With the mass communication facilities now available comes the ability to present the gospel as never before in history. However; the same facilities also make it possible to impressively dispense theological errors and pass them on as truth. Since many believers have never seen a doctrinal statement nor have the background to analyze what they read and hear, here is a simple statement of faith that I have assembled and which is a fair presentation of historical Biblical beliefs. I trust this article will be helpful in separating truth from error.
THIS I BELIEVE
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I. THE SCRIPTURES
I believe that the Holy Bible as written in the original manuscripts was verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit of God as He moved men to write word perfectly what God revealed to them and therefore, is truth without admixture of error on anything it speaks about. I believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the sole standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions shall be tried. II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21.
II. THE TRUE GOD
I believe there is one and only one living and true God, an infinite Spirit person, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, conservation and redemption. Exodus 20:2-3; I Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11.
III. THE HOLY SPIRIT
I believe the Holy Spirit is an eternally divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the work of creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purposes are fulfilled; that He convicts of the sinfulness of man, the righteousness of Christ and the certainty of judgment because of the difference; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and assists the believer in Christian conduct. John 14:16-17; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Genesis 1:1-3; John 16:8-11; Acts
IV. THE DEVIL OR SATAN
I believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy god of this age and world, the author of all the power of spiritual darkness, that he possesses none of the attributes of God and is destined to the judgment of an eternal justice in the Lake of Fire. Matthew 4:1-3; II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10.
V. CREATION
I believe the Genesis account of creation as God's act of revealing to Adam the process of the origin of matter, mind and man without the aid of previously existing material; that man as well as all life is by direct creation and without evolution. Genesis 1-2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3.
VI. THE FALL
I believe that man was created both in the image of God and innocent of sin, but by voluntary transgression rebelled against God's right to rule over His creation and fell from sinlessness resulting in the consequence that now all humanity is sinful, not only by constraint but by choice and therefore they are under just condemnation without defense, excuse or any ability of self-redemption. Genesis 3:1-6; Romans 5:19; Romans 5:12; Romans 5:10-19; Romans 1:18; Romans 1:32.
VII. THE VIRGIN BIRTH
I believe that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner, born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born and can ever again be born of woman, and that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. As such He is both very God of very God while being very man of very man. He is the eternal God who became man without an inherent sin nature or the capacity to sin when tempted as other men. Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; John 1:4.
VIII. ATONEMENT FOR SIN
I John 4:10; I Corinthians 15:3; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:23-8:1-6: 9:11-28.
I believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of God's love and grace; through the mediatorial office of the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not of setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner's place, the just dying for the unjust; Christ, the Lord, bearing our sin in His body on Calvary's cross; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate and all-sufficient Savior and only High Priest, interceding in an unfinished work for believers as we pray. I believe the work of Jesus on Calvary may be trusted completely as the sole, sufficient, substitutionary sacrifice for sin and when one places their faith and confidence singly in this payment, God the Father appropriates Christ's righteousness in place of our unrighteousness and forgives the believer of their sin and shares His eternal life with them. Ephesians : 8; Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24; John 3:16; Matthew 18:11; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2:14; Isaiah 53:4-7; Romans 3:25;IX. CONVERSION GRACE
I believer that in order to be saved from the penalty of sin, one must be born again with a spiritual birth; that this birth comes when an individual receives Christ as his Savior; that one dead in trespasses and sin becomes spiritually alive and a partaker of a new divine nature and receives eternal life as a free gift from God; that this new birth is above human capacity to create, obtain or maintain and is solely brought about by the Holy spirit of God through conviction and conversion of any individual who secures this life by a voluntary obedience to the gospel; the conversion grace is directly connected to repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior resulting in a new life. John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17; I John 5:1; John 3:6-7; Acts 16: 30-33; II Peter 1:4; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1; II Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 2:13; John 3:8.
X. JUSTIFICATION
I believe that the same grace that saves a lost sinner also secures the belief through the action of God in justification--the legal action of God whereby He declares righteous the individual who accepts His Son as the sole and sufficient payment for sin; that justification is imputed and provides pardon for the sinner, grants eternal life as well as a new life, and that this work of God is completely apart from human merit, righteous action, religious rituals and is the result of faith in Christ’s redemptive blood shed on Calvary. Acts 13:39; Isaiah 53:11; Zechariah 13:1; Romans 8:1; Romans 5:9; Romans 5:1.
XI. FAITH, REPENTANCE AND SALVATION
I believe that eternal salvation of an individual takes place when one repents of their rebellious sins against God's right to govern them and with this repentance places their faith in Christ's finished payment for sin on the cross where He took our just judgment from God in our place. I believe that repentance and saving faith are two ingredients of one single act of believing; that neither ingredient is possible without the other. Acts 16:31; Romans 1:17; Acts 20:21.
XII. THE LOCAL CHURCH
I believe the local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by covenant of faith and fellowship for corporate worship, education, missions, the betterment of each believer and for the advancement of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, governed by the Holy Scriptures and exercising the gifts given by the Holy Spirit to each member; that the offices of the church are pastor (elder, bishop, minister) and deacons who represent the membership in leadership, whose qualification and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. I believe the true mission of the church is obedience to God's inspired Word, faithful witnessing of Christ to all people as opportunity provides, the support of the benevolent needs of its members and reproducing churches through evangelism and missions. I hold that the church has absolute rule of self-government, is to be free from interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural and right for the church to fellowship with other churches of the same beliefs in contending for the faith and for the advancement of the gospel; that each local church is the sole judge of the measure and method of it’s cooperation; on matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, benevolence and that the will of the local congregation is the final factor in every decision it makes. Acts 2:41-42; I Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11; Acts 20:17-28; I Timothy 3:1-7; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23-24; Acts 15:13-18.
XIII. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER
I believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of believers in water as a public testimony of an individual's faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior as the one who has paid for their sin, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new spiritual life. That it follows an individual's faith and precedes membership in a local congregation. I believe the Lord's Supper is the scriptural practice looking back to Calvary and memorializing the physical death of Jesus, a time looking within and of introspection of Christian living with confession of sin, and a look forward in faithful anticipation of the Lord's return. Acts 8:26-39; John 3:23; Romans 6:3-5; Matthew 3:16; Colossians 2:12; I Corinthians 11:23-28.
XIV. THE SECURITY OF THE SAINTS
I believe that all who are truly born again are kept by the power of God the Father because of His agreement with God the Son and because of the regeneration to a new spiritual life by the Holy Spirit; that the security is not based in part nor in whole on the worth of the believer, but on the faithfulness and graciousness of God to keep His word. I believe the salvation is undeserved at the time one receives Christ, at any point in life and will be undeserved throughout eternity.
Philippians 1:6; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 1.
XV. THE PRESENT AND ETERNAL STATE OF THE BELIEVER AND UNBELIEVER
I believe there is a difference between the believer and the unbeliever, that those who are justified by faith in the finished work of Christ at Calvary are being sanctified (set apart) by the Holy Spirit of God, are esteemed judicially righteous and under God's free grace offered to everyone who wants to receive it; while those who reject Christ and continue in an unrepentant state of unbelief remain in a spiritually lost condition, are still under the curse of sin and will remain so through eternity in a conscious just judgment of God. Malachi 3:18; Genesis 18:23; Romans 6:17-18; I John 5:19; Romans 7:6; 6:23; Proverbs 14:32; Luke 6:25; Matthew 25:34-41; John 8:21.
XVI. THE RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
I believe that civil government is under divine appointment for the good of individual mankind as well as human society, that unaided by God it will often tend to rule in contradiction to the will of God as well as the Word of God; for this reason it is to be prayed for, honored and obeyed by believers; except in rulings that oppose the clear commands of God and the will of the Lord Jesus which give freedom of conscience to the believer; that government and those governing will be eternally accountable to God. Romans 13:1-7; II Samuel 23:3; Exodus 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:20; 4:19-20; Daniel 3:17-18.
XVII. SEPARATION
I believe the believer is taught to carefully guard the testimony of his life as owned by and dedicated to the Holy character of God; that this life is to be separated from the unregenerate world system controlled by Satan, from governments which own, control or legislate religion; from error in any form that distorts truth as revealed by God through revelation, inspiration and preservation; from theological apostasy and from all extra biblical preaching and teaching. Hebrews 11:37; Romans 16:17; II John 10,11; Titus 3:9,11; Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28-31; I Timothy 4:1,7; II Timothy 3:5,13; Ephesians 4:18; I Peter 1:10-13; II Corinthians 6:11-18; Ephesians 5:11.
XVIII. RESURRECTION, RETURN AND RELATED EVENTS
I believe future eschatological events will include the following:
A. The physical bodily resurrection of Christ. Matthew 28:6,7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; I Corinthians 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-6.
B. The ascension of Christ. Acts 1:9-11; Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Revelation 3:21; Hebrews 12:2.
C. The present High Priestly ministry of Christ. Hebrews 8:6; I Timothy 2:5; I John 2:1; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 5:9-10.
D. The second coming of Christ. John 14:3; Acts 1:11;I Thessalonians 4:16; James 5:8; Hebrews 9:2.
E. The pre-tribulational rapture of the church. Revelation 3:10; II Thessalonians 2:1-12; I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
F. The resurrection of the believers. I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:42-44;
G. The change of living believers at the rapture. I Corinthians 15:51-53; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Philippians 3:20-21.
H. The millennial reign of Christ. I Corinthians 15:25; Isaiah 32:1; Psalms 72:8; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 20:6.
No attempt has been made in this statement to give a full summary of everything the Bible teaches about each doctrine. However, what is written above is an honest presentation of the texts as God has revealed them in the Holy Scriptures.
GAA/November 6, 2005
I Corinthians 1:52.
5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Ephesians 1:13-14; Mark 1:8; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; Romans
8:16; Romans 8:26-27.
Doctrinal Statement,
REV. GLENN ARMSTRONG
1964 /1997 / 2005
