We believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who designed sex as part of His loving plan for humanity, and whose will for sexual integrity is clearly revealed in Holy Scripture.

We believe God created each person in His image as male or female, and any person’s attempt to deny or change this distorts God’s good design.

We believe God blesses sexual intimacy solely between a man and a woman within the holy covenant of marriage, a life-giving mystery that reflects Christ’s love for His church.

We believe God calls a husband and wife to be fruitful and multiply, that every life is sacred, and that children are precious to God and must be protected from sexualisation.

We believe God calls all people to the joy of living a chaste life, by celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage, and that His commands are given for the common good.

We believe sexual activities outside these bounds are sins which grieve God’s heart, injure others, and enslave people to idolatry.

We believe our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, that Christ calls and empowers us to repent from all sin, including sexual sin, that His mercy abounds to forgive and restore, and that by living with sexual integrity we glorify God and humbly embrace His wise and loving plan for human life.

Amen.

Why Another Creed?

Christian creeds serve as foundational declarations of belief, uniting believers across time and cultures in a shared confession of faith. For instance, the Nicene Creed was composed in AD 325 to counter the heresy of Arianism, which claimed that Jesus Christ was not fully divine. This statement of Christian orthodoxy clarified the church’s teaching on the Trinity, affirming that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are of the same essence, while also addressing several other heresies. The result was a clear and authoritative creed that has preserved sound doctrine and affirmed the true unity of the church throughout the ages.

Every era has its particular heresies. In the 21st century, heresies abound in the area of human sexuality. The church has not been immune to these errors. We believe the time has come for a new creed that affirms the timeless teachings of the church regarding sexual integrity, and that articulates God’s glorious design for sex and marriage as revealed in Holy Scripture.

Our hope and prayer is that the Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity will gain global approval from biblically orthodox leaders in the Catholic Church, the Anglican/Episcopalian Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Orthodox Church, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and many more besides. We also welcome the support of Christian schools, charities, para-church ministries and missionary organisations.

Who Wrote the Creed?

Christians from all the denominations and groups listed above were active in the drafting process or were invited to contribute. The Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity is the result of much prayer and consultation from archbishops, bishops, ministers, priests, pastors, theologians, academics and denominational heads, along with the leaders of Christian schools, non-profits and other organisations. Among them are people who have been married for decades and those who are single; doctors of theology and recovered drug and pornography addicts; successful entrepreneurs and working mums and dads.

What began as a small online prayer meeting in early September 2024 soon grew into a collaborative team of over 100 drafters passionate to convey the Bible’s message about sexual integrity for a new era. Some drafters attended every meeting, others joined just occasionally, and still others provided written feedback. The prize of brevity meant many great ideas were ultimately omitted, and the creed itself was rewritten from start to finish on more than one occasion. Completing the creed was an effort that spanned almost two months, which is approximately the same length of time taken by the drafters of the Nicene Creed. With such a rich tapestry of Christian traditions and ministries represented, the end result is a timeless and timely text of remarkable depth, breadth and richness.

The unity and humility displayed by the drafters throughout the process can only be described as an act of God’s grace. We credit this to the behind-the-scenes efforts of thousands of people who were praying and fasting for a global revival of sexual integrity and for God to guide the drafting process. Many drafters expressed awe at the rapid progress that was made and the sense of divine help that accompanied our efforts. We believe the Lord heard our many prayers for this creed, and we give Him all the glory.

The creed was publicly released on the 31st of October 2024 to coincide with Reformation Day in the Protestant tradition and the eve of All Saints’ Day in the Catholic tradition, which is a Catholic holiday in some countries. This date has added significance for Australians, being the anniversary of the charge of the Australian Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba in 1917, which endures as a national symbol of faith, courage and divine providence.

How Will the Creed Be Used?

We envisage the Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity having a wide variety of applications, including as:

• a doctrinal affirmation for use in worship services, masses, Christian prayer and Bible study groups, weddings, and private devotions
• an educational tool to help Christians understand the Bible’s teaching on sexual integrity
• a theological defence against heresy and compromise
• a clear means for churches, Christian educational institutions, ministries and mission organisations to publicly signal their orthodoxy, in particular by posting the creed’s logo on their website
• a legal bulwark to protect churches, Christian educational institutions, ministries, mission organisations and individuals from oppressive legislation and vexatious litigation
• a values statement to unify the governing bodies of churches, Christian schools, Bible colleges and ministry boards
• a proclamation to inspire the global church and foster Christian unity across cultures and generations

To help facilitate these goals, an Explanatory Guide with supporting Scriptures has been made available, along with a Bible study.

What Does the Logo Mean?

The Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity has an accompanying logo to aid with digital communication and to help promote the creed to a wide global audience. Flags are powerful symbols of unity, visibility and common conviction. The cross of Christ, being the most recognisable Christian symbol on the planet, serves in this logo both to clearly differentiate male and female, and to unite them. It is from His cross that Christ reaches out in love to a diverse world in need of redemption. The blue and red closest to the cross follow the colours of the Australian national flag.

We encourage churches, Christian schools, Bible colleges, ministries, mission organisations and other Christian groups who affirm the creed to display its logo on their websites as a clear statement of their fidelity to biblical truth.

Can I Publish the Creed and Logo?

Yes. The Australian Creed for Sexual Integrity and its logo have been created for free use by Christians from every nation. Both the creed and the logo are open-source assets governed by a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), making them free to share, copy and redistribute internationally without alteration for non-commercial purposes. When you do, be sure to give proper attribution and include a URL backlink so that people can see and access the original source. If you publish them in a commercial capacity, we simply ask that you donate to a charity of your choice protecting women and children from sex trafficking.