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Statement of Faith |
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Perhaps this "Statement of Faith" page is one of your
first stops on this Web Site. Your time is precious and before you risk wasting any you
may want to determine if you agree with what is likely to be presented here. Makes sense.
Tell me, are you searching for truth? Are you absolutely confident in what you currently
believe? Have you been a "Christian" for years but something is still missing?
Based on your answers to these questions, is it possible that the truth may be outside of
what you would, with your current understanding, agree with? I used to think I was a
Christian even though I couldn’t explain or defend most of what I thought I believed
in. Not having complete confidence and conviction in what I said I believed I would not
have considered rebuking or correcting much of what I thought to be false teaching.
The Holy Spirit indwells true Christians so they are nothing if not confident in the
truth revealed to them by Him. They should, and most do, earnestly contend for that faith.
If you cannot claim that confidence, if you are not absolutely certain of your personal
relationship with Christ and are only "pretty sure" you’re saved then
please begin with this statement of faith but don’t stop there. Regardless of whether
or not you agree with what you find here, there is only one truth. If you don’t feel
it is represented here please investigate the site to find out why I believe as I do. If
you still disagree, email me with your concern. I will do my best to answer you
satisfactorily or to direct you to the information you need to help you understand what
God has revealed to mankind through the Bible. This site is new and compared to what I
have in mind there is not all that much here yet, but I will constantly be adding.
For a comprehensive statement of my faith you need to open a Bible and start with the
"In" of Genesis 1:1 and keep going until you read the "Amen" of
Revelation 22:21. This may sound trite, but it is true. I believe John 1:1 "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". To me,
saying you don’t believe the entire Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be
the divinely inspired Word of God, inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts, is
tantamount to saying you don’t believe in the only true God. I consider these
Scriptures to be the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life.
With all that having been said, what follows is a cursory synopsis of what I believe.
There is one true God, eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. He created everything out of nothing for His own pleasure and purpose. God created
man in His image. By sinning, man with his depraved nature, earned himself the exact
punishment God had told him he would receive; physical and spiritual death. Mankind
therefore became alienated from God, and we personally are incapable of paying the debt
required for our sin. It is God's desire that all men come to Him and realize their
sinful nature, repent of their sins, ask His forgiveness and accept His plan of salvation
for us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was begotten of the Father through the Holy Spirit, was born of a
virgin, and is true man without ceasing to be God. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived a sinless
and perfect life that fully pleased His Father. Jesus died for our sins on the cross,
bearing the full judgment demanded by God's holy justice against sin, thereby making it
possible for God to remain just and at the same time to justify those who believe in
Jesus. This justification is a judicial
act of God on the believer's behalf solely on the merits of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, never to die again, and is
ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes as High Priest and Advocate
on behalf of all who believe in Him. Those who recognize their sinful nature and their
inability to pay the debt they owe because of their sin, and who seek God and His
forgiveness, repenting of their sins and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior,
realizing their salvation only comes as a free gift through faith in Jesus Christ and not
by any works or merit of their own, are miraculously born again of the Holy Spirit and, as
children of God, become partakers of His divine nature and of eternal life.
The Holy Spirit thereby baptizes all true believers into the one true church, which is
the Body of Christ. This regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit is absolutely
essential for personal salvation. He
indwells them eternally, providing understanding of God’s Word to them, bestowing
spiritual gifts upon them and empowering them for service and holy living. God has
provided man with the Bible, which is the divinely inspired revelation to man of His mind
and will. These Scriptures are our infallible,
inerrant and authoritative guide, telling us everything we need to know about Him,
ourselves, our world, our condition, our salvation from the penalty of sin and our future.
He has throughout history preserved these Scriptures which provide instruction in
righteousness, Christian assembly and fellowship, as well as victorious living to the
glory of God. Two ordinances, neither of which is essential to salvation, are to be
observed by all believers in obedience to our Lord until His return. Baptism, which by
very definition is done by submersion and which symbolizes the death, burial and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the breaking of bread, done as instructed by
Jesus in remembrance of His sacrifice for us.
At death the souls of the redeemed pass immediately into Christ's presence to remain
there until the resurrection of the body at Christ's return for the church. At death the
souls of the lost go to hell, where they remain until they are brought before Christ at
the Great White Throne final judgment to be judged according to their works and cast into
the lake of fire, there to remain eternally. There will be a bodily resurrection of the
redeemed at the premillennial return of Christ for His church, when the souls and spirits
of those who have died will be reunited with their bodies, now immortal. Believers who are
alive at that time, their bodies likewise transformed into immortality, will be caught up
together with them to meet Christ in the air, ever to be with Him. A seven year
tribulation period will ensue during which time the Antichrist will be revealed, rule the
earth and be worshipped as God. This will end with the personal, bodily return of our Lord
Jesus Christ to rescue Israel at Armageddon and to establish His millennial kingdom,
reigning over this earth from His father David's throne in Jerusalem. His redeemed, who
have returned with Him, will reign with Him in resurrected bodies for 1,000 years. |
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Colossians 3:17 -And
whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by Him.