Doctrinal Statement

I had to write this for school. It's due Monday evening so any suggestions or changes you guys would make would certainly be helpful. Even after Monday you can offer help if you'd like because I will be keeping it for personal use. Thanks.

I. The Scriptures
I believe that the Bible was written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf 2 Peter 1:19-21). This authoritative word of God is the soul source from which I know the gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace of God to man (cf Romans 1:2). It is also a primary source of God for the sustaining and maturation of believers (cf Psalm 1, John 17:17).

II. God
I believe in the God of the Holy Bible from whom all things were created (cf Gen. 1:1, Col. 1:16). Being one God and yet three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Being also the sustainer of the universe and upholder of all creation (cf Heb. 1:3) He is Holy (cf Isaiah 6:3), omnipotent (cf Job 42:2, Isaiah 26:4), omnipresent (cf Psalm 139), omniscient (cf Romans 11:34), omnibenevolent (cf 2 Chron. 7:3), loving (cf 1 John 4:7ff), merciful (cf Psalm 116:5), and perfectly just. (cf Deut. 32:4).

A. 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. (Baptist Faith and Message Section II A)”

B. God the Son
“[I believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father (Nicene Creed).”

C. God the Holy Spirit
I believe in God the Holy Spirit, who inspired the human authors of the holy Scriptures and illumines the hearts of its readers. He is the effective Caller to salvation and the sole regenerator, baptizing the elect into the body of Christ, and working in and through them in sanctification.

III. Man
I believe that man is created in the image of God (cf Gen: 1:26), for the Glory of God (cf Isaiah 43:7). In the Garden of Eden Adam, the first man, sinned thus bringing the curse of original sin to all men thereafter (cf Gen. 3, Romans 5:12). Thus man is completely dependent on God’s grace for every breath taken and for salvation.

IV. Salvation
I believe in the salvation of the elect, “by grace… through faith…not a result of works” (Eph. 2:8). This salvation includes: (a) the Justification of the believer. Once a sinful man believes in Jesus (cf Romans 10:9), and repents of his sin (cf Matthew 4:17) he is then justified by God. The Justification of the believer also includes two main parts: (a.a) Substitutionary Atonement, the act of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (see II B) dying on the cross in the place of the sinner (cf Col. 2:13-15). Justification also includes (a.b) Imputed Righteousness, the act of God crediting or imputing the righteousness of Jesus Christ as that of the believer (cf Romans 4). Secondly, salvation includes (b) the Sanctification of the believer, the act of the Holy Spirit enabling maturity and Christ-likeness in the believer’s life (cf 2 Cor. 3:18). Lastly, salvation includes (c) the Glorification; this will be the very obvious final stage of salvation when all believers receive their resurrection bodies (cf 1 Cor. 15:51-52). This is an eternal salvation (cf John 6:37) marked by the Lordship of Christ over the believer’s life and displayed by the fruit of the Spirit being produced in the believer’s life (cf Gal. 5:16ff).