BIBLE DIGEST - Number 1
23 February 2003
I BELIEVE
by Allon Maxwell
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Let no one be so foolish as to presume that this short summary of some things from the Bible, can ever be a substitute for your own diligent study of the Word of God. In order to grow properly into the mind of Christ, (1 Corinthians 2:10-16), and the new nature of the Children of God, (Ephesians 3:14-20, You need your own personal encounter with the God of Creation, His Son, and His Word. "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart." "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter." 1. I believe there is only ONE TRUE GOD. * This one true God is YHWH, the one God of the Shema - the creed of Moses. (Deuteronomy 6:4) * This is the God who Jesus commands us to worship. (Matthew 22:37) * This is the God who Jesus addresses as FATHER. (John 17:3) 2. I believe that Jesus is: * The Son of God (Matthew 16:13-18, John 20:31) * Miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. (Matthew 1:18-23, * The Messiah foretold in the Old Testament prophecies. (2 Samuel 7:12-16, Isaiah 53, * The spoken and written Old Testament Word of God, become a flesh and blood reality. * Fully human -- exactly like other men in His nature. (Hebrews 2:14, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 4:15) * Risen from the dead, and now alive in Heaven "at the right hand of God". (Psalm 110:1) 3. I believe that the Holy Spirit is the power of God: * Given to all who LOVE JESUS and OBEY Jesus. (John 14:15, John 14:23-24, Acts 5:32) * As a guarantee of inheritance. (Ephesians 1:13-14) * To produce fruit in those who are willing to learn how to live and walk by the Spirit. * To enable believers to do the works of God. (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, * For the common good, (1 Corinthians 12:7), to edify the Church. (1 Corinthians 14:4 4. I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God * The ultimate authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (Psalm 119:1-16, Isaiah 40:7-8, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, 2 Peter 1:16-21) 5. I believe in the coming Kingdom of God on this earth. * Its king will be Jesus. It will be established after His return from Heaven. Its dominion will be over the whole earth. (Luke 1:32-33, Acts 3:21, Daniel 2:35, Daniel 2:44) 6. I believe that inheritance of a place in the kingdom comes through: * Hearing the TRUE Gospel about Jesus and the coming Kingdom of God on Earth. * Believing that Jesus is the Messiah -- the one anointed to be King. (John 20:31, 1 John 5:1) * Obeying the call to genuine repentance from all known sin. (Matthew 4:17, Acts 2:37-39) * Accepting the death of Jesus as the sacrifice which has paid the RANSOM for my release from the penalty of my sins. (1 Timothy 2:6, 1 Peter 1:18-19) * Being baptised for remission of sins. (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38) * Living afterwards in a way which demonstrates the reality of repentance. (Acts 26:20) 7. I BELIEVE THAT THE ABRAHAMIC PROMISES aRE central to "the gospel" of the old and new testaments. * Abraham was promised that one of His descendants would become a source of blessing to world. (Genesis 12:3, Genesis 22:18) * Abraham was promised that He and his descendants would become a great nation, as numberless as the stars. (Genesis 12:2, Genesis 22:17) * Abraham was promised that He and his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. (Genesis 12:1, Genesis 13:14-17, Romans 4:13-17) * Jesus is the source of the blessing -- which is that we should be turned from our sins to righteousness. (Acts 3:25-26) * Jesus and those who belong to Him, are the nation. (Romans 4:13-16, Galatians 3:26-29) * The inheritance of these promises belongs to Jesus -- It is the Kingdom of God -- in which Jesus will exercise dominion over all the earth -- and share his inheritance with those who belong to Him. 8. I believe that through his sacrificial death, and because of my repentance, Jesus: * Has ransomed and redeemed and pardoned me from the penalty due for my sins. (Matthew 20:28, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 3:18) 9. I believe that immortality is conditional. * The human race is mortal and perishable. (1 Corinthians 15:53-54, 1 Timothy 6:16) * Death is a sleep in which no part of the human personality survives the death of the body. * Immortality is the gift of God. (Romans 6:23) * Reserved only for those "who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality." (Romans 2:7) 10. I believe that to see and enter the kingdom of god requires a “spiritual rebirth” * Which depends on BOTH outward obedience by baptism in water, and inward transformation by the Spirit of God. 11. I believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead WHEN JESUS REUTNS FROM HEAVEN: * As THE ONLY hope of eternal life for the righteous. (Daniel 12:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:13-19, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) 12. I believe in the Judgement of both the righteous and sinners when Jesus returns from Heaven: * When the righteous will receive their share in the inheritance of the Abrahamic promises, * Wicked will be punished with “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord”. I believe that salvation requires far more than intellectual assent to the things listed above. They are merely a necessary foundation, without which the temple of God cannot be properly established in us. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 - 2 Corinthians 7:1-21, 1 Peter 2:4-10) In order to qualify for an inheritance in the Kingdom, we must do more than merely hear the Gospel of the Kingdom and pay lip service to believing it -- REAL FAITH in those things must lead to the next step below! I believe that true discipleship requires a commitment to LOVE JESUS, and to believe and obey all His commandments. (Matthew 28:19, Luke 6:46-49, John 14:15, John 14:23-24) These commandments include the one that Jesus called the first and greatest of all: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29 and Deuteronomy 6:4-5) And the second, which Jesus said is like the first: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself". (Mark 12:31, John 13:34-35, 1 John 2:7-11) A non-negotiable outline of the major elements and principles of that obedience was delivered to us by Jesus in the Gospel of the Kingdom, especially The Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5, 6, & 7) things I do not believe It is a great pity that it should be necessary to include a section about things I do not believe. However in our time this has become very important. In the absence of any clear statement to the contrary, mainstream Christians are entitled to assume that those who seek their company, agree with their "mainstream teaching". They extend fellowship on the basis of that assumption, and most would NOT offer the same "privileges" if they did know about the differences. To deliberately allow them to remain in ignorance, in order to be "accepted" by them, or be awarded a "ministry" amongst them, or to receive the benefits of things they offer, is a serious form of deception, which also denies Jesus before men. * I do NOT believe the Mainstream doctrine of the Trinity. * I do NOT believe that Jesus existed before His birth of the Virgin Mary. * I do NOT believe that Jesus is part of a "triune god" or that the Bible calls Jesus "God-the-Son". * I do NOT believe that the Holy Spirit is a separate personal being, or part of a "triune god". * I do NOT believe in any form of the theory of Evolution; or that the Creation and Flood stories in Genesis are "myths" or "parables". * I do not believe in the immortality of the soul. * I do NOT believe in "once saved, always saved", (Hebrews 6:4-6, 1 Corinthians 9:27) or that the Gospel offers "grace", without commitment or obligation to obey the commandments of Jesus. (Titus 2:11-14) * I do NOT believe that "faith without works" is faith at all. (James 2:26) * I do NOT believe in unconditional predestination to either salvation or condemnation. * I do NOT believe, in "original sin", "inherited sin nature", "sin-in-the flesh", or "total moral depravity", or that Adam's physical nature was changed at the Fall. * I do NOT believe that the Devil or Demons are "Fallen Angels". * I do NOT believe that sinners will suffer unending conscious torment. * I do NOT believe that TRUE DISCIPLES go to war. |