Statement of Faith

bible and lampOur statement follows the pattern of an intro. class on systematic theology I taught to our children.

  1. Doctrine of the Bible (Bibliology): We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, inerrant in its original autographs, adequately preserved for our day and the final authority on all matters on which it speaks.
  2. Doctrine of God (Theology Proper): We believe God is eternal, transcendent, immanent, and triune (three persons, yet one)
  3. Doctrine of Christ (Christology): Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. While His death, burial and resurrection is central to the gospel, His return is the glorious hope of all believers.
  4. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology): The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of God, as He brings spiritual birth, spiritual gifts and indwelling power to believers.
  5. Doctrine of Angels (Angelology): All created spirit beings other than man are fixed either in a state of rebellion against God (but completely subject to His sovereignty) or agents of God’s will and plans. None are to be worshipped or sought out.
  6. Doctrine of Man (Christian Anthropology): Man was created in the image of God. We are both physical and spiritual in nature, distinct from animals in that we have an eternal soul, and distinctly created as male and female. Everyone will live forever, either in heaven or hell.
  7. Doctrine of Sin (Hamartology): Sin is any deviation from God’s intended perfect will. We all have sinned by our nature and in our personal rebellion against God.
  8. Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology): For the believer, salvation operates in three tenses —
    (1) Justification - I was saved from the penalty of sin.
    (2) Sanctification - I am being saved from the power of sin.
    (3) Glorification - I will be saved from the presence of sin.
  9. Doctrine of the Church (Ecclesiology): The Church Triumphant (believers who have died physically) and the Church Militant (all living believers) make up the Church Universal. Jesus Christ is the head of His church and all local churches are to follow Him faithfully under the local leadership of mature believers in their midst.
  10. Doctrine of Future Things (Eschatology): Jesus will return to reign for all eternity, and God’s judgment will confirm the eternal destinies of all individuals. Heaven and earth will be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth.
  11. Doctrine of the Christian Life (Peripatology - a proposed new area of systematic theology): Believers are to walk by faith, filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, trusting Christ to live His life in and through us by faith.