The Cnfessin f Belhar* Revelatin 21:6-7 Matthew 28:19-20 Ephesians 2:13-22 Ephesians 4:11-16, Psalm 133 Jhn 17:20-23 Jhn 13:34 Clssians 3:12-16 Philippians 2:1-5 1 Crinthians 1:10-13 Ephesians 4:1-6, 1 Crinthians 10:16-17 Ephesians 3:18-20 in the triune Gd, Father, Sn and Hly Spirit, wh gathers, prtects and cares fr the church thrugh Wrd and Spirit. This, Gd has dne since the beginning f the wrld and will d t the end. in ne hly, universal Christian church, the cmmunin f saints called frm the entire human family. that Christ's wrk f recnciliatin is made manifest in the church as the cmmunity f believers wh have been recnciled with Gd and with ne anther; that unity is, therefre, bth a gift and an bligatin fr the church f Jesus Christ; that thrugh the wrking f Gd's Spirit it is a binding frce, yet simultaneusly a reality which must be earnestly pursued and ught; ne which the peple f Gd must cntinually be built up t attain; that this unity must becme visible s that the wrld may believe that separatin, enmity and hatred between peple and grups is sin which Christ has already cnquered, and accrdingly that anything which threatens this unity may have n place in the church and must be resisted; that this unity f the peple f Gd must be manifested and be active in a variety f ways; in that we lve ne anther; that we experience, practice and pursue cmmunity with ne anther; that we are bligated t give urselves willingly and jyfully t be f benefit and blessing t ne anther; that we share ne faith, have ne calling, are f ne sul and ne mind; have ne Gd and Father, are filled with ne Spirit are baptized with ne baptism, eat f ne bread and drink f ne cup, cnfess ne name, are bedient t ne Lrd, wrk fr ne cause, and share ne hpe; tgether cme t knw the height and the breadth and the depth f the lve f Christ; This is a translatin f the riginal Afrikaans text f the cnfessin as it was adpted by the synd f the Dutch Refrmed Missin Church in Suth Africa in 1986. In 1994 the Dutch Refrmed Missin Church and the Dutch Refrmed Church in Africa united t frm the Uniting Refrmed Church in Suthern Africa (URCSA). This inclusive language text was prepared by the Office f Thelgy and Wrship, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Galatians 6:2 2 Crinthians 1:3-4 1 Crinthians 12:24b- 28, Ephesians 3:14-20 1 Crinthians 12:4-11, Rmans 12:3-8 Galatians 3:27-29 2 Crinthians 5:17-21 Matthew 5:9, 13-16; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelatin 21:1-5 Rmans 6:12-14, Clssians 1:11-14 tgether are built up t the stature f Christ, t the new humanity; tgether knw and bear ne anther's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law f Christ; that we need ne anther and upbuild ne anther, admnishing and cmfrting ne anther; that we suffer with ne anther fr the sake f righteusness; pray tgether; tgether serve Gd in this wrld; and tgether fight against all which may threaten r hinder this unity; that this unity can be established nly in freedm and nt under cnstraint; that the variety f spiritual gifts, pprtunities, backgrunds, cnvictins, as well as the varius languages and cultures, are by virtue f the recnciliatin in Christ, pprtunities fr mutual service and enrichment within the ne visible peple f Gd; That true faith in Jesus Christ is the nly cnditin fr membership f this church. Therefre, we reject any dctrine which abslutizes either natural diversity r the sinful separatin f peple in such a way that this abslutizatin hinders r breaks the visible and active unity f the church, r even leads t the establishment f a separate church frmatin; which prfesses that this spiritual unity is truly being maintained in the bnd f peace while believers f the same cnfessin are in effect alienated frm ne anther fr the sake f diversity and in despair f recnciliatin; which denies that a refusal earnestly t pursue this visible unity as a priceless gift is sin; Which explicitly r implicitly maintains that descent r any ther human r scial factr shuld be a cnsideratin in determining membership f the church. that Gd has entrusted the church with the message f recnciliatin in and thrugh Jesus Christ; that the church is called t be the salt f the earth and the light f the wrld, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness bth by wrd and by deed t the new heaven and the new earth in which righteusness dwells; that Gd's life- giving Wrd and Spirit has cnquered the pwers f sin and death, and therefre als f irrecnciliatin and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that Gd's life- giving Wrd and Spirit will enable the church t live
James 2:8-9 Isaiah 42:1-7 Luke 6:20-26 Luke 4:16-19 Luke 7:22 Psalm 146 James 1:27 Micah 6:8 Ams 5:14-15, 23-24 Psalm 82:1-5 Leviticus 19:15 in a new bedience which can pen new pssibilities f life fr sciety and the wrld; that the credibility f this message is seriusly affected and its beneficial wrk bstructed when it is prclaimed in a land which prfesses t be Christian, but in which the enfrced separatin f peple n a racial basis prmtes and perpetuates alienatin, hatred and enmity; that any teaching which attempts t legitimate such frced separatin by appeal t the gspel, and is nt prepared t venture n the rad f bedience and recnciliatin, but rather, ut f prejudice, fear, selfishness and unbelief, denies in advance f the recnciling pwer f the gspel, must be cnsidered idelgy and false dctrine. Therefre, we reject any dctrine which, in such a situatin sanctins in the name f the gspel r f the will f Gd the frced separatin f peple n the grunds f race and clr and thereby in advance bstructs and weakens the ministry and experience f recnciliatin in Christ. that Gd has revealed himself as the ne wh wishes t bring abut justice and true peace amng peple; that Gd, in a wrld full f injustice and enmity, is in a special way the Gd f the destitute, the pr and the wrnged; that Gd calls the church t fllw him in this; fr Gd brings justice t the ppressed and give bread t the hungry; that Gd frees the prisner and restres sight t the blind; that Gd supprts the dwntrdden, prtects the stranger, helps the rphans and widws and blcks the path f the ungdly; that fr Gd pure and undefiled religin is t visit the rphans and the widws in their suffering; that Gd wishes t teach the church t d what is gd and t seek the right; that the church must therefre stand by peple in any frm f suffering and need, which implies, amng ther things, that the church must witness against and strive against any frm f injustice, s that justice may rll dwn like waters and righteusness like an ever- flwing stream; that the church as the pssessin f Gd must stand where the Lrd stands, namely against injustice and with the wrnged; that in fllwing Christ the church must witness against all the pwerful and privileged wh selfishly seek their wn interests and thus cntrl and harm thers.
Acts 5:29-32; 1 Peter 3:15-18 Therefre, we reject any idelgy which wuld legitimate frms f injustice and any dctrine which is unwilling t resist such an idelgy in the name f the gspel. that, in bedience t Jesus Christ, its nly head, the church is called t cnfess and t d all these things, even thugh the authrities and human laws might frbid them and punishment and suffering be the cnsequence. Jesus is Lrd. T the ne and nly Gd, Father, Sn and Hly Spirit, be the hnr and the glry frever and ever.