The Scriptures
The
Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation
of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It
has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any
mixture of error, for its matter.
God
There
is one and only one living and true God. …The eternal God reveals
Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal
attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God the Father
God
as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His
creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the
purposes of His grace. …God is Father in truth to those who become
children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ
is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was
conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. …He honored
the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the
cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
God the Holy Spirit
The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. …He exalts Christ. He convicts of
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. …He enlightens and empowers the
believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Man
Man
was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the
crowning work of His creation. …By his free choice man sinned against
God and brought sin into the human race. … The sacredness of human
personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in
that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is
worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
Salvation
involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all
who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood
obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense
salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
God's Purpose of Grace
Election
is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates,
sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. …All true believers endure to the
end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His
Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall
persevere to the end.
The Church
A
New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of
baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and
fellowship of the gospel…and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends
of the earth. …This church is an autonomous body. …The New Testament
speaks also of the church as the body of Christ, which includes all of
the redeemed of all the ages.
Baptism & the Lord's Supper
Christian
baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. …It is an act of
obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and
risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the life, and
the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members … memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
The Lord's Day
The
first day of the week is the Lord's Day. …It commemorates the
resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in
exercises of worship and spiritual devotion.
Last Things
God,
in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its
appropriate end. …Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly…the
dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness.
The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. …The righteous… will receive
their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Evangelism & Missions
It
is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church
of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations …
to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by personal effort.
Education
The
cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the
causes of missions and general benevolence … there should be a proper
balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. …The
freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is
limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative
nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the
school exists.
Stewardship
God
is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we
have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to
the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding
stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation
to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.
Cooperation
Christ's
people should … organize such associations and conventions as may best
secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such
organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches.
…Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian denominations.
The Christian & the Social Order
Every
Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ
supreme in his own life and in human society. ... The Christian should
oppose in the spirit of Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and
vice.
Religious Liberty
Church
and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection
and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. …A free church
in a free state is the Christian ideal.
Family
God
has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human
society. …Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in covenant
commitment for a lifetime. …The husband and wife are of equal worth
before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage
relationship models the way God relates to His people. …Children, from
the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
