10. Appendices

Appendix A: List of Cornerstone’s Secondary and Tertiary Doctrinal Matters

Description of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Doctrinal Matters:[1]

1. Primary Doctrines are recognized as essential beliefs or practices within orthodox Christianity and are applicable to all churches that proclaim Christ.

2. Secondary Doctrinal Matters are understood and accepted differently within orthodox Christianity. On secondary matters, this statement will identify the doctrinal position that shapes and defines Cornerstone’s belief and practice, while acknowledging that other believers and churches hold different biblically based convictions.

3. Tertiary Doctrinal Matters more loosely shape the life and practice of a local church. On tertiary matters, a breadth of opinion and practice may be maintained within a local church without compromising primary biblical doctrines.

Cornerstone’s Secondary and Tertiary Doctrinal Matters:

Doctrine of the Trinity

• Secondary: Three Complementary Perspectives of Christ’s Atonement, note 8

• Secondary: Extent and Intent of Christ’s Atonement

Doctrine of Creation

• Tertiary: Age of the Earth

Doctrine of Humanity

• Secondary: The Meaning of the Image of God

• Secondary: The Validity of Marital Sex Apart from Procreation

Doctrine of Salvation

• Secondary: Election

• Tertiary: Those Incapable of Comprehending and Responding to the Gospel

• Secondary: Perseverance of the Saints

Doctrine of the Church

• Secondary: Spiritual Gifts and Ministries

• Tertiary: Modes of Baptism

• Secondary: Believer’s Baptism

• Secondary: Christ’s presence during the Lord’s Supper

• Secondary: Participants in the Lord’s Supper

• Secondary: The Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers of Ephesians 4:11

• Secondary: Male Eldership and Women Teaching

• Secondary: Women Deacons

• Secondary: Formal Church Membership

Doctrine of Last Things

• Tertiary: The Rapture and the Return of Christ, note 4

• Secondary: Eternal Conscious Torment, note 5

• Secondary: The Premillennial Return of Christ

• Tertiary: The Relationship of the Current Creation to the New Creation, note 12
  

Appendix B: The Nicene Creed[2] (381 AD)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son;[3] who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Appendix C: The Chalcedonian Definition (451 AD)

Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all with one voice teach that it is to be confessed that our Lord Jesus Christ is one and the same God, perfect in divinity, and perfect in humanity, true God and true human, with a rational soul and a body, of one substance with the Father in his divinity, and of one substance with us in his humanity, in every way like us, with the only exception of sin, begotten of the Father before all time in his divinity, and also begotten in the latter days, in his humanity, of Mary the Virgin bearer of God.

This is one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, manifested in two natures without any confusion, change, division, or separation. The union does not destroy the difference of the two natures, but on the contrary the properties of each are kept, and both are joined in one person and hypostasis. They are not divided into two persons, but belong to the one Only-begotten Son, the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. All this, as the prophets of old said of him, and as he himself taught us, and as the Creed of the Fathers has passed on to us.[4]

Appendix D: The Chicago Statement on Biblical Innerancy[5] (1978) — a short statement

1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God's witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God's own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God's instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God's command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God's pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture's divine Author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God's acts in creation, about the events of world history, and about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God's saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the Church.

Appendix E: The New Testament “one anothers” (ESV)

John 13:14 – “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

John 13:34 – “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

• See also: John 15:12, 17; Rom 12:10a; 13:8; 1 Thess 3:12; 4:9; 1 Pet 1:22; 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7-12; 2 John 5.

Rom 12:10b – “Outdo one another in showing honor.”

Rom 12:16 – “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”

Rom 14:13 – “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

Rom 14:19 – “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” • See also: Mark 9:50; 1 Thess 5:11, 13b.

Rom 15:7 – “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Rom 16:16 – “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” • See also: 2 Cor 13:12; 1 Pet 5:14.

1 Cor 11:33 – “So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.”

1 Cor 12:24b-25 – “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.”

Gal 5:13 – “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

Gal 5:26 – “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Gal 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Eph 4:1-3 – “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Eph 4:25 – “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

Eph 4:32 – “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Eph 5:18-21 – “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Philip 2:3 – “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Col 3:9 – “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”

Col 3:12-13 – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Col 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

1 Thess 5:15 – “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Heb 3:12-13 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Heb 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

James 4:11a – “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.”

James 5:9a – “Do not grumble against one another, brothers.”

James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

1 Pet 4:9 – “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

1 Pet 4:10 – “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace...”

1 Pet 5:5 – “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”