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Who are the Seventh Day Baptists?

Seventh Day Baptists & Covenants

Covenants and the Statements of Faith

Seventh Day Baptists are united by covenants, not by creeds. A covenant is a freely entered mutual agreement. The ancient Hebrews were bound together by their covenant with Yahweh. The early Christians were bound together by their relation to the Father through Christ. They called theirs the "New Covenant," that of the Hebrews the "Old Covenant." A creed is unilateral: it claims to state rational truth which binds together those who understand and accept it. The early Roman church was a creedal church, being united throughout the Empire by "one faith." Covenant and creed are not necessarily exclusive. The Pilgrims were united by The Mayflower Compact. They were also Puritans, who harrassed out of Massachusetts and Connecticut Sabbath keeping Christians who did not worship and rest on the Lord's Day. Like other Baptists, however, Seventh Day Baptists gather and are held together by covenant only.

The Covenant Principle

Seventh Day Baptists are a covenant people. That is, a solemn agreement, entered into by a number of people before God, is the basic foundation of the local church. To be without a covenant is to be without a church. Therefore, the covenant of a Seventh Day Baptist church is a carefully worded document which states the responsibilities of members and their purpose for joining together as a congregation. Some covenants are written in language reminiscent of an earlier day, and some are written in more modern language. Whatever the style, it is essential that care be taken to make the covenant a meaningful assertion of individual and corporate responsibility to which members may conscientiously subscribe.

Some Covenants

Three sample covenants are reproduced here. The first is in the traditional form; the second demonstrates a more expanded covenant; the third is in a newer form. All three are as the earlier Manual suggests, "very brief and simply, but comprehensive."

Covenant #1 is reproduced from the Manual of 1926 and may serve as a model

COVENANT

Art. 1. We agree to keep the commandments of God and walk in the faith of Jesus Christ.

Art. 2. To accept the Holy Scriptures as our rule of faith and practice.

Art. 3. To watch over each other for good, to the intent that we may build up together in Christ, grow in grace and a further knowledge in truth, and be instrumental in bringing men to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Art 4. To faithfully attend the appointments, and bear the burdens and expenses of the church, according as God may give us severally, the ability.

Covenant #2 is an illustration of an early nineteenth century document and is the covenant of the Salem, West Virginia, Seventh Day Baptist church.

COVENANT

I. We give up ourselves unto the Lord, and to one another to be guided and governed by one another according to the Word of God.

II. We do promise and engage to walk in all holiness, godliness, humility and brotherly love as much as in us lies, to render our communion delightful to God, comfortable to ourselves, and lovely to the rest of the Lord's people.

III. We do promise to watch over each other's conversation and not suffer sin upon our brother as God shall discover it to us, on any of us; and to stir up one another in meekness, according to the rules left to us by Christ in that behalf.

IV. We do promise, in a special manner, to pray for one another and for the glory and increase of this church, and for the presence of God in it and the pouring forth of His Spirit on it and protection over it for His glory.

V. We do promise to bear one another's burdens, to cleave to one another and to have fellowship with one another in all conditions both outward and inward, that God in His providence shall shall cast any of us into.

VI. We do promise to bear with one another's weaknesses, failings, and infirmities, with tenderness, not discovering them to any without the church, nor to any within, unless according to Christ's rule and the order of the Gospel provided in that case.

VII. We promise to meet together on the Sabbath Day, and other times as the Lord shall give us opportunity to serve and glorify God in the way of His Worship; to edify one another and to contrive the good of the church.

VIII. We promise, according to our ability, or as God shall bless us with the good things of this world, to communicate to our pastor or minister, God having ordained that they that preach shall live by the gospel.

IX. These and other gospel duties we humbly submit to, promising and purposing to perform, not in our own strength, being conscious of our own weakness, but in the blessed strength of God, whose we are and whom we do serve, to whom be the glory now and forever. Amen.

X. This is the covenant we now solemnly enter into in the love and fear of God.

Covenant #3 is a mid-twentieth century document drawn up and adopted by the Bay Area (California) Seventh Day Baptist church.

COVENANT

For the glory of God and Christ Jesus,
In the service of our fellow men,
For the blessing of all men, our brothers,
Solemnly and joyfully
We united to advance in Christian experience through
The Bay Area Seventh Day Baptist Church.
We covenant together:
To give mutual assistance in our Christian life,
To watch over one another for good,
To worship and work together in love and harmony,
To live so we may share in bringing the Kingdom of
God closer to fulfillment.
We cherish liberty of thought
As an essential condition for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit
and
Therefore have no binding creed; we do still resolve that
We shall each search the Scriptures and pray without
ceasing, that
We may continue to strengthen our Christian Faith and
Grow in Grace.


If you would like to see more examples of Seventh Day Baptist covenants click on the hypertext link to view the covenant of the Abundant Life SDB Church or the covenant of the Centralia SDB Church.