Among the 23 topics that are being dealt with by our International Church Council Project position papers, there are five areas in particular where false doctrines threaten to destroy the evangelical church and undermine the biblical foundations for the next generation of leaders. These five areas are: Inerrancy of the Bible, Universalism, Church Discipline, Divorce and Remarriage, and Feminism.

In the 1970s, the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI) turned the tide when the neo-orthodox liberals were filling our colleges and seminaries with the falsehood that the Bible is part true and part false. However, today, that battle for the Bible’s inerrancy needs to be fought all over again. The same neo-orthodox falsehoods have crept into every nook and cranny of evangelicalism to the point that pastors and other leaders are neo-orthodox in their view of scripture and are not even aware of it themselves! Without an inerrant Bible, the next generation of Christians has absolutely nothing on which to stand. Dr. Schaeffer called this battle “the watershed of the Evangelical world”.

A large number of evangelical professors, pastors, and missionaries now believe that there is no hell, or that everyone will escape hell, or that those who do not accept Christ will be annihilated so as not to be conscious into eternity. This belief, though it would be comforting to believe, is contrary to the clear teachings of scripture, so it cannot be tolerated. This falsehood also diminishes zeal to save the lost.

The past 100 years the Body of Christ in general has practiced almost zero church discipline for members who are committing adultery, fraud, theft, heresy, etc., etc.—ad nauseam. Unless this matter is brought to the attention of Christian leaders and the church turns around and acts as if holiness and obedience to God are important, most churches might as well throw in the towel right now and forget everything they are attempting.

This has probably undermined our Christian families and wrecked more lives than most other sins. As you know, the divorce statistics for those who say they are evangelical Christians are now higher than that of the total, secular population. This utterly shameful and disgraceful situation can be turned around when the proper, biblical view of divorce and remarriage is clarified and understood. And when church elders, deacon boards, and pastors begin demanding that couples save their marriages and forbid divorce, except on biblical grounds (which are not broad, but narrow).

Feminism has now captured our entire culture and has captured at least 50% of the evangelical church. This is a grave, unbiblical error that is now openly believed by thousands of misinformed pastors and other leaders and has powerful evil effects on every phase of the Christian life. The Body of Christ will continue in its downhill spiral until this false doctrine is clarified and cast out as unbiblical.

Our Hope and Prayer for Reformation

Our prayer is that the International Church Council Project will act as a catalyst for doctrinal reformation of the evangelical churches. Despite the doctrinal fog that is presently enveloping a significant portion of the evangelical church, we believe that there are good reasons to hope for the success of the Church Council. We invite all Christian brothers and sisters who share our burden for the truth to join us in this effort. 

May God use us to lovingly and gently lead errant churches and Christians back to the path of biblical orthodoxy in each of the 23 doctrinal areas that are being addressed by the council. May the Holy Spirit guide us and unite us to become a mighty spiritual army for the truth. May Christ's truth and doctrine triumph once more over the lies, deception, and error that have been planted by the enemy (that Old Deceiver himself) and allowed (tolerated) to grow in our midst. May the Body of Christ be purified to become a fitting and holy dwelling place for the Triune God. Amen.

The Sponsoring Organization for the International Church Council Project is
Coalition on Revival