- A section of a document approved last year: “Synod Statement of Differences Between the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Other Presbyterian Churches in Scotland, Brought Up to Date (2019)”. This section completes the material on doctrinal differences.
6. Total Depravity.
We deny the teaching too common in the Churches of Scotland that there is some moral good in unregenerate man towards God, and that by human effort, influences, or associations it may be so wrought upon as to bring him into a state of grace. We also deny that the natural man is “capable of affections and actions” towards God “which in themselves are virtuous and praiseworthy”. We hold that “works done by unregenerate men, although, for the matter of them, they may be things which God commands, and of good use both to themselves and others; yet, because they proceed not from a heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word; nor to a right end, the glory of God; they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more sinful, and displeasing unto God” (Westminster Confession of Faith 16:7).
7. The Law of God.
We believe in the binding obligation and divine authority of the moral law summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. Christians are under a duty to obey God’s law out of love and gratitude to Christ – “if ye love me, keep My commandments” (Jn 14:15). The enforcing of this duty from the pulpit is widely neglected in the Scottish Churches at present, and sometimes ignorantly denounced as “legalism”. Professing Christians, as a result, often have little understanding of the requirements of God’s law as a rule of conduct, especially with regard to the Sabbath. Light views of sin, lax views of the requirements for sanctified Christian living, and low views of the danger of worldly conformity, can all be traced to this doctrinal root.
8. The Sabbath.
The Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex 20:8) – is the keystone of the Ten Commandments, and the attempt to remove it wrecks the whole structure. We hold that “from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath: and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath”. We deny that the Fourth Commandment was merely a Jewish institution, and that it was abolished with the ceremonial law. We also deny the view that one day of the week is as good as another, and that it remains with men to say which day of the week should be observed as the Sabbath.
The Larger Catechism teaches that “the Sabbath, or Lord’s day, is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship” (Ans 117). This “delight” in the Sabbath is a foretaste of heaven and is one of the most precious parts of true religion (Is 58:13).
The erroneous doctrine and ungodly practice regarding the Fourth Commandment in the Churches has done much to banish the Sabbath from Scotland, and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland has sought to withstand this trend from the beginning. In particular, she has opposed Sabbath broadcasting since its inception, and counsels against the use of the internet on the Sabbath, except for purposes of necessity and mercy.
9. Creation.
The Word of God testifies first of all to the fact of the creation of the world out of nothing in the space of six days and all very good, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Heb 11:3). The work of creation is fundamental to all the other acts of God in the world. While we believe that true science will always corroborate the biblical testimony, the Bible’s account of creation is to be received as entirely trustworthy and accurate. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland rejects the view that the days of creation are symbolic of long periods of time or that a “gap” of millions of years exists between the creation of the physical elements and the appearance of mankind.
Similarly, the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland opposes the theory of evolution as blatantly unbiblical and, therefore, untrue. The theory is subversive of a proper understanding of the nature of mankind as created in the image of God, and is inconsistent both with the doctrine of the Fall of man and with the atonement of Christ. The spiritual and moral devastation which has well-nigh destroyed the foundations of western civilisation over the last century can largely be traced to the outworking of the theory of evolution in the various departments of human enquiry and activity. This has been verified in the fearful wars which atheistic states committed to evolutionary ideologies unleashed upon one another, and in the slaughter of millions of unborn children by godless governments in the name of human “freedom” and “progress”. Evolutionary theory has been used by Satan to erase from men’s minds all idea of man as accountable to God the Creator and Lawgiver: if men are taught that they are descended from brutes then brutish behaviour will almost certainly result. This has been a mighty weapon of the kingdom of darkness to further the godlessness and brutality which has reached such heights in the modern world.
10. The Covenants.
The Scriptures teach that the way of salvation is through the Covenant that God has made with Christ and with His people in Him. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland maintains with the Westminster Confession that all God’s dealings with mankind are by means of covenant – either the covenant of works in Adam, or the covenant of grace in Christ. “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). This biblical teaching is greatly neglected in many Scottish pulpits, and this neglect has impoverished the spiritual life of the Church by undermining people’s understanding of the connection between the Old and the New Testaments, and hence between the law and the gospel.
11. Doctrine of Hell.
The doctrine of hell is sparingly taught in the Scottish Churches in the present day. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, seeking to follow the balance of Scripture, endeavours to warn sinners faithfully and plainly about the dangers of hell – that is, of eternal conscious torment, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9:44).
12. False Assurance of Salvation.
One of the great religious dangers facing mankind is the false assurance of salvation. Christ warns us that many will say to Him in that day, “Lord, Lord,” to whom He will say, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Mt 7:23). The Scripture therefore directs men to a close and prayerful searching of their hearts, in dependence on the Spirit of God, to make their “calling and election sure”; and ministers ought to preach accordingly and not to make a blanket assumption that their hearers are in a state of salvation. Nevertheless, exhortations to this duty of self-examination are all too often received with impatience in Scottish Christian circles, and it is considered unchristian and uncharitable to suggest that there may be professing Christians who are not true believers. We fear that there may be much “wood, hay, stubble” built in this way, and those pastors who are thus leaving their hearers in a state of false assurance are not their true friends for eternity. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland therefore seeks to lay a biblical emphasis on the need for a “man [to] examine himself”, and so to “eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (1 Cor 11:28).
13. The establishment principle.
The Scriptures teach that it is the duty of the civil powers to support the Church of God, to discountenance false religion, and to legislate only in accordance with the principles of the law of God, having due regard to both tables of the law. This is also the teaching of The Westminster Confession of Faith, and the position of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Church of Scotland, while claiming a favoured position as the National Church, is not entitled to such a position because she has so largely forsaken the gospel; nor does she provide the necessary spiritual guidance to the nation, having herself departed from the Word of God and from His law. So far from discountenancing false religion, she often encourages it with events such as “multi-faith” services and ecumenical ventures.