For the sake of unity, Christians should distinguish between essentials and nonessentials of the faith. Essentials are those things we must believe. Nonessentials are those things where disagreements are to be expected and dealt with in love.

We believe that those things essential to the faith are recorded in the Bible with such clarity that their denial is rebellion against God. Regarding nonessentials, though, Scripture speaks with less clarity—sometimes even commanding those holding opposite convictions to live across the divide with love for one another.

A good, obvious example of an essential is the oft-repeated statement of Scripture that God raised Jesus from the dead. One nonessential, according to Scripture, is the question whether or not believers should eat meat sacrificed to idols (1Corinthians 10). We will be dogmatic about essentials while our convictions about nonessentials will be held with a humility and love that keep the bond of peace.

However, determining those issues that are so clearly taught in Scripture that they require division is not an easy process, but a matter of spiritual discernment. Sin clouds our minds and our judgments, constantly tempting us to connive at the sins of our day. And ironically, making such determinations can itself be divisive since Christians rarely agree which is which.

Yet, we must be committed to Christian fellowship and unity around the Lord's Table, not fighting over every nitpicky detail of our understanding of the Bible. We can't be so zealous for truth that we end up at home, alone with our wife and children. We must recognize that God has not chosen to treat every issue in the Bible with equal clarity. He has left some matters less clear than others and this is deliberate on His part.

Please don't misunderstand us. We are not denying the Protestant reformers' doctrine of the perspicuity (clarity) of Scripture. But we do acknowledge that God has left some things ambiguous in His Word, while other things He keeps secret (Deuteronomy 29:29). As the Westminster Confession says, "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all." We want to stay within the divine boundaries given us in Scripture, dividing only over those doctrines and issues that Scripture plainly speaks to.

Therefore, there are several issues that we made a conscious decision to maintain fellowship over that we believe are unique to ClearNote Fellowship. The freedom we allow over these particular issues liberates our members to focus on non-negotiable biblical commitments—especially those that are most under attack in the present day. Moreover, our members are free to work together while charitably disagreeing with one another over matters ultimately nonessential to Christian faith and practice.

Those issues we've committed ourselves not to divide over are:

1. Time and Mode of Baptism: Baptism was instituted by our Lord. It is a Sacrament of the Church marking those who are members of the New Covenant community. Like the other Biblical Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, Baptism does nothing by itself. Saving faith is necessary for us to receive grace through this visible sign. This much we are agreed upon with Reformed Protestant brothers down through the centuries.

   However, Protestants have been divided over the proper time and mode of Baptism. Concerning time, a compelling Biblical case can be made for baptizing only those adults who make a credible profession of faith. But a compelling Biblical case can also be made for baptizing the believer's children. Some of the most respected fathers of the Church have stood on opposite sides of this debate. Martin Luther and John Calvin believed children of believers should be baptized. John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon believed only adult believers should be baptized.

   Concerning the proper mode of Baptism (how and where the water is applied), Scripture is silent. Recognizing how divisive these issues have been across Church history, we are committed not to divide over them.

2. Eschatology: Jesus Christ is returning to earth to subdue His enemies, to judge the world, and to establish His Eternal Kingdom. We don't know how and when, but our Lord commands us, again and again, to live in expectation of His return, being obedient and faithful stewards of the time He is giving us. We are to call all men to repent and believe in His Name, and to do the good works He has prepared for us from the beginning. Beyond these basic details, Scripture is unclear. Recognizing how divisive arguments over specifics concerning our Lord's Second Coming have been in recent church history, we are committed not to have such arguments, but to prepare ourselves for the return of the Bridegroom of the Church.
3. Spiritual gifts: During the Apostolic Age, the Holy Spirit poured out on the Church miraculous spiritual gifts as He saw fit. God's will and the method of His work cannot be bound by man. He will do as He pleases as He empowers and equips believers.

   It is true there are many false prophets claiming their work is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. To protect against them, the Holy Spirit demands we exercise discernment with regard to all spiritual gifts. He commands us to "test the spirits" to see whether or not they're from God (1John 4:1). Some godly students of Scripture believe most (or all) of what have commonly been called the "supernatural sign gifts"—tongues, prophecy, healing, etc.—were only given during the Apostolic Age to confirm the ministry and words of the Apostles, and that since then, these gifts have ceased. Others believe that, despite the noticeable decline in the Holy Spirit's giving of such gifts, God commands us not to forbid the speaking in tongues (1Corinthians 14:39) and not to quench the Holy Spirit (1Thessalonians 5:19). Thus, if we're to err in one direction or the other, we should err in cultivating discernment, but also openness, as we look for the hand and work of God.

4. The "Days" of Creation: Out of nothing God created the heavens, the earth, and everything in them. He did this by the word of His power over the course of six days, resting on the seventh. God holds everything together by His same powerful word and He has directly governed and presided over all events with total power, rule, and dominion from the foundation of the world to this very moment. He will continue to do so until the end of the age, at which time His people will enter into His "Sabbath rest." This much is clear.

   What is unclear is what Scripture means when it uses the Hebrew word 'yom' translated 'day' in English. There are places where this word can only mean a literal twenty-four hour period; others where it can only mean a much longer period of time. So when we read that God created the Heavens, the Earth, and all that is in them in six "days," are we to understand six twenty-four hour periods or six longer periods of time?

   We are committed to bridging this gap among professing Christians as long as we are all agreed that the Creation account of Genesis is not myth, that the first man and woman were literal historical figures named "Adam" and "Eve" and that every man has descended from them, that the Fall also is literal history, and so on. What we do not believe is right is to require a specific view of the word 'day' to determine the limits of our Christian fellowship.