What I Believe

WHAT I BELIEVE

Curt Daniel

 

I believe in the Bible.

 

I believe that God speaks in a general way through Nature and conscience, proving His existence to all men and holding all men accountable to worship and obey Him.

 

God chose to speak more clearly and objectively through human words in the Holy Bible.

 

God moved and controlled the Prophets and Apostles to write down His very words, so that the Bible is not merely the words of men but the very Word of God.

 

The Holy Scriptures are therefore completely and verbally inspired by God in their original languages, and have been providentially preserved through the ages.

 

The Bible contains 66 books, no more and no less; and no more can be added to this number.  I do not believe in the books of the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Gnostic writings, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, or any other books which pretend or are claimed to be inspired of God.

 

The Word of God alone is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.  It takes precedence over human reason, experience, feelings, science, church tradition, religious councils or creeds.  It is totally sufficient of itself.

 

The Bible is 100% infallible and inerrant, with no mixture whatsoever of error, myth or deception.  May God take me to the grave before ever I question the full truth of His most holy Word.

 

The Holy Scriptures are therefore to be read, studied, preached, believed and obeyed.

 

I believe in God.

 

I believe in the one true and living God, besides Whom there is not other.

 

I believe He is the self-existent Creator of everything, with all life in Himself, a pure and perfect spirit, different in substance from all He created.

 

God is unique and perfect in His eternity, infinity, immutability, holiness, truth, love, wisdom, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, goodness, patience, freedom, transcendence, immanence, wrath, sovereignty, happiness and glory.

 

This one God eternally exists in three persons: the Father (Who is neither created nor begotten), the Son (Who is eternally begotten of the Father), and the Holy Spirit (Who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son).  Each is equal in essence and glory.  I believe in the Trinity.

 

The Holy Spirit is fully God, is personal and invisible, and is neither the impersonal energy of God nor the cosmos, nor a divine mother-goddess.

 

I believe God speaks and identifies Himself, and alone tells us what to believe about Him and how to worship Him correctly.

 

Therefore, I do not believe in atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, polytheism, Humanism, unitarianism, Process Theology, or any other view of God that is contrary to the Word of God.

 

I believe in the existence of angels and Satan.

 

There is a real and personal Devil named Satan, who is neither a myth nor the product of superstitious imaginations.  He is a fallen angel, a liar and the promoter of all that is evil, a dangerous but defeated foe of God’s people.

 

There are also other angels, some good and some evil.  Both are invisible spirit beings without physical bodies, yet quite real, personal and active.

 

I believe what the Bible says about Man.

 

I believe God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, in His image according to the Biblical record, without the means of any kind of Evolution. Man is therefore distinct in nature from God, the angels and the animals.

 

God created Man to be accountable to Himself, but Adam’s fall into sin plunged the rest of mankind into a state of sin.  I believe in Original Sin.

 

Every man and woman has been born with a sinful and guilty nature, except for Jesus Christ alone.  Sin affects and controls every part of Man, so that he is morally unable to think, will or do anything acceptable to God, without the special grace of God.

 

Thus, Man cannot save himself and is under the wrath of God.

 

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I believe that Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, eternally one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in essence and glory.  He is very God of very God.

 

He became a man by means of a unique, miraculous birth of a virgin mother.  I believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ.

 

He was conceived without the aid of a human father, and therefore did not inherit any Original Sin.  He thus lived His entire life on Earth without any sin whatsoever, and so provided the perfect example of holiness and love and truth.

 

He had a real and physical human body the same as ours, except for sin.

 

He taught as no man had ever taught, performed many wonderful miracles, and humbled Himself as the servant of God and men.

 

He paid the full penalty for our sins by His penal substitutionary death on the cross as an atonement for sinners, especially for the elect whom God chose unto salvation.  In this central event of all history, He displayed the love and justice of God, defeated Satan, astonished the angels, satisfied the wrath of the Father, and reconciled us to God.

 

I believe Jesus rose again from the dead physically, miraculously and victoriously.  He then ascended visibly back to Heaven to be our mediator and high priest.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is therefore the one and only way to God, the true and glorious revelation of all that God is, the epitome of goodness and the quintessence of love.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ.  And I love Him.

 

I believe in the Plan of God. 

 

God eternally foreordained everything that comes to pass in time, for His own glory.

 

Consulting only with Himself, out of free grace God eternally chose some men to be saved from their sins by Christ Jesus, and left the rest to be punished justly for their sins – both to the glory of God.

 

God gradually made known His way of salvation through Christ, so that from Adam and Eve onwards there had been the progressive outworking of God’s plan of salvation and glory in human history.

 

God sent prophets to foretell the coming of the Savior, and raised up Israel to prepare the way for Him.  Jesus came in the fullness of time, and though rejected by Israel, He fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah and established the perfect New Covenant in His blood.

 

Throughout the outworking of the plan of God, the Lord Jesus has been saving those whom He chose and preparing them for Heaven’s glory.

 

I believe in God’s way of salvation.

 

Salvation is and has always been by the unmerited grace of God alone, not by our good works, baptism, prayers or any other work on the part of Man.

 

Salvation is by faith alone, which includes belief in the Gospel and personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Saving faith also includes repentance, which is a change of mind and heart about sin, and turning from it to God.  Both faith and repentance are the free gifts of God.

 

I believe the Holy Spirit gives the spiritual new birth by means of the Word of God alone, and that it is miraculous, instantaneous and essential to salvation.

 

I believe in justification by faith alone. God freely pardons all our sins solely by His grace on the basis of the shed blood of Christ, and places the very righteousness of Jesus Christ to our account.

 

All those whom God chose and saves shall persevere in faith, repentance and obedience to the end, even through trials and frequent sinning, so that by God’s grace none are perpetually backslidden or finally lost.

 

I believe in the Christian life.

 

The Christian is to live out this salvation in grateful and humble obedience to God’s laws, by faith, love to God and Man, the use of the gifts God gives him, evangelism of the lost, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and worship of God.

 

I reject all forms of legalism, antinomianism, mysticism, pretended forms of super-spirituality, and other detriments to the true Christian life.

 

I believe in the moral Law of God and its clear Biblical teachings on such issues as the sanctity of the family, the headship of husbands and the submission of wives, the mandate for Christians to work for a godly society, capital punishment, just war, and other Biblical teachings which are under attack in our ungodly society today.

 

I do not believe in Secular Humanism, Situation Ethics, any form of Feminism, abortion (except to save the life of the mother), homosexuality, secular psychology, self-esteem or other similar views that are contrary to the Word of God.

 

I believe in the Church.

 

The universal Church consists of all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The people of God includes believers from Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church, forming one people and one destiny, not two. The Church existed in embryonic form in the Old Testament, but was properly born on the Day of Pentecost and in this sense is the New Israel and the Kingdom of God in this age.

 

The local Church is an expression of the universal Church, independent of outside control, to be ruled by multiple elders and served by deacons, to be separated from the world and religious apostasy, and to serve as a light in a dark and fallen world.

 

The threefold purpose of the Church is: the worship of God first and foremost, the edification of believers, and the evangelism of the lost.

 

I believe in the priesthood of all believers and the unique headship of Jesus Christ over both the universal and the local Church.

 

I believe in water baptism as a testimony of the believer’s cleansing from sin and union with Christ.  It is for believers only, not infants; and it follows the new birth, not precedes or produces it.

 

I believe in the Lord’s Supper as a regular remembrance of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a means of feeding upon the life of Christ through the preached Word of God, until He returns.  It is for all believers, but only for believers.

 

Therefore, I reject all false views of the Church, such as Roman Catholicism, cultism, liberalism, ecumenism, sacramentalism, liturgicalism, Man-centered entertainment pseudo-worship, syncretism with false religions, and other evils.

 

I believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

 

I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to Earth visibly and physically one day, to complete the plan and purpose of God.

 

He will consummate His Kingdom in the New Heaven and the New Earth, and finalize His victory over Satan.

 

He will raise all men from the dead, and give perfect bodies of glory to believers and imperfect bodies of disgrace to unbelievers.

 

He will be the judge of all men and angels.  He will condemn all unrepentant sinners to Hell to be punished eternally, physically and consciously for their sins.

 

I do not believe in reincarnation, annihilationism, conditional immortality, soul-sleep, universalism, purgatory or any kind of second chance for salvation after death.

 

I further believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will welcome His children into the very Heaven of Heavens, to be finally united with Him in peace and joy and love, and to see and enjoy God ever.

 

Then will be displayed fully and forever the infinite splendor and majestic glory of God Almighty.

 

To Him be glory and honor and praise, both now and forever.

 

This is a brief summary of what I believe, upon the authority of the Word of God.  So help me God.  Amen.