On Racism - (2020 BABA Annual Meeting)
WHEREAS: Our initial rebellion and sin was to turn away from the rule and reign of God, and we suffered banishment from his Kingdom, and

WHEREAS: The promise of a new and coming Kingdom where people would dwell with God was the reversal of that punishment, and such was the eternal and sure promise of God for his people; and

WHEREAS: The role of the Messiah of God is primarily a kingly role, and Jesus is identified as that King; and

WHEREAS: Through the incarnation of the Son the Kingdom of God has infiltrated the kingdoms of the world, and through the work of Jesus is fulfilling the promise of God through the calling of his people into that distinct and perfect Kingdom; and

WHEREAS: The nature of that perfect Kingdom is one of “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17); and

WHEREAS: That Kingdom, real, true, and present, is not identified with any present nation but is instead defined by the presence and work of Jesus Christ himself; and

WHEREAS: Those who are citizens of that Kingdom must likewise be holy and pursue holiness and righteousness (Leviticus 19; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 6; Revelation 22) as good works; and

WHEREAS: Our good works are not fully abstract and relative to our own cultural or personal tastes and concerns, but are constituted by concrete concerns that are marked out by the nature of our King and his Kingdom, defined by his law and desires; and

WHEREAS: We are considered citizens of this Kingdom through the application of Jesus’ blood to our sins, accessed by faith, which cleanses us and clothes us with his righteousness (Philippians 3; Colossians 3; Galatians 2); and

WHEREAS: By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, all people are obliged to come under the obedience of the gospel; and

WHEREAS: Apart from the freely given righteousness of Christ and sanctification of the Spirit, acquired by faith, humans are prone to evil, rejectors of the good, selfish in motivation and love, insolent, thieves, filled with self-righteousness, insubordinate to authority, and haters of others; and

WHEREAS: Such sin must naturally work its way out and through all concepts and institutions produced by unredeemed people, no matter the pretense of intent, for all our deeds are but filthy rags (Isa 64:6); and

WHEREAS: No humans, and therefore no human institutions, are exempt from such evils, so long as sin exists in the world and in human hearts and hands; and

WHEREAS: Racism, and its attendant evils, are pernicious examples of such sin; and

WHEREAS: While the Spirit of Christ works, the power of Satan, evil, and sin are more than matched, but are rather wholly overcome and therefore can indeed be driven back even in this world; and

WHEREAS: Injustice, indignity, discrimination, partiality, and other such things, whether found in individuals or in the institutions and systems in which people must move and live, are wicked, evil, and sinful and are not becoming the beauty, glory, power, goodness, and wisdom of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ our Lord; and

WHEREAS: Neither racial inequalities or sins can be due to inherited characteristics of some people due to any sinfully perceived superiority or inferiority, as all are both made in the image of God and suffered the fate of Adam; and

WHEREAS: Race, ethnicity, or any other source of worldly identity can therefore not leave any identifiable group of people more prone to sin than others; and

WHEREAS: Therefore, a strict personal accounting of sin, without understanding the other forces involved, lends itself to pride, arrogance, and a frank misunderstanding of the nature of the world and the pressures, slavery, and miserable conditions that a sinful world places upon people; and

WHEREAS: Any supposed superiority or inferiority of persons based on race, especially but not limited to moral judgments, is a defilement of the image of God and a denial of humanity’s fall in Adam; and

WHEREAS: People are both guilty before God and victims of oppression under the world and Satan:

BE IT RESOLVED: We, who are citizens of the blessed Kingdom of Christ, must engage in good works which speak of the glory of our King (Matthew 5; Romans 6; Ephesians 2, 5; Hebrews 10; Galatian 6; 1 Thessalonians 5; 2 Thessalonians 1; 1 Timothy 6; Titus 2)

RESOLVED: We will strive to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40), treat with equality the great and the small, (Matthew 18; 1 Corinthians 1; James 1), and uphold equal scales (Proverbs 20:23; Micah 6:11; James 5; Revelation 18) not as mere suggestions or future promises, but demands placed upon citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus even while they are sojourners on the earth.

RESOLVED: We will strive to fulfill our duty to call others to the Kingdom, demonstrate the nature of that Kingdom, and promote the ideals of that Kingdom because of our status as citizens of that Kingdom, marked out by faith, faithfulness, and good works.

RESOLVED: We shall not only do good to those of the household of faith, but to all (Matthew 5:14-16, 38-48; Romans 12:9-21; Galatians 6:10).

RESOLVED: We will not discriminate in doing this good on the basis of religious, ethnic, genealogical, sexual, economic, or racial identities (Romans 3:21-31; Galatians 3:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; Philemon 8-20; James 2), but rather will show love and mercy as our Father in heaven does (Matthew 5:48).

RESOLVED: We will do our best to publicly identify any sins that lead to or embrace injustice, indignity, discrimination, partiality, and other such things when we see them, calling individuals to repentance and systems to repair, regardless of the personal cost.

RESOLVED: We will look to the Scriptures as a perfect mirror, resolving with all our energy to remove the log from our own eye before removing the speck from our neighbor’s in love (Matthew 7:1-5).

RESOLVED: We will insist strongly that justice, both in the promotion of the good and the penalty of the law, is a necessary pursuit in our world in light of the nature of the gospel that was once for all delivered to the saints.

RESOLVED: We will not deny either of these sides of justice, whether out of pride, the pursuit of worldly pleasures and powers, or even ignorance; and that to do so is a disgrace to God, an abomination before him, a turning away again from his rule and reign, and therefore calls for repentance.
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RESOLVED: We will not persist in such denial, for, to do so willingly and continually is to rebel against Christ’s commands, and to give obedience and praise to a god of one’s own deceitful imagination and furthers the evil work of the kingdoms of this world. But when such denial is demonstrated we will enter directly into repentance and be accepted through the blood of Christ back into the good standing of fellowship.