Our Core Beliefs
- The Bible is inerrant, infallible and inspired.
- There is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
- Man is a unique and a direct creation of God as recorded in Genesis.
- Man was created in innocence in God's image but voluntarily sinned and therefore
all men are now sinners by nature and choice, utterly devoid of that righteousness
required by the law and thus under just condemnation to an eternal punishment in
hell.
- Christ died for our sins as a substitutionary sacrifice and all who repent and believe
in Him are declared righteous.
- Salvation is by grace (undeserved) and through faith (not by effort on our part)
in Christ.
- All who are truly born again are eternally secure in God's salvation.
- Christ's return for His Church will be personal and premillenial.
- All men will experience bodily resurrection, the unsaved to everlasting punishment,
the saved to everlasting life.
Six Crucial Truths
* Adapted from John Piper’s book Desiring God (chapter 2)
1. God created us for
his glory
- We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) so that we would image forth his
glory in the world. We exist for the glory of God.
“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who
is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.” Isaiah 43:6-7
2. It is the duty of every person to live for the glory of God
- If God made us for His glory, it is clear that we should live for His glory. Our
duty comes from God's design. What does it mean to glorify God? It means to acknowledge
his glory, to value it above all things, and to make it known.
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31
"So since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power
and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been
made, so that men are without excuse. For though they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him..." Romans 1:20-21
3. Man failed to glorify God by choosing to disobey him
- Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden plunged the entire human race into a state of sinfulness.
No one, who is able to make moral choices, has completely obeyed God. Everyone
has violated at least several of God’s commandments.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to
the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it She
also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Genesis 3:6-7
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” ..... "Nevertheless,
death reigned from the time of Adam…” Romans 5:12, 14a
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
4. The punishment for sin is eternal condemnation
- Having held the glory of God in contempt through ingratitude and distrust and disobedience,
we are sentenced to be excluded from the enjoyment of the glory of God forever and
ever in the eternal misery of hell. Some think everlasting punishment in hell is
too large of a punishment for the crime. That shows they do not understand
the Holiness and Justice of God – God cannot violate His own character by allowing
sin to go unpunished! Hell is…A place of torment
“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23
“They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence
of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9
- Jesus often warned that there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew
8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).
“It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown
into the fire of hell.” Matthew 18:9
- Everlasting
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into
the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Then they will go
away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:41, 46
“And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest
day or night.” Revelation 14:11
5. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners
- Over against the terrifying news that we have fallen under the condemnation of our
Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the worth
of his glory by pouring out eternal wrath on our sin, there is the wonderful news
of the gospel. The good news (gospel) is that God himself has decreed a way to satisfy
the demands of his justice without condemning the whole human race. The wisdom of
God has ordained a way for the love of God to deliver us from the wrath of God without
compromising the justice of God – the death of the Son of God. The death of Jesus
Christ is the wisdom of God by which the love of God saves sinners from the wrath
of God, and all the while upholds and demonstrates the righteousness of God.
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners.” 1 Timothy 1:15
“[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.” Romans 4:25
- If the most terrifying news in the world is that we have fallen under the condemnation
of our Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the
worth of his glory by pouring out his wrath on our sin, then the best news in all
the world (the gospel) is that God has decreed a way of salvation which also upholds
the worth of his glory. He has given his Son to die for sinners and to conquer
their death by his own resurrection.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
“God [sent] his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And
so he condemned sin in sinful man.” Romans 8:3
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring
you to God.” 1 Peter 3:18
6. Turn from your sin and trust the Savior
- Not everyone is saved from God’s wrath just because Christ died for sinners.
There is a condition we must meet in order to be saved. The condition is repentance
of our sins (a turning from them), and trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and
eternal life. Conversion is really two things: repentance (turning from sin and
unbelief) and faith (trusting in Christ alone for salvation). They are really
two sides of the same coin.
“Repent, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.” Acts 3:19
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance
and have faith in our Lord Jesus." Acts 20:21
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