THEOLOGY - continued

Covenant, 1st paragraph

The first paragraph of the Covenant sets forth the theme of grace:

“Thankful for God’s abundant goodness, and for His great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord, I hereby covenant to seek to know and to do His will, and to promote, as far as I can, the interest of Christ’s Kingdom.”

It is appropriate that the Covenant begins with the theme of grace, and in particular, God’s grace. One of the three great principles of the Protestant Reformation was that a person is “justified” or made right with God through God’s grace or faithfulness. Our salvation is totally dependent on God’s grace. We act or respond in answer to God’s initiative. If a covenant can be understood as an agreement between two parties, then our part of the covenant is to respond to what God has already done for us.

The implication of The United Church Covenant is that our response to God’s grace is an ethical response. We are “ . . . to seek to know and to do [God’s] will.” We are “ . . . to promote . . . the interest of Christ’s Kingdom.” In other words, we are to live ethically responsible lives. It has been said that all theology boils down to ethics. The first paragraph of The United Church Covenant affirms that notion.

And why do we make such an ethical response? What is the catalyst that challenges us to live our lives in response to God? It is that confession of faith in the opening of this first paragraph, “Jesus Christ, our Lord.” These words are found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians: