All
Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable
for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that
the
man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
OUR PURPOSE
FOR MINISTRY
This church exists to glorify
God. The congregation seeks to proclaim and apply the whole counsel of
God in Jesus Christ to every area of life. Therefore, our ministry
aims to faithfully instruct people in the Scriptures, the only infallible rule for faith and living. In this
congregation you will experience your faith nurtured through expository
preaching, meaningful fellowship, care and concern, and through an
earnest and vital interest in reaching out to people in order to bring
the good news of Jesus Christ to them where they are. The congregation
seeks to serve the greater Oklahoma City area by setting an example of
Biblical Christianity and by planting new churches in surrounding
communities.
"Knox" Orthodox
Presbyterian Church is named after John Knox, a Scottish Protestant Reformer
who lived from about 1514 to 1572. Knox
was heavily influenced by John Calvin and worked to establish a Reformed Church
in Edinburgh. In 1560,
he coauthored the Scots Confession, the confessional statement of the Scottish
church. The Scots Confession eventually
gave way to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), which is, with a few
modifications, the confession of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church today.
"Orthodox"
simply refers to right teaching. The OPC seeks to uphold
right teaching according to the Bible. The denomination emerged
in 1936 out of the modernist controversy of the 1920's as it unfolded
in the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. At that time, there were
those in the Presbyterian Church who believed it was possible to retain
the name Christian while denying basic beliefs in the historical
reality of the resurrection of Christ, the virgin birth, miracles,
substitutionary atonement, and the inspiration of the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments. The men who were instrumental in founding
the Orthodox Presbyterian Church believed these to be non-negotiable
truths clearly taught in the Bible. For J. Gresham Machen, one of
those instrumental in founding the OPC, anyone who denied the
historicity of these basic biblical doctrines cannot be considered a
Christian. In Christianity and Liberalism,
Machen argues liberalism is not merely one strand of Christianity but
another religion altogether. How can someone be a Christian
without believing, for example, Christ was raised from the dead?
Machen, and the apostle Paul as well, argue that is
impossible (see 1 Cor 15). The Orthodox Presbyterian Church seeks
to promote "Orthodox" or right teaching as it has been revealed to us
by God in the Bible.
"Presbyterian"
refers to a form of church government, namely, rule by elders (often
called the "session"). While many churches have a plurality of
elders overseeing the local church, Knox is part of a denomination
that believes accountability of elders at the local level must be
maintained by a system of courts or ruling bodies extending beyond the
local level. This is done by establishing what are called presbyteries
and a general assembly. All the ministers and certain ruling elders of a
particular area form the presbytery, while the general assembly is
the governing body of the whole church. The general assembly
is made up of ministers and elders commissioned by their
respective presbyteries. All these ruling bodies (session,
presbytery, and general assembly) have the same kinds of rights and
powers. These powers are to be used to maintain truth and
righteousness and to oppose erroneous opinions and sinful practices
that threaten the purity, peace, or progress of the church.
