What
We Believe!
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The
Scriptures Inspired
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The
One True God
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The
Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
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The
Fall of Man
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The
Salvation of Man
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The
Ordinances of the Church
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The
Baptism in the Holy Ghost
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The
Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy
Ghost
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Sanctification
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The
Church and Its Mission
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The
Ministry
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Divine
Healing
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The
Blessed Hope
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The
Millennial Reign of Christ
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The
Final Judgment
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The
New Heavens and the New Earth
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1. The
Scriptures Inspired
The Scriptures, both the Old
and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the
revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule
of faith and conduct.
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2. The One
True God
The one true God
has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I
AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer
of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the
principles of relationship and association as Father, Son
and Holy Ghost.
The Adorable
Godhead
a. Terms Defined
The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as
related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures,
are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we may convey
to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of
Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from
"gods many and lords many." We therefore may
speak with propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord,
as a trinity or as one Being of three persons, and still
be absolutely scriptural.
b. Distinction and
Relationship in the Godhead
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead
which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but that this distinction and
relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable and
incomprehensible, because unexplained.
c. Unity of the One Being
of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which
constitutes him the Father and not the Son; there is that
in the Son which constitutes Him the Son and not the
Father; and there is that in the Holy Ghost which
constitutes Him the Holy Ghost and not either the Father
or the Son. Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son
is the Begotten, and the Holy Ghost is the one proceeding
from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these
three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity,
there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one.
d. Identity and Cooperation
in the Godhead
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are never identical
as to Person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in
respect to the Godhead; nor opposed as to cooperation. The
Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as to
relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father is
with the Son, as to fellowship. The Father is not from the
Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The
Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son proceeding, as
to nature, relationship, cooperation and authority. Hence,
neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works
separately or independently of the others.
e. The Title, Lord Jesus
Christ
The appellation, "Lord Jesus Christ," is a
proper name. It is never applied in the New Testament,
either to the Father or to the Holy Ghost. It therefore
belongs exclusively to the Son of God.
f. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God with Us
The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal
nature, is the proper and only Begotten of the Father, but
as to His human nature, He is the proper Son of Man. He is
therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who
because He is God and man is "Immanuel," God
with us.
g. The Title, Son of God
Since the name "Immanuel" embraces both God and
man in the one Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows
that the title, Son of God, describes His proper deity,
and the title, Son of Man, His proper humanity. Therefore,
the title Son of God, belongs to the order of eternity,
and the title, Son of Man, to the order of time.
h. Transgression of the
Doctrine of Christ
Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ
to say that Jesus Christ derived the title, Son of God,
solely from the fact of the incarnation, or because of His
relation to the economy of redemption. Therefore, to deny
that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that the
Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the
distinction and relationship in the Being of God; a denial
of the Father, and the Son; and a displacement of the
truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
i. Exaltation of Jesus
Christ as Lord
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by Himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high; angels and principalities and powers having been
made subject unto Him. And having been made both Lord and
Christ, He sent the Holy Ghost that we, in the name of
Jesus, might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father until the end, when
the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may be
all in all.
j. Equal Honor to the
Father and to the Son
Wherefore, since the Father has delivered all judgment
unto the Son, it is not only the express duty of all in
heaven and on earth to bow the knee, but it is an
unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost to ascribe unto the Son
all the attributes of Deity, and to give Him all honor and
the glory contained in all the names and titles of the
Godhead except those which express relationship (see
Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead, Unity of the
One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost , and Identity and
Cooperation in the Godhead) and thus honor the Son even as
we honor the Father.
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3. The Deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is the
eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:
His virgin birth,
His sinless life,
His miracles,
His substitutionary work on
the cross,
His bodily resurrection from
the dead,
His exaltation to the right
hand of God.
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4. The Fall
of Man
Man was created good and
upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own
image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary
transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical
death but also spiritual death, which is separation from
God.
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5. The
Salvation of Man
Man's only hope of redemption
is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Conditions to Salvation
Salvation is received through
repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Ghost, being justified by grace through faith, man
becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal
life.
The Evidence of Salvation
The inward evidence of
salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.
The outward evidence to all
men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.
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6.
The Ordinances of the Church
Baptism in
Water
The ordinance of
baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures. All who
repent and believe on Christ as Saviour and Lord are to be
baptized. Thus they declare to the world that they have died
with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to
walk in newness of life.
Holy Communion
The Lord's
Supper, consisting of the elements --bread and the fruit of
the vine-- is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine
nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4 [KJV/NIV]),
a memorial of his suffering and death (1 Corinthians 11:26 [KJV/NIV]),
and a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26 [KJV/NIV]),
and is enjoined on all believers "till He come!"
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7.
The Baptism in the Holy Ghost
All believers
are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly
seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy
Ghost and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus
Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early
Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for
life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses
in the work of the ministry.
This experience
is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new
birth.
With the baptism
in the Holy Ghost come such experiences as:
- an overflowing fullness
of the Spirit, John 7:37-39 [KJV/NIV],
Acts 4:8 [KJV/NIV]
- a deepened reverence for
God, Acts 2:43 [KJV/NIV],
Hebrews 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
- an intensified
consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts
2:42 [KJV/NIV]
- and a more active love
for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark 16:20
[KJV/NIV]
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8.
The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy
Ghost
The baptism of
believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial
physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit
of God gives them utterance.
The speaking in
tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift
of tongues, but is different in purpose and use.
- 1
Corinthians 12:4-10 [KJV/NIV]
- 1
Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
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9.
Sanctification
Sanctification
is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of
dedication unto God.
The Scriptures
teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall
see the Lord."
By the power of
the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command: "Be ye
holy, for I am holy."
Sanctification
is realized in the believer by recognizing his
identification with Christ in His death and resurrection,
and by the faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that
union, and by offering every faculty continually to the
dominion of the Holy Spirit.
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10.
The Church and its Mission
The Church is
the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the
Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her
great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an
integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the
Firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Since God's
purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is
lost, to be worshipped by man, and to build a body of
believers in the image of His Son, the priority reason for
being of the Assemblies of God as part of the Church is
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To be an agency of
God for evangelizing the world.
Acts 1:8 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 28:19,20 [KJV/NIV]
Mark 16:15,16 [KJV/NIV]
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To be a corporate body in
which man may worship God.
1 Corinthians 12:13 [KJV/NIV]
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To be a channel of God's
purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the
image of His Son.
Ephesians 4:11-16 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14:12 [KJV/NIV]
The Assemblies of God exists
expressly to give continuing emphasis to this reason for
being in the New Testament apostolic pattern by teaching and
encouraging believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
This experience:
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Enables them to
evangelize in the power of the Spirit with accompanying
supernatural signs.
Mark 16:15-20 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 4:29-31 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 2:3,4 [KJV/NIV]
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Adds a necessary
dimension to worshipful relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 13 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14 [KJV/NIV]
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Enables them to respond
to the full working of the Holy Spirit in expression of
fruit and gifts and ministries as in New Testament times
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Galatians 5:22-26 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14:12 [KJV/NIV]
Ephesians 4:11,12 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
Colossians 1:29 [KJV/NIV]
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11.
The Ministry
A divinely
called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided
by our Lord for the threefold purpose of leading the Church
in:
Evangelization
of the world.
Worship of God.
Building a body
of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.
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12.
Divine Healing
Divine healing
is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness
is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of
all believers.
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13.
The Blessed Hope
The resurrection
of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their
translation together with those who are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope
of the church.
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14.
The Millennial Reign of Christ
The second
coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which
is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of
Christ with His saints to reign on earth for one thousand
years.
This millennial
reign will bring the salvation of national Israel,
and the
establishment of universal peace.
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15.
The Final Judgment
There will be a
final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and
judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found
written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his
angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned
to the everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
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16.
The New Heavens and the New Earth
"We,
according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."
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