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ARTICLES OF WAR

THE SALVATION ARMY

ARTICLES OF WAR

SIGNED BY ALL SALVATION ARMY SOLDIERS

Having received with all my heart the Salvation offered to me by the tender mercy of God, I do here and now acknowledge God the Father to be my King; God the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be my Saviour; and God the Holy Spirit to be my Guide, Comforter and Strength; and I will, by His help, love, serve, worship, and obey this glorious God through time and through eternity.

Believing that The Salvation Army has been raised up by God, and is sustained and directed by Him, I do here declare that I am thoroughly convinced of the truth of the Army's teaching, that is to say:

1. I believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.

2. I believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver and Governor of all things and who is the only proper object of religious worship.

3. I believe that there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

4. I believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.

5. I believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.

6. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.

7. I believe that repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to Salvation.

8. I believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.

9. I believe that continuance in a state of Salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

10. I believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be "wholly sanctified" and that their "whole spirit and soul and body" may "be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).

11. I believe in the immortality of the soul, in the resurrection of the body, in the general judgment at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

Therefore, I do here and now, and forever, renounce the world with all its sinful pleasures, companionships, treasures, and objects, and declare my full determination boldly to show myself a soldier of Jesus Christ in all places and companies, no matter what I may have to suffer, do or lose by so doing.

I do here and now declare that I will abstain from the use of all intoxicating liquor, and from the use of all baneful drugs, except when such drugs shall be ordered for me by a doctor.

I do here and now declare that I will abstain from the use of all low or profane language and from all impurity, including unclean conversation, the reading of any obscene book or paper at any time, in any company, or in any place.

I do here declare that I will not allow myself in any deceit or dishonesty; nor will I practice any fraudulent conduct in my business, my home or in any other relation in which I may stand to my fellow men; but that I will deal truthfully, honorably and kindly with all those who employ me or whom I may myself employ.

I do here declare that I will never treat any woman, child or other person, whose life, comfort or happiness may be placed within my power, in an oppressive, cruel or cowardly manner; but that I will protect such from evil and danger so far as I can, and promote, to the utmost of my ability, their present welfare and eternal Salvation.

I do here declare that I will spend all the time, strength, money and influence I can in supporting and carrying on the Salvation war, and that I will endeavor to lead my family, friends, neighbors and all others whom I can influence to do the same, believing that the sure and only way to remedy all the evils in the world is by bringing men to submit themselves to the government of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do here declare that I will always obey the lawful orders of my officers, and that I will carry out to the utmost of my power all the orders and regulations of the Army; and, further, that I will be an example of faithfulness to its principles, advance to the utmost of my ability its operations, and never allow, where I can prevent it, any injury to its interest, or hindrance to its success.

And I do here and now call upon all present to witness that I have entered into this undertaking and sign these Articles of War of my own free will, feeling that the love of Christ, who died to save me, requires from me this devotion of my life to His service for the Salvation of the whole world, and therefore do here declare my full determination, by God's help, to be a true soldier of The Salvation Army till I die.

Signature

This is the text of the document that I signed as an indication of the commitments that I made when I became a Salvation Army Soldier in 1966. Persons who enroll as soldiers of The Salvation Army now sign a similar document which has been reworded to modernize the language. (And which, in my opinion, does not require the same depth of commitment as this older version; see this side-by-side comparison.)

Articles of War side-by-side comparison (ArticlesOfWar.gmi)

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