Statement of Faith

Bible

I teach that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, and sufficient Word of God. It was written over a period of 1,500 years by 40 different authors in 3 continents. It is comprised of 66 books. The Old Testament has 39 books. The New Testament has 27 books. They are comprised different genre. The authors of each book were God and his prophets. I teach that they are to be interpreted literally in their historical, grammatical contexts. While there is only one interpretation for any given text, there can be numerous applications.

The Trinity

I teach that God is one in tree persons. The persons are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God and never mixes with the other two. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Father. The Holy Spirit is not either the Son nor the Father. All are equal in the Godhead. There are not three gods but one God. The Son submits to the Father. The Holy Spirit submits to both the Father and the Son. The Son became man and dwelt among us and was sent by the Father. When Christ ascended to heaven, He and the Father Sent the Holy Spirit. The Spirit testifies to the Son. The Son testifies to the Father. The Father created all things by the Word of his power. The Son was the creative agent who created all things. The Holy Spirit hovered over the face of the deep. There is no one place that the scripture talks about the depths of the Trinity it is brought together from several scriptures that outline the Godhead. I fully agree with the Athanasian Creed.

The Father

I teach that the Father is the first person of the Trinity, he controls and decrees all things according to His perfect will. He is the all knowing, all powerful, all present, transcendent, Holy ruler of his created order. He is sovereign in His creation, providence, and redemption. There is no atom in the universe where God does not declare mine. Yet, in His sovereignty he is not the author of sin. He has chosen from before the foundation of the world those who would be His children (the elect). He graciously saves all who repent and trust in Jesus as their Lord and savior.

The Son

I teach that the Son is the second person of the Trinity. He is equal and yet submissive to the Father. He is just as all knowing, all powerful, all present, transcendent, and Holy as the Father is. He is the Word that was, was with, and is God through whom all things were created (John 1:1-2). He is the ultimate divine revelation of God to men as he became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Son became Jesus the Christ. He was and is fully God and fully man. He was born of the virgin Mary. He was raised by her and Joseph. He was from the line of David. He was baptized by the apostle John. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. He performed miracles like healing the lame, leprous, and blind. He raised the dead. He was perfect in all He said and did. He was condemned as a blasphemer for claiming to be the Son of God. He died on a cross, bearing our sin, and took the full wrath of God. He payed for sin in full at the cross so that all who repent and trust in Him will have His righteousness imputed to them (1 Corinthians 5:21). He rose from the dead, proving he was the Son of God (Romans 1:4), and guaranteeing that God accepted His sacrifice. His resurrection also proves that we too will one day rise from the dead. The Son also points to the Father.

The Holy Spirit

I teach that the Holy Spirit is the third and final person of the Trinity. He is both equal to the Father, and the Son in every way. He is as equally all knowing, all powerful, all present, transcendent, and Holy. The Holy Spirit is a person and not an impersonal force. He can and must be worshipped as equally as the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit was the one who did the miracles of Jesus. The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. The Holy Spirit was sent from the Son and the Father to indwell believers. He guarantees the believer’s salvation. He conforms believers into the character image of the Son. He convicts us and the world of sin, righteousness, and coming judgement. He is the comforter, companion, and teacher of the true believer in this dark life. He teaches the believer through the Holy Scriptures and conforms them through prayer. He points to the Son and the Father.

Man

I teach mankind was created by God in His image on day six of creation week to rule over the land animals, fish of the sea, and birds of the air. We were God’s representation to the created order. God created mankind in man and woman. There are not other sexes. When Adam sinned he spiritually died corrupting his mind, heart, and will. He also brought physical death, pain, disease, and decay into the world. He is separated from the love connection with God and cannot get back to a right relationship with him by his works. The only proper place for man to go is to spend and eternity in eternal conscious torment in Hell.

Salvation

I teach that 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. I teach that regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given . It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God 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 , and will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to the Word of God. This obedience causes the believer to be increasingly conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such a conformity is climaxed in the believer’s glorification at Christ’s coming. Believers are eternally secure in Christ forever.

Last Days

I teach When God is done with us on earth, we die. Death does not extinguish us. Our bodies decay, but our spirit lives on in either heaven or hell. Heaven is where God is. We will worship[ Him forever in our heavenly homes in our heavenly rewards. We will praise Him for all He is. There is no more dying, weeping, sickness, or pain. We will be without sin and holy like Christ. One day the heavenly city of New Jerusalem will come down to the new earth, after God destroys all of the wickedness of men and Satan by the judgment of the lamb. I teach that heaven is a real literal place. Only the Holy angels and God’s elect will dwell in heaven. God’s elect under Christ will reign in the New Earth.

I also teach that hell is a literal place of eternal conscious torment. It is a state of continually dying, thirsting, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Though there is eternal fire, it is dark. The loving, caring, presence of God is not there; only His wrath. One day those who are in Hell will be raised from the dead, judges, and thrown into the eternal lake of fire for all eternity.

I teach in the resurrection of the dead. The just in the Millennial kingdom of Christ will be raised up to rule with Christ for a literal 1000 years. The unjust will be raised after the final battle with Satan, judged for their sin, and cast into the lake of fire.

Authority

I teach the only authority that the believer has to submit to are the clear teachings of scripture. All creeds, belief statements, church traditions, teachers, and churches must be judged in light of the sacred text. There is no authority other than the scriptures. If anyone tries to usurp the authority of the scriptures with church offices, supposed “science”, church tradition, extrabiblical revelation, or something not covered in this list, he is under the judgement of God (Revelation 22:18-19). No true believer will continually and finally place man made authority over the Word of God.

Origins

I teach that the Bible is accurate when it says God created the World in 6 literal 24 hour days. A literal interpretation of the text in its historical, grammatical contexts proves this to be a historical narrative as literal history. All of scripture stands or falls at the authenticity of Genesis 1-11. If we cannot interpret Genesis 1 as it presents itself, we cannot interpret the rest of the Bible as it presents itself. Then we would not know how to acquire any knowledge.

Marriage and Abortion

I teach that the Bible teaches marriage is between one man and one woman. Anything else is an abomination. Anything that presents itself as a marriage is not sanctioned by God if it does not fall under the basic condition of being one man and one woman. Unless one repents of their sin of skewing this covenant ordained by God they will go to Hell. In marriage the husband represents Christ and is to love, care, provide, and defend his wife. The wife represents the church and she is to lovingly submit to her husband. Divorce between the husband and wife is a sin unless there is sexual immorality, abuse, or the non-Christian in the marriage wants to leave.

Abortion is the murder of a innocent human life in its mothers womb. It is an atrocity. It is a sin that needs to be repented of. Yet, people can still be saved from it like any other sin. The best cases for being against abortion is found in scripture (Exodus 21:22-25; Psalm 139). Abortion is similar to the child sacrifice to Molech where sexually promiscuous pagans offered their children to the god to receive divine blessing for their crops. In the world’s case they sacrifice their children so they can receive no consequences for their sin. Yet if they do not repent of their sin, they will receive divine wrath for both their sexual promiscuity and killing their child. We should not harm abortion doctors, but instead pray for their salvation.

Disclaimer

As I have time, I will revise and expand this statement of faith. In the meantime, I fully agree with Grace To You’s statement of faith. https://www.gty.org/about#doctrines