The Sego Lily Foundation

The Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is God’s definitive and Spirit-inspired Word. It is without error as originally written, preserved by God’s keeping power, and utterly trustworthy in all that it affirms. Taken in its natural, literal, and consistent sense, the Bible shall be the Sego Lily Foundation’s final authority in all matters of faith and practice (Jn 7.17; 16.12–15; 1Co 2.7–14; 2Tm 3.15–17; He 6.18; Mt 5.18; Mk 13.31; 2 Pet 1.20–22).

There is one God. And He exists forever in three unified Persons—Father, Son, and Spirit—with each deserving identical worship and obedience. Co-equal and like-minded, this triune God functions with express roles in creation, redemption, and providence (Dt 6.4; Is 45.5–7; 1Co 8.4; Mt 28.19; 2Co 13.14; Ps 103.19; Ro 11.36). God the Father is a boundless personal spirit Who possesses flawless character, eternal knowledge and power, and works all things according to His purpose and glory (Jn 4.24; Ps 40.5; 145.8–9; 1Co 8.6; Ep 1.11; 1Ch 29.11; Ep 1.4–6). Jesus, God’s co-equal and co-eternal Son, possesses both divine and human natures in one person. This God-man became the incarnate Christ when He was conceived by His Spirit and born of a virgin. His sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection fully satisfied God’s wrath against man’s sin and supplied a perfect righteousness for mankind; He now intercedes for everyone who calls on Him for salvation (Jn 1.1, 14, 18; Ph 2.5–8; Cl 2.9; Mt 1.18–25; Ro 3.24–25; 5.6–9; 8.32–34; He 7.25; 1Pt 2.24). God the Spirit proceeds from the Father and convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; He regenerates, sanctifies, and empowers all who trust in Jesus; He indwells every believer as an abiding Helper, Teacher and Guide in changing them into the image of Christ (Jn 3.3–7; 14.26; 15.26–27; 16.7–14; Ro 8.9, 29; 1Co 3.16; 6.19; 2Pt 1.20–21).

God created man in his image both male and female. Having sinned, man now suffers physical decay and death. Apart from God’s exclusive and individual salvation, man will endure a second death, that is, endless separation from God. Mankind is inherently corrupt, prone to sin, wholly incapable to remedy that condition, and falls under God’s righteous condemnation (Ge 2.7; 3.1–19; Ja 3.9; Ro 1.18; 3.9–18, 23; 6.23; Ps 14.1–3; Je 17.9).

Through the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, God justifies unworthy sinners by imputing their sins to Christ and His righteousness to them. All who repent of their sins and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, shall be saved apart from any human merit. (Ro 5.10–12, 10.9; 1Pt 1.18–19; Ep 4.1–11; 1Co 1.30; 2Co 5.21; Jn 5.24). Those who trust in Christ alone as their Savior are born again by the Spirit, forgiven of their sins, and delivered from condemnation by God’s grace to receive eternal life. They become new in Christ, set apart to walk in newness of life, and are kept eternally secure through God’s power to preserve them (Is 55.6–7; 2Co 7.10; Ep 1.7; 2.8–10; Jn 3.3–7; 2Co 3.18; 1Th 5.23; Cl 3.9–10).

Believers are accountable to God in a local church, which are groups of born-again Christians assembled for the purpose of being a church. Local churches are commanded to worship regularly, support one another sacrificially, and maintain Christ as Head over all. Indwelt and gifted by the Holy Spirit, churches glorify God by building themselves up in the faith through the teaching of His Word, fellowship of the saints, mutual service, observance of the ordinances, intercessory prayer, and sharing the Gospel (1Co 12.12–13; Ep 1.22; 2.11—3.6; 4.5, 13–16; 2Tm 2.2, 15; Ac 1.8; 2.47).

All mankind will experience a bodily resurrection—those saved to eternal life and those unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment in a place called “the Lake of Fire”—and until that time, the deceased souls of the redeemed in Christ will remain in joyful fellowship with Him (Da 12.2; Jn 5.29; 6.39; Ro 8.10–11, 19–32; 2Co 4.14; 5.8; Re 20.13–15). The imminent return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ will be personal and visible, to judge the living and the dead, and to establish fully His Kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth where the righteous will dwell with Him in joy forevermore (Mt 16.27; Jn 14.3; Ac 1.11; Phil 3.20–21; 1Th 4.15; 2Ti 4.1; 1Co 4.5; 15; 2Th 1.7–10; Re 20.4–6, 11–15).

God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female. These two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. Accordingly, our communication reflects the reality of God’s created order—put simply, we use male pronouns to refer to those persons who were created biologically male, and female pronouns to refer to those persons who were created biologically female (Gen 1.26–27; 2.18–25). Although rare, those born with hermaphroditism bear the image of God and possess all the dignity inherent therein. These image-bearers deserve all empathy, love, and support from the Christian community as they embrace their biological gender insofar as they may know it. Furthermore, these image-bearers, like all others, are encouraged to find their truest identity in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gen 1.26–27; Ps 139.14; Jer 1.5; Mt 19.12; 1 Cor 6.17; Col 2.9–10). The term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in the Bible. God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman; sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (1 Cor 6.9–18; 7.2–5; Heb 13:4; Matt 15:18- 20). To preserve the function and integrity of the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah, and to provide a biblical role model to the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah’s members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality. God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Bible nor the doctrines of the Sego Lily Foundation of Utah (Mt 5.16; Phil 2.14–16; 1 Thess 5.22; Acts 3.19–21; Rom 10.9–10; 1 Cor 6:9–11; Mk 12.28–31; Lk 6:31).