Essentials
• The Bible - the inspiration, authority, and inerrant preservation of scripture by God
• The nature of God - One God, Creator, all knowing, all powerful, the Godhead is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• The nature of the Messiah Jesus - Jesus is God and man, the only begotton Son of God, the Word made flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, shows us the Father
• Mankind - lost to sin and cannot save himself through good works
• Mankind - lost to sin and cannot save himself through good works
• Salvation - salvation only by grace through trusting in the finished work of Jesus's death on the cross and bodily resurrection
1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and the revealed nature and will of God. The Bible is inspired and empowered by God, infallible, authoritative, and preserved. (II Tim. 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Heb. 4:12).
2. There is one true living God. He is infinite, all knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, eternally existing as the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—each co-equal, co-eternal, and equally deserving worship and obedience. (Deut 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; Mat 28:19; Jn 1:1, 1:14, 4:24; 1Cor 8:4; 2Cor 13:14)
(a) God the Father - orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Ps 145:8-9; 1Cor 8:6; Gen 1:1-31; Eph 3:9; Ps 103:19; Rom 11:36; Eph 4:6; Rom 8:14; 2Cor 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). He is neither author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47), nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1 Peter 1:17; Eph 1:4-6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through Messiah Jesus; He adopts as his own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (Jn 1:12; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5; Heb 12:5-9).
(b) God the Son - Jesus is God the Word made flesh, the Son of God, the Messiah (Christ). He was simultaneously God and man (John 10:33); born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35); lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, 7:26); performed miracles (John 2:11); His death was the atonement (I Corinthians 15:3, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9, Romans 5:12-21); His resurrection was victory over death (John 11:25, I Corinthians 15:4); and He ascended to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19). His personal return to earth will be in power and glory (Acts 1:11, Revelation 19:11-16).
(c) God the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1Cor 2:10-13), emotions (Eph 4:30), will (1Cor 12:11), eternality (Heb 9:14), omnipresence (Ps 139:7 10), omniscience (Isa 40:13 14), omnipotence (Rom 15:13), and truthfulness (Jn 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal with the Father and the Son (Matt 28:19; Acts 5:3 4; 28:25 26; 1Cor 12:4-6; 2Cor 13:14; Jer 31:31-34; Hebrews 10:15-17). He is active in creation (Gen 1:2), the incarnation (Matt 1:18), the written revelation (2Pet 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (Jn 3:5-7).
3. Salvation of man
(a) Man was created in God's image. God, in His sovereignty, gave man free will, and by voluntary transgression man fell.(Gen. 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Rom. 5:12-21).
(b) Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah. On the cross Jesus took our sin and judgement once and for all, providing salvation for all mankind (Ps. 103:3). It is essential for man to repent of sin and by faith receive the finished work of Messiah. This salvation comes by believing in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead, and confessing with your mouth, Jesus as Lord (Rom. 3:24, 10:8-10; Eph. 2:8).
(c) The inward evidence, to the believer, is the direct witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of true holiness and love (I Jn. 3:23; Jn. 13:35).
(d) Salvation is by faith in Messiah Jesus and not by human works. Our works are are a response to what Jesus has done, evidence of our faith, and will determine our rewards in eternity (Rom. 10:9-10, 14:10-12; II Cor. 5:10; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; James 2:18).
4. Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The work of the Holy Spirit in this age began at Pentecost when He came from the Father as promised by Jesus (Jn 14:16-17, 15:26) to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His church (1Cor 12:13). His activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus and transforming believers into the image of Messiah (Jn 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18; Eph 2:22). The Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (1Cor 12:13). The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Rom 8:9; 2Cor 3:6; Eph 1:13). Every believer receives the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit upon salvation, and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit (Jn 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 2Pet 1:19 21; 1 Jn 2:20, 27). The Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to believers and glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith (Jn 16:13 14; Acts 1:8; 1Cor 12:4-11; 2Cor 3:18).
5. Ordinances - Ordinances are not religious requirements for salvation, they are simply outward physical expressions of faith that reflect what is going on spiritually in a believer.
(a) Immersion in water (baptizo) is a declaration to the world that a believer has died with Messiah and that they have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life (Mt. 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Rom. 6:4).
(b) The participation in the "Lord's Supper" by eating of the bread and drinking of the cup is a remembrance of Jesus (I Cor. 11:24-30).
6. The true Church is composed of all born-again believers in Messiah, regardless of location or denominational affiliation. Each believer is an integral part of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 2:19-22; Heb. 12:23).
7. God blesses us and is the supplier of our needs (not 'greeds') in all areas of our life as one of the ways He equips us to carry out His will. He is our source of provision and promotion for His purposes, His glory, and His timing, not our convenience.
(a) Spiritual (Jn. 3:3, 11; II Cor. 5:17-21;Rom. 10:9-10).
(b) Mental (II Tim. 1:7; Rom. 12:2; Is. 26:3).
(c) Physical (Is. 53:4-5; Mt. 8:17).
(d) Financial (III Jn. 2; Lk. 6:38; II Cor. 9:6-10; Phil. 4:19).
(e) Social (Pr. 3:4).
8. We [believers] shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (Matthew 24:30-31; Mark 13:24-27; I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thess. 4:15-17; II Thess. 2:1-4; Phil 3:20-21).
9. The Day of the Lord/The Millennial Reign of Jesus: The return of our Lord Jesus the Messiah in the clouds, in like manner that he departed, with His saints from Heaven to rule and reign for one thousand years on earth as the Scripture promised (Rom. 11:25, 27; II Thess. 1:7; Rev. 19:11-16, 20:1-7). After this, there will be a new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21).
10. Those who die in their sin will be resurrected and judged and ultimately join Satan and other rebellious angels in everlasting punishment in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20, 20:10-15).
11. All born-again believers have been commissioned to share the Gospel to all the world and make disciples of all nations. (Mat 28:19, Luke 10:2)
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