Statement of Faith
The Gospel
God created the world in order to be glorified through His Creation finding abundant life in Him (John 10:10). He created us, specifically, to reflect His glory and to responsibly utilize the rest of His Creation to bring honor to Himself (Genesis 1:26-28). As a result of us lacking the perfection of God and having been given the choice to make our own decisions, every man and woman since Creation has sinned (fallen short of the Glory of God - Romans 3:23). The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden, as well Revelation 20 shows us that God does not tolerate being in the presence of sin, so how are we able to overcome our sin and be right with God? Romans 6:23 addresses this by saying "For the wages of sin is death (physical and spiritual), but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Philippians 2 introduces us to how Christ Jesus is the Mediator from a temporal life into one that is eternal. Equal with God in form, Christ emptied Himself of reputation and came into the world in the likeness of man. Found in the appearance of man, He lived a sinless life and was obedient to the Will of the Father to the point of the most humiliating death (on the Cross). Romans 6:8-11 completes the Gospel by showing us that the door opens to eternal life through the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.
We are not able to earn our way to eternal life, as everything that we have in this physical world will pass away (Ephesians 2:8-9). Relying on the physical world to give us freedom gives us an idea of what sin is. In order to find life that is eternal, we need a Being that is both eternal and capable of being in fellowship with us. Since something/someone of a physical nature alone is not able to give us access to eternal life, this Being must also be of divine and spiritual nature. This Being is available to us, regardless of our race, ethnicity, gender, or other category the world uses to define us. He is the free Gift that we do not deserve by our own merits but by "The Blood" that Christ Jesus shed on the cross. Just like any other gift, we must still actively receive this Gift. Moreover, we receive the Gift by believing on the Name of Christ Jesus (Acts 16:31-34)
What does believing on the name of Christ Jesus look like, you may ask?
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It looks like trusting in and turning towards the will of Christ Jesus, based on how He has revealed He wants to be followed, and turning away from our own will and turning away from depending on the things of this world to fulfill our needs. Contrary to what popular opinion tells us about "religion," the physical actions involved in following Christ are not what save us, rather they express the spiritual fruit (faith) that is within us (Ephesians 2:8-10).
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The rest of this page discusses how I believe Christ Jesus has been revealed, and how I feel He has chosen to be in relationship with those He created.
The Word (Sufficiency and Infallability of Scripture)
John 1 shows us that the Word was before everything, is God, all things being made through Him, nothing was made without Him, is the light of men, shines in the darkness, and darkness has not overcome. It goes on to show that this Word became flesh (Christ Jesus). Both the Old Testament and New Testament point to Christ Jesus. With Scripture being breathed by an all-knowing and all-powerful God, embodied in the eyewitness testimonies and letters regarding the Life of Christ Jesus, I believe Scripture to be the source of Absolute Truth that transcends across cultures and generations. I believe that an individual's ability to "work out their faith" hinges upon how much they value the authority of Scripture. Moreover, I believe that Scripture is "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3). Please click here to see notes from our continued study on this belief.
The Triune Lord (ONE God in THREE co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal persons that reflect distinct functions of God
The Trinity is a concept that will never be fully understood, but is key to understanding who God is. As we move forward in our journey of coming to know who God is, it is important for us to remember that God operates outside of time and space, so He is not working with the same constraints in explaining who He is that we are under. Just think, if we could fully understand God with our limited minds, would He really be worthy of our praise and worship? The fact that the power, majesty, and glory of God is far beyond our comprehension is every reason to dedicate our lives to being in relationship with, and learning more about, Him. Even though we can't fully understand Him with our limited experiences and exposure to who He is and how He has revealed Himself in the world, it is key that we acknowledge that He is One God, while also revealing Himself in Three co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal persons. If we do not acknowledge this, we fall in the trap of placing Jesus as being another part of God's Creation, which would take away the divinity of Christ Jesus, and ultimately violate the very foundation Christianity stands on. Please click here to go deeper into the concept of the Trinity with me.
The Wedding (The local Church represents a Picture
of God's Kingdom of Earth and Protects Authority of The Word)
The word "church" has become such a loaded word in the United States and the rest of the Western world. It has become the building that we go to on Sundays. It is what we call when we go listen to someone teaching through Scripture. Unfortunately, what has been drowned out in all of this is the idea that we are the Church, and that we are called to be the Church 24/7/365. More unfortunate is that it seems that we have forgotten that we are the Bride of Christ. Just as we think of a bride on her wedding day doing everything to ensure that the day is perfect, we as the bride of Christ are responsible to do everything we can to present ourselves on that Day we stand before the Lord. Acknowledging that we will never be perfect on this side of heaven and that we are unable to earn the Lord's favor in our own right, we are still called to seek out the perfection or holiness of the Lord. What seems to be happening quite often in this day in age, is that we as the Church are being pushed aside towards a more personal experience that can come out 1-2 days per week, while culture is being pushed into the forefront, all day and every day. Much of what is left of out of all of this is culture and each person's individual experience influencing the Church, rather than the Church influencing culture and the experience of each individual. Please click here to see notes from my studies on Church history and how these studies inform how we maintain reverence to the Lord in a culture that is moving away from Authority and Truth.
Sovereign Author and Wonderful Counselor (The Holy Spirit was involved in Creation and Provides Guidance through Prayer)
I believe that God, viewing His Creation, outside of time, space, and matter can still allow mankind to have free will, while maintaining His Sovereignty over the future. The best that we can understand this in our flawed minds is that all of what we perceive as past, present, and future occurred and is occurring at the same time in God's eternal Kingdom. Man can still take part in His-story through prayer, as God saw what we are praying now when He created the world in the beginning At the end of the day, I maintain that God's intervention remains within His Will and Authority (2 Peter 3: 1-8). Please click here to browse my notes on what I am learning about communing with our Lord and being a part of His-Story through prayer.