The Church is the physical representation of Christ on earth (Ephesians 1:22-23); through the power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). It is comprised of all the Christians on earth (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22) and gave Himself up for it to make it holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27).  

The Church is God’s plan for saving and restoring the broken world until He returns (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Church is composed of smaller-local bodies (Acts 14:27; Acts 18:22; Acts 20:17; Romans 16:4; Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 4:17; Titus 1:5; etc…) and is to be lead by Godly Christian leaders (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Peter 5:2; etc…).

It is God’s will for every Christian to be a part of a local church community to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25) and to use their individual gifts to build up the Church (1 Corinthians 12).

According to Acts Chapter 2; an ideal- and Biblical- representation of the local church would be actively engaged in discipleship (verse 42), fellowship (verses 42; 44; and 46), ministry (verses 43; and 45), worship (verses 43; 46; and 47); and evangelism (verse 47).

The sacraments of Baptism and Communion are to be practiced in the Church as Scriptural means for testimony of what Christ has done (Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Salvation belongs to God (Revelation 7:10), and is solely a gift of grace for Him to give (Romans 5:15; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8) to sinful man. It is received by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-10); whose holy life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection made it possible for our sins to be forgiven, our punishment to be taken away, and for His righteousness to be imputed to us (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19; see notes on The Person and Work of Jesus).

This faith in Jesus is received by hearing His Word (Romans 10:17). The Holy Spirit draws us into this faith in Jesus by convicting us of our sins, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11); thus revealing our need for Him.

Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

We are not saved by good works, but rather to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

The Bible says in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is an act of faith. It’s simply acknowledging that you are a sinner who needs the forgiveness of God in your life so that you can be restored in Him, and that the only way for that to happen is to ‘fully rest in the fact that what Jesus did for you took care of everything’ and ‘begin to follow Him’.

Once saved; the Holy Spirit baptizes the Christian into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-15), dwells within them from the moment of salvation (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and seals them until the Day of Redemption (John 6:37-40; John 10;27-30; Romans 8:38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; Philippians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:5).

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer-making them more like Jesus- (John 14:26; Romans 8:9), thus regenerating the believer and giving them a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Those who are saved- Christians/ believers- will be known by their love for one another (John 13:35) and by the Spiritual Fruit- or good works- that they produce (Matthew 7:15-23; Ephesians 2:10).

It is a Christian’s desire to please God and abstain from sin (Romans 7:7-25); so they must not take advantage of God’s grace and the freedom it gives to indulge in sinful activity (Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 8:9-13; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 10:26).

Man is created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). After God created man, He said that everything He created was “very good” (Genesis 1:31).

God clearly gave man one simple command upon his creation;” You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

Man disobeyed God’s command, thus sinning against Him (Genesis 3). The consequences of sinning against God were: 1.] Losing direct fellowship with God (1 John 4:18; Psalm 5:3-5; Exodus 33:20; Matthew 27:46). 2.] Death (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27). 3.] Losing fellowship with fellow man and the rest of creation (Genesis 3:7; Genesis 3:12; Genesis 3:16-19; Genesis 3:21; Genesis 9:2-3; Romans 8:22). 4.] And Experiencing eternal life apart from God in Hell (Psalm 55:15; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 13:50; Revelation 20:14).

Because of man’s original sin (Genesis 3); all men have a sinful nature (Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10-18; Romans 8:7-8), sin (Proverbs 20:9; Hosea 6:7; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8) , and suffer the consequences of sin (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 1 Corinthians 15:45-50; and see Scripture  references in paragraph above for ‘the consequences of sinning’ ).

Man is totally depraved (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10-18; Romans 8:7-8) and completely unable to save himself from sin or its consequences (Ephesians 2:1-3; Ephesians 2:12).

The Holy Bible, which is made up of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament, is The Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13) written by men who were prompted to do so by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).

It is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God will be prepared to do good works (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Bible is living, active (John 1:1; Hebrews 4:12), and powerful- able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

It is perfect and restoring to the soul (Psalm 19:7).

The Bible is the primary way to know God (Luke 16:29-31), and is the Way of life (Proverbs 6:23).

The Bible’s words are pure (Psalm 12:6), true (John 17:17), inerrant in their original writings, and infallible, (Proverbs 30:5-6). We are to do what it says (James 1:22).

The Word of God is for everyone (Romans 16:26), and thus should be spread (Acts 13:49). When someone hears it, it does not return void (Isaiah 55:11). It is the Bible that leads believers to Christ (Romans 10:17) and, subsequently, to eternal life (John 5:24).

We are not to add to the Word of God (Proverbs 30:5-6) or take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:2).

As mentioned earlier (in God), there is only one god who exists co-equally and eternally as three persons: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one of those three persons of the Godhead or Trinity.

He is equal and One with God the Father and God the Son as referenced by His power (Micah 3:8; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10), His work in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30), and His omnipresence (Psalm 139:7).  In the New Testament of the Bible the Holy Spirit is clearly called “God” (Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

The Holy Spirit is not merely an impersonal force or just an extension of God, but a unique individual that is equally a part of the Godhead or Trinity, shown by His ability to be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), resisted (Acts 7:51), and insulted (Hebrews 10:29).

Before Jesus’ ascension into heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would be sent to His followers (John 14:15-17; Acts 1:4-8). On the Day of Pentecost this promise was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit did descend upon the Followers of Jesus (Acts 2:1-40)  and continues to be fulfilled today as the Holy Spirit is active in the world.

The Holy Spirit is active today in convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11); thus having an active part in God’s gift of salvation through Jesus(John 6:63; John 3:5-7).

The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-15), dwells within every believer from the moment of salvation (Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and seals the believer until the Day of Redemption (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30).

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer-making them more like Jesus- (John 14:26; Romans 8:9), thus regenerating the believer and giving them a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Holy Spirit comfort us in times of trouble (Acts 9:31), even giving us words to say when we know not what to (Matthew 10:19-20).

The Holy Spirit helps us and empowers us to do God’s work and spread the Good News of Jesus to all men (John 3:34; John 7:38-39; John 15:25-27; Acts 1:8; Acts 9:31). The Holy Spirit gives every believer a Spiritual Gift (or Gifts) to accomplish His work on earth (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 4:11-12).

Jesus is God the Father’s one and only begotten -or unique-Son (John 3:16) and is equal and One with God the Father (John 1:1-3) and with God the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), thus existing forever and possessing all of the attributes of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:14-18; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29; Hebrews 2:8-10), was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20), and born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25) to save mankind from their sins (John 3:16-17).

In order for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for man’s sin (Romans 3:24-26); He sympathized with our weakness’’, was tempted in every way just as we are (Hebrews 4:15), and carried our burdens (Galatians 6:2) all without sinning against God the Father (Hebrews 4:15). He truly lived the life that we could not live (Romans 3:23).

Jesus revealed Himself to man with miracles (John 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26) and revolutionary teaching (Matthew 5). He invited people to be a part of the Kingdom He was establishing on earth (Matthew 4:17; Matthew 12:28) by following Him (Matthew 4:18-20).

Jesus secured our redemption from sin and death by dying an undeserved death (Luke 23:15)- that we deserved to die (Romans 6:23)- on a cross (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19; Romans 5).

Once again; He lived a perfect human life, but when He willingly took on our punishment of death (Hebrews 12:2) on the cross, the Bible says that Jesus literally became sin –our sin- so that He could impart to us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Those sins that we are responsible for, and the laws we are not able to keep were nailed to the cross with Christ (Colossians 2:13-15).

Theologians call this act The Great Exchange; meaning ‘my sin for His righteousness’. In the Bible this is called justification (Romans 3:24; Romans 5:9). Justification is: to be legally acquitted from wrongdoing. Justification is God forgiving us of our sins through Jesus, so when we put our faith in Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross for us (more on that later in Salvation), God would see us as righteous just as Jesus was righteous in His living, because He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins.

Jesus legally took on our punishment so that we would not have to face it ourselves. The particular act of Jesus taking on our punishment is also known as propitiation (Romans 3:25). To propitiate is to conciliate (an offended power); or to appease. This means that the just wrath of God toward our sin and the punishment thereof was poured out, not on us, but on Jesus (Isaiah 53:10).

These acts: Jesus becoming sin; and Him becoming a propitiation for our sins were so horrible that most theologians believe- as do I-  that God the Father actually had to turn His face away from Jesus while He suffered on the cross (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus was buried in a tomb (Matthew 27:60) and resurrected from the dead three days after His death (Matthew 28:1-15). By raising from dead: Jesus proved that he was the promised Messiah (Psalm 16:10; Acts13:33-35), fulfilled promises that He had made (Matthew 12:38-40; John 2:18-22), proved that he was without sin (Acts 2:23-25), and conquered sin and death for eternity (Romans 5; Romans 6:10; Romans 8:2; Hebrews 2-14; James 5:20; 1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus’ death and resurrection assures those who are saved (more on that to come in Salvation) that they will spend eternity with God and will one day be physically resurrected from the dead to live forever(Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:7-9; Mark 12:25-26; Luke 20:36; John 11:24-26; Acts 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, etc…).

After Jesus’ resurrection from the dead He spent forty days on earth; appearing to many people (Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:6), then ascended into heaven to the right hand of God the Father  (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9-10) as our High Priest  (the entire book of Hebrews);who acts as our intercessor, representative, and advocate (Romans 8:34;  and, once again, the entire book of Hebrews).

Jesus will return imminently (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21:10-36; Revelation 22:12 and 20) to the earth to judge the living and the dead (Romans 14:9; 1 Peter 4:5; 1 Timothy 4:1). He will then reign as King forever and ever (1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Revelations 15:3; Revelations 19:16).

God is not completely comprehensible to the human mind (Isaiah 45:15), but He reveals many important things to us about Himself through His creation (Psalm 19:1-3; Romans 1:20), His goodness (James 1:17), and most importantly His Word (Luke 16:29-31).

There is only one god (Deuteronomy 4:35; John 5:44) who exists co-equally and eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

God is superior to humanity in that He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-12), omniscient (Psalm 147:5), omnipotent (Job 42:2), immutable (Hebrews 13:8), eternal (Psalm 93:2), and sovereign (Psalm 103:19).

God gave humanity the ability to share some or strive towards some of His attributes (Genesis 1:26): spirit (Psalm 103:19), holiness (1 Peter 1:16), love (1 John 4:8), goodness (Psalm 84:11), truth (John 14:6), justice and righteousness (Exodus 34:7), mercy (Titus 3:5), and beauty (Psalm 27:4).

God not only posses these attributes, but literally is them. For example 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” It doesn’t say that God only posse’s love or feels love or acts out love, but that He is love. And not only does God have the ability to be perfect, holy, and pure; He actually is perfect, holy, and pure (1 Peter 1:16).

God created everything in existence from nothing for His pleasure and purpose (Colossians 1:15-17; Revelation 4:10-12).

All of the paper in the world could not be used to write down all of the wonders of God.

Tomorrow? The Person and Work of Jesus.

So I have been starting to look for a new job- for far too many reasons to list for the purposes of this site.

Ministry job hunting is very different than “secular” job hunting. If a secular company asked the kind of bizarre questions that churches ask their potential employees, it would be considered discriminatory- that is not an exageration. I totally understand why though, and appreciate the precautious lengths that churches go to to make sure that they place a minister who will best fit in with their community.

Once I was interviewed by one of the largest and most influential churches in the nation. The interview did not go good. I thought I would be asked spiritual questions about my walk with the Lord, my ministry philosophy, or my heart for the lost. Instead I was asked…”Have you ever hired or fired someone?” What?! Of all the questions they could ask, this was one of the first ones they pulled out?? One of the next questions: “What kind of fishing do you like to do?” once again, not the most spiritual of questions.

Today I had a pleasant talk with a nice pastor and his wife. This was my second “interview” with them. One of the first questions I was asked? “Do you like sports?” Where does Jesus fit into this equation? This is nothing against the people or churches that I have interviewed with- just once again I am surprised by the things that matter to a church or a pastor when they are trying to fill an open minstry position.

So what does this have to do with doctrine…I know…I have been ranting and I am sorry. It’s just easy to get frustrated over things like this. Anyways, I am in communication with a church up North and they have asked me a lot of questions- a lot of great questions.

Yesterday they contacted me again and wanted to know what my ‘Statement of Faith’ was. I could easily give them a one sentence Statement for each category of my Christian Faith, but I felt it was important to give a more detailed answer with Scriptural references to each of my points. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I already had a paraphrased personal statemet of faith jotted down, but I wanted this to be an introductory to those who don’t know me to the deep faith that I have in God and His Word.

I know it’s cliche’, but I really do take a two-fisted approach to doctrine: closed-fisted and open-fisted.

Closed-fisted doctrine is that which I am unshakable about. I rest on it for all things involving  belief, hope, faith, decision, and relationship. The Closed-fisted stuff is what the Bible clearly states. It is essential doctrine to being a Follower of Jesus- being a Christian. With me, it is not open to debate or questioned within my life or ministry. I’ll gladly discuss it and listen to other perspectives. But I know that it is those closed fisted things that make me who I am in Christ.

Open-fisted Doctrine is the stuff that we as Christians can agree to disagree on. It’s the stuff that’s not essential for salvation. It’s sometimes the stuff that the Bible is unclear or vague about. Or the stuff that people have a really hard time understanding. These are the things that we usually all have opinions on, but are willing-sometimes to openly debate and discuss. Often, Closed-fisted doctrine is not as much about doctrine as it is about methodology.

I will describe both of these types of doctrine as we go through this blog series. I will start with the Closed-fisted doctorine and then work my way into the Open-fisted stuff.