Gospel of Grace Ministries
What We Believe Preface
Gospel of Grace Ministries has articulated our distinct beliefs in this condensed document that we call our Articles of Faith.
The Scripture clearly indicates that most so-called Christian ministries are deceived in their teaching while thinking they adhere correctly to Biblical doctrine (Matt 7:13-23). The Bible is the only written word that is verbally inspired and infallible. It is our only authority for our doctrine and practice of our faith. It is our responsibility in the Gospel ministry to interpret and explain what the Bible teaches and adhere to those doctrines to teach the whole counsel of God as it is revealed.
We ask you to carefully search the Scriptures to see whether these things are so (Acts 17:11). These Articles of Faith relay what we believe to be the essential Gospel message of the Bible and some of the fundamental doctrines that spring from the Gospel. This is not an exhaustive record of what we teach and believe. We ask all who read this to consider it carefully, reasonably, and prayerfully, only as it adheres to the authority of the Holy Scriptures.
God’s Over-Arching, Eternal Purpose
Taking the summation of God’s word, in the volume of the book, you will see God’s priority purpose is to show the glorification of His character in displaying the meritorious work of Christ in His perfect obedience, suffering, and accomplished death. Christ and Him effectually crucified is the main theme throughout God’s entire word. All of history revolves around and points to the cross of Christ, which magnified and amplified God’s character attributes like nothing else could or will. The righteousness that Christ established, which met the standard God demanded, will be imputed to each one of His chosen sheep for their Justification, showing God Almighty as both a just God and Savior. This is the glory of God in three Persons by His free and sovereign grace in Christ.
The Holy Scriptures
The Bible alone is the word of God. We adopt to the fullest expression of our faith the Holy Scriptures, given by the inspiration of God, as the only sufficient and authoritative rule for all doctrine, faith, and obedience for the believer. The Scriptures are holy in that they are perfect, special, consecrated, and set apart from all other writings. It is the very God-breathed word concerning what He has said about Himself as well as His way of Salvation.
II Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
(Also see - 2 Sam 7:28, 23:2, Psalm 12:6, 25:5, 111:7-8, 119:43, 138:2, Daniel 10:21, John 17:17, Acts 3:18, 1 Cor 2:4, 2:13, Heb 1:1-2, 2 Pet 1:20-21, 3:15).
We believe the Gospel revealed in these Scriptures is the basis for all biblical interpretation for all doctrinal matters and motivation to obedience and worship. The Gospel we adopt is defined in the Holy Scriptures as God's promise of eternal Salvation grounded upon the merit of Christ's obedience to the precepts of God’s Law and His death under the penalty of the Law, His righteousness established and freely imputed to God’s elect. God's people know, understand, and receive this promise only by God-given faith.
Romans 1:16-17 “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.”
It is the ministry of this church, as the "ministry of reconciliation" by the "word of reconciliation" to preach and teach this Gospel as the only way of Salvation that can only be had through Sovereign Grace based on the merit of the obedient life, blood and righteousness of Christ alone shed for His particular people, as proclaimed in God’s Holy word.
II Corinthians 5:18-21 “And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
The Only True God
We believe in only one God who is Spirit, Eternal, Impassable, Infinite, Self-Sufficient, Self-Reliant, Holy, Just, Righteous, Faithful, Unchangeable, Sovereign, Impeccable, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Wise, Ever-Present, Grace, Love, and Truth who is the Creator, Preserver, Ruler, Controller, and has Predestinated all things without exception, having in Himself all perfections. This one true God reveals Himself in a Trinity of Persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, each a distinct Person but without division of nature, essence, and being one in unity. To Him, all people owe the highest love, reverence, worship, and obedience.
Isaiah 46:9-11 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes My counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
(Also see - Exodus 3:14, Deut 6:4, Psalm 110:1, Mark 12:29, John 1:1, 5:18, 8:58, 10:30-33, Acts 20:28, 1Cor 10:9, 15:47, 2 Cor 3:17-18, Gal 3:20, 1 Tim 3:16, Titus 2:13, Heb 1:3, 1 Pet 1:2, Jude 4, 20-21)
Each Person of the Godhead lovingly performs a specific office for the purpose in the Salvation of the elect, all being sure and certain because God is faithful to fulfill His promise based on the Person and work of Christ. Any other god that people may claim to believe besides the true God of the Gospel of His Sovereign Grace is a false god and an idol of their imagination.
God the Father, before the world was created, in an everlasting love, chose a multitude of people out of humanity. This was before any foreseen good or evil they would do, even the foreseen sin of Adam imputed, so the purpose of God, according to His unconditional election might stand. He promised to give eternal blessedness to all these objects of His love, not conditioned on them in any way, but by grace alone, as made known in time by the specific provision of the sacrificial life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Substitute, Representative, Surety, and Mediator.
This Grace expressed to the elect alone is set up against the stark contrast in Reprobation. These are those who will never be recipients of God’s Grace. They will instead receive eternal wrath in justice as taught in the Biblical doctrine of Unconditional, Double Predestination. As a result of knowing this, we are made humble knowing there is no difference between us and them in comparison as sinners by nature and practice that makes us any better than they.
The Incarnation of the Son of God
In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, the Eternal Word, the Christ, into the world to be made real human flesh and nature. This was by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary conceived in the womb of her human substance. The Lord Jesus Christ was born without sin. He was the Messiah promised, whom we confess and acknowledge to be Emmanuel, truly God and truly man, two perfect natures united and joined in one Person. He was of the express image and equal with the Father, the only Mediator between God and man. He was sent, as a Representative, to be a Substitute in obeying God’s holy Law and die on the cross to satisfy the demands of the Law’s penalty of justice on behalf of the elect, based on their sins being imputed to Him, thereby fulfilling all the, demands, stipulations, requirements and conditions of their Salvation.
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(Also see - Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 53:2, Mat 1:21-25, Luke 1:31-35, 4:18, John 3:16, 17:5, 1 Tim 3:16, Heb 4:15, 7:26-27, 1 Pet 2:22-23, 1 John 1:1-3, 3:8b, 4:9).
Christ effectually and fully accomplished the elect’s redemption, as He fulfilled all that God required for their eternal Salvation. This was signified and declared by His resurrection from the dead, and His exultation. The merit of Christ's sacrifice, by itself, ensured His resurrection from the dead. Christ's blood and righteousness by itself also secured the Salvation of all whom He represented as their Substitute and effectually merited all that is included in Salvation, from Christ’s righteousness imputed, Regeneration, Conversion, to their final Glorification.
Romans 4:24-25 “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
(Also see - Job 29:14, Psalm 32:2, 85:10-11, Isaiah 53:11, 61:10, Jer 23:5- 6, Rom 3:21-22, 4:6- 8, 5:9-11,17-19, 8:1, 31- 39, 1Cor 1:30, 2 Cor 5:18-21, Eph 5:25-27, Col 1:21-22, Titus 3:6-7).
Doctrines of Free & Sovereign Grace
We believe that God justifies His elect based on the merit of the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, freely imputed to them and received by God-given faith, with no additions by, consideration of, nor contribution from, the sinner's works, merit, and efforts at obedience or character reform. Jesus Christ the Lord, by the merit of His obedient life and voluntary death, purchased by His blood, brought in and established an absolute perfect, everlasting righteousness that effectually satisfies the holy demands of God's Law and justice. Christ’s righteousness imputed to God's people is for their acceptance of God that meets God’s absolute standard. This exclusive way of Salvation reveals God to be both a just God and a Savior. This is the essence of the Gospel of Grace. God's people hear it, understand it, believe it, love it, and defend it.
(Also see - Gen 15:5-6, Psalm 103:2-12, 130:3-4, Isaiah 1:18, 45:21-25, Jer 33:14-16, Mat 1:21, Acts 13:32-39, Rom 1:16-17, 3:21-26, 4:5- 8, 10:4, 1Cor 15:1-8, 2 Cor 1:20, 5:21, Eph 1:3-22, Col 1:5, 2 Tim 1:1, 9-10, Heb 10:4-17).
In light of this, and in accordance with Holy Scripture, we adhere to the doctrines commonly referred to as the doctrines of sovereign grace, meaning Salvation is grounded in the free grace of the Triune God and manifest in the effectual work of Jesus Christ alone. These doctrines, in compliance with the Holy Scriptures, can be stated as follows:
Total Depravity and Inability of Man
Total depravity must be considered from two perspectives:
(1) Legal (objectively), as it concerns how God views us. In Adam we are guilty, under legal death or condemnation, a loss of the image of God and conceived in Adam’s image, owing a debt to God's Law and justice, in need of a righteousness that God requires, owing a debt of which we are unable to pay or contribute to the payment of such a debt.
(2) Spiritual deadness (subjectively) with spiritual inabilities, concerns how we view God and what we do or don’t do under His commands. We are born as natural enemies against God in everything we are and do. The result of the fall of man into sin, their heart/mind is spiritually useless to bring them to approach God. They are naturally in bondage with no free will to speak of. As a result of depravity being total, everything the sinner does as one without the Spirit and without faith is always and completely sin, no matter how sincere or good it may seem. This does not necessarily mean that we are unconcerned about religion. Even totally depraved sinners have the ability to perform religious duties and morality that would make them appear outwardly righteous to mankind. That displays deception.
Romans 5:14-19 “But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of Him who was to come; but the free gift shall not be also like the offense. For if by the offense of the one many died, much more the grace of God, and the gift in grace; which is of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the free gift shall not be as by one having sinned; (for indeed the judgment was of one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses to justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came to all men to justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.”
Total depravity is revealed in the fact that mankind is naturally void of a righteousness that answers the demands of God. It is also revealed that we, by nature, are totally opposed to obtaining such righteousness by imputation alone, apart from our efforts of obedience. This is also revealed when sinners will count themselves saved, based on something other than the merit of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This self-righteous attitude is the unregenerate sinner’s main malfunction and worst sin. The doctrine of Total Depravity is revealed to show our sin and how we deserve God's wrath, show us our need of His free grace, and need of a righteousness that we can never produce.
Romans 3:10-12 “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one.”
I Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
(Also see - Gen 3:5, Psalm 14:2-3, Pro 12:10, 15:8, Isaiah 45:20, 64:6, Jer 13:23, 17:9, Mat 7:18, John 3:19-20, 6:44- 45, Rom 1:20-23, 20, 5:12, 6:16-23, 7:5, 8:5-8, 10:2-3, 2 Cor 4:3-4, Eph 2:5, 4:18, Col 1:21, 2:13, Heb 9:14, 11:6).
Unconditional Election
To reveal all the perfections of God's redemptive character in the full, free, eternal salvation, God chose a definite number of people, conditioned upon, and loved in Jesus Christ, for His sake alone. God the Father appointed the Son to be the Representative and Surety of every individual whom He had elected unto salvation. By God's appointment, Christ took on the entire responsibility to do everything necessary to bring every one of the elect to final glorification. Unconditional election automatically means unconditional salvation. From birth, God's elect people owed a debt to God's law and justice and could not be saved apart from conditioning all of their salvation solely upon the merit of Christ Jesus the Lord.
Ephesians 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, in which He has made us accepted in the One having been loved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and understanding; having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,”
This unconditional election, which is directly tied to His predestination, is double, in that, whom God chose, there are also those He chose to reject according to His own sovereign will and purpose within Himself. Neither side of this decree was dependent on or conditioned on any foreseen sin or good done by anyone, elect or reprobate. The LORD alone, in His absolute sovereignty, made the difference by His eternal choice. Historically, this is called Supralapsarianism.
Romans 9:11-24 “(for the children had not yet been born, neither had done any good or evil; but that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who called,) it was said to her, "The elder shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." What shall we say then? Is there not unrighteousness with God? Let it not be! For He said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." So then it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God, the One showing mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "Even for this same purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be declared throughout all the earth." Therefore, He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens. You will then say to me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will? No, but, O man, who are you who replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him who formed it, Why have you made me this way? Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor? What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He had before prepared to glory; whom He also called, not only us, of Jews, but also of the nations?”
(Also see - Psalm 89:19-37, Isaiah 49:5-6, 53:11-12, Luke 22:29, John 6:37-40, 10:29, 17:2,9, Gal 3:16-18, 2 Tim 1:9, Gen 13:14-16, 17:4-8,19, Deut 4:35; 7:9, 2 Sam 23:5, Psalm 65:4, 67:2, 105:8-10, 111:9, 132:11, Isaiah 43:10-12, 55:3-4, 61:6-9, Mat 13:11, Mat 24:22, 24, Mark 13:20, 22, 27, Luke 1:68-75, 18:7, John 17:2-3, Acts 13:48, Rom 8:28-30, 33, 9:11-16, 23, 11:5-6 & 26-27, Eph 1:4-14, Col 3:12, 2 Tim 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Thes 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, Heb 6:13-14, 8:6-12, 1 Pet 1:1-2, 2:9).
Particular/Effectual Atonement
Particular and effectual atonement teaches Christ Jesus, in a work of love, actually satisfied all the conditions and requirements for the salvation of God's elect by establishing a perfect righteousness by His obedient life under the Law and His satisfactory, sufficient, accomplished, effectual, finished sacrifice for them. He did this for all those He represented, thereby glorifying His Father in their full and free salvation. God's love provided, in Christ, what His holiness demanded from His people. The elect are saved through an eternal Covenant promise, based on the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, their Representative Head, Christ Jesus the LORD.
The Eternal Son of God took on a human body of sinless flesh to do everything necessary to be a Sacrifice to the Father and completely satisfy all the conditions required for the justification of all those whom He represented, to be reconciled and saved eternally. Not one sinner for whom Jesus Christ represented, lived, and effectively died for as their Substitute will ever be eternally condemned. Christ's atonement, His accomplished Redemption, as the requirement to display the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel, secured their eternal Salvation. The meritorious work of Christ secured all things needed for His elect people to be made full partakers of all that He purchased for them, including the work of the Holy Spirit in them.
The worth, value, and merit of the life and death of Christ ALONE is the ground and the only difference between saved and lost. This means that the merit of His Person and work is by itself what does the saving of His people. This is to say - His death is EFFECTUAL by itself. His blood and righteousness automatically exclude everything else as the ground of Justification and acceptance unto God. Christ, as Mediator of the Everlasting Covenant of Grace, brought in and established an everlasting righteousness, which is imputed to His people in each generation to make them accepted by the Father on that very ground and basis.
Isaiah 53:10-12 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief: when You shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
John 10:11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
Romans 5:19 “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.”
(Also see - Gen 22:13, Exodus 12:3-13, Lev 16:21-22, 17:11, Psalm 22:1-18, 32:1, Dan 9:24-26, Zech 13:7, Mat 1:21, 26:28, 27:35-50, Mark 15:24-37, Luke 23:33-46, 24:46, John 11:49-52, 19:16-30, Acts 17:3, 20:28, Rom 3:24-25, 1 Cor 1:30, 5:7; 6:20, 15:3, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 1:4; 2:20, 3:13, 4:5, Eph 1:7, 2:13-17, Col 1:14, 20-22, 2:13-14, 1 Thes 5:10, 1 Tim 2:6, Titus 2:14, Heb 2:9-10, 9:12-14, 26-28, 10:10-14, 13:12, 1 Pet 1:18-19, 2:24, 3:18, 1 John 1:7, 2:2, 3:5, 4:10, Rev 1:5, 5:9).
Irresistible Grace
Irresistible or efficacious grace refers to the application of Salvation to the persons of the elect, whereby they are made actual partakers of Salvation and experience spiritual life in this world. This is sure and certain because of the Lord Christ's death on the cross. This application is the Effectual Call of God the Holy Spirit through the preaching of God's Gospel. God, the Holy Spirit, is the sovereign Agent who sovereignly quickens the spiritually dead sinner. The Gospel preached is heard and understood by the quickened sinner, being the means and power of God unto Salvation.
Adam's sin is legally imputed, charged, or transferred to all for whom he represented in every generation, resulting in their legal condemnation and spiritual death when they are born by natural generation. Even so, Christ's righteousness is legally imputed (credited) to all whom He represented, which results in our legal Justification and the immediate fruit of spiritual life.
Regeneration and Conversion come together as the immediate effect of righteousness imputed. Just as the sin of our representative Adam plunged all whom he represented into guilt, total depravity, and all the particulars involved in that state, even so, the righteousness of the Representative Christ Jesus demanded that all whom He represented be made righteous and actual partakers of all Grace. This instills a godly fear (reverence, respect, and awe) for the glorious character of God revealed to them.
John 6:37-40 & 44-45 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me; and him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will which has sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise Him up at the last day. {44} No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise Him up at the last day. {45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes unto Me.”
II Thes 2:13-14 “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Titus 3:5-7 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Romans 8:29-30 “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
II Timothy 1:8-9 “Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
(Also see - Rom 10:17, 1 Cor 1:18-24. More texts under the “Regeneration" heading)
Preservation of the Saints
All whom God elected, Christ redeemed, and the Holy Spirit gives life, will without fail, persevere in faith unto final glory by God's preserving Grace. As God's people, we know that Salvation from start to finish is based on the effectual work of Christ, our Surety, according to God's promise. We know the only true God who made the promise and know the only true Christ who merited all acceptance. Therefore, we are fully persuaded that what God has promised, HE IS ABLE TO PERFORM.
Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God, our loving and faithful Savior, and we are encouraged and motivated by the assurance of Salvation conditioned on the merit of Jesus Christ alone, which produces true love and loyalty to Christ. This causes us to delight and be diligent in the use of all the means which God has provided for our perseverance in the faith. God's people will be preserved by His sovereign Grace, and His people will continue in the faith, believing in the absolute certainty of Salvation conditioned on the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We know that any who claims to believe the Gospel, who later rejects it, displays that they were never regenerated, nor truly believed the Gospel, and never truly repented.
John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.”
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
II Timothy 1:12 “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”
I John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
(Also see - Psalm 31:23, 37:24, 28, 55:22, 66:9, 121:3-8, Prov 2:7-8, Jer 32:39-40, John 6:40, Rom 8:30-39, Eph 1:13-14, 2 Thes 3:3, 4:18, 1 Pet 1:3-5, Jude 24).
These doctrines are revealed to show us God's faithfulness to fulfill His promise of Salvation grounded upon the effectual blood Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Sinners in unbelief, by refusing to seek Salvation based upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ and by refusing to repent from idolatry and dead works, only remain in condemnation. Self-righteous men and women deny the severity of the problem and invent their own remedies. All who hear this Gospel are commanded to believe and to seek Salvation based on the Grace of God in Christ alone.
The Work of the Holy Spirit / Regeneration
God the Holy Spirit makes all the objects of God's love, all whom the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed, to be full partakers of all that God has provided in all that Jesus Christ has purchased. He applies this to them as He regenerates and calls them by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the means of the Gospel. He then brings them to faith in Jesus Christ and gives them repentance from self-righteous idolatry and dead works. He continually dwells in them that they might be comforted and assured by the certainty of their preservation based upon the accomplished work and imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, apart from their efforts, obedience, or contributions.
Ephesians 1:9-14 “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: whom also, after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.”
John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.”
James 1:17 “Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”
I Peter 1:23-25 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word, which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Christ's blood and righteousness by itself, secured, and ensures all the work of the Holy Spirit in God's elect, and that no part of the Holy Spirit's work in the sinner, though necessary and vital in salvation, forms any part of the ground of that sinner's justification. God the Holy Spirit's work in the sinner is the fruit and effect of Christ's work of Redemption for the sinner.
(Also see - Deut 30:6, Jer 24:7, Ezek 11:19-20, 36:25-27, Zech 4:6, John 1:13, 3:3-8; 6:37, 44, 10:3-5 & 27, 17:2, Rom 5:5, Rom 6:1-22, 7:6, 8:2, 5-16 & 30, 1 Cor 15:45, Eph 2:5, 4:22-24, Col 2:11-13, Titus 3:5, Heb 9:13-15).
God-given Faith
Because God loves His people, He works in them faith to know, understand, and experience His free Salvation. Faith, upon hearing and understanding the Gospel, receives Christ and His righteousness, freely imputed, as the only hope and ground of eternal Salvation. The faith God commands is something not found in man naturally and cannot be stirred up by man's will or sincerity. Faith is not the work of man and is not the ground of Salvation itself, but rather the fruit and effect of the blessed life and death of Christ earned for God's elect, and is all worked in the elect by the Holy Spirit.
God's people for whom Christ lived and died are now in a state of perfect righteousness because the whole merit of His work is imputed or charged to their account, and they are presented not only forgiven, pardoned, but holy, unblameable, unreproveable, and perfectly righteous. They are legally declared to be righteous. This is that same perfect righteousness that a holy God requires, which we could never perform ourselves. They are in the state of non-imputation, which means they cannot ever be charged with sin again. This is a Salvation that is not conditioned on man in any way, but rather, conditioned on Christ alone. This is the essence of the Gospel of Grace and is where faith rests for assurance.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “ For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
(Also see - Deut 4:34-35, Isaiah 45:6, 20-25, Mat 13:23, Mark 16:16, John 6:40, 8:32, 16:-11, 17:3, Acts 16:14-15, Rom 1:16-17, 3:26, 6:17, 21, 7:6, 1 Cor 2:10-12, 2 Cor 4:2-6, Eph 1:13, Phil 3:7-8, 2 Thes 2:13-14, Heb 9:14, 1 John 5:20).
The essence of the Gospel is that all of Salvation is by God’s Grace alone, and all is conditioned on Christ alone. This means it is not of the sinner's merit, works, or conditioned on them to any degree. The life and death of Christ are sufficient and effectual to be the only difference between being saved or lost. The merit of His blood sacrifice and righteous merit is what puts His people in an unchangeable, irreversible, perfect state of righteousness.
All that God requires for Justification was victoriously accomplished by Jesus Christ. It is a perfect, full, and completely finished work that demands the Justification of all those who were represented by the only Savior. If the merit of the Person and work of Christ by itself is not enough to put us in a state of Justification and answer all the demands of God's requirements, then nothing else will or can. There is absolutely no hope at all in what we think, say, or do, or are even enabled to do. Christ is our only hope. God-given faith believes this.
God-given Repentance
The love and goodness of God gives not only faith but also repentance. Repentance from spiritual idolatry and self-righteous dead works is the first evidence of God given faith. It contains the new Gospel-knowledge that results in a change of mind about how every effort at obedience and reform before faith is only evil and a wicked attempt at removing God's wrath and gaining favor in opposition to His redemptive glory. These are aimed at the ground and cause of Salvation, which casts shame and reproach upon the Person and work of Christ. Any works without God-given faith are dead works and need to be repented of. This is initial Gospel Repentance.
II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2Ti 2:25-26 “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”
Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you and believe the gospel.”
Hebrews 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Philippians 3:7-9 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
Godly sorrow over sin is a continual aspect of repentance whereby a saved sinner constantly sees his own sinfulness in his character and conduct. This is seen to constantly realize that his only hope for Salvation, forgiveness, and assurance is the blood of Christ and His righteousness imputed.
Romans 7:24-25 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Psalm 130:3-4 “ If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”
II Corinthians 7:9-10 “Now I rejoice, not that You were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you were made sorry after a godly manner, that you might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.”
Psalm 51:15-17 “O Lord, open You my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise. For You desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: You delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You wilt not despise.”
Sanctification & Good Works
When God powerfully causes the elect to believe His Gospel, they become dead to the Law, dead to sin, to live to Him and serve Him in a new and living way of Grace. They are no longer under the condemning dominion of the Law but now under the justifying and sanctifying dominion of Grace. Any service to God and man in obedience to New Covenant commands and exhortations comes through God-given faith by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the believer in a monergistic way by Grace alone. This is not motivated by legalistic thoughts like fear of punishment or promise of reward, nor based on one’s merit.
The life of faith is motivated by the assurance of free Salvation based on the accomplished, effectual, finished sacrifice and the gracious imputation of Christ’s righteousness ALONE, without any of our works added to that to make it effective. This is the liberty of God’s Grace, in love, whereby His sheep express love for God and love for one another. It includes all obedience to God's commands, maintaining good works, and striving to bring our conduct from the loving, humble, gracious example of Christ our Savior, according to the instruction of God’s word.
This activity is in response to the love and gratitude of the Grace of God through Christ Jesus. As works without faith are dead, we also know and believe that faith without works is dead. We must know this obedience is not acceptable due to any merit of its own. It is only acceptable because believers are already fully accepted and, as a result, God is working in the believers in their Justified state, based on His merits alone.
The doctrine of Trinitarian Sanctification starts with God the Father, in His sovereignty and purpose within Himself, sanctified by setting His affection on and choosing His people in Christ in eternity. Christ sanctified His sheep by shedding His blood for them. The Holy Spirit sanctified the elect by regenerating them to dwell in, working in their heart and mind to guide them to produce the fruit of the Spirit and good works by using the means of the word of God to instruct them in doctrine and practice the rest of their life.
This work of sanctification by the Spirit is an effectual, monergistic work by nothing short of God’s sovereign grace. The Spirit causes the elect believer to live by faith and walk in the Spirit in persevering in continued belief of the Gospel of Christ for assurance and the motive of love and gratitude to God to serve Him and His people acceptably. The believer, once sanctified, stays sanctified all the days of their life.
All of God’s Salvation is a perfect, successful work from start to finish, done by Grace alone without any works to make it so. It is the Spirit who sanctifies, not our works. God’s people will grow in the Grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ as they are taught by the Spirit and led into all truth and given an understanding to live by faith and not by sight or the flesh. God has promised to express His love in many ways, such as by comforting them through the utility of the Gospel ministry of other believers, and even through the loving correction of chastisement.
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.”
I Peter 2:5 “You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
Php 2:12-13 “Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Love to God and the brethren is love that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit and flows from faith in Christ. It reflects the spiritual blessings in Christ to the honor of God's redemptive glory in Salvation, based on the blood of Christ. This love seeks the care and well-being of those who believe the Gospel and will crave Gospel fellowship and unity in doctrine with them.
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.”
I John 3:13-16 “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Second Coming & Judgment
We believe that God will bring all things to their appropriate end for His glory in His appointed time. The Lord Jesus Christ will return, visibly and bodily, as He promised. All the dead will be raised on the Day of Judgment, when every account will be justly settled.
God has appointed that day when He will judge the world in Righteousness, by the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given by the Father, when all people shall appear before Christ in Judgment to give an account for every thought, word, and deed, and to receive according to what they did in the body, good or evil.
For those chosen and loved in Christ and with His Righteousness imputed to their account - who are called the elect, His sheep, vessels of honor and mercy - their destiny and reward will be eternal life and joy in the New Heavens and New Earth. For them, Heaven will be a place of eternal bliss where the whole, collective body of God’s glorified, elect saints will praise and worship at the feet of Christ, the Lamb, forever, and will finally see Him as He is, face to face.
For the reprobate whose names were not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world, their destiny is the Second Death, when they will receive eternal conscious punishment of final condemnation in Hell as their just sentence according to God’s holy standard. Hell is reserved for those hated people called the vessels of wrath and dishonor, workers of iniquity, the wicked, goats, etc., who will be in a place of eternal suffering for their sin, where God's unending wrath and justice will be executed against them in the Lake of Fire.
(See: Eccles. 12:14, Isaiah 46:8-10, Matt. 12:36, Matt. 25:21, 34, 46, Mark 8:38, Mark 9:48, Mark 13:35-37, Mark 14:62, Luke 12:35-40, John 5:22-27, Acts 17:31, 1Cor. 6:3, 2Cor. 5:10-11, Rom. 9:22-23, Rom. 14:10,12, Eph. 1:11; Phil. 3:20, 21, 2Peter 3:9-13, 2Tim. 4:8, 2Thes. 1:5-10, Jude 6, Rev. 20:11-15, 21:22-27).
Liberty of Conscience
Since the elect, after having been justified freely by the merit of Christ's righteousness graciously imputed to their account, are then considered to have a cleansed conscience. They believe and understand the Gospel of God's free and sovereign Grace in Christ, as explained throughout this written Confession of Faith.
This means they have been given a knowledge of God through the means of His Gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to believe and have a change of mind concerning Sin, guilt, God, Law, Salvation, peace, assurance, justice, etc. and now can operate, serve and practice their God-given faith without anything, or anyone else putting them in bondage.
Liberty of Conscience is God's gift to His people (believers). God alone prompts believers to exercise that gift under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in a Christ-centered way, with the word of God as the basis.
It is Biblical teaching that Christ is King alone over conscience. We teach the Liberty of Conscience, under Christ, with boldness, defending that Liberty of Conscience belongs to God's people who believe His Gospel as well as being endowed with the God-given right to express it as such.
Every individual believer is a person responsible only ultimately to God in matters of conscience for practicing their beliefs (faith), - not to the Government officials such as International, Federal, State, City, County employees, not the public school system, not to Denominations, not Health Officials, not public policy or trends, etc., and all this in consistency with the word of God as it pertains to the glory of God in all things. True faith is only God-given and free.
The word of God teaches believers that their bodies are a “…temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor 6:19). God’s Word also teaches His people to “glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor 6:20).
Having health or medical practices, mandates, rules, etc. forced on individuals who have liberty in their God-given faith would be a direct violation of the right of conscience of our members. The Bible teaches we are born with the work of the law written in our hearts, and conscience will convict us of right and wrong (Rom 2:15).
Therefore, we believe that our members have Biblical reasons why they should not be forced to take orders or mandates from any authority that violates the God-given Liberty of Conscience. True Liberty of Conscience is made known in the following points:
(a) Christ is the Real Sovereign Lord over ALL.
(b) God's people live under the authority of the word of God, asking the LORD for wisdom.
(c) They exercise freedom with Liberty of Conscience, which means - to worship as they are given a Biblical understanding through the Spirit of God dwelling in them as they study the Holy Scripture.