And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20).
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:1-2).
Statement of Faith
- I hold to the Holy Scriptures, God’s inspired and inerrant Word, contained in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, as recorded in the original languages (The Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek), as our supreme and final authority for life and godliness.
. - I believe that there is one true, living, sovereign, and holy God, who is eternal, immortal, and immutable in all His attributes. He is infinitely existing as one God (one essence) in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit, these three being co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes. The Triune God in six literal 24-hour days created the world and all things out of nothing, including mankind, for His own glory.
. - I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is true God and was true man, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. He arose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Father, and as Lord, He is now interceding for His church and ruling all things on her behalf.
. - I believe a person is saved, or justified, by an act of God’s free grace and not on any merit of his own. The Grace of Faith, whereby the elect is irresistibly enabled to believe to the saving of their soul, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their heart, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word.
. - God pardons the sins of the elect of God and accepts them as righteous in His sight, only by the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (through Christ’s substitutionary atoning death and bodily resurrection) and received Sola Fide, by faith alone. True faith, that not of ourselves, is always accompanied by repentance and a determination to follow Jesus in a life of obedience and good works.
. - Those who are justified will live eternally in the presence of God and all the redeemed, and those who are not justified will suffer eternal damnation in hell.
. - There are two ordinances instituted by Christ for the church in the present age: water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These signs of the Covenant of Grace are not a means of justification, but are a means of the sanctification God desires for his people and are properly administered according to Scripture to every member of the visible church.
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These seven points are taken from the Statement of Faith of Christ the King Church, where I am a member. I wholeheartedly affirm each of these points completely and hope to add more detailed thoughts both on this page and in future blog posts in order to better present this Christian worldview and perspective as I grow to understand it by God’s grace and for His glory.
This is an ongoing mission, as it should be. Your patience is much appreciated and your questions are encouraged. I will strive to answer all notes posted here as quickly as my (increasingly wacky) schedule will allow.
Soli Deo Gloria,
SAB
God has predestined us for voluntary service to Him through His chosen Way Jesus Christ. We should not rely or argue on our own understanding that we always put our own individual limits too . Without God's breath of life none of us would exist and our opinions also would have ended. We depend on the supernatural power of God's Spirit to supply us, His people with the correct information through His inspired Word recorded in the Bible Scripture for all of us to observe. No scripture is self interpreted. Each person has been called to carry on the work of delivering the true gospel of Jesus Christ and it is essential to maintain ours and everyone else's existence through preaching it. I am not perfect and don't make believe I am, I depend on Jesus and trust in His Holy Spirit to get me through my mistakes. Listen my friends Satan would have it no other way then to have one of us fall and fail in our mission to glorify our God. I'm just John called out for service adding his loving advice remain doing and practicing the best you can by the gifts God has given you and march on towards our goal to follow Jesus until He decides to end our mission and bring us home.We are not a divided house we are one in Christ Jesus, we are being transformed into being liked by God, following in His way is our on going battle with the world. We live by grace alone not by works, so no one has the right to boast on how special they are.Encourage one another, Jesus said remain faithful ! We remain spiritually healthy, supplied by the proper nutrients provided in God's Word.Give God the glory He gave me the right to live.
"True faith, that not of ourselves, is always accompanied by repentance and a determination to follow Jesus in a life of obedience and good works."
could you elaborate on this particular point of salvation, as I have the sinking feeling you are promoting a Lordship Salvation Gospel, a James 2 misconstruction?
Also, do you subscribe to once saved always saved?
Im still trying to find something that is actually Christian here. I can tell you mean well. You can only play the humility card for so long. Where is the meat? The whole trinity thing, ya gotta ditch it, it obviously has limited your concept of pretty much everything you stated. Im going to leave you with this, ALMIGHTY GOD IS NOT A SADIST. HE DOESNT HAVE AN ETERNAL TORTURE CHAMBER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN CALLED YET. THE BURNING IN HELL THING IS A CONCEPT USED TO SCARE PEOPLE INTO GIVING MONEY TO THE FALSE PULPITS. Almighty God the Father will not lose one person or lose one of His spiritual sons that rebelled with satan. The Father is perfect. A perfect God will NOT have a room for individuals burning eternally. Thats not love. Like I said, you need to ditch the whole trinity BS. Learn who the Father is and who His son is. They are not the same. Jesus is not God. Jesus is a son of God and was created by the Father just like us. To the law and testimony, if they dont speak according to it, there is no truth in them. Isaiah 8:20
“We can hold a correct view of truth only by daring to believe everything God has said about Himself. It is a grave responsibility that a man takes upon himself when he seeks to edit out of God’s self-revelation such features as he in his ignorance deems objectionable.”
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.
The Dynamic of Christian Maturity
Humility and Diligence in Biblical Discourse
Alan Allison
All Christians are at different levels of understanding and maturity. Admittedly we each came to Christ knowing little of His word. A perennial dynamic in the church is that there will be new believers continually added to our number. At the latter end of each of our journeys, some having done much study of God’s word, we pass on to our final reward. Yet, has there been a bible student that has completely attained an exhaustive understanding of His infinite word before passing on?
Each generation, in light of the scriptures, must test and examine what they have been taught by the generations that went before them. This is how many saints such as Athanasius, Augustine and Luther have improved the universal church’s understanding of scripture.
Who of us that have studied God’s word for many years have not discovered some error in our understanding that we held to be true for years? I trust that you will agree with me that it is this understanding of our own potential ignorance that must be admitted in order to have the humility to listen to one another. When a Christian is no longer willing to be questioned or taught because he thinks that he knows all there is to know about a certain teaching, even though he has not given due diligence to studying an opposing position, he is not being humble. This lack of humility regarding God’s word may also be an indication that such a person has little regard for what God’s word says, yet those whom God esteems are they that are humble and contrite in spirit and tremble at His word (Is 66:2). Who would argue that one can speak the truth in love and yet not listen in love to the concerns of his brothers to whom they speak?