in Jesus Christ we oppose:
- Theories of human origins that obscure our equality as image-bearers of God,
- Any understanding of the human condition that denies universal sinfulness,
- Assertions that some human ethnic groups are inherently superior to others,
- Favoritism, manipulation, or oppression based on skin color or ethnicity,
- Self-righteous judging of others while denying our own sin,
- Utopian schemes and ideologies that require ungodly division in order to accomplish their goals,
- Our natural fear of offending or of being offended that leaves us divided and alone.
Therefore, we, from every tribe and tongue and nation, will worship and serve the Lord together, for we are one in Christ, who gave Himself in love that we might follow Him forever. We commit to honest dialogue and warm relationships with all others. We will seek to support and serve one another as we work to overcome evil with good. By the power and grace of the Almighty we will make disciples of all nations. In all that we say and do, we pledge to give God all the glory, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. May the Lord loose the chains of injustice everywhere! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Amen.
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1 The Apostles Creed and The Nicene Creed
2 The Ten Commandments
3 The Lord’s Prayer