Circular Letter. Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Wabash District Association of Regular Baptists, held at [Gialy/Giady] Fork Meeting-House, Crawford County, Illinois, on the 4th, 5th, and 6th days of October, 1834.

 Circular Letter.

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Wabash District Association of Regular Baptists, held at [Gialy/Giady] Fork Meeting House, Crawford County, Illinois, on the 4th, 5th, and 6th days of October, 1834.

Dearly Beloved Brethren: Having transacted our business with much love and goodwill, we now proceed to offer, by way of a Circular, a few thoughts on the importance of a firm Christian union in faith and practice, among all the churches of which this Association is composed. We have not chosen this subject because we know of any appearance of division among you, but because the enemy has, and yet will, try to distress God’s dear children by dissention and division, if possible; and secondly, we have chosen it because of its excellence and beauty. And first, the Christian religion is one holy religion, emanating from one holy and ever-blessed God, through his Son Jesus Christ, who declares that he and the Father are one. This one Father and Son, together with the Holy Ghost, constitute one adorable, invisible, unchangeable, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God, the creator and upholder of all things visible and invisible, and we truly say that immortality. This one God is revealed in the person of one Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of one body or church, composed indeed of many members, yet but one body; and the saints of this body or church are efficaciously put away by the one effectual sacrifice of the covenant head, who through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself, without spot to God, and obtained eternal redemption for them (Heb. ix. 12,) from the curse of the law, (Gal. iii. 13.) and from all iniquity, (Titus, ii. 14.) And thus glorious Redeemer and powerful Advocate, having made one complete and satisfactory atonement for his dear people, ascended upon high, where he hath reigned, now reigns, and will continue to reign, until all his enemies are put under his feet, and hath given unto us one only true religion, and we may not divide it; neither is it allowed to divide, but to make us one people, in doctrine, one in experience and one in practice. Hence it is written, “There is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

2nd. The grand and golden chain of Christian union is love to God, and our neighbor, both for ourselves; this love is the fulfilling of the law, and enables us to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength; this love will lead men to receive, obey and love, the whole truth as it is in Jesus. Men reject the truth because they do not love it; but when God converts men by his spirit, he converts them to a love of the truth; and the truth is to make them free—free from sin; but how men are made free from sin, by the thing they hate, we have yet to learn.

3rd. In this union, there is a unity of speech, or unity of language; for all heaven-born children speak the same spiritual language, and this spiritual language is only taught in grace’s school. A man may be born again, before he can correctly speak the spiritual language of Canaan, and feelingly recognize God as his Father, and the Heavenly Jerusalem as his Mother. The Ministers of the everlasting Gospel are not taught in Heaven’s college, where the Saviour is the teacher, and the tuition gratis; It is by the same spiritual teaching, that God’s children have one spiritual knowledge of sin, and by it all true preachers of the Gospel give a certain sound, for, if they give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? And, truly, we may say, “Happy are the people who” (in this joyful sense) “know the joyful sound.”

4th. In this Heavenly and glorious union, there is a unity of faith, and this unity of faith will invariably lead to a unity of practice; for all right Christian obedience should be left on and preceded by a true faith, relating to the prescribed duty: indeed, no set obedience can be acceptable without faith; for without it, it is impossible to please God. Hence it is manifest, that to a right faith there should be a right practice, and connected with a right practice there should be a right faith, and to order both in those particulars, we should have a right knowledge of the Scriptures of truth; for as surely as a false faith, a false hope, and a false practice, will ruin a man—so surely will a true faith, a true hope, and a true practice, give him an assurance of salvation; seeing faith without our works, is dead, being alone; and good works are the fruit of the faith of God’s elect. Hence, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them: And Christ) gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

5th. Connected with a union of faith, experience, and practice, there will be a unity of dependence on God for wisdom, strength, patience, and holy zeal, to do his will; for those, and those only, who rightly depend on God, will call on him for help in a right manner. Indeed we apprehend there are many in this age, who make great professions of dependance on God, while they in reality, feel very little of the spirit of dependance on him; for, by their conduct, they appear to evince a disposition in every emergency to help themselves; and whenever God does not work soon enough, fast enough, or good enough to please them, they appear to accomplish the work themselves, or at least, by their extraordinary exertions, to influence and superinduce him to work according to their will and pleasure; hence all the religious legerdemain of preachers and revival making. Not so with those who have been “taught of the Lord.” Their trust is in him, and their dependence upon him. They desire that his will, and not theirs, may be done, and that their will may be made strictly conformable with his. They have no doubt, but the whole building of God is fitly framed together, and will grow unto a holy temple in the Lord, and that it is from Christ as the Head, that the whole body, being fitly joined together by that which every joint supplieth, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.

6th. Again—Connected with this unity of faith, hope, love, and humble dependence on God, there is a unity of purpose and goodwill, to all the united family of Jesus; a unity in watchfulness, patience, and brotherly kindness; a unity in spirit and in truth. Thus, the people of the Lord are one people, and their Lord is one Lord; he is their head, and they his members, his church, his spouse. This church, this spouse, is the united Zion of God, the bride, the Lamb’s wife. These are the people who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, who were captured by the enemy of God, seduced by hellish craft and subtlety, and involved in sin and wretchedness. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved them, hath redeemed, accepted, and saved many, and we believe will save all his elect children. And now, dear brethren, if you are thus united, you ought to be very thankful that the Lord of Glory hath ever had thoughts of mercy towards you and hath called you by this grace. Moreover, if the Lord hath called and separated you from the world, calling you his peculiar people, you ought to remain separate from the world and all its fatal societies. By false societies, we mean all false or pretended churches, all communities, committees, and congregations of men for religious purposes, who have not the word of God for their rule of faith and practice. Many new-fangled societies are now in this world that the Saviour of men never appointed nor ordained in his word, all under the specious pretence of religion. Therefore, remember that the church of the living God is the only society instituted by Christ, in which you, as Christians, are required by his word to join. As such, we hope you will still continue to stand aloof from all such false societies and keep your hands clean from all false mixtures in religion. The religion of Jesus Christ is not of this world, and can gain nothing but lose much by an amalgamation with the institutions, wealth, and wisdom of this world. God has not authorised, and of course will not approve, of such an unnatural union. The remarkable good will and brotherly love, that abounds among you, together with the union in the faith of the Gospel, which prevails throughout the churches and associations with whom you correspond, seems to be almost a sure guarantee of future and increased blessings; and is also a manifest proof that the Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of his flock, hath been in his field collecting his sheep together, and uniting them in the little bodies where they are situated, with under shepherds appointed by the Lord, to feed them.

And now, dear brethren, we bid you farewell, and pray that you may keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, until you are called home to harvest; peace and perfect union which is above.