36. God is pleased with His people because of Christ. In this regard, our good works do not add to His pleasure in us, which is already complete. Christian growth and grace occurs in response to God’s work in regeneration, is guided by God’s Word, and is motivated by love and gratitude for God’s grace.
37.Our destiny, as individuals and as the Church, is not under our control. God alone orders our steps.
38. Churches that by either false emphases or by shrouding the Gospel mislead people into thinking that “God helps those who help themselves” teach a message that is completely opposite the biblical message that “Christ died for the ungodly.”
39. That faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen emphasizes that faith is our empty handed trust in the provision that God freely and completely provides. Faith is neither a technique of positive thinking nor a weapon by which we force the hand of our sovereign Lord.
40. Encouraging Christians to live simply in order to set aside provisions to support the work of the church and to fulfill the second great commandment is admirable, but it should never be confused with the notion that such giving will guarantee a return of greater material comforts and blessings. Those who encourage the neglect of family responsibilities on the basis of such supposed guarantees commit great evil in the name of Christ.
41. The notion that the expected ideal Christian life is one of prosperity and material ease is so inconsistent with both the teaching and the examples of Christ, the prophets, the Apostles, and others among the saints as recorded in Scripture, that this way of thinking is utterly irreconcilable to Christian teaching.
42. The term “Christian” is not categorically something that applies to nations. There is no biblical basis for using the term in this way nor for suggesting that the United States has some unique role in God’s redemptive plan, through which He is creating a people of every people and tongue and nation.
43. God’s means for the church to bring about changed lives and social structures is Gospel proclamation. The death, burial, and resurrection, as opposed to methods for creating political solutions to social problems or for seeking psychological well-being, form the foundation of the Christian’s hope.
44. Those who claim to speak or who are viewed as speaking for the church should take care not to commit the church, as a matter of orthopraxis, to political positions upon which the Bible does not make a clear declaration.
45. Biblical warnings about the human propensity for self-centeredness and self-promotion should give pause to those who would use the Gospel message as a method for building self-esteem. That we love self too much, not too little, is frequently the Bible’s message to us.
46. When God created all things, He pronounced His creation good, and since the Fall, creation has groaned while awaiting its final redemption. Consistent with God’s plan for redeeming not only lost humanity, but the creation realm, as well, the goal of the Christian is not escape from the material, but the subjection of all things to Christ.
47. While the image of God in man has been defaced by the Fall, God in His goodness continues to shower His common grace on all. The contributions in arts and culture of all of those utilizing those creation gifts must not escape the attention and appreciation of believers, who long to bring every thought captive to the Lordship of Christ.
48. The notion that some people are better used by God due to their spiritual superiority is dangerous to those individuals and the Church and is an affront to the Gospel of Christ. The kind of priesthood of celebrity that has emerged in much of the church needs to be greatly resisted.
49. Neither the charisma nor the perceived spiritual goodness of Christian leaders should inspire a level of trust among Christians that precludes the need for proper accountability with regard to financial and moral concerns within the body of Christ.
50. The demonstrated failure of age based divisions in church structures as an effective means of keeping children, teens, and young adults in the Church must be faced in order for the Church to return to the Bible’s covenantal based pattern of family oriented worship as normative in the body of Christ.
51. Christians who share a common faith in the ecumenical creeds and the doctrine of justification by faith alone should endeavor to find common cause in those things while in no way disavowing other beliefs which cause them to differ.
52. Regardless of one’s eschatological viewpoint, neither the prospect of Christ’s return nor the hope of heaven should preclude one from thinking hard and acting wisely with regard to the issues confronted in this life.
53. Believing that the growth of the church and the spread of the Gospel are dependent on the power of God above all else should compel us to pray first of all, rather than to regard prayer as an afterthought once we have prepared our clever plans.
54.The notion that we are the real actors in a spiritual drama, with God intervening only upon our asking, pervades too much of the way that the Christian life is discussed. This resembles a deism punctuated by occasional miracles more than it resembles Christian faith.
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