Doctrinal Statement
My doctrinal beliefs are in line with orthodox Christianity. The basics are as follows:
I. God
There is only one true God revealed in three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is a person, not an amorphous force, who is infinite in all His attributes, which are all infinite in their perfection. He created all and rules over all. He has eternally existed and will have no end. God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to be incarnated as man, born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life, was crucified, buried, and bodily resurrected. He has ascended to the right hand of God the Father and is Lord over all. One day He will return to judge the living and the dead, and restore all things. The Holy Spirit has been given as a seal, a promise to the church that God will redeem His elect. He glorifies Jesus, reveals the will of God to the church, empowers them to do it, and guides them. He convicts the lost of their sin and need to confess Jesus as Lord.
The Holy Bible records God's inerrant revelation of Himself to man. God gave it to reveal who He is, His purposes, His ways, and how man can be reconciled to Him. It sets the plumb line for evaluating truth. Its canon is complete and closed.
God originally created man sinless and gave him dominion over the earth, but the first man, Adam, corrupted the created order by sinning. Since then every man has been a sinner by nature and by choice. God as a holy just judge, must punish man by eternal separation in a literal eternal hell. However, God provided a way for the sin debt of man to be paid through the substitutionary sacrifice of the sinless life of Jesus Christ. Now, man can be justified and reconciled with God - not by good works - but by faith in Jesus Christ.
The church is the body and bride of Jesus Christ charged with the assignment to minister to one another and fulfill God's purposes in the world. The church is spoken of in two ways in the Bible. First, it refers to a local congregation of baptized believers, serving as an interdependent body of Christ to do His will in their local context and beyond wherever the Lord may lead. Second, it refers to the collective whole of all baptized believers who have confessed Jesus as Lord. She longs for His return, which He will do one day and receive her to Himself.
Jesus commanded all believers to make disciples of all nations. It is the duty and privilege of all believers to participate in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit has gifted them.
VI. Last Things
Jesus will return visibly to earth in His own time and own way. When He does He will receive a kingdom that has no end. He will judge the living and the dead. Those who have believed on Him will reign with Him forever; those who have rejected Him will suffer everlasting punishment in Hell. God will make all things new and restore all that was lost in Adam.