I think it is important for you to know what I believe.  As you read through my little sermons or rants on certain things it is the beliefs listed here that are the basis for everything that I write.

Doctrine is important.  Many say that doctrine is divisive, and they’re correct, it is.  Jesus knew that His teaching would not be accepted by everyone, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,  and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.  If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-38).

We must be willing to teach, preach, reason and argue with those who disagree with the doctrines of the Bible.  Man was created with the ability to reason and choose.  Everyone has doctrines they believe and practice (whether they know it or not).  As a Christian, it is vital that our doctrines come solely from the Bible.

• The God of the Bible (Genesis – Revelation) is a God who reveals Himself to His creation (us).  God created man with both mental and spiritual faculties; indicating that He intended man to know Him.  As a result of the fall of man these mental and spiritual faculties have been dulled and we cannot of ourselves discover God.  So, God, in grace and love, took the initiative by giving a progressive revelation of Himself that consummated in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can only personally know God through Christ.

 

• The Holy Scriptures are a revelation of God, that came from God, and flowed through and to man.  They are the only inspired and infallible divine revelation ever given to man and are the supreme authority in all matters of faith and morals.  The Scriptures were plenary-verbally inspired (I know, big words).  The Holy Spirit breathed upon the human vessels the very thoughts and words He wanted written.  These words flowed through the human vessels and their emotions, personalities and frames of reference were involved but were not violated.  The Holy Spirit guarded and preserved each thought, phrase and word from error, omission or inaccuracy.  the B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me.  I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.

 

• The Scriptures give us the revelation of the eternal Godhead.  God has revealed Himself as one God, who exists in three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  They are distinguishable but indivisible in essence.  They are co-eternal, co-existent and co-equal in nature, attributes, power and glory.  There is only one eternal Godhead.  He is one undivided and indivisible essence and in this one essence there are three eternal distinctions, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

 

• The Holy Spirit is the third divine person of the eternal Godhead.  he is co-equal, co-eternal and co-existent with the Father and the Son.  it is His ministry to convict and convert man as well as to reveal the Son and the Father to the believer.  Since the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is working through all who believe on the Father through the Son.  Our present era is known as the age of the Holy Spirit.

 

• There are angels.  The Bible teaches their existence as mighty spirit beings who were created by God.  Their chief duties are to worship and serve God.  They are not a race that reproduces, but they are a company created to minister to the heirs of salvation.  There are two classes of angels, elect and fallen, and man is forbidden to worship either.

 

• There is a devil.  The Bible teaches the existence of Satan.  He is the originator of sin and the king over a host of fallen angels and spirits who carry out his work.  Jesus Christ conquered Satan and the kingdom of darkness at Calvary and has commissioned His church to deliver men from it and bring them into the kingdom of light.  Satan and his forces will be ultimately judged when they are cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

 

• Man was created by God.  The Bible very clearly teaches that the original man was the direct result of a creative act of God.  Man is the masterpiece of God’s creation.  Man was created in the image and likeness of God as a tripartite being.  Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body.  Man was created to share in God’s dominion over creation, to be fruitful and to reproduce himself.  God created man to have a relationship with Him.  As a result of sin, God’s purpose in man was frustrated, but this purpose is now accomplished through redemption.

 

• Sin is real.  Human history and man’s conscience testify to the reality of sin.  The Bible shows that sin entered the universe through Satan and then entered the human race with the fall of Adam and Eve.  The Bible reveals the essence of sin to be selfishness and its tragic result to be death.  God’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ makes an end of sin for eternity.

 

• The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God.  He has always existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Through His incarnation (Virgin Birth) he took upon Himself the form of man and became the God-Man.  In the one person of Christ, there are two nature, human and divine; each nature is in its completeness and integrity.  They are distinguishable but indivisible.  The Lord Jesus Christ is full man and fully God.  It is the sinless union of the divine and human natures that qualifies Christ to be the only sacrificial mediator between God and man.

 

• Atonement (Salvation).  Atonement comprises the redemptive work of Christ.  It involves His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, exaltation, glorification, intercessory ministry and second coming.  The plan of the atonement originated in the counsels of God before the creation and fall of man.  This plan is being accomplished in time (and will continue through eternity) through the work of Christ and the benefits of it are realized by man on God’s terms.  God’s plan of atonement is a revelation of His redeeming grace.

 

• Heaven & hell.  The Bible teaches that man is on probation during his time on earth.  If we respond to God’s grace and obey Him we will be eternally rewarded in heaven, God’s dwelling place.  Those who wilfully resist the grace of God (Jesus), do their own will and serve Satan (or other gods) will be eternally punished in hell.  Eternal destinies are settled here in time.

These are the major doctrines of the Bible.  These are the foundation of my faith.  I had a lot of help from “Foundations of Christian Doctrine” by Dr. Kevin J. Connor.  This book is amazing and will take you through each of these doctrines.  I highly recommend you get a copy.