2. Doctrinal Differences. The visible Church in Scotland is awash with Liberalism, Romanism, Pentecostalism, Arminianism, and Neo-Calvinism. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland seeks to maintain a testimony to the following biblical doctrines, among others.
1. Doctrine of Scripture. Adherence to the Word of God as the only rule of faith and life ought to be universal among professing Christians. The Bible itself claims to be the inspired Word of God and this has been the belief of the Church of Christ from the beginning. The Westminster Confession of
1This is a further section of a document approved in 2019: “Synod Statement of Differences Between the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Other Presbyterian Churches in Scotland, Brought Up to Date (2019)”. The first two sections dealt with constitutional differences.
Faith sets forth the biblical doctrine of Scripture with admirable precision and fullness. “The authority of Scripture”, the Confession states, “for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof, and therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.” The Confession goes on to state that the Scriptures, “being immediately inspired of God, and by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical, so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them”.
In the past century and a half, however, there has been a widespread departure from the Bible’s own teaching on this point which has caused more spiritual and practical damage in the Church of Christ than any other doctrinal error in modern times. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland took up its separate position from the Declaratory Act Free Church in 1893 to preserve the teaching that the Bible is the Word of God. This teaching includes the assertion that every word of the original manuscripts was inspired by the Holy Spirit and that the written Word of God is therefore inerrant and infallible.
We believe, moreover, that the Holy Spirit has preserved the Word of God in His providence with a special care and that the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the Received Text of the New Testament are faithful witnesses to the original manuscripts. We thus believe that only those translations of the Scriptures which are based on the Masoretic Text and the Received Text in the original languages ought to be used in the Church of God, which is one reason we permit only the use of the Authorised (King James) Version in English worship services. We believe that the Authorised Version remains the most faithful and accurate translation available in the English language, and is the only commonly used version that adheres to the providentially preserved text of Scripture.
2. Doctrine of God. The duty of the Christian theologian is to collect, assert and combine all the facts which God has revealed concerning Himself and our relation to Him. These facts are set before us in the Bible. This is true because everything revealed in nature and in the constitution of man concerning God and our relation to Him is contained in and authenticated by Scripture. The Shorter Catechism teaches the scriptural doctrine that “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth”. While receiving the truth that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:16) as a precious revelation from heaven, we emphatically protest against the modern interpretation of the text as if it read “Love is God”. The Scripture with no uncertain voice proclaims Him to be holy and just as well as merciful. We also reject with abhorrence the idea, popularised
in the twentieth century and widely received in Scottish Churches, that the infinite, eternal and unchangeable God is “passible”, or able to suffer pain or loss. Satan undoubtedly wishes it were so, but the Scripture teaches us that God is “the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom 1:25). The Second Person of the Godhead became incarnate in order to suffer in the place of His people.
3. The Person of Christ. As a Church we hold that “the only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever”. We deny all doctrines and theories which in any way detract from the supreme Deity of the Son of God, or call in question the perfection of His humanity. For though at His incarnation He veiled His Deity, yet He was, and is, and ever shall be “over all, God blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom 9:5). We deny the teaching of those who assert that our Lord, in becoming man, emptied Himself of His divine attributes. We protest against this dishonouring doctrine which in its various forms is usually designated the Kenotic theory.
4. The Atonement. We also believe and hold forth God’s sovereign electing love, in that He from all eternity loved some of the human race and elected them in Christ, not because He foreknew any merit in them, but simply in accordance with the good pleasure of His will. We deny the doctrine of the so-called Universal Fatherhood of God taught in many of the Churches in Scotland today. We also deny every kind of teaching which would give the atonement a universalistic application which it does not have in Scripture. For while we hold that Christ’s death is infinite in value, and that Christ is to be freely offered to all sinners in the preaching of the gospel, on the other hand we as firmly hold that the saving benefits of Christ’s death are applied only to the elect.
We recognise to the fullest extent the perfect example of the Lord Jesus Christ; yet because of man’s condemned and helpless condition under sentence of death, we deny that the mere following of the example of the Saviour, apart from a personal interest in His atoning death, will avail to save the souls of men. The Churches in Scotland which teach that Christ died for all, or that His example with a little effort on our own part will save men, are deceiving sinners; and such teaching cannot be for the glory of God or for the eternal good of their fellow men.
5. The Holy Spirit. We firmly believe in the distinct Personality of the Holy Spirit; further we hold that He is the Third Person of the adorable Trinity, God equal with the Father and with the Son. We deny that He is merely an influence proceeding from God. As the incarnation and atonement were
absolutely necessary for the salvation of God’s elect, so the work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for their regeneration and sanctification. We believe wholeheartedly the teaching of Scripture that it is the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and that no scheme devised by man can ever take the place of His work in the conversion and sanctification of sinners. It is when sinners are convinced by the Holy Spirit that they realise that total depravity is not merely a doctrine taught in Scripture, but a bitter experience. It is then also through the teaching of the Holy Spirit that they realise their great need of the atonement and find in it a suitability and a sufficiency to meet their needs.