What I Believe
Essentials
• The Bible – the inspiration, authority, and inerrant preservation of scripture by God
• The nature of God – One God, Creator, all knowing, all mighty; the Godhead is God the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
• The nature of the Lord Jesus Christ – Jesus is God and man, the only begotten Son of God, the Word made flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, the Messiah, shows us the Father
• Mankind – lost to sin and cannot save himself through good works
• Salvation – salvation only by grace through faith, trusting in the finished work of Jesus’s death on the cross, burial, and bodily resurrection
Statement of Belief
1. The Bible is the inspired word of God and reveals the nature and will of God. The Bible is inspired, pure, preserved, infallible, authoritative, and empowered by God. (II Tim. 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Heb. 4:12; Ps 12:6-7; Mk 13:31).
2. There is one true living God. He is infinite, all knowing, all mighty Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, eternally existing as the Godhead: God the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. There is order and distinction in the Godhead with each member eternal, and deserving worship and obedience. (Deut 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; Mat 28:19; Jn 1:1, 1:14, 4:24; 1Cor 8:4; 2Cor 13:14)
(a) God the Father – orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Ps 145:8-9; 1Cor 8:6; Gen 1:1-31; Eph 3:9; Ps 103:19; Rom 11:36; Eph 4:6; Rom 8:14; 2Cor 6:18). He predestines and works all things after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). He is neither author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47), nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1 Peter 1:17; Eph 1:4-6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through His Son, Jesus; He adopts as his own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon rebirth, Father to His own (Jn 1:12; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5; Heb 12:5-9).
(b) the Word – Jesus is God, the Word made flesh, the Son of God, the Messiah (Christ). He is simultaneously God and man (John 10:33); born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35); lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, 7:26); performed miracles (John 2:11); His death was the atonement (I Corinthians 15:3, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9, Romans 5:12-21); His resurrection was victory over death (John 11:25, I Corinthians 15:4); and He ascended to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). His personal return to earth will be in power and glory (Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11-16).
(c) the Holy Ghost– The Holy Ghost is eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1Cor 2:10-13), emotions (Eph 4:30), will (1Cor 12:11), eternality (Heb 9:14), omnipresence (Ps 139:7 10), omniscience (Isa 40:13 14), omnipotence (Rom 15:13), and truthfulness (Jn 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal with the Father and the Son (Matt 28:19; Acts 5:3 4; 28:25 26; 1Cor 12:4-6; 2Cor 13:14; Jer 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:15-17). He is active in creation (Gen 1:2), the incarnation (Matt 1:18), the written revelation (2Pet 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (Jn 3:5-7).
3. Salvation of man
(a) Man was created in God’s image. God, in His almighty sovereignty, gave man free will, and by voluntary transgression man fell.(Gen. 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21).
(b) Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah. On the cross Jesus took our sin and judgement once and for all, providing salvation for all mankind (Ps. 103:3). It is essential for man to repent of sin and by faith receive the finished work of Messiah. This salvation comes by believing in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead, and confessing with your mouth, Jesus as Lord (Rom. 3:24, 10:8-10; Eph. 2:8).
(c) The inward evidence, to the believer, is the direct witness of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of true holiness and love (I Jn. 3:23; Jn. 13:35).
(d) Salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by meeting religious requirements or performing good deeds (works). Instead, our works are are a response to what Jesus has done, a reflection of our new born again nature, things done motivated by love for God and others, and is the outward evidence of our faith (Rom. 10:9-10, 14:10-12; II Cor. 5:10; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; James 2:18).
4. Baptism with the Holy Ghost
At Pentecost when the Holy Ghost came from the Father as promised by Jesus (Jn 14:16-17, 15:26) to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His church (1Cor 12:13). His activity includes reproving of sin, righteousness, and judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus and transforming believers into the image of Messiah (Jn 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18; Eph 2:22). The Holy Ghost is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (1Cor 12:13). The Holy Ghost also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers believers for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Rom 8:9; 2Cor 3:6; Eph 1:13). Every believer receives the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit upon salvation, and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit (Jn 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 2Pet 1:19 21; 1 Jn 2:20, 27). The Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to believers decently and in order, and glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith (Jn 16:13 14; Acts 1:8; 1Cor 12:4-11; 2Cor 3:18).
5. Ordinances – Ordinances are not religious requirements to get saved or stay saved — instead, they are simply outward physical expressions of faith that reflect what is going on spiritually in a believer.
(a) Baptism, the immersion in water is a declaration to the world that a believer has died with Messiah and that they have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life (Mt. 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Rom. 6:4).
(b) The participation in the “Lord’s Supper” by eating of the bread and drinking of the cup is a remembrance of Jesus (I Cor. 11:24-30).
6. The true Church is composed of all born-again believers in Messiah, regardless of location or denominational affiliation. Each believer is an integral part of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 2:19-22; Heb. 12:23).
7. God blesses us as a caring Father, and is the supplier of our needs (not ‘greeds’) in all areas of our life. He is our source of provision and promotion for His purposes, His glory, His will, and His timing — not our convenience.
(a) Spiritual (Jn. 3:3, 11; II Cor. 5:17-21;Rom. 10:9-10).
(b) Mental (II Tim. 1:7; Rom. 12:2; Is. 26:3).
(c) Physical (Is. 53:4-5; Mt. 8:17).
(d) Financial (III Jn. 2; Lk. 6:38; II Cor. 9:6-10; Phil. 4:19).
(e) Social (Pr. 3:4).
8. We [believers] shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (Matthew 24:30-31; Mark 13:24-27; I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thess. 4:15-17; II Thess. 2:1-4; Phil 3:20-21).
9. The Day of the Lord/The Millennial Reign of Jesus: The return of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in the clouds, in like manner that he departed, with His saints from Heaven to rule and reign for one thousand years on earth as the Scripture promised (Rom. 11:25, 27; II Thess. 1:7; Rev. 5:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-7). After this, there will be a new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21-22).
10. Those who die in their sin will be resurrected and judged and ultimately join Satan and other rebellious angels in everlasting Hell in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20, 20:10-15).
11. All born-again believers have been commissioned to share the Gospel to all the world and teach all nations. (Mat 28:19, Luke 10:2)
Part 2 – What I Believe: Positions