INTRODUCTION:

The absolute foundations of our faith as Christians are set down for us in the Holy Bible, which is God’s word to mankind. Because the Bible is inspired, infallible, immutable, and authoritative, containing all knowledge sufficient for salvation, the principles here are not an exposition of all truth. That which is herein only defines those biblical truths which identify us as legitimate followers of Jesus Christ. It is essential for us to understand that salvation and an eternal place in the Kingdom of God comes from belief in our hearts that Jesus Christ died in our place for our sins and rose from the dead, and is to be worshipped as our Lord and Savior.

A. The Holy Scriptures

The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the revelation of God to mankind. They are inornately inspired, immutable, infallible, and authoritative Word of God which have been transmitted in their original languages to the present without corruption of any essential truth. We always refer to the best Hebrew and Greek texts for clarity and understanding. The Bible contains all things necessary for understanding salvation. It is the authoritative rule in all matters of faith and practice.

B. The Holy Trinity or Godhead

There is one true God, without beginning and without end, who is made manifest in three persons, the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Although the terms "Trinity" and "persons" are not specifically used in the Scriptures, the fullness of God in each and the evidence that the three are of one being and substance (Greek: homoousios) is attested to in the Bible. They are co-eternal, co-existent, co-equal, with distinctions being shown by the use of the three titles, those being personal rather that substantive.

The three are each recognized as God.    

The Father  (Is. 63:16 ; John 6:27; 2 Sam. 7:14; 1 John 3:1;1 Peter 1:1 ; Philemon 3)

The Son Jesus Christ                                                     (John 1:1-5,18, 14:9-10,20:28; Titus 2:11-14;    1John4:12-15.5:20; Jude 25 )

The Holy Spirit  (Gen. 1:2; Is. 48:16, 63:7-16;  John 14:15-20;    Acts 5:3-4;1 John 4:12-13 5:1-12)

C. God

There is one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible, who is the beginning of all things and the end of all things. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is the source of all good things, and manifests himself in His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. He desires to save everyone from sin and to have fellowship wit all people by offering salvation through Jesus Christ. ( Gen. 1:1-27; Ex. 3:13-15; Ps. 33:6; Ps. 145: 3-7, 13, 17; John 3:16-19, 5:22,30,36, 10:30; Col. 1:19; Heb. 1:2-3 )

D. Jesus Christ The Son

There is Jesus Christ the only Son of God, eternally co-existent with the Father, God from God, Light from Light, and of one being and substance with the Father. He was begotten, not made, fully man and fully God. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died and atoning, substitutionary death for all people, taking the sin of the world upon himself. Jesus is the promised Messiah and Savior promised in the Old Testament scriptures. He rose bodily from the grave, ascended to Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God. He will return bodily in His full authority to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. A personal faith in Jesus Christ is the only way man can be saved and reconciled with God. (John 3:16, 5:22, 7:25-27; Col. 1:10-22; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 1:2-13; Eph. 1:3-10. 2:14-18; Matt. 26:63-64; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 22:66-70; 1 Thes. 4:13-17; Rev. 1:4-7, 13-18, 12:10-11, 19:11-16 )

E. The Holy Spirit

The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit. He is co-equal and worshipped with the Father and the Son, and proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the giver of life, the maker of all that is visible and invisible, the one who convicts of sin, illuminates righteousness, draws sinful man to Christ, comforts, guides, teaches, glorifies the Father and the Son, comes and indwells believers, gifting them for the work of the ministry, building up the Body of Christ, and showing God to the world. (Gen. 1:2,26; Judges 6:34, 14:6; 1 Sam. 10:10, 16:13; 2 Sam. 23:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 33:6; Is. 63:1-3; Ez. 11:14-21; 36:22-32; Matt. 3:13-16; Like 1:35, 24:45-49; John 14:16, 16:7, 20:22; Acts 2:33; Rom. 1:4, 8:23; 1 Cor. 2:11, 12:1-14, 14:1-20, 27-31, 39-40; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Gal. 5:22-26; Eph. 3:2-5; 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 9:14; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Rev. 3:13 )

 

F. The Creation and Fall of Man

Mankind was a special creation by God in His image. Before the Fall, the first man and the first woman were sinless and possessed eternal spiritual life which kept them in full relationship and harmony with God. It was by voluntary disobedience that the man and the woman rebelled against God and fell from Grace. It was then that sin entered the world, and from then on, each person ever born inherited that sinful nature, totally unable to live according to God’s standard or to remedy his or her lost condition. (Gen. 1:26-27,31, 2:7,18-25, 6:5; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-23; 1 Cor. 15:22; Eph. 2:1-3,12 )

 

G. Salvation

The Bible tells us that while we were still sinful, Jesus Christ gave himself up voluntarily to a cruel death, dying for all people and paying the price for our sins by the shedding of his blood. Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross was the perfect sacrifice for reconciliation of mankind to God, fulfilling the Old Testament scriptures perfectly.

Salvation comes only by Grace through the person of Jesus Christ when we receive him as Lord and Savior in our hearts by faith. No human effort or work is sufficient to produce the new birth. The new birth of which Jesus spoke, we pass from spiritual death to eternal life. Scripture records that we are reconciled, justified, and redeemed by Christ’s blood and declared righteous in the sight of God. (Matt. 18:11, 26:28; John 1:12, 3:2-21, 5:24, 17:1-8; Acts 2:37-38, 3:19, 4:10-12, 17:30, 20:21; Rom. 3:24-25, 5:1,8-9,18, 8:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:17,21; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10,13,16; Col. 2:10,13-14; Heb. 5:1-10, 9:1-24; 1 Peter 1:17-21; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 5:6, 10-13; Jude 21; Rev. 1:5)