There is only one God. He is the Creator of heaven, earth, and all living beings. Genesis 1:1 says in the beginning (time) God created the Heavens (space) and the Earth (matter) - God created time space and matter in the opening line of the Bible, each of which is 3 dimensional. He is outside of His creation, so vast, so huge, the heavens can not contain him. He has revealed Himself to humanity as the Father (Creator), in the Son (Savior), and as the Holy Spirit who indwells believers. He reveals himself through his word, through his creation and through relationships with others but especially through Jesus who came down and took on flesh and died in our place to restore relationship with us.
GENESIS 1:1, 1:26, 1:27, 3:22; PSALM 90:2; MATTHEW 28:19; 1 PETER 1:2; II CORINTHIANS 13:14; DEUTERONOMY 6:4, PSALM 19:1, HEBREWS 9:4, ROMANS 1:20
Jesus is God manifested in the flesh. He was born of a virgin. Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross. He rose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven's glory, both fully God and fully human, where he is seated at the right hand of God and will again return to earth to reign as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
MATTHEW 1:22-23; ISAIAH 9:6; JOHN 1:1-5; 14:10-30, HEBREWS 4:14,15;
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-4; ROMANS 1:3,4; ACTS 1:9-11; 1 TIMOTHY 6:14,15; TITUS 2:13
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. Although he is often referred to as oil, water, fire and wind, he is a person and not to be mistaken for a power or a force as some do. The Holy Spirit gives new life to all believers and resides in them permanently. He makes them holy, and enables them to grow into the likeness of Christ. Through his Spirit, God empowers all his people for life and witness, granting them various gifts for the well-being, functioning and mission of the church. He manifests through a variety of spiritual gifts to build and sanctify the church, demonstrate the validity of the resurrection, and confirm the power of the Good News. The Bible lists of these gifts are not necessarily exhaustive, and the gifts may occur in various combinations. All believers are commanded to earnestly desire the manifestation of the gifts in their lives. These gifts always operate in harmony with the Scriptures and should never be used in violation of Biblical parameters.
HEBREWS 2:4; ROMANS 1:11, 12 :4-8; EPHESIANS 4:16; 1 TIMOTHY 4:14; 2 TIMOTHY 1:6-7; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-31, 14:1-40; 1 PETER 4:10
The Bible is God's Word to us. It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the divine source of truth. Because it is inspired by God; it is truth without any mixture of error. Written by around 40 authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit over 1500 years, the Bible has at least three hundred prophecies that Jesus fulfilled at his first coming 2000 years ago but there are over 1800 prophecies concerning his second coming.
II TIMOTHY 3:16; 2 PETER 1:20-21; II TIMOTHY 1:13; PSALM 119:105, 160, 12:6; PROVERBS 30:5
Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body three days after His death on the cross. In addition, both the saved and the lost will be resurrected; they that are saved to the resurrection of life and they that are lost to the resurrection of eternal damnation
LUKE 24:16, 36, 39; JOHN 2:19-21, 20:26-28, 21:4; ACTS 24:15; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:42, 44; PHILIPPIANS 1:21-23, 3:21
Healing of the sick is illustrated in the life and ministry of Jesus, and included in the commission of Jesus to His disciples. It is given as a sign, which is to follow believers. It is also a part of Jesus' work on the Cross and one of the gifts of the Spirit. God is sovereign and will always answer prayers with a yes, no or not yet.
PSALM 103:2-3; ISAIAH 53:5; MATTHEW 8:16-17; MARK 16:17-18; ACTS 8:6-7; JAMES 5:14-16; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:9, 28; ROMANS 11:29
The church is the Body of Christ, a local community of born again believers, unified through faith in Christ Jesus. It is committed to the teachings of Christ and obeying all of His commands. The church also seeks to bring the Good News to the world. Every person is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. The church works together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ. The church is not a building, it is people. People meet in buildings that are sanctified or set apart for worship, for people and ultimately for the glory of God.
MATTHEW 16:18-19; 18:15-20; JOHN 3: 1-21; JOHN 17:11, 20-23; ACTS 2:41-47; 5:11-14; 13:1-3; 14:23; 16:5; 20:28; I CORINTHIANS 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; EPHESIANS 1:22, 2:19-22; 3:10-12; 5:22-32; HEBREWS 12:23
People are made in the image of God and to be like Him in character. People are the supreme object of God's creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us have been marred by sin. This sin has separated us from God and caused many problems in our lives. We were saved, we’re being saved and we will be saved. It’s a constant process to become more like Jesus and Jesus, when teaching us how to pray taught us that we are to let his kingdom come and his will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. He teaches us to forgive as we are forgiven, he teaches us to ask God for things like “deliver us from temptation and from the evil one” - all of this indicates an active, alive relationship with God and to continually keep overcoming.
GENESIS 1:27; PSALM 8:3-6; ISAIAH 53:6; ROMANS 3:23; ISAIAH 59:1-2
How can I be saved? Why do I need to be saved?
We are all infected with sin (Romans 3:23). We are born with sin (Psalm 51:5), and we all personally choose to sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8). Sin is what makes us unsaved. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin is what has us on the path to eternal destruction.
How can I be saved? Saved from what?
Because of our sin, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23). While the physical consequence of sin is physical death, that is not the only kind of death that results from sin. All sin is ultimately committed against an eternal and infinite God (Psalm 51:4). Because of that, the just penalty for our sin is also eternal and infinite. What we need to be saved from is eternal destruction (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:15).
How can I be saved? How did God provide salvation?
Because the just penalty for sin is infinite and eternal, only God could pay the penalty, because only He is infinite and eternal. But God, in His divine nature, could not die. So God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. God took on human flesh, lived among us, and taught us. When the people rejected Him and His message, and sought to kill Him, He willingly sacrificed Himself for us, allowing Himself to be crucified (John 10:15). Because Jesus Christ was human, He could die; and because Jesus Christ was God, His death had an eternal and infinite value. Jesus’ death on the cross was the perfect and complete payment for our sin (1 John 2:2). He took the consequences we deserved. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead demonstrated that His death was indeed the perfectly sufficient sacrifice for sin.
How can I be saved? What do I need to do?
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). God has already done all of the work. All you must do is receive, in faith, the salvation God offers (Ephesians 2:8-9). Fully trust in Jesus alone as the payment for your sins. Believe in Him, and you will not perish (John 3:16). God is offering you salvation as a gift. All you have to do is accept it. Jesus is the way of salvation (John 14:6).
Jesus Christ will physically and visibly return to earth for the second time to establish His Kingdom. This will occur at a date undisclosed by the Scriptures. 1845 prophetic words speak to Jesus’ second coming.
MATTHEW 24:30, 26:63-64; ACTS 1:9-11; I THESSALONIANS 4:15-17; 2 THESSALONIANS 1:7-8; REVELATION 1:7
We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally connected with God through salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally connected with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. For example, When you consider the soul on the trajectory of Heaven, a believer who loves Jesus with their whole heart and who is becoming more like him with every passing day, Planet Earth is as close to hell as they will ever be. Earth with its wars, pollution, slavery, sexual sin, promiscuity, famine, depravity, murder and with everyone being lovers of self, Earth is riddled with hell. When you consider the soul on the trajectory of hell, someone who passively rejects God or even hates him with a passion, Planet Earth is as close to Heaven as they will ever be. Earth with its stunning sunrises and color filled sunsets. Stars flooding the night sky, a new born baby’s cry, puppies, bears, dolphins, flowers, majestic mountains, fields of virgin snow, the love of family and a lovers touch. Earth is fallen and scarred but it still shows the nature of the one who carefully crafted it all. Hell is void of anything beautiful that God created. It is crushingly void of anything that gives a soul life and yet for some, the thought that all they have to do is believe in Jesus to avoid it is anathema.
JOHN 3:16; JOHN 14:17; ROMANS 6:23; ROMANS 8:17-18; REVELATION 20:15;
1 CORINTHIANS 2:7-9
Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We are instructed to keep seeking forgiveness as we sin and fall short and to live a life fully surrendered to God, dying to self daily.
ACTS 2:21, 38, 3:19; 1 JOHN 1:9
Holy Communion is a symbolic remembrance of Christ’s body that was broken and His blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sins. Communion is “eating the story” of salvation. From the passover meal in Egypt where a lamb was slain for the sins of the people to Jesus, the Lamb of God, dying on a cross for our sins, we remember this sacrifice every time we come together. Adam and Eve sinned through the act of eating and we remember what Jesus did on the cross to save us from sin through eating and drinking.
MATTHEW 26:26-29; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:16, 11:23-25
Water baptism by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins is a salvation experience that fully identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Every believer is instructed to repent and be baptized. The thief on the cross was not baptized and was with Jesus in paradise that day so it’s not needed for salvation but it is a firm instruction for us all who believe.
ACTS 2:38; ROMANS 6:4; COLOSSIANS 2:12; GALATIANS 3:27