They repudiate the errors of the Three Points adopted by the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, 1924, which maintain:


That there is a grace of God to all men, including the reprobate, manifest in the common gifts to all men.


That the preaching of the gospel is a gracious offer of salvation on the part of God to all that externally hear the gospel.


That the natural man through the influence of common grace can do good in this world.


Over against this they maintain:


That the grace of God is always particular, i.e., only for the elect, never for the reprobate.


That the preaching of the gospel is not a gracious offer of salvation on the part of God to all men, nor a conditional offer to all that are born in the historical dispensation of the covenant, that is, to all that are baptized, but an oath of God that He will infallibly lead all the elect unto salvation and eternal glory through faith.


That the unregenerate man is totally incapable of doing any good, wholly depraved, and therefore can only sin.


They teach on the basis of the same confessions:


That election, which is the unconditional and unchangeable decree of God to redeem in Christ a certain number of persons, is the sole cause and fountain of all our salvation, whence flow all the gifts of grace, including faith. This is the plain teaching of our confessions in the Canons of Dordrecht, I,A,6,7.


That Christ died only for the elect and that the saving efficacy of the death of Christ extends to them only.


That all the covenant blessings are for the elect alone.


That God's promise is unconditionally for them only: for God cannot promise what was not objectively permitted by Christ.


That the promise of God bestows the objective right of salvation not upon all the children that are born under the historical dispensation of the covenant, that is, not upon all that are baptized, but only upon the spiritual seed.


That faith is not a prerequisite or condition unto salvation, but a gift of God, and a God-given instrument whereby we appropriate the salvation in Christ. This is plainly taught in the following parts of our confessions:


Seeing then that this is the clear teaching of our confession,


We repudiate:


The teaching:


That the promise of the covenant is conditional and for all that are baptized.


That we may presuppose that all the children that are baptized are regenerated, for we know on the basis of Scripture, as well as in the light of all history and experience, that the contrary is true.


The teaching that the promise of the covenant is an objective bequest on the part of God giving to every baptized child the right to Christ and all the blessings of salvation.


And we maintain:


That God surely and infallibly fulfills His promise to the elect.


The sure promise of God which He realizes in us as rational and moral creatures not only makes it impossible that we should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness but also confronts us with the obligation of love, to walk in a new and holy life, and constantly to watch unto prayer.

All those who are not thus disposed, who do not repent but walk in sin, are the objects of His just wrath and excluded from the kingdom of heaven.

That the preaching comes to all; and that God seriously commands to faith and repentance, and that to all those who come and believe He promises life and peace.


That the ground of infant baptism is the command of God and the fact that according to Scripture He established His covenant in the line of continued generations.


Besides, the Protestant Reformed Churches:

Believe and maintain the autonomy of the local church.

Declaration of Principles, to be used only by the Mission Committee and the missionaries for the organization of prospective churches on the basis of Scripture and the Confessions as these have always been maintained in the Protestant Reformed Churches and as these are now further explained in regard to certain principles.

The Declaration of Principles was adopted by the Protestant Reformed Churches in 1951 to serve as a teaching tool for our missionaries. It has sometimes been charged with being an additional creed. This charge is manifestly false to any one who studies the document.

The Declaration is a systematic comparison of confessional statement with confessional statement so as to elicit from the creeds and forms what is the consistent teaching of the creeds on the points of doctrine under discussion. While it may be said that the creeds and forms do not directly address the issues, as they were written before the doctrinal matters discussed became issues, nevertheless the creeds in addressing especially the Arminian error and semi-Pelagian error of Rome do address also the substance of the issues. The confessions have consistent principles which likewise address new forms of old errors, which is what the Declaration does.

At the same time, while the false the charge of extra confessional "binding" has been made on more than one occasion, no Reformed denomination has ever answered the Declaration by presenting a systematic refutation comparing confessional statement with confessional statement. Those who make the charge therefore usually do so:

1. Out of a desire to hold some form of the errors rejected
   
   
2. Without a systematic confessional answer or proof.

The summary given here is intended to serve one who wants to know what the main points of the doctrine are. The proof and reasoning from the proof is omitted. The summary is not intended to be a substitute for examining the document as a whole.

• Declaration of Principles: Full Text.