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Jesus People Sf
>Beliefs<
we acknowledge the following as scripture's orthodoxy:
-God alone is holy (rev 15:4); mankind is born in condemnation (john 3:18) from their inherited guilt from Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22). Mankind has a sin nature as a result of this inheritance (Romans 5:12-14). Jesus Christ is the only truly good human in history (2 Corinthians 5:21) - having never broken God's law and is free of the inherited corruption of adam (Luke 1:30-35).
-salvation is the following axiom:
justification by faith only (Romans 4; James 2) in Christ only (Acts 4:10-12), by grace only (Ephesians 2:8-10), to the glory of god only (romans 11:33-36), as proclaimed in the scriptures (authoritatively) alone (Matthew 22:29).
-the lake of fire is an eternal place of conscious torment (Luke 16:24-25) prepared God's enemy the devil (matthew 25:41), and shared by those who refuse (Revelation 20:15) Christ's free offer of life eternal (John 1:12).
-the new Heavens and the new earth is the place of Christ's eternal (Isaiah 66:22) reign with his redeemed (Revelation 3:21), in true peace (Isaiah 2:4) and lasting rest (Revelation 7:15 & Revelation 21:1-4). There the greatest rivers of tears are incapable of persisting (Revelation 7:17).
-sinners (aka, all humanity) need to repent (Matthew 3:2) (turn) from god-defined moral evil (Revelation 9:20) and self-righteousness (Philippians 3:8-11) toward god (acts 20:21) through his son's sacrifice on the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18) and offer of pardon (Luke 5:32).
-the inerrancy of scripture, and the infallibility of scripture (best expounded in the Chicago statement on biblical inerrancy see page 9) are our only surety of what god is, who we are before him, and how one may be saved (john 10:35).
-Christians are required to persevere in faith in Christ unto the end of life (Matthew 24:13) in order to be considered Christ's elect (those who are saved into eternity; Mark 13:20)
-Christians are required to always expect Christ's imminent return (2 peter 3:2-10); least they sleep and ruin their hope eternally (Matthew 25:13)
-a Christian mortifies the deeds of the flesh (galatians 5:16-26), by the power of the scriptures (Romans 12:1-2) and the holy spirit (Romans 8:13), bearing spiritual fruit, eternal (John 4:36).
-A Christian walks by conscious faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1) and walks by the spirit and not by the flesh (Romans 8:13) throughout the entirety of life after conversion (Hebrews 10:39)
-true religion consists of attending the needs of the poor (exemplified by "orphans and widows"; James 1:27); riches (Luke 6:24) and pleasures (Titus 3:3) are dangerous (1 timothy 6:9)
-All Christians confess god is Trinity; one being, three persons: father, son, holy spirit (Matthew 28:19). Not three Gods, but one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), not one person, but three (2 Corinthians 13:14).
the following creeds are best described as "basic christianity"
Apostles' Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
creator of Heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ,
His only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit,
born from the virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead and buried,
descended into hell,
On the third day rose again
from the dead,
Ascended to Heaven,
sits at the right hand of God
the Father almighty,
Thus He will come to judge
the living and the dead;
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy Universal Church,
The fellowship of saints,
The remission of sins,
The resurrection of the Body,
And eternal life.
Amen.
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten son of God:
the one begotten from the Father before all the ages,
light of light, true God of true God,
begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father,
through whom all things came into being,
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and became flesh by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and became man and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried,
and on the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead,
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and life-giver,
the one who proceeds from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke through the prophets.
In one holy, Universal, and apostolic church:
we confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins;
we expect the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come.
Amen.
Chalcedonian
Creed
We, then, following the holy fathers,
all with one consent teach people to confess one and the same Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood;
Truly God and truly man, of a Human soul and body;
Having the same essence [divinity] of the Father according to the Godhead,
and same Substance [body] with us according to the humanity;
Like us in every way except sin;
Begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead,
and in these latter days,
for us and for our salvation,
born of the virgin Mary,
the mother of God, according to the manhood;
One and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten,
to be acknowledged in two natures,
without confusion,
without change,
without division,
without separation;
The distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved,
and concurring in one person and one subsistence,
not parted or divided into two persons,
but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;
As the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him,
and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us,
and the creed* of the holy fathers has handed down to us.
*Nicene Creed (see above)
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