Christ First Forum

by **Remnant** » 01 May 2008, 16:46

The Bible - We as Christians believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, which came about by Holy inspiration. This means that even though men, starting with Moses and ending with the disciple John, wrote the 66 books contained in the Bible, they were inspired by God and guided by the Holy Spirit to put to papyrus those truths that God wanted us to know. The Bible is the Word of God made know to us, and is good for preaching, teaching, and instructing men and women in the truth. God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is entirely the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.

God - I do not have enough time to explain in detail the beliefs that we as Christians have about God. Let it suffice to say that as Christians we believe in one God, but in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which we refer to as the Trinity or the Godhead. The Three Persons of the Trinity appear to work separately from each other, but when you realize that God is omnipresent, everywhere at once, you can see how He can be with us now in the form of the Holy Spirit, and as Jesus when He walked the earth, and still be in Heaven in the form of the Father. This is one doctrine that you would be advised to make yourself more familiar with because it is one of the most questioned Christian doctrines.

Jesus - As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, part of the Trinity. What this means to us is that God came to this earth in the form of a man, in order to die on a cross and take our punishment. He taught with authority and all his words are true. On the cross he died for our sins, bearing God's punishment for us, and redeeming us by his blood. He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of the Father and mediates God's grace for the recovery of our humanity and the restoration of all things.
Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world because of His death on the cross. It is important to our faith that we believe in Jesus' death and resurrection, because if not for that sacrifice we would still be lost in our sin. C.S. Lewis once said that in deciding who Jesus is, you have three choices, "lunatic, liar, or Savior." That choice is up to you.

The Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, bringing assurance of salvation, assuring them, imparting new abilities and gifts to them, and producing increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Godhead or Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is fully God and comes to inhabit the believer forever when we accept Christ as our Savior, to guide us into truth, to teach us, and to help us carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ here on earth. It is through the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are able to interpret Scripture and learn what God wants us to know from His Word. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would be given to all believers. In Acts chapter 2, we see the arrival of the Holy Spirit, which is the fulfillment of both the prophecy of His arrival written in Joel 2:28-29 and of Jesus' promise to His disciples in John 7:37-39.

We are sinners. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We as Christians believe that because of one man, Adam, sin came into this world, and as a result of that sin, death. We may not like the idea, but each generation after Adam, up to and including ours, was born into sin. This is what we believe and hold to, and this is why God, in the form of Jesus, had to come to take our punishment on the cross.

Salvation. There is only one way to Heaven, and that is through the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Jesus died once for all that we may be saved. The Bible says that salvation can be found in no one else and not by works, lest any man boast. This means we must, through faith and belief in our hearts of what Jesus did for us, confess our sins to Christ and offer up to Him our lives as living sacrifices, at which time we are forgiven and enter into an eternal relationship with Christ. This is the only way to salvation.
Salvation is entirely a work of God's grace and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is offered to all in the gospel. God in his love forgives sinners whom he calls, granting them repentance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life.

The Human Race
All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to believe, obey, worship and love God. Through Adams sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. Every person, therefore needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him.

The Church
The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. It is made visible in local churches, which are congregations of believers who are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the recovery of true community, the administering of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for pastoral care and discipline, and for evangelism. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists in the Holy Spirit and flourishes only where they are faithful to the gospel.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been given to the churches by Christ as visible signs of the gospel. Baptism is a symbol and powerful confirmation and seal of our union with Christ and entry into his Church and is meant to accelerate but does not impart spiritual life. The Lord's Supper is a commemoration of Christ's sacrifice offered once for all and a means of encounter with him, though it involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.

The future
The Lord Jesus Christ will return personally and bodily in all His glory to fulfill all prophecy and history and fully restore his creation without spot nor blemish. He will bodily raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.

I believe it is up to every Christian to search the scriptures and find for them self the other doctrines of the faith. These are the basic doctrinal truths that holds us together even when we disagree.

There are many more and if you would like to discuss them then do so according to the guidelines set up by Christ First Forum and the Administrator.

by **Gracealone** » 10 Oct 2010, 20:49

What more can one say but Amen, and Amen! :batr

by **Remnant** » 10 Oct 2010, 20:58

Gracealone wrote:What more can one say but Amen, and Amen!

Thank you sister for those encouraging words and it is good to have you back on CFF.
:yagl

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