06.05.07

Personal Statement of Faith

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:39 pm by Perry

“Given my new leadership roles within in Campus Crusade for Christ on campus I feel that I must know fully what I believe if I am to hold others to a standard of the truth of scriptures. As such, I have begun to put together my own “Statement of Faith” to confirm what I believe and why I believe it based on Scripture. This is a work in progress and I would appreciate any comments for additional points to discuss, etc.

(1) God – There is one God (Isaiah 45:5-6, 1 Timothy 2:5) who has expressed himself as three distinct Persons (John 3:16-17, see Jesus and Holy Sprit). The three Persons exist simultaneously (Mark 1:9-11) as the expression of the one true and living God. God is eternal existing before the beginning of time (Deuteronomy 33:27). God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1) and culminated His creation with the creation of mankind made in His image (Genesis 2). God is perfectly holy (1 Chronicles 16:10). God knows everything (1 John 3:20), is every where (Psalms 139:1-4, 7-10) and all powerful (Matthew 19:26).

(a) God the Father – God the Father is fully God (1 Corinthians 8:6) as one of the three Persons of the single Godhead. God the Father is supreme among the Persons of the Godhead (1 Corinthians 15:28, Psalm 2:1-8). God the Father planned the whole of creation, redemption and final consummation (Ephesians 1:9-12) which he works through the Persons of the Son who is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-12)

(b) God the Son (Jesus Christ) – Jesus Christ is the full essence of God (John 10:28, John 1:1-2, 14, John 8:58-59). Jesus Christ is the eternal manifestation of the Son of God. Jesus is eternally submissive to the authority of the Father (John 6:38, 57) and eternally exercises authority over the Spirit (John 16:12-14). Jesus Christ existed with God the Father before time (John 1:1-2). All creation was made both by and through the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:13). Jesus became incarnate in the flesh of man (Luke 2:4-7, John 1:14). Jesus lived a perfect life during his ministry free from sin (Hebrew 4:15). He was crucified and died on a Roman cross to pay the sin penalty due to man (Matthew 27:32-50). Jesus was buried in a tomb (Matthew 27:56-60) where he remained for three days before being resurrected (Matthew 28:1-10, Acts 10:41) and appeared to the Apostles (Luke 24:36-43) before ascending to the Father in heaven (Luke 24:50-53). Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father ruling over the Church of believers (1 Corinthians 15: 24-26) and will return (John 14:3) to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1). Man is saved from the wrath of God by placing their faith in the Person and the work of Christ Jesus to inherit eternal life (John 3:16). There is no other name by which a person can be saved apart from Christ Jesus (John 14:6).

(c) God the Spirit – The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead who is the full essence of God (Acts 5:3-4). The Holy Spirit eternally submits to the authority of both the Father (Revelations 5:6) and the Son (John 15:26b) by assisting in carrying out the work of the Father (Acts 2:33) and the Son (John 16:12-14). The Holy Spirit now works to glorify the Son (1 Corinthians 12:3) through the inspiration of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21) and the empowerment of evangelism (Acts 1:8, John 15:26-27). The Holy Spirit indwells believers (John 14:16-17) and brings about the regeneration of believers (John 3:3-8) by softening the hearts of people to receive the Gospel (Deuteronomy 30:6, Ezekiel 36:26-27). The Holy Spirit works in believers to bring about their sanctification to make them more holy as they grow in spiritual maturity (2 Corinthians 3:18).

(2) Man – Man was created in the image of man as the culmination of all of creation (Gen. 1:26-27). Man was created to exist with God in a perfect creation but fell into sin (Genesis 3:1-6). When the first man, Adam, sinned all men sinned and are born into sin; therefore, all man are sinners and apart from God (Romans 5:12). Mankind is by nature dead to the spiritual things of God and are enemies of God apart from faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:10-18, Ephesians 2:3). Man can only be redeemed to the presence of God by placing their faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:13).

(3) The Bible – The Bible (Holy Bible) is God’s revelation about Himself and the nature of salvation to man. The Bible testifies that it was written by God by the work of the Holy Spirit inspiring the writings of the prophets (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Scriptures then are simultaneously both the result of the working on man and God. The whole of the scriptures are true and free from error profitable for teaching and rebuke (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is a collection of two testaments. The Old Testament consists of 39 books which record the working of God before the coming of Christ with the nation of Israel. All of the events that are recorded within the Old Testament testify to the Messiah who is Christ Jesus (Luke 24:25-27, 44-45, 1 Corinthians 10:11). The New Testament consists of 27 books; four books details the life of Christ (the Gospels) with the remainder of the books consisting of the writings of the early Apostles of the Church.

(4) Salvation – Salvation is God rescuing man from his depraved state. Man is by nature dead to God (Romans 3:10-18) and destined to eternal punishment apart from God in Hell (2 Thessalonians 1:9). A person is saved when the Holy Spirit softens their heart so that the person becomes receptive to the Gospel (Deuteronomy 30:6, Ezekiel 36:26-27) by a process known as regeneration. Specifically, a person is saved by placing their faith in Christ Jesus (John 3:16). When a person places their faith in Christ Jesus their sins are forgiven (Acts 13:38) and they are declared to be just before God by being bathed in the atoning sacrificial blood of Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:15-21). Initial salvation includes a persons “conversion” experience whereby they receive Christ in faith (Romans 10:13, Titus 3:3-7). A person’s salvation is worked out progressively by the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men to sanctify them until the time of their glorification at the judgment of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 2:12-14, Romans 8:29-30). Salvation is a work that is done completely by God independent of the workings of men; no works by men can earn or aid in a person’s salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). In His foreknowledge God elected a body of believers to receive salvation (Ephesians 1:3-12, Romans 8:28-33) among whom none would be lost (John 10:27-29). Christ death on the cross atoned for the sins of the elect so that they would receive salvation and be justified at their pre-appointed times (Romans 9:9-24, 1 Peter 2:6-8). Glorification is the culminating experience of salvation and in the state in which one exists for eternity I heaven with God (Romans 8:29-30).

(5) The Church – The church can be though of as an autonomous groups of bodies in different localities and as a universal body of all believers from all time. In the universal sense, the Church is the greater body composed of all believers from all time (Ephesians 4:4). Christ is spoke of as the head of the universal Church of believers (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:8) which He currently exercises rule and authority over (1 Corinthians 15: 24-26) ensuring that none among the body will ever be lost (John 10:28-29). In the second sense the church is spoken of as a body of believers who organize in a given region for the purpose of worship and the edification of believers (1 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:2). The local churches engage in the practice of two biblical ordinances including baptism (Matthew 28:18-19) and the communion [i.e. the LORD’s Supper] (Luke 22:14-23).

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