1997 IA Truth Research Committee Meeting Resolutions Adapted by WDC

I. Does the Sacrament of Foot Washing Have a Cleansing Effect? 

Resolution: 

1. Maintain our Basic Beliefs which emphasizes on “having a part in the Lord.” 

2. Continue to preach the teachings of the sacrament of Foot Washing as outlined in the sixth Article of Faith.

II. Questions Regarding Divorce and Remarriage. 

Resolution:

1. When the believers get married, the two shall become one flesh. They shall be faithful to each other and shall not divorce (Mk 10:7-9).

2. If the spouse is a non-believer, the believer shall remain faithful although difficulties may arise in the marriage. The believer shall not initiate a divorce (1 Cor 7:12-17).

3. All the GAs are requested to uphold the principles of the Bible when dealing with marital problems. These matters shall be handled with caution using the methods adopted by each GA as reference.

III. Can a Sister, Who Has Been Raped, Marry Another Man? Can She Have an Abortion if She Becomes Pregnant after a Rape?

Resolution:

1. The sister can marry another man.

2. She can go to a hospital immediately to undertake appropriate medical procedures to avoid pregnancy. If she is pregnant, the church shall advise that abortion is forbidden. However, this must not be enforced by the church if the sister insists on an abortion.

IV. Discussion on the Past Resolutions of the Churches in China Concerning the Doctrines. 

Rationale: 

1. During the 11th National Church Conference held at the Nanjing GA in 1947, Elder John Yang pointed out the passed resolutions:

       (1) Men must take off their hats and women must cover their heads with veils.

       (2) Apart from conducting the Holy Communion (during the Passover), the breaking of bread may be performed whenever necessary.

       (3) Mode of Water Baptism: Shall emulate the posture of the Lord on the cross.

       (4) Mode of Foot Washing: Ministers will be requested to administer the Foot Washing sacrament for those who are dying so that they may be saved.

2. As there is no biblical basis for any of the above teachings, all the 28 members present in this TRC Meeting did not accept the above. Regarding the aforementioned four points, the resolutions reached by the members of the TRC are as follows:

     (1) According to the resolution made in the 4th TRC Meeting, it is not necessary for women to cover their heads with veils. This was passed in the 6th WDC.

      (2) #2-4: The mode of the Water Baptism, Foot Washing and Holy Communion sacraments shall be administered in accordance with the ten Articles of Faith of the church.

3. The churches in the northern region currently assert the following:

      (1) One has to pray towards the West because God is in the West.

      (2) One has to pray with both hands down, not with hands clasped.

      (3) Emphasize that the Holy Spirit will stop descending as of May 1st, 1997.

Resolution: 

1. Sisters need not cover their heads during worship services.

Since veiling was one of the unique characteristics of the church in Corinth, it is therefore not a required practice during the present church worship services. The TRC Meeting of the 2nd WDC (1989) resolved that sisters need not cover their heads with veils during worship services.

2. The Holy Communion sacrament need not be administered on a specific day or on a specific time. The frequency to hold the sacrament also varies.

• Need not be administered at a specific time  

(1) The Lord Jesus is the Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7). He, instituted the Holy Communion sacrament during the Passover (Lk 22:7-20).

(2) The substance is of Christ because the festival is merely a prefiguration (Col 2:16-17). Therefore, the Holy Communion sacrament needs not be administered on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Jewish religious calendar.

(3) When the Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Communion sacrament, He merely instructed His disciples saying, ‟…do this in remembrance of Me” (Lk 22:19). He did not say, ‟You must do this on this day.”

• Need not be conducted in the evenings.

(1) The Passover lamb was slaughtered at dusk; and the Passover was held in the evening (Ex 12:6, 8, 12).

(2) Although the Lord Jesus and His disciples were having the Last Supper together (where the Holy Communion was instituted) in the evening (Mt 26:20; Jn 13:2), His crucifixion took place in the daytime (Mk 15:25; Jn 19:14, 16).

• Varied Frequency

(1) ‟For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup…till He comes” (1 Cor 11:26). This passage implies that the church shall administer the sacrament as often as possible until He comes. Furthermore, the Bible does not stipulate the exact frequency of conducting this sacrament.

(2) This sacrament may be administered on a monthly, quarterly or bi-annually basis.

3. Mode of Water Baptism:

Requires total immersion with the head bowed and face downward, and to be administered in the name of the Lord Jesus. However, the baptism needs not imitate the image of the Lord on the cross because before the Lord died, He was tortured and nailed to the cross. The image on the cross was already there when He was still alive, not at the time of His death. Having been united together in the likeness of His death doesn’t mean to resemble the Lord Jesus’ appearance when He was dead, but what change He made at the moment He died. When Jesus breathed His last, the stark and unique image is that He bowed His head (Jn 19:30). The meaning behind “head bowed” and the revelation given to Paul Wei, an early worker, is described as follows:

We will be united together with Him in the likeness of the Lord’s death (Rom 6:5). The image of the Lord’s death is “head bowed” (Jn 19:30).

Head bowed signifies dying with the Lord; completely immersed in water signifies to be buried with the Lord; to come up out of the water signifies to be resurrected with the Lord (Rom 6:3-5; Col 2:12).

Head bowed also signifies a sinner’s penitence for mercy and pardon (Ezra 9:6; Ps 40:12; Lk 18:13-14).

On April 8, 1917, Paul Wei, an early worker, received a revelation from the Lord. He received baptism with face downward in the Red Door River outside of the Yongding Gate. When he lifted his head after the baptism, he saw the Lord appear to him. When he went into the woods, the Lord appeared to him again.

(1) Since 1917, the church has been obeying the revelation from the Lord in adhering to this mode of water baptism and many miracles were experienced.

(2) During the water baptism, people often saw visions of the Lord’s blood in the water. Many were even healed from their sicknesses after water baptism.

(3) These visions of the Lord’s blood and the miraculous healings prove that the mode of water baptism practiced by the church is acceptable to the Lord.

4. "Foot Washing is for those who are dying so that they may be pardoned.” There is no biblical basis to this practice. Foot Washing is a sacrament with a teaching, as explained below:

 As a teaching

(1) As a teaching, this is related to the well-being of the church.

(2) To wash one another’s feet (Jn 13:14): It should be administered often because it is a teaching. Foot Washing is to be received on a one-to-one basis and received only once. It does need to be reciprocated.

 As a Sacrament

(1) As a sacrament, it has a spiritual effect and is related to salvation.

(2) Must be done using water in order that the washing and cleansing be effective (Eph 5:26).

(3) As a teaching, the person’s spiritual condition outweighs the administration of the sacrament. As such, no water is necessary. However, water may be used for mutual Foot Washing when necessary.

5. "One has to pray towards the west because God is in the west.” This is not biblically-based.

The Lord Jesus once said to the Samaritan woman, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:21-24).

Our God is everywhere (Jer 23:23-24; Ps 139:7-8). God is above all, and through all, and in you all (Eph 4:6); hence, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” The Bible does not describe that God is in the west and does not teach that we must pray facing the west.

The temple of the Old Testament period prefigures the True Jesus Church of the New Testament period (Eph 2:20-21; Heb 8:1-2). The true church has been chosen by God as His body and has the abidance of the Holy Spirit (1 Jn 3:24; Rom 8:9). Hence, we should always pray in the Spirit and God will surely hear our prayers, and we do not need to face the west.

6.  "One has to pray with both hands down, not with clasped hands". This is not Biblically -based.

The most important attitude in prayer is to pray in the Spirit and in truth. We can pray—while sitting down (2 Sam 7:18), while kneeling (Acts 20:36), while lying prostrate (Mt 26:39), while lifting up our hands (1 Tim 2:8), while looking up (Jn 11:41), while raising our voice (Acts 4:24), while praying in our heart (1 Sam 1:13), with tears (Heb 5:7), while beating our breast (Lk 18:13), or while rejoicing (Lk 10:21). These are all done through the movement of the Holy Spirit and are manifested naturally. There are no set ways or habitual forms of prayers. We must not be pretentious in our prayers nor be like the hypocrites (Mt 6:5), lest we leave a foothold for the devil to cause confusion.

7.  "Emphasize that the Holy Spirit will stop descending as of May 1, 1997.” This is going against the teachings of the Bible and it is a false prophecy. May 1, 1997 had already gone by and the Holy Spirit has not stopped descending.

The Bible often uses rain to prefigure the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit that poured down during Pentecost is known as the autumn rain (or the early rain). The Holy Spirit of this present time is known as the spring rain (or the latter rain). Summer comes after spring, and summer is the harvest time, which prefigures the day of the Lord’s coming. God does not allow men to know when the Lord is coming again (Mt 24:36) so that men may keep watch (Mt 25:13). This is a reminder that we should not be taken advantage of or deceived by non-believers or lawless ones. Similarly, the Bible does not clearly state when the spring rain will cease. If we know when the Holy Spirit will stop descending, we can predict the coming of the Lord Jesus. However, explicitly pointing out a specific year, a specific month or a specific day that the Holy Spirit will stop descending is in itself contrary to the teachings of the Bible.

V. Addressing a Fulltime Minister 

Resolution: 

1. “And God gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers” (Eph 4:11). We can address a preacher in the church as Elder, Evangelist, Preacher or Pastor, according to their duties.

2. Although the title may differ because of the differing nature of one’s work, the purpose is “to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). A divine worker is a servant of the Lord who serves the church. Although the duties and titles differ, there is no implication as to who is more honorable than the other (Mk 10:42-45).