About God:
● There is one true eternal self-existent God, existing in three co-equal persons we call the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
[Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, Romans 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2]
● He is the creator and sustainer of everything that exists
[Genesis 1, Psalm 90:2, Hebrews 1:3 and 10; Colossians 1:16-17]
● He is sovereign over all things
[1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalm 50:10]
● He is, above all else, a God of love, grace and holiness
[ Psalm 86:5, Isaiah 6:3, 1 John 3:1 and 4:7-9]
● He is personally knowable and seeks relationship with us
[Galatians 4:4-6]
● He is actively engaged with man throughout history, with the primary purpose of restoring sinful man to relationship with Him and transforming man into a passionate follower of Christ
[Leviticus 26:12-13, John 3:16, Ephesians 1:7 and 2:4-5, Titus 2:11-13, 1 John 3:1]
About God the Father:
● He is the Father of Jesus Christ [Psalm 2:7, John 6:57]
● He is the author of salvation [Ephesians 1:4-5]
● He sent Jesus to this world to be the Savior of mankind [John 3:16, John 5:36-37 and 6:38-41]
● He is the disciplinarian of believers [Hebrews 12:5-10]
● He answers the prayers of believers [Matthew 7:7-11]
● He secures the position of believers in Christ [Matthew 10:27-29]
About Jesus Christ:
● Jesus is God, coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit [John 10:30, Colossians 1:15-19, Hebrews 1:3]
● Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God [Matthew 1:22-24, Luke 1:35, Romans 1:3]
● He was sent to earth by the Father to restore man’s relationship with God [John 1:10-12 and 14:6, Galatians 3:26, 1 Peter 1:3]
● He lived a sinless life and paid the penalty for man’s sin by dying on the cross [Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 4:15]
● He was bodily resurrected from the dead after three days [Matthew 28:5-7, Romans 1:4, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4]
● He ascended into heaven where He sits at the Father’s side as head of the church and intercedes for believers [Hebrews 1:1-3 and 7:25]
● He will someday return to earth – personally, visibly, bodily – to reign as Lord of all [Matthew 24:30-31 and 28:5-7, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:16]
About the Holy Spirit:
● The Holy Spirit is a person, is God, is co-equal with the Father and Son and has all the same divine characteristics as the Father and the Son [John 16:15, 2 Corinthians 3:17 and 13:14]
● He is the person of the Trinity who convicts man of sin and calls man into a faith relationship with Jesus Christ [John 16:8]
● He lives in every believer - serving as a guide, comforter, teacher of truth and giver of spiritual gifts, and he provides the power for living a Christ-like life [John 14:16-17 and 26, and 16:7-15, Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 2:12 and 3:16, 2 Timothy 1:14]
● It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that believers are able to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control [Galatians 5:22-24]
About the Bible:
● It is the Word of God, divinely inspired and without error in the original manuscripts [Proverbs 30:5, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21]
● It is the only source of ultimate truth [Psalm 12:6 and 119:160, John 8:31-32 and 17:17]
● It is the supreme and final authority for faith and practice in the church and in our individual lives [Psalm 119:105, Luke 11:28, John 14:21, Hebrews 4:12]
About Man:
● Man is the highest order of God’s creative work, perfectly created in God’s image [Genesis 1:26-31]
● Man was created to have a loving relationship with God and to bring Him glory [John 3:16, Ephesians 1:11-14]
● Man was given free will by God and chose to sin, that is, to rebel against and disobey God [Isaiah 53:6, Romans 1:10-32]
● Man’s sin brought the consequences of death, deterioration, disease and disorder into God’s perfect creation and destroyed his relationship with God [Isaiah 59:2, Romans 3:10-12]
● Man cannot, by his own efforts, restore his relationship with God [Romans 3:23 and 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-10]
About Salvation:
● Salvation is the full restoration of man’s relationship with God and removal of the penalty of death
● It is possible because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross [Colossians 2:14-16, Hebrews 10:10]
● It is a free gift from God that comes only by faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior [Romans 5:1 and 6:23, Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 John 5:10-12]
● It requires confession of and repentance of sin [Romans 10:9]
● In it God grants full forgiveness and pardon for our sin [Ephesians 1:7]
● There are no other means for restoring relationship with God [John 14:6, Acts 4:12]
● Salvation received by genuine faith in Jesus Christ is eternally secure and cannot be lost [John 1:12 and 10:27-29, Hebrews 7:25, 1 Peter 1:3-5]
About Human Destiny:
● Man was created to exist forever [Matthew 25:31-46]
● The Bible describes two places of eternal existence: heaven and hell [Matthew 10:28, 2 Corinthians 5:1]
● Heaven is eternity spent living in perfect relationship with God; hell is eternity spent fully and finally separated from God [John 3:16, 1 John 5:11-12, Revelation 20:15]
About Baptism:
● Baptism is not necessary for salvation but is important for all believers because
- Christ was baptized by immersion as an example for us [Matthew 3:13-15]
- It is how we make public our faith in Christ [Matthew 10:32]
- It is an act of obedience [Matthew 28:18-20
● Biblical baptism is for believers and comes after the point of salvation [Acts 2:41]
About the Church:
● The church is the visible presence of Jesus Christ in the world – the body of Christ [Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:21-27]
● The church refers to the universal church, meaning all true believers, the local church and groups of believers who join together to carry on the work of Christ [Ephesians 3:10-11, Hebrews 10:24-25]
● The church is the organization by which Christ’s work is carried out in the world [Acts 2:42-47, Ephesians 3:20-22]
About the Christian Life:
● A follower of Christ will grow to become more and more like Christ in attitude, behavior, spirit and purpose [Romans 8:29, Ephesians 5:1, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:9-10]
● Following Christ includes personal and corporate worship and prayer [Acts 2:46-47, 1 Thessalonians 5:17]
● Following Christ includes serving and giving [Matthew 20:28 and 23:11; 2 Corinthians 8:7 and 9:7]
● Following Christ includes sharing the good news of Jesus Christ at home and around the world [Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 4:2-6]
● It is God’s intent that we live the Christian life in community with other believers and in dependence upon the Holy Spirit [Galatians 5:16 and 5:22-23]