I. The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and
is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect
treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author,
salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of
error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally
true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God
judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of
the world, the true center of Christian union, and the
supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and
religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a
testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine
revelation.
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34;
Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8;
Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33;
24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11;
Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2;
4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
II. God
There is one and only one living and true God. He is an
intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator,
Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is
infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all
powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends
to all things, past, present, and future, including the
future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the
highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune
God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
with distinct personal attributes, but without division of
nature, essence, or being.
A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His
universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human
history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all
powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is
Father in truth to those who become children of God through
faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward
all men.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.;
20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles
29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10;
17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John
4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1
Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians
1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1
John 5:7.
B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as
Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of
the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will
of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands
and necessities and identifying Himself completely with
mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His
personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the
cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and
appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them
before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now
exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One
Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected
the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in
power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His
redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the
living and ever present Lord.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14;
53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27;
17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70;
24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50;
14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9;
2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21;
8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28;
2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20;
3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1
Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14;
Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8;
1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2
John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He
inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through
illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts
Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects
regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes
every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates
Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the
spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.
He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His
presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will
bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of
Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the
church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11;
139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16;
4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19;
11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14;
Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44;
13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1
Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6;
Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1
Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2
Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
III. Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own
image. He created them male and female as the crowning work
of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the
goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was
innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom
of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and
brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of
Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his
original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature
and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon
as they are capable of moral action, they become
transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of
God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to
fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human
personality is evident in that God created man in His own
image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every
person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of
respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6;
32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts
17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6;
7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22;
Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
IV. Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and
is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption
for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes
regeneration, justification, sanctification, and
glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal
faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's
grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ
Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit
through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in
repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.
Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God.
Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of
the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.
B. Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal
upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who
repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the
believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.
C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in
regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's
purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and
spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue
throughout the regenerate person's life.
D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is
the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21;
4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John
1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17;
Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans
1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39;
10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10;
2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15;
Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13;
Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2
Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28;
11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John
1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.
V. God's Purpose of
Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to
which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies
sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and
comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is
the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is
infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes
boasting and promotes humility.
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has
accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never
fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to
the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and
temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their
graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of
Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall
be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Genesis 12:1-3; Exodus 19:5-8; 1 Samuel 8:4-7,19-22;
Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 31:31ff.; Matthew 16:18-19; 21:28-45;
24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48;
John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16;
17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Romans 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15;
11:5-7,26-36; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Ephesians
1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Thessalonians
2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2:10,19; Hebrews 11:39–12:2; James
1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2
