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Statement of Faith

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

The Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and thus the 66 books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God (1Corinthians 2:7-14; 2Peter 1:20-21).

The Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation (1Thessalonians 2:13; 1Corinthians 2:13), verbally inspired in every word (2Timothy 3:16), absolutely inerrant in the original documents, infallible, God-breathed and revealing Christ from beginning to end. Thus follows the literal, grammatical-historical, Christo-centric interpretation of Scripture.

The Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 1Corinthians 2:13; 2Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2Peter 1:20-21).

GOD

There is but one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1Corinthians 8:4), an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13:14)—each equally deserving worship and obedience.

God the Father. God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8-9; 1Corinthians 8:6). He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. As Creator He is Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), but He is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14; 2Corinthians 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1Chronicles 29:11). In His sovereignty He is neither the author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47), nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1Peter 1:17). He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9).

God the Son. Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9).

God the Father created according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).

In the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God-Man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9). Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness (Micah 5:2; John 5:23; 14:9-10; Colossians 2:9).

Our Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26-35).

Our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and that His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1Peter 2:24).

On the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8-9; 2Corinthians 5:14-15; 1Peter 2:24; 3:18).

Justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, where He mediates as our Advocate and High Priest (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25; 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1John 2:1).

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26-29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 6:5-10; 1Corinthians 15:20, 23).

God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (1Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 28:25-26; 1Corinthians 12:4-6; 2Corinthians 13:14; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17).

The Holy Spirit is sovereign in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7). The broad scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ (John 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Romans 8:29; 2Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:22).

The Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ (John 16:13-14; 1Corinthians 12:4-13).

CREATION

In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 1:2-3; Hebrews 1:2; Job 26:13), for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power (Romans 1:20), wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things in it, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six literal twenty-four hour days, and all was very good (Colossians 1:16; Genesis 1:31).

MAN

Man was directly and immediately created by God to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11). Man was created in God’s image and likeness free of sin, with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:7, 15-25; James 3:9).

In Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1Timothy 2:13-14; 1John 1:8).

Because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration (Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18, 23; 5:10-12).

SALVATION

Salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1Peter 1:18-19).

Regeneration. Regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God (John 5:24) when the repentant sinner, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, responds in faith to the divine provision of salvation. Genuine regeneration is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works are the proper evidence and fruit of regeneration (1Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10). This obedience causes the believer to be increasingly conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 3:18). Such a conformity is climaxed in the believer’s glorification at Christ’s coming (Romans 8:17; 2Peter 1:4; 1John 3:2-3).

Election. Election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2Thessalonians 2:13; 2Timothy 2:10; 1Peter 1:1-2).

Sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11; John 3:18-19, 36; 5:40; Romans 9:22-23; 2Thessalonians 2:10-12; Revelation 22:17). Nevertheless, since sovereign grace includes the means of receiving the gift of salvation as well as the gift itself, sovereign election will result in what God determines. All whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith, and all who come in faith the Father will receive (John 6:37-40, 44; Acts 13:48; James 4:8).

The unmerited favor that God grants to totally depraved sinners is not related to any initiative of their own part or to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy (Ephesians 1:4-7; Titus 3:4-7; 1Peter 1:2).

Election should not be looked upon as based merely on abstract sovereignty. God is truly sovereign, but He exercises this sovereignty in harmony with His other attributes, especially His omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom, grace, and love (Romans 9:11-16). This sovereignty will always exalt the will of God in a manner totally consistent with His character as revealed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:25-28; 2Timothy 1:9).

Justification. Justification before God is an act of God (Romans 8:33) by which He declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 55:6-7) and confess Him as sovereign Lord (Romans 10:9-10; 1Corinthians 12:3; 2Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 2:11). This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man (Romans 3:20; 4:6) and involves the imputation of our sins to Christ (Colossians 2:14; 1Peter 2:24) and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us (1Corinthians 1:30; 2Corinthians 5:21). By this means God is enabled to “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

Sanctification. Every believer is sanctified unto God by justification and is therefore declared to be holy and is therefore identified as a saint. This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and should not be confused with progressive sanctification. This sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing, not his present walk or condition (Acts 20:32; 1Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11; 2Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 2:11; 3:1; 10:10, 14; 13:12; 1Peter 1:2).

There is also, by the work of the Holy Spirit, a progressive sanctification by which the state of the believer is brought closer to the standing the believer positionally enjoys through justification. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:17, 19; Romans 6:1-22; 2Corinthians 3:18; 1Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23). In this respect, every saved person is involved in a daily conflict—the new creation in Christ doing battle against the flesh—but adequate provision is made for victory through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The struggle nevertheless stays with the believer all through this earthly life and is never completely ended. All claims to the eradication of sin in this life are unscriptural. (Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 3:12; Colossians 3:9-10; 1Peter 1:14-16; 1John 3:5-9).

Security. All the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 5:9-10; 8:1, 31-39; 1Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; 1Peter 1:5; Jude 24).

THE CHURCH

All who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the invisible church (1Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18).

The elect of all ages constitute the invisible church (Hebrews 11), while those persons throughout the whole world, professing the faith of the gospel, and obedience to God by Christ according to that gospel, constitute the visible church (Acts 11:26; 14:23, Galatians 1:2).

The establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23, 27; 20:17, 28; Galatians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; 1Thessalonians 1:1; 2Thessalonians 1:1) and the members of the one spiritual Body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies (1Corinthians 11:18-20; Hebrews 10:25).

The one supreme authority for the church is Christ (1Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18) and church leadership, gifts, order, discipline, and worship are all appointed through His sovereignty as found in the Scriptures. The biblically designated officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders (also called bishops, pastors, and pastor/teachers; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11) and deacons, both of whom must meet biblical qualifications (1Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1Peter 5:1-5). The Lord gives the church spiritual gifts. He gives men chosen for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:7-12), and He also gives unique and special spiritual abilities to each member of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5-8; 1Corinthians 12:4-31; 1Peter 4:10-11).

The importance of discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20; 2Timothy 2:2; Titus 2:11-14), mutual accountability of all believers to each other (Matthew 18:5-14), as well as the need for discipline of sinning members of the congregation in accord with the standards of Scripture (Matthew 18:15-22; Acts 5:1-11; 1Corinthians 5:1-13; 2Thessalonians 3:6-15; 1Timothy 1:19-20; Titus 1:10-16).

The purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the gospel (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42).

There were two kinds of gifts given the early church: miracuous gifts of divine revelation and healing, given temporarily in the apostolic era for the purpose of confirming the authenticity of the apostles’ message (Hebrews 2:3-4; 2Corinthians 12:12); and ministering gifts, given to equip believers for edifying one another. With the New Testament revelation now complete, Scripture becomes the sole test of the authenticity of a man’s message. Confirming gifts of a miraculous nature are no longer necessary to validate a man or his message (1Corinthians 13:8-13). Further, Miraculous gifts can even be counterfeited by Satan so as to deceive even believers (1Corinthians 13:13-14:12; Revelation 13:13-14). The only gifts in operation today are those non-revelatory equipping gifts given for edification (Romans 12:6-8). Further, none possess the gift of healing today, but God does hear and answer the prayer of faith and He will answer in accordance with His own perfect will for the sick, suffering, and afflicted (Luke 18:1-6; John 5:7-9; 2Corinthians 12:6-10; James 5:13-16; 1John 5:14-15).

Baptism. Two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is to the person baptized a sign of his fellowship with Christ, in His death, burial, and resurrection, of his being ingrafted into Him (Galatians 3:27), of remission of sins (Mark 1:4), and of his giving up himself to God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life (Romans 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible Body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42).

Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1Corinthians 11:28-32). Whereas the elements of Communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, fellowshipping with His people (1Corinthians 10:16). The Lord’s Supper is the sign of the New Covenant (Luke 22:19-20; 1Corinthians 11:23-26; Hebrews 12:24).

ANGELS

Holy Angels. Angels are created beings and are therefore not to be worshiped. Although they are a higher order of creation than man, they are created to serve God and to worship Him (Luke 2:9-14; Hebrews 1:6-7, 14; 2:6-7; Revelation 5:11-14; 19:10; 22:9).

Fallen Angels. Satan is a created angel and he incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19), by taking numerous angels with him in his fall (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:1-14), and by introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve (Genesis 3:1-15).

Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man (Isaiah 14:13-14; Matthew 4:1-11; Revelation 12:9-10); he is the prince of this world, who has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:20); and he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

LAST THINGS

Death. Physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness (Revelation 6:9-11), the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ (Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2Corinthians 5:8), there is a separation of soul and body (Philippians 1:21-24), and for the redeemed, such separation will continue until Christ returns (1Thessalonians 4:13-17) Until that time, the souls of the redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ (2Corinthians 5:8).

There will be a bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life (John 6:39; Romans 8:10-11, 19-23; 2Corinthians 4:14), and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15).

The Bodily Return of Christ. We look forward to the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 4:16; Titus 2:13) to translate His church from this earth (John 14:1-3; 1Corinthians 15:51-53; 1Thessalonians 4:15-5:11). Those who are with Christ in heaven will be given new bodies first, and then living believers will be joined with Christ in the clouds also receiving their new bodies.

The Judgment. The souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the soul and the resurrection body are united (John 5:28-29). They shall then appear at the Judgment and shall be cast into hell, the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41-46), committed to an eternal conscious punishment, cut off from the life of God forever (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:41-46; 2Thessalonians 1:7-9).

Eternal Life. The saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be dissolved (2Peter 3:10) and replaced with a new heaven and a new earth, wherein only righteousness dwells and in this way we will always be with the Lord (Ephesians 5:5; 1Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 20:15; 21:1-27; 22:1-21).

1Corinthians 13:8-13 Exegetical Paper on the cessation of revelation at the close of the NT Cannon