ChristianConduct

ADULTERY; IMMORALITY -   "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). "...try
hard to live without sinning; and be at peace with everyone so that he will be pleased with
you when he returns" (II Peter 2:14 LB). "You shall not commit adultery. But I say:
Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery
with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27 28 LB). "...Don't fool yourselves. Those who live
immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals will have no share in his
Kingdom ..."(I Corinthians 6:9 LB). "But now I have written unto you not to keep company,
if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer,
or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat"   (I Corinthians 5:11 LB).

DRUNKENNESS; DRUGS - "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and won't obey;
he is a worthless drunkard. Then the men of the city shall stone him to death. In this way
you shall put away this evil from among you, and all the young men will hear about what
happened and will be afraid" (Deuteronomy 21:20 21 LB). "...envy, murder, drunkenness,
wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again as   I have before, that
anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:21 LB).
"Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 6:10 LB). "Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie
along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit, and controlled by Him" (Ephesians 5:
18 LB). "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall
clothe a man with rags" (Proverbs 23:21).

HOMOSEXUALITY - "You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination"
(Leviticus 18:22). "...God let go of them and let them do all these evil things, so that even
their women turned against God's natural plan for them and indulged in sex sin with each
other. And the men, instead of having a normal sex relationship with other women,
burned with lust for each other, men doing shameful things with other men and, as a
result, getting paid within their own souls with the penalty they so richly deserved. So it
was that when they gave God up and would not even acknowledge him, God gave them
up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. Their lives became full of every kind
of wickedness and sin ...." (Romans 1:26- 29). "Don't you know that those doing such
things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who live
immoral lives, who are idol worshippers, adulterers or homosexuals will have no share in
his Kingdom... "(I Corinthians 6:9 10).

MARRIAGE & FAMILY - We define marriage as between “one man and one woman.”
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife,
as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as
the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He
might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their
own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated
his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we
are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”
(Ephesians 5:22-31). “The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to
divorce his wife?” testing Him. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses
command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and
to dismiss her.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your
heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them
male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one
flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark 10:2-9)
(Malachi 2:13-17). “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as
himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Children, obey your parents
in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first
commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the
earth.” And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 5:33-6:4).

ABORTION - We are pro-life, and we believe that life begins at conception. We
believe that abortion is murder. “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I
ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5). “And the Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). “And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons
and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted
with blood” (Psalm 106:38). “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my
mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are
Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I
was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw
my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days
fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16). “Thus says
the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who
makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth
by Myself” (Isaiah 44:24). “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). “For he will be great in
the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled
with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15). “For indeed, as soon as
the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke
1:44).

JUSTICE – We believe that God is a God of justice. He requires His servants to “do
justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly” before Him (Micah 6:8). “Justice and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne,” declared the Psalmist. “Mercy and truth go before thy
face” (Ps. 89:14). Biblical justice is a broader, more comprehensive concept than legal
justice. Biblical justice means conducting ourselves in attitude and action toward all men
as made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). Biblical justice defines how we treat and
consider the poor, the persecuted and even the prominent, that we be not partial either to
the poor or the prominent, that we not “respect” or disrespect persons because of
perceived status (Jam. 2:1-18). It means that we, in attitude and action, display the heart
of God in His “royal law,” loving our neighbor as ourselves (Jam. 2:8). When we do this in
spirit and in truth, “mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each
other. “Truth shall spring out of the earth in our city and righteousness shall look down
from Heaven upon our city (Ps. 85:10-11). This is essential because God’s “salvation is
near them that fear him” and promises “that glory may dwell in our land” (Ps. 85:9). Then
God will “revive us again” that the people [our city] may rejoice in thee” (Ps. 85:4-6).

GENEROSITY – We believe that God is a God of truth, but He is also a God of mercy.
His desire for those called by His name is that “mercy and truth are met together” so that it
can be said and observed that “righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:
10-11). The Scriptures clearly reveal that God is the owner of all things and that we are
His trustees, as to the earth, as to our possessions and as to our very lives (Ps. 50:10-15,
Ps. 24:1, Hag. 2:8, Ezek 18:4, Luke 14:33). We are to govern in the earth justly, as God’s
hand extended, using the resources entrusted to us to do His will (Deut. 8:11-18). For this
reason, we are told, “Give, and it shall be given unto you...” (Luke 6:38). We are to be a
“Kingdom Conduit” of divine blessing. Greed must have no place among the godly (Prov.
15:27, Eph. 4:17-20). We are exhorted to give, “not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God
loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). Giving freely releases God’s grace to abound and
God’s sufficiency to manifest His active presence [even in our city] (2 Cor. 9:8).
Generosity often reveals our true heart for doing Biblical justice (Prov. 29:7, Matt. 19:21).
Our faith is validated by our works, since “faith without works is dead...” (Jam. 2:13-18).
Greed defiles our testimony of God’s goodness, but generosity confirms God’s true grace,
His enabling and equipping power.