Two Resolutions Adopted by the SBC Today in Phoenix

Before we get to them, please know, resolutions are non-binding and neither individual Baptists nor individual SBC churches are bound in any way to either agree or disagree with them.  They are simply the statements of the messengers (delegates) attending and nothing more or less.  So then, first, highlights of the resolution concerning

Protecting the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

WHEREAS, The current administration, under the leadership of President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, has refused to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to defend the Defense of Marriage Act against legal challenges currently before numerous federal courts …

… WHEREAS, Redefining the concept and legality of marriage to mean anything other than the union between one man and one woman would fundamentally undermine the historic and biblical foundation of a healthy society (Genesis 1:28, 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6); and

WHEREAS, Equating same-sex relationships with heterosexual marriage would create a host of religious liberty and freedom of conscience conflicts; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention … call on President Obama to direct the United States Department of Justice to follow through on its constitutional responsibility to defend vigorously the Defense of Marriage Act …

REVOLVED, That we commend the United States House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner, for ensuring the rule of law by accepting the duty rejected by the United States Department of Justice to defend the Defense of Marriage Act …

REVOLVED, That we once again call on the United States Congress to pass and the states to ratify a constitutional amendment defining marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman …

… RESOLVED, that we encourage pastors to speak strongly, prophetically, and redemptively concerning the sinful nature of homosexual behavior, the urgent need to protect biblical marriage, and the certainty that the blood of Christ can atone for any sin.

And Second- a Resolution on the

Reality of Hell

WHEREAS, Rob Bell, in his 2011 book, Love Wins, has called into question the church’s historical teaching on the doctrine of eternal punishment of the unregenerate …

.. RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention … do hereby affirm our belief in the biblical teaching on eternal conscience punishment of the unregenerate in Hell …

REVOLVED, That out of our love for lost people and our deep desire that they will not suffer eternally in Hell, we implore Southern Baptists to proclaim faithfully the depth and gravity of sin against a holy God, the reality of Hell, and the salvation of sinners by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

Sometimes I love the SBC a LOT.  While the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians fritter away historic Christianity, the SBC stands up for it.