The Bible is the inspired and only infallible Word of God.
There is one God, eternally existent in Three Persons; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Blessed Hope, Which is the rapture of the Church of God, which is in Christ at His return. The only means of being cleansed from sin is through repentance and faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for personal salvation. The redemptive work of Christ on the cross provided healing for the human body in answer to believing prayer. The baptism in the Holy Ghost, according to Acts 2:4 is given to believers who ask for it. The sactifying power of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a Holy and a separate life in this present world. AMEN
Included in my statement of faith would be the approximately 400 NT commands of the NT all to be kept with love just as Jesus loved us with the hope of countless eternal rewards for faithful and loving obeying of all the NT commands.
JESUS COMMANDS, �LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!�
Jesus commanded his disciples many times to obey the OT command �To **LOVE** your neighbor as yourself� and on the day before his atonement Jesus added a NEW command �To **LOVE** one another as I have **LOVED** you� and this was just one day before he laid down His life for His friends.
John 13:34: Jesus says, �A **NEW** command I give you: **LOVE** one another as I have **LOVED** you so you MUST **LOVE** one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples!!�:angel:
John 15:9-14: �As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Now remain in My **LOVE**. **IF** you obey My commands, you:rolleyes: will remain in My **LOVE**,,, My command is this:**LOVE** each other **AS I HAVE LOVED YOU**!!. Greater **LOVE** has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends **IF** you do what I command!�
Ephesians 3:16-19: �I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in **LOVE**, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the **LOVE** of Christ, and to know this **LOVE** that surpasses knowledge�that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!!�:applause:
I Peter 1:22,23: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth so that you have sincere **LOVE** for your brothers, **LOVE** one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again through the living and enduring Word of God.�
God's Word further explains what this new **LOVE** is like in I Corinthians 13:2,4-8: If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not **LOVE** I am nothing...**LOVE** is patient, **LOVE** is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. **LOVE** does not delight in evil but rejoices with the Truth. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. **LOVE** never fails!!"
John 14:23: Jesus says, �If anyone **LOVES** Me, he will obey My teaching, My Father will **LOVE** him, and We will make Our home with him.� He who does not **LOVE** Me will not obey My teaching.�
I John 2:3-5: �We know that we have come to know Him {Jesus} **IF** we obey His commands. The man who says, �I know Him,� but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the Truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's **LOVE** is truly made complete in him!!�
Matthew 28:19.20� Jesus commands, �Go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to *OBEY EVERYTHING* I have commanded you!�:applause:
EVERYTHING would also include all the other commands in God's inspired Word from Acts to Revelation as per 2 Timothy 3:16: 4:2: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work...Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.�:applause:
Ephesians 4:15,16: �Speaking the Truth **IN LOVE**, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ! From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up ***IN LOVE***, as each part does its work!�:angel:
If we really **LOVE** our brothers and sisters in Christ we will lovingly teach them to obey all the approximately 400 commands of the NT with **LOVE** in the hope of countless eternal rewards when Jesus comes with great power with all His angels.
Revelation 22:12: Jesus says,"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone:rolleyes: according to what he has done!?�
Matthew 16:27: Jesus says, For the Son of Man is going to come in His **FATHER'S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS**{See Matt 24:30,31; 25:31-40 & 2 Thess 1:6-10}, and **THEN** He will reward each person:rolleyes: according to what he has done."
Daniel 12:3: "Those who impart wisdom will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever!":angel:
Jesus says in Rev 2:17; 3:4, 5, 21: �To him who overcomes...I will give a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it:rolleyes:.....He will walk with Me for he is worthy:rolleyes:... I will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels.... I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem.....I will write on him my New Name... and I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.�
AMEN! Angel:glow.. I believe as well, that there is but one God the Father, one God the Son, and one God the Holy Spirit three in one, all of the same but holding different offices One LORD WHO IS LORD OF ALL, ONE faith and one baptism into to Chirst Jesus unto salvation. PRAISE THE LORD!:glow::applause:
Every Statement of Faith should include all the commands of Jesus:
**THE NEW COVENANT WORDS OF JESUS IN THE 4 GOSPELS**
John 14:23,24: Jesus says, �If anyone loves Me, he will *OBEY MY TEACHING. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him! He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.�
Deuteronomy 18:17-19: The Lord said to Moses, �I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My Words in His mouth, and He will tell them *EVERYTHING I command Him. If anyone does not listen to My Words that the Prophet speaks in My Name, I Myself will call him to account!�
Matthew 4:4: Jesus says, �Man does not live on bread alone, but on *EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God!�
John 14:25,26: Jesus says, �The Holy Spirit..will remind you of *EVERYTHING I have said to you!!�
John 8:31: Jesus says, �If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.�
Matthew 28:18-20: Jesus says, �All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to *OBEY EVERYTHING I commanded you!�
Matthew 10:26: Jesus says, �What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, **PROCLAIM FROM THE HOUSETOPS**!!�
I John 2:3-5: �We know that we have come to know Him {Jesus} if we obey His commands. The man who says, I know Him,� but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the Truth is not in him. But if anyone OBEYS HIS WORD, God's love is truly made complete in Him. This is how we know we are in Him!�
Colossians 3:16: �Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom!�
Matthew 7:24,26: Jesus says, �Everyone who hears these words of mine and **PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE** is like a wise man who built his house on the Rock...But everyone who hears these Words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand...and it fell with a great crash!�
Luke 8:21: Jesus says, �My mother and brothers are those who hear God's Word and **PUT IT INTO PRACTICE**!�
Luke 11:27,28: a woman said to Jesus, �Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed You.� Jesus replied, �Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and *OBEY IT*!�
John 8:51: Jesus says, �I tell you the Truth, if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death!�
John 17:6,17: Jesus says, �I have revealed you to those you gave Me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to Me and they have *OBEYED YOUR WORD!...Sanctify them by the Truth, your Word is Truth!�
Matthew 24:35: Jesus says, �Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will *NEVER pass away!�
John 6:63: Jesus says, �The Words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are Life!�
James 1:22,25: �Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. *DO WHAT IT SAYS....The man who looks intently into the perfect Word that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, **BUT DOING IT**�he will blessed in what he does!�
Mark 8:38: Jesus says, �If anyone is ashamed of Me and My Words...the Son of man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with all His angels.
John 12:48: Jesus says, There is a Judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept My Words; that very Word which I spoke will condemn him at the Last Day!�
Matthew 13:18-23: Jesus says, Listen to what the parable of the sower means: {Luke 8:11 adds �The seed is the *WORD OF GOD*�} When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the Word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the Word and *UNDERSTANDS IT {Mk 4:20 adds �Accepts it� & Luke 8:15 adds �Retains it�} He produces a crop, yielding a hundred {100}, sixty {60} or thrity {30} times what was sown.�
I believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God for faith and life. Every word is "God-breathed", inerrant, infallible and eternally preserved.
I believe there is one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three Divine Persons in the Godhead are distinct and yet equal in all respects, being of one essence.
I believe that God is the sovereign Creator and Ruler of the universe, sustaining and preserving all creation by His eternal counsel and Providence and directing all things to His everlasting glory.
I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. He was born of the virgin Mary, suffered all the time he lived on earth, was crucified dead and buried. He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is reigning at the right hand of God the father. He will come again to receive His church and to judge the world.
I believe that by the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all mankind fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, making them enslaved to sin and to Satan. Being thus totally depraved in all parts of body and soul, mankind is in a state of sin and condemned by the just judgement of God.
I believe that mankind in a state of sin is saved from eternal condemnation by the grace of God alone, through repentance and faith alone in Jesus Christ who has satisfied the justice of God in the place of sinful men.
I believe that those truly converted to God by the Holy Spirit will be led by that same Spirit to a life of practical godliness, not according to the traditions of men but according to the Word of God as well as to prayer wherein adoration is given to God, sins are confessed, thanksgiving is tendered for His blessings and petitions made for His grace and favour.
I believe that the church is the body Christ and comprised of believers and their children, who by true faith are partakers of salvation through Jesus Christ. This church is distinguished by three marks: the pure preaching of the Word, the proper observance of the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper) and Christian discipline, and is ruled through the offices of Pastor, Elder and Deacon.
I believe that though physical death is God's judgement upon man's sin, the "sting of death" has been removed by salvation; upon death the Christian's soul (spirit) goes immediately to heaven to live in conscious communion with Christ. Those who die in their sins unsaved will also live and suffer in hell, in alienation from God. At the last day, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the bodies of both the saved and the unsaved will be reunited with their souls. All mankind will then be judged, and body and soul will enter their final state of eternal heavenly bliss or eternal punishment.
