Friday, May 13, 2011

My Statement of Faith

As evangelicals, the Bible is our final authority for faith and practice. Therefore, the statements that follow reflect our best attempt to understand and live out biblical precepts.



Paragraph 1:



WE BELIEVE that God is the Eternal King. He is an infinite , unchangeable Spirit , perfect in holiness , wisdom , goodness , justice , power and love . From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance , the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit , equal in power and glory.



Paragraph 2:



WE BELIEVE that God's kingdom is everlasting . From His throne , through His Son, His eternal Word , God created , upholds and governs all that exists: the heavenly places, the angelic hosts, the universe, the earth, every living thing and mankind. God created all things very good.



Paragraph 3:



WE BELIEVE that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against God, taking a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God's presence and, as a usurper of God's rule, established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth.



Paragraph 4:



WE BELIEVE that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God's judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam's original sin. Human beings are born in sin, subject to God's judgment of death and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness.



Paragraph 5:



WE BELIEVE that God did not abandon His rule over the earth which He continues to uphold by His providence. In order to bring redemption, God established covenants which revealed His grace to sinful people. In the covenant with Abraham, God bound Himself to His people Israel, promising to deliver them from bondage to sin and Satan and to bless all the nations through them.



Paragraph 6:



WE BELIEVE that as King, God later redeemed His people by His mighty acts from bondage in Egypt and established His covenant through Moses, revealing His perfect will and our obligation to fulfill it. The law's purpose is to order our fallen race and to make us conscious of our moral responsibility. By the work of God's Spirit, it convicts us of our sin and God's righteous judgment against us and brings us to Christ alone for salvation.



Paragraph 7:



WE BELIEVE that when Israel rejected God's rule over her as King, God established the monarchy in Israel and made an unconditional covenant with David, promising that his heir would restore God's kingdom reign over His people as Messiah forever.



Paragraph 8:



WE BELIEVE that in the fullness of time, God honored His covenants with Israel and His prophetic promises of salvation by sending His only Son, Jesus, into the world. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, as fully God and fully man in one person, He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God's kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Gathering His disciples, He reconstituted God's people as His Church to be the instrument of His kingdom. After dying for the sins of the world, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the covenant of blessing given to Abraham. In His sinless, perfect life Jesus met the demands of the law and in His atoning death on the cross, He took God's judgment for sin which we deserve as law breakers. By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers. The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus' birth from David's house, His Messianic ministry, His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God's Son and David's heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God's reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today.



Paragraph 9:



WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church at Pentecost in power, baptizing believers into the Body of Christ and releasing the gifts of the Spirit to them. The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church, gifting us for ministry, and driving back the kingdom of Satan by the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus.



Paragraph 10:



WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is our abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the filling or empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today. We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit. We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit , for healing, and for recognition and empowering of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church.



Paragraph 11:



WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Holy Scripture so that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final, absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.



Paragraph 12:



WE BELIEVE that the whole world is under the domination of Satan and that all people are sinners by nature and choice . All people therefore are under God's just judgment. Through the preaching of the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, God regenerates , justifies , adopts and sanctifies through Jesus by the Spirit all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By this they are released from Satan's domain and enter into God's kingdom reign.



Paragraph 13:



WE BELIEVE in the one, holy, universal Church. All who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and form the living Body of Christ, of which He is the head and all are members.



Paragraph 14:



WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water baptism and the Lord's Supper. Both are available to all believers.



Paragraph 15:



WE BELIEVE that God's kingdom has come in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Christ - His return to the earth as King. After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about the final defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works, the resurrection of the dead, the final Judgment and the eternal blessing of the righteous and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked . Finally, God will be all in all and His kingdom, His rule and reign, will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, recreated by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will forever be worshipped.





References - Paragraph 1

--Back to Paragraph 1-- Deuteronomy 33:27 & Romans 1:20 Psalms 95:3 & Isaiah 43:15 Psalms 143:5 & Job 11:7-9 James 1:17 John 4:24 Matthew 5:48 Isaiah 6:3 & 1 Peter 1:15-16 Psalm 104:24 & Proverbs 2:6 & Isaiah 28:29 Exodus 33:19 & Psalm 63:2 & Psalm 31:19 Psalm 33:5 & Psalm 89:14 & Isaiah 30:18 Exodus 15:6 1 John 4:8 Isaiah 43:13 Isaiah 45:5 & I Corinthians 8:4 Psalm 42:2 & Psalm 84:2 Jeremiah 10:10 John 1:18 & John 10:30 & John 14:9 & John 14:16-17 & John 14:26 & John 15:26 & II Corinthians 3:17-18 John 1:1 & John 1:14 & II Corinthians 3:17 Matthew 28:19-20 & II Corinthians 13:14 & Revelation 1:4 Revelation 5:13 & Ephesians 3:14-21



References - Paragraph 2

--Back to Paragraph 2-- Psalm 45:6 & Psalm 145:13 & Daniel 4:3 Psalm 93:1-2 John 1:1-3 & I Corinthians 8:6 & Colossians 1:15-16 & Hebrews 1:1-2 Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 95:3-5 Colossians 1:17 & Hebrews 1:3 Psalm 103:19 & Psalm 104:24-29 Psalm 96:4-6 Psalm 89:11 Psalm 103:20-21 Colossians 1:16-17 Psalm 104:5 Psalm 103:22 Psalm 22:28 & Psalm 47:8 Genesis 1:31



References - Paragraph 3

--Back to Paragraph 3-- Revelation 12:7-9 II Corinthians 11:14 & Colossians 1:13-14 & Ephesians 6:12 Mark 3:22-26 & Ephesians 2:1-2 & I John 5:19



References - Paragraph 4

--Back to Paragraph 4-- Genesis 1:26-27 Genesis 1:26 Genesis 3:1 & Revelation 12:9 Genesis 3:8 & Romans 1:21 & Romans 5:16 Romans 5:12 John 5:14 I Corinthians 15:22 John 8:44 & I John 5:19 Romans 8:20-23 Psalm 51:5 Ezekiel 18:4 & Romans 2:5 & Romans 2:12 & Hebrews 9:27 Galatians 1:3-5 & Galatians 4:8-9 & Colossians 1:13



References - Paragraph 5

--Back to Paragraph 5-- Psalm 24:1 & Psalm 96:10 & Isaiah 40:22 & Hebrews 1:3 Romans 9:4 Ephesians 2:12 Genesis 17:3-8 & Genesis 12:2-3 & Genesis 15:4-6 & Romans 4:3-5 & Romans 4:16 & Romans 4:20-25 & Galatians 3:6-9 & Galatians 3:13-14



References - Paragraph 6

--Back to Paragraph 6-- Exodus 15:3-18 Exodus 19:3-6 & Exodus 24:3-4 & Exodus 24:7 & Romans 8:3-4 & Romans 8:12-14 Deuteronomy 5:1-3 & Deuteronomy 30:15-18 & Galatians 3:23-25 Psalm 25:8-10 & Romans 7:7 John 15:26 & John 16:8-11 & II Corinthians 3:14-17 & Romans 7:13 & Galatians 3:19 & Galatians 3:21-22 Romans 2:1-11 Galatians 3:24 & Philippians 3:8-9



References - Paragraph 7

--Back to Paragraph 7-- I Samuel 8:6-8 I Samuel 8:21-22 & I Samuel 9:15-16 & I Samuel 10:1 & I Samuel 10:24 & 2 Samuel 7:11-16 & Psalm 89:34-37 Isaiah 9:6-7 & Isaiah 11:1-5 & Jeremiah 23:5-6 & Ezekiel 34:23



References - Paragraph 8

--Back to Paragraph 8-- Mark 1:15 & Galatians 4:4 Romans 1:2-4 John 1:14 John 1:17-18 Luke 1:30-35 John 1:14 & Philippians 2:5-7 Romans 5:19 & I Corinthians 15:22 & I Peter 2:22 & II Corinthians 5:21 & Romans 8:29 Luke 3:21-22 & Luke 4:16-21 Mark 1:14-15 & Luke 11:20 & Luke 17:20-21 Luke 4:1-13 Luke 4:43 Luke 4:40 Luke 4:41 Luke 7:14-17 Mark 1:16-17 Mark 3:13-15 Matthew 16:18 Luke 9:1-2 & Luke 10:1-17 John 1:29 & John 6:51 & John 4:9-10 Mark 8:31 & I Corinthians 15:3-5 Galatians 3:13-14 Acts 3:14-15 & Hebrews 4:15 Romans 5:18-19 I Peter 2:24 Galatians 3:13 & II Corinthians 5:21 Romans 1:18 & Romans 1:32 & Romans 2:12 & II Thessalonians 1:6-10 Colossians 2:13-15 Matthew 1:1 Luke 1:68-72 & Luke 2:10-11 & Matthew 9:27 Acts 2:24-28 Acts 2:29-36 Romans 1:1-4 Hebrews 1:1-3 I Corinthians 15:24-26 & Ephesians 1:19-23 & Revelation 5:5



References - Paragraph 9

--Back to Paragraph 9-- Acts 1:8 & Acts 2:1-4 I Corinthians 12:13 I Corinthians 12:4-7 John 14:16-17 Romans 12:1 & Ephesians 5:18-20 Romans 8:3-4 I Corinthians 14:12 & I Corinthians 14:26 Romans 12:4-6 Luke 11:20 & I John 3:8 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 14:12-13 & Romans 15:18-19 & I Corinthians 4:20



References - Paragraph 10

--Back to Paragraph 10-- Romans 8:9-10 John 16:7 John 14:26 John 16:13-15 & Romans 8:14 Luke 24:49 & Acts 4:31 Acts 8:18-19 & Acts 19:1-2 I Corinthians 2:4-5 & II Corinthians 4:7 & II Corinthians 6:4-7 Joel 2:28-29 & Acts 2:15-17 I Corinthians 12:7-11 & I Corinthians 14:1 & I Corinthians 14:5 & I Thessalonians 5:19-21 Acts 8:14-17 & Acts 19:6 Mark 1:41 & Luke 6:18-19 & Mark 16:18 Acts 13:1-3 & I Timothy 4:14 & II Timothy 1:6



References - Paragraph 11

--Back to Paragraph 11-- II Timothy 3:16-17 & II Peter 1:20-21 & I Corinthians 2:12-13 & John 14:26 Psalm 19:7-9 & Psalm 119:11 & Psalm 119:30 & Psalm 119:43 & Psalm 119:89 & Matthew 5:17-18 & John 3:34 & John 10:35 & I Thessalonians 2:13 & Revelation 22:6 Luke 24:44 & II Peter 3:15-16 & Revelation 22:18-19 Isaiah 40:8 & Matthew 24:35 Matthew 7:21 & Matthew 7:24 & Luke 1:38 & James 1:22-25



References - Paragraph 12

--Back to Paragraph 12-- Luke 4:5-7 & I John 5:19 I Corinthians 15:22 & Ephesians 2:1-3 Romans 1:21-23 & Romans 1:32 Romans 1:18 & Romans 2:5 & II Corinthians 5:10 & Ephesians 5:6 Mark 1:14-15 & Acts 8:12 & Acts 28:31 & Ephesians 5:5 John 16:7-11 John 3:5-8 I Peter 1:23 Romans 5:1-2 & Romans 5:9 Romans 8:15 & Galatians 4:6 Ephesians 5:25 & Hebrews 13:12 & I Peter 1:1-2 Acts 2:38 Romans 10:9 I John 4:13-15 Colossians 1:13-14 & Philippians 3:20



References - Paragraph 13

--Back to Paragraph 13-- John 17:20-21 & Ephesians 4:3-6 I Corinthians 3:16-17 Matthew 16:17-18 & I Corinthians 1:2 & Ephesians 2:18-19 & I Peter 2:9-10 Titus 3:4-7 Romans 12:4-5 Ephesians 1:22 & Ephesians 5:23 I Corinthians 12:27



References - Paragraph 14

--Back to Paragraph 14-- Matthew 28:19-20 I Corinthians 11:23-26



References - Paragraph 15

--Back to Paragraph 15-- Daniel 7:13-14 & Matthew 4:23 & Matthew 12:28 Matthew 6:10 & Matthew 10:7-8 & Matthew 24:14 & Mark 13:11 & John 15:26-27 & Romans 14:17-18 Mark 13:26 & Acts 1:9-11 & II Thessalonians 2:8 Revelation 19:11-16 Matthew 25:31-32 & I Corinthians 15:23-25 Revelation 20:10 I Corinthians 15:51-52 John 5:28-30 & Revelation 20:11-15 Matthew 25:31-46 I Corinthians 15:24-48 I Timothy 6:13-16 II Peter 3:13 & Revelation 21:5 Revelation 21:27 I Timothy 1:17 & Revelation 7:9-12

11 comments:

  1. Paragraph 13: "...All who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated ..."

    Jesus the Christ was the Word Incarnate, Son of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus said we must worship in spirit, not just by words. Therefore, to "confess Jesus as Lord", does not mean just to say it with words, but to LIVE as Him, His Way, His Truth, His Life. Anyone who can do that, even though they may never know Jesus by name, they are still "professing" that they are His follower.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keith,
    One does need to know Him and confess with his or her mouth that Jesus is Lord. I'm not sure at what you are getting at? Why not call Him by name? There is no other way to get to the Father and heaven except by Jesus.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Everyone meets Jesus at their death, even if they did not know Jesus while on earth. Jesus judges by heart. If a person's heart is in the right place, then Jesus will judge them "favorably" even if the person did not know who Jesus was until their moment of judgment.
    Yes, there is no other WAY to the Father, except by Jesus, but when Jesus says: "I am the Way", He means that we are to live HIS Way, not our own human selfish way. If we LIVE His Way, then a person does not need to know Jesus' name.

    Jesus did not mean: "You must know my name J-E-S-U-S". He meant: "You must go through Me to the Father, and that means to follow My Way."

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Scriptures teach us that we do, in fact, need to know Jesus/Yeshua: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

    ReplyDelete
  5. What you are describing, in essence, is a literal understanding of the scripture. What I am trying to describe is what Jesus meant by this scripture, spiritually.
    Souls do not need to know Jesus by name, if they know Him by living in love.
    This can be proven = Simply ask Jesus yourself, and I am sure He will answer you much the same, but in a much better way than I am explaining.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In the original Greek "name" means "name." There is no other way to read this verse but the literal way. Yes, we do need to know Jesus in a personal way. He is a person. Not a concept.

    ReplyDelete
  7. No. He WAS a person for a short time. He is now a spirit. He is Love Suffering for us. He is Love, who was incarnated once as a man.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Keith, He is a person. He is not just spirit. He is in His resurrected body. When we pass along from this life to the next, we continue to be beings who will spend eternity either in heaven with the L-rd or in hell forever away from Him. Jesus/Yeshua is our L-rd and Savior, and He died on the cross for our sins and on the third day was resurrected from the dead. He is now in Heaven with the Father in His resurrected body.

    God is love.


    “He is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

    “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:15

    “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears


    My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3: 19&20

    Life is short. This is for sure. But life is also good. We can make our lives matter. And we can also have assurance and peace for the next life too.


    Jesus promises us that. It's true. He offers us that peace. He gives us peace here, if we allow Him to, and He offers us peace for eternity, if we accept it.


    How? The single most important thing you can do in your life is to establish a personal relationship with Jesus, in which He is your personal Lord and Savior.

    If you have not yet accepted Jesus into your life, you can do so now, by praying this prayer:


    "Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you.


    Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus is the Messiah and He died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.


    I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. Amen."

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jesus is a spirit. Yes, He has a resurrected body also. But, He is not a person like you and me. We are merely persons. Jesus is man-God, Son of the living God, one being with the Father, a perfect reflection of God.

    Jesus was not created, like a person. He has always existed. He is the Incarnate Word, and through Him all things were created.

    ===

    "Jesus' resurrected body was clothed with the four gifts of glory, namely: with clearness, impassibility, agility and subtility... His whole humanity (is) united to the Divinity... The excellence of these gifts in the Resurrection were far beyond the glory of His Transfiguration... Through impassibility His body became invincible to all created power, since no power can ever move or change Him... By subtility the gross and earthly matter was so purified, that it (can) penetrate other matter like a pure spirit... Agility so freed Him from the weight and slowness of matter, that it exceeded the agility of the immaterial angels, while He Himself (can) move about more quickly than they, as shown in His apparitions to the Apostles and on other occasions." Source: Mary, the Mother of Jesus

    ===

    In the Son there can be suffering, which is why I call the Son: Love Suffering, as love on earth is always united with sacrifice and suffering.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes, He is fully G-d and fully man, but we still need to have a personal relationship with Him.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yes, I agree that is most important.

    ReplyDelete