Moravian Synod resolution Pre resolution 54

Ministers and lay persons were consulted to author a synod resolution to submit to the 2002 Southern Synod. Their simple affirmation of Salvation through Jesus Christ Alone sent church leaders scurrying to prevent it from being presented as it might offend those who believe differently.

A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ALONE
( has been referred to as pre-resolution 54 )

WHEREAS Jesus Christ declared that "no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6) ; and

WHEREAS St. Peter declared that "there IS salvation In no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved" (Acts 4: 12): and

WHEREAS Paul wrote that "there is one God: there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all" ( 1 Timothy 2:5-6a); and

WHEREAS the Ground of the Unity, the foundational theological statement of the Moravian Church, states that "with the whole of Christendom we share faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe and confess that God has revealed himself once and for all in His son Jesus Christ, that our Lord has redeemed us with the whole of humanity by His death and resurrection; and that there is no salvation apart from Him” (Ground of the Unity, Section 2); and

WHEREAS the Ground of the Unity further states that "it is true that through the Holy Spirit the recognition of God's will for salvation in the Bible is revealed completely and clearly" (Ground of1he Unity, Section 4, Paragraph 3); and

WHEREAS the Church Order of Unitas Fratrum states that "the Unitas Fratrum is committed to the, victory, of the lamb of God that was slain as the hope of the world, It accepts ,as its central commission the proclamation of this message in every place where the Lord Himself opens the door” ( Church Order of the Unitas Fraltrum, ('Chapter III. Paragraph 2a); and

WHEREAS there are those within the Unity who would claim that there are many ways to God, that Jesus Christ is but one way among the many, and that there is salvation apart from him; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the 2002 Synod of the Southern Province declares its belief that salvation is found In Jesus Christ alone, and that there is no Salvation apart from him; and further

BE IT RESOLVED that the 2002 Synod of the Southern Province declares its belief that this teaching is in harmony with the teaching of Scripture and of the Ground of the Unity and the Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum; and further

BE IT RESOLVED that tile 2002 Synod of the Southern Province declares that teaching there is a plurality of ways to God other than through Jesus Christ is contrary to the Moravian understanding of Scripture and the statements of our foundational documents.