I am looking for opinions concerning a portion of my Church’s statement of faith.
Quote
VII. OF ELECTION
We believe that election is the eternal act of God’s sovereign grace by which He chooses, calls, justifies and glorifies sinners; that it is effectuated by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word in drawing sinners to Christ so that their wills are freely brought into compliance with God’s elective purpose; that it excludes all human boasting; that it is demonstrated in believers by their personal faith in Christ, their love to God and their desire for holiness; that it is the ground of the believer’s assurance and promotes humility and service.

I attend a Reformed Baptist Church that recently is getting some flak for preaching the doctrines of grace. One of the problems we are having is some long time members, (including some on the deacons board) do not believe in the doctrines of grace. My pastor is very concerned about this as one might expect. Although we have known there have always been some who don’t believe in the doctrines of grace, only recently has there been any open conflict about it.
My friend who is a deacon as well as several others including myself and my pastor are seeking wisdom on how best to deal with this matter. One thought was to deal directly with our statement of faith.
However we thought that we had better make certain that the wording is clearly in keeping with Reformed thought, especially with the issue we are dealing with.
It is clear that the original writers of our statement of faith were Reformed Baptists; but before we play this particular card. We want to make certain the statement of faith concerning ‘Election’ is clear so it can’t be used against us.
Your prayers and any wisdom you can offer would be appreciated.
Thank you
Tom