A Confession of Evangelical Principles / in a letter to a friend

J. CHURCH ,
Minister of the gospel,
BANBURY ,
OXON.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you, of the common Salvation; it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith, which was once delivered unto the Saints.” Jude 3.
Banbury ;
PRINTED AND SOLD BY J. CHENEY, Printer to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence .
PRICE SIXPENCE.
Banbury ; February 1st, 1808.
Sir,
As you have solicited me to vindicate myself from the things laid to my charge, I take this opportunity of making public the sentiments I hold; and I will answer the rest of the charges at the close of my confession of faith. The charges brought against me, are these four; First , That I hold and propogate Antinomian sentiments. Secondly , That I create divisions wherever I preach. Thirdly , That after People come to hear me preach, they cannot with pleasure hear their own Ministers again. And, Fourthly , That I do not preach to Sinners. These are heavy charges indeed! With respect to the first , as my sentiments are deemed Antinomian, I think it my duty to make them public: the rest of the charges are not worth an answer. But, I can assure you, Sir, that the leading doctrines I preach, are in harmony with the Word of God, which is the only rule of faith and practice: I embrace and propogate no other doctrines than these, set forth in the doctrinal Articles of the Church of England; the Westminster Confession of Faith; and what your own Ministers, who belong to the Associations, generally hold, as appears upon their circular letters; namely, receiving the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, as their only guide in faith and practice; and thence deriving their belief, in the important doctrines of three equal Persons, in one divine essence; Eternal and personal Election; Original Sin; Justification, by the imputed righteousness of Christ; Efficacious Grace in Regeneration; the final perseverance of Believers to eternal Glory; the resurrection of the Dead; the last Judgment; the everlasting happiness of the Righteous; and the punishment of the Impenitent. These, Sir, are the leading doctrines I preach, and they stand in no need of an apology: but, as I am set for the defence of that gospel I have felt and enjoyed, I am not ashamed of one of its glorious doctrines; nor did I ever intentionally deviate from them in one sentence I ever pronounced, since I have felt their power, seen their beauty, and have been enabled to declare them; and that good hand that instructed me in them, and has owned and blest them, by me, as an instrument, I trust, will enable me to maintain them to the close of life; then, I hope to feel them supporting my soul, comforting my heart, and giving me a sweet assurance of an entrance into that kingdom, that cannot be moved.