God

There is one and only one living and true God. God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. God as triune is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is the foundation of Christian faith and life.

God, the Father

God is the father over the entire universe. He created all things (Genesis 1:1) and holds all things together (Acts 1:7) by His power and grace (1 Corinthians 8:6). God, the Father, is all powerful, all knowing, all loving and all wise. God is the father of those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:11).
It is in the Father’s wisdom and love that God sends His Son, Jesus, into this world. God, the Father, calls all people to be His children (Galatians 4:6). God, the Father, is eternal and is spirit; He cannot die and all things will glorify God (1 Timothy 1:17). He is perfect and is judge over all people (1 Peter 1:17).

God, the Son (Jesus, Christ)

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God incarnated in human form (Hebrews 13:8); and therefore, Jesus is the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15). Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:34-35). Jesus Christ is the gospel. The good news is revealed in His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension.
Jesus is the heir of all things created (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus walked as a man and has been tempted but is without sin and thereby perfect (Hebrews 4:14-15). He is the high priest who is the sacrifice for all sin, once and for all, to all those who believe (Hebrews 9:24-28). Jesus is the reason people can draw near to God, because He makes intercession, as our mediator, and offers himself as the reconciliatory sacrifice for sinners (John 14:6; Hebrews 7:25). Jesus is the only mediator between God and people.
Jesus was crucified on a cross at Golgotha by Pilate (John 19:17-18; Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:24-27). There Jesus died to fulfill the law (John 19:28). He was buried in a rich man’s tomb by Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38) and his tomb closed (Matthew 27:66). On the third day, Jesus was raised from the dead (Mark 16:6; Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:6-7).
Jesus will return to judge with power and glory and complete His redemption as King over all believers (Revelation 1:13-16; 12:10-11; 19:16).

God, the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and consequently fully divine. The Holy Spirit inspired people to write the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:21). He allows people to understand truth and also leads people to faith in Christ for the purposes of salvation (1 John 5:6-12). The Holy Spirit is responsible for cultivating our godliness (1 Corinthians 14:2).
He gives people spiritual gifts to glorify God through church by evangelism and service, as well as worship (1 Corinthians 12:4-13). The Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each believer with power to witness and imparts His supernatural gifts for the edification of the body and the work of ministry in the world. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the church of the first century are available today and are to be earnestly desired and practiced in an edifying manner.
The Holy Spirit also acts to convict people of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:7-8). He also acts to comfort believers (Psalm 51:11-12). Lastly, the Holy Spirit seals each believer until the Judgment Day (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Scriptures

The Bible is God’s Word to all people. The Bible is an anthology of 39 books that make up what we call the “Old Testament”; and 27 books that make up the “New Testament.”The books in the Bible are inspired by God through the illumination of the Holy Spirit to its authors (2 Peter 1:20-21); it is truth without any error for the purposes of salvation and sanctification. The Bible is totally sufficient and must not be added to, superseded or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation or worldly wisdom.
The Bible is God’s infallible and essential self-disclosure to all humans and is free from any errors in all it teaches (2 Timothy 3:16-17). All books in the Bible are the written Word of God. Because there is no hint of falsehood or error in God, neither does the Bible contain such errors (Numbers 23:19).
The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice and doctrine. As a result, the Bible leads people to faith in Jesus Christ (John 5:39; Luke 24:26-27).

Humans

Humans are created as male and female in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Through temptation and eventual choice to sin, humanity has become deprived of the innocence which they once possessed through the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3).
Intrinsically, because of the first sin, all humans are born inclined toward sin (Romans 5). People, without regeneration are totally depraved: they are subject to the curse of death, pain and futility. Likewise, it is human beings inclination to sin that make people unable and/or unwilling to respond positively toward God (Romans 1:21-22).That is why people can no longer enjoy fellowship with God or the rest of creation: people experienced division from the Creator, spouse, oneself, and other people. This curse spread through people by nature and not merely through an environmental influence (Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:3; 4:18-19).
People are at enmity with God, hostile toward God and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ alone. In this sense, we are all stillborns, that is already dead; utterly devoid of any spiritual good (Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13).

Free Will

Because are speaking about the nature of human beings, one must question whether people have free choice or free will and what difference that makes to an individual in the long run. To answer that, I wish to simply say that true freedom consists of the ability to act without the hindrances of sin, whereas freedom of choice consists in the ability to do as you wish. As such, human beings forfeited true freedom with Adam’s decision to sin but kept the freedom of choice. People who are not regenerated are free to do what they want, but usually what they want is to sin, therefore having no freewill. Alternatively, people who are regenerated have more measure of free will in that they may choose to overcome the desire to sin and be inclined to God and His promises.

Salvation

Because all humanity is born guilty and fall short of the glory of God, the only way people can be accepted into the inheritance of God and communion with God is by the grace of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:18-21). Salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Once a person is given salvation by the will of God, that person cannot lose it (Romans 8:28-30). The individual must believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that they accept God’s free gift of salvation. This is different than a person pretending to be saved and therefore lacking salvation (Matthew 7:21-23). The righteousness of Christ is imputed to those who choose to believe and is thereby justified and fully accepted by God.

God’s Grace

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17). God loves and shows His love by His grace. It is by God’s grace that He chose to save us and it is through His agency by which we grieve in his Spirit for our continual sanctification and faith (John 3:1-21).

Repentance

Repentance is not only a confession of one’s sin; it is also the radical turning of one’s life, an one-hundred and eighty degree turn from one’s former life toward life in God because of sorrow of that sin (Psalm 38:18, 1 John 3:2-3; James 5:16). People cannot turn from their own ways on their own. Behavioral modification is not repentance. When we willingly submit to humiliation and a kind of death, God helps us change (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Regeneration

Regeneration is the rebirth of an individual. As part of receiving salvation, sinful people must be “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8). To be “born of the Spirit” an individual must be called by God toward it (John 6:65). God “regenerates” or makes “new creations” of people who repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Justification

In being called by God, which is grace, a person must respond toward God in repentance to Jesus, the Christ (Romans 10:6-13). The response toward God must be a confession that “Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God was raised from the dead.” Justification brings sinful people into peace and favor with God through the act of penal substitutionary atonement carried out by the death of Jesus Christ and His being raised from the dead (Romans 3:23-26).

Sanctification

Sanctification is the process by which an individual, beginning with regeneration, is enabled to grow spiritually by the work of the Holy Spirit. Simply, it is how people who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ are made holy for the glory of God.

Glorification

Glorification is the end state of believers after death and judgment (John 11:24; Revelation 21:14). Believers will be resurrected by God into a state of perpetual blessedness and redemption.

Church

The Church is the Body of Christ which includes all of those saved by God’s grace and mercy from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation across all time. The church is a gathering of believers in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2). The church is not a place, but a group of people meeting together and acting as the “Body of Christ” (Ephesians 5:29-30). God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the Church, calling sinful people out of the human race into the fellowship of Christ’s body.
The Church is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve Him by faithfully doing His will on earth. God’s people receive pastoral care and leadership and the opportunity to employ their God-given gifts in His service in relation to one another and to the world.

Baptism

Baptism is a symbolic act where a believer, in according to his or her faith dies to sin and the old life in the act of immersing one’s self in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and is resurrected to be in a new life with Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:12-14). Baptism is an act a person takes after believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as an outward proclamation of faith. We do this in obedience to Christ’s command to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15-16).

Lord’s Supper

Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act where baptized believers of Jesus Christ memorialize the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and anticipate his second coming (Matthew 26:26-28). The breaking of Christ’s body and the shedding of His blood on our behalf is represented and is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian life as a sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). As believers, we partake of the Lord’s Supper with an attitude of faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of Christ, receive spiritual nourishment for our souls, and signify our unity with other members of the church.

Great Commission

All Christians have the explicit duty for making disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:16-20). Missional living and missionary activities are commanded to seek the lost and to witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everybody. When God transforms human nature; this becomes the chief means of society’s transformation.

Church and Society

Christ followers should organize themselves to further the Kingdom of God here on earth (Nehemiah 4:10-23). The church needs to be a vehicle of providing for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick (James 1:27). Every believer should leverage his or her influence to bring industry, government, and society as a whole to the purposes of God. Christ followers should always be careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their faith in Christ (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 7:20-24; 10:31-33).

Eschatology

Jesus Christ will return to earth for a second time and believers must be prepared for that second coming (1 John 2:28). It is at that time the dead will be raised and Christ will be judge. He will personally judge who is righteous and who is not. The righteous will be with God, and Jesus Christ, as Lord for all eternity and the unrighteous will be relegated to hell for an eternity of punishment (Revelation 20-22).