A DECLARATION OF FAITH (1977)
CHAPTER THREE -- GOD AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
1 (1) God chose one people for the sake of all.
2 To the world in its
rebellion and alienation
3 God promised
blessing and restoration.
4 The Lord chose
Abraham and his descendants
5
as bearers of that promise for all peoples.
6 They had done
nothing more than others
7
to deserve the Lord's favor,
8
but God loved them and made them his own.
9 We acknowledge God's
freedom and grace.
10 Though we
are unworthy,
11 the
Lord has made us his own in Christ.
12 God has chosen us as his
servants for the sake of the world
13 and
destined us to be his daughters and sons,
14 giving
us love and life,
15 calling
us to worship and honor him.
16 (2) God delivered his people.
17 When Abraham's descendants were
slaves in Egypt,
18 God heard
their cries and prayers.
19 God
remembered his promise
20 and
sent Moses to free them from bondage.
21 We declare God's steadfast love
and sovereign power.
22 The Lord
can be trusted to keep promises.
23 The Lord still acts in the
affairs of individuals and nations
24 to set
oppressed and persecuted people free.
25 (3) God bound his people to himself in covenant.
26 Freed slaves became the people
of God
27
when they accepted the Lord's covenant.
28 God charged them to respond to
his rescuing love
29 by
obeying God's commandments.
30
Their life together was to express
31 the
justice and compassion of their holy God.
32 Since we, too, are the Lord's
covenant people,
33 we know
we must be holy as the Lord is holy.
34 We must keep God's
commandments,
35 not in
order to earn or compel the Lord's favor,
36 but to
reflect the character of God
37 and to
be his grateful and loving people.
38 (4) God blessed and judged his people.
39 The Lord's care sustained the
people of Israel.
40 God gave them
a land where they could celebrate his goodness.
41 The Lord established their
kingdom and
42
promised a ruler from the line of David
43 to
reign in justice and peace.
44
When God's people worshipped the gods of the land,
45 when
they put their trust in military alliances,
46 when
they failed to do justice and oppressed the poor,
47 God sent the prophets to
condemn their sins
48 and to
call the people back to obedience.
49 There were times of repentance
and reform,
50 but in
the end their kingdoms fell.
51 We declare God's goodness and
justice.
52 God has blessed us
beyond our deserving.
53 When we
forget the Lord and worship our possessions,
54 when we
fail to deal justly with the poor,
55 when we
seek security no matter what it costs others,
56 we can
expect God's judgment upon us.
57 (5) God did not forsake his people.
58 God restored some of the people
to their land
59 and
left others scattered over the earth.
60 In a time of exile and alien
rule,
61
the Jews survived and multiplied.
62 They enriched the whole world:
63 they
compiled the Scriptures, preserving God's Word to them;
64 they
sang their songs of praise and lamentation;
65 they
sought wisdom, examining God's ways in the world;
66 they
searched the mysteries of rising and falling kingdoms
67 and set
their hope on the kingdom of God.
68 We testify that God is
faithful.
69 Even when we are
faithless, God remains faithful.
70 The Lord still brings form
oppressed and uprooted peoples
71 riches
of insight and daring visions
72 that
can judge and bless the world.
73
We can have confidence in God's coming kingdom
74 even in
the darkest times.