God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4, I Corinthians 8:6).

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit exist in Unity (Matthew 28:19).

Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, engendered in the human flesh of the virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25; 16:16; Luke 1:34-35; John 1:14, 3:16).

Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, or Messiah, sent from God to be the savior and redeemer of humanity (John 1:29; 3:15-17; Acts 4:12). He is the only mediator between God and Man (I Timothy 2:5).

Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, is God incarnate in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united.

Before his human birth, Jesus existed eternally with God and as God (John 1:1-2, 1:14; II Peter 1:1; Revelation 1:8).

Jesus is the eternal Word, through whom and for whom God created all things (John 1:1, 1:14; Colossians 1:15-17). God created everything in the universe by and through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3).

God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 6:4; Revelation 1:18).

God has given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9-11).

Eternal salvation is only through Jesus' death on the cross and "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12 NASB).

Salvation and life eternal is the gift of God, by God's grace, only through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16; 3:26; Ephesians 2:8).

The Bible, the only infallible rule of faith and practice, is the inspired Word of God (II Timothy 3:16).

The task of selecting writings for inclusion in the New Testament as an apostolic compendium of Christian Scripture was not left to chance, custom, or tradition, but to the apostles themselves. This duty did not rest with Judeo-Christians of later generations nor with Gentile Christian groups not in their fellowship (II Peter 1:15; 3:15).

The New Testament serves to protect the people of God by ensuring that future generations have an accurate account of "The Way" (Hebrews 13:7; II Peter 1:15; John 14:6).

God, who created Adam in his own image, formed Adam from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breadth of life, and he became a living being (Genesis 1:27; 2:7).

The natural human mind with its human nature is hostile toward God and it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not able to do so (Romans 8:7).

All humans have sinned and come short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23). All will remain in an eternally lost condition, having no life eternal they will cease to exist, apart from the saving grace of the Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:12-20).

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Salvation is by grace through faith, and it is the gift of God, and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Faith without works is dead (James 2:26) which calls for all Christians to live lives of "faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6).

Salvation or "being saved" is not a one time event but a process that lasts a lifetime (Matthew 10:22; 24:12-13).

God's gift of eternal life is to those who remain faithful to God to death. If a converted person truly falls away it is impossible, even for God, to renew him or her again to repentance (Hebrews 6:4-7).

God loves his people and will do all possible to help them work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

Jesus made atonement for the whole human race (Romans 5:8-11) and in him the whole sinful world became reconciled to God (Galatians 4:4-5; 3:13).

This reconciliation is evident in II Corinthians 5:18-21 where Paul not only says that God reconciled humanity to Himself through Christ, but quite expressly states that God "made him [Christ] to be [a] sin [offering] who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (v. 20). This lies at the very heart of biblical reconciliation. To become the righteousness of God speaks to the ultimate purpose of humans to become the children of God.

It is God�s intent that all humans come to the knowledge of the truth and to receive life eternal. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). God fulfills His purpose through a step-by-step salvific plan for bringing humanity to the full knowledge and stature of Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12; John 6:44; 17:2-8, 17:17-21; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:7-8; 2:22-39; 3:17-26 and Ephesians 4:11-15; Romans 1:16; 5:8-10; 11:22-26; II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:4-6).

God�s purpose for each human being is his or her becoming a member of God�s divine kingdom. In that resurrection each individual shall be spirit and possess and the attributes of Godly character and life everlasting (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:14-19, 8:28-29; I Corinthians 15:39-54; Hebrews 2:5-10).

Jesus Christ lived without sin setting us an example to live likewise (John 15:9-12; I Peter 2:21-25; I John 2:6; Ephesians 5:1-2; I Corinthians 11:1).

God performed the work of reconciliation through Christ�s sin-bearing on the cross wherein Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Christians are justified by his blood (Romans 5:9 cf. Ephesians 1:7, 2:13; Hebrews 9:14). Through Christ human sins are imputed to Christ (Hebrews 9:28). By this the alienation is set aside.

Justification and salvation are a gift of God through faith in Christ�s blood (Romans 3:23-25; 5:1-2; 6:23). They are not earned by our works (Romans 3:20-23; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-10). Nevertheless, those who abide in Christ should live as he lived (I John 2:3-6) as ambassadors of Christ. A form of self-deception consists of seeking only grace and ignoring works.

During this age Christians are called, justified, and perfected into the image of Jesus Christ, that is, through the Christian life they acquire holy, righteous, impeccable character (Romans 8:29-30).

God is not reconciled to the world nor does God reconcile Himself with the world (II Corinthians 5:19). The world must be reconciled with God. However, God loves us even while we are yet sinners.

Nevertheless, God does not change as His character is unchanging. God has no fellowship with sinners. God remains unrelentingly opposed to sin but God does not abandon God's love for sinners. Instead, as we receive this message and respond to it, we are reconciled to God and become ambassadors for Christ in bringing others to reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:20).

To become converted one has to receive an invitation in the form of an irrevocable personal calling (Romans 11:29) directly from God the Father (John 6:44, 6:65).

If anyone does not have the indwelling of Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, then he or she is not a converted Christian (Romans 8:9).

God's calling is a heavenly calling (Hebrews 3:1) of setting apart (I Thessalonians 4:7) for a holy purpose (II Timothy 1:9).

Once an individual receives such a calling, that person becomes capable of a repentance acceptable to God and accountable for furthering his or her own relationship with God.

God ordained both repentance and water baptism by complete immersion for all that believe (Matthew 3:13-15; Romans 6:3-5; Acts 2:37-39).

The newly baptized Christian receives the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:12, 8:17) placing him or her into the body of Christ which is the church (Colossians 1:18, 1:24, 2:17).

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a person changes the very nature of that individual, through a process of radical transformation of the human heart, and "converts" him or her into a new creation whose life is one emanating God�s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Those indwelled with the spirit of God are not sinners but saints or holy ones (Romans 1:7; 8:27; I Corinthians 1:2) in whom Christ lives (Galatians 2:20) whom God enables and expects to be his holy people all of the time.

God's people are to live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4) and to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5).

The Sinaitic covenant with the people of Israel ended at the death of Jesus of Nazareth in order to establish a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7, 8:8, 8:23; 9:10, 9:15; 10:9).

Any continuing relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, requires faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth and not reliance on the onetime covenant mediated through Moses (Galatians 2:16; 3:11).

The apostles James, Peter, and John, held as did Paul that the Mosaic Code did not apply to Christians of either Gentile or Jewish descent including its ceremonial demands concerning food and circumcision (Galatians 2:9-10; Acts 15:1, 15:5).

God chose a remnant taken from the children of Israel by fleshly descent to begin the qehal'el, the new Israel of God, which we know in the apostolic times as the Church of God composed of Judeo-Christians (Romans 11:5-9, 11:17-20).

When Gentiles become spiritual Israelites, grafted into the new Israel of God, they become subject to the Law of Christ not the Law of Moses. The promises to them are those of the new covenant people not the people of the Sinaitic covenant for "it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants" (Romans 9:8).

The New Covenant consists of a unique agreement between God and the individual Christian containing all the rights, duties, and obligations of each party. The individual had to repent of sin (Acts 2:38), accept Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior, and undergo ritual baptism as a demonstration of repentance and acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth on their behalf.

The new covenant is a unilateral one wherein the people of God enter into it and perform their part until death, awaiting the promises as did Abraham (Hebrews 11:10-13), to be fully executed beginning with the resurrection of the dead in Christ.

The law given at Sinai, including the Ten Commandments, was the law of God for Israel (Leviticus 26:46; Deuteronomy 4:13), and it was the law of God for Israel until Christ came (Galatians 3:19). It was not the law of God for all people, nor the law of God for all time, nor the law of God for the people of God today. It was for Israel, temporary in force until Christ died. Transcended by the law of Christ it faded (II Corinthians 3:7-11).

The Torah, therefore, is now null and void as a divinely sanctioned legal code for the people of God (II Corinthians 3:7-11; Galatians 3:23-25; 4:24-31; 5:2-6; John 1:17) but the Hebrew Scriptures, inspired by God, are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (II Timothy 3:16).

Early Judeo-Christianity, understanding itself to be �a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God� (I Peter 2:9), rejected not only the Oral Torah and all Jewish halakhic customs but denied that the Church of God, as the new Israel of God, was subject in any way whatsoever to the Law of Moses.

The halakhic traditions and interpretations of the Pharisees (Matthew 15:6-9; Mark 7:5-9; Titus 1:14) and the teachings of the Essenes (Colossians 2:20-23) are of no spiritual substance as they are the ideas, fables and rites of men Mark 7:8-9, Colossians 2:8).

The commandments of God (I Corinthians 7:19; I John 5:2-3; Revelation 12:17; 14:12), that is, the law of God and the law of Christ are one and the same.

The royal law (James 2:8), the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is also the law of God (I Corinthians 9:20-21), can be summarized by two overarching commands: "And this is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us" (I John 3:23).

The law of Christ is not a codified set of regulations, though the New Testament provides unambiguous descriptions of the kind of conduct that is characteristic of those who abide by the law of Christ (Galatians 5:22-26; 6:2; Ephesians 4:20-6:20; Philippians 2:1-18; Colossians 3:1-4:6) for its focus is on the intent of the heart not on physical acts as God places his very nature, character, and values into his begotten children through the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

Sin is the transgression of the law of God, the royal law, the law of Christ (I John 3:4; I Corinthians 9:20-21; James 2:8; Galatians 6:2).

The Church of God, or more accurately the Congregation of God, is the formal proper noun rendering of ekklesia tou Theou, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew qehal'el, or qehal �eloh�m, referring to the eschatological assemblage who have been "assembled" or "called together" as the spiritual Israel of God.

The Church of God consists of the elect and saints�the members of the body of Christ (I Peter 2:9).

Collectively, they became spiritual Jews (Colossians 3:11; Romans 2:28-29) and the new "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).

Under the terms of the New Covenant, with a promise of an "eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15), individuals, rather than a national ethnic group, became the descendants of Abraham designated as the heirs of the promise (Galatians 3:29).

As the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob end their unbelief they again become heirs of the promise (Romans 11:23-24).

The Church of God, His people chosen pursuant to a new covenant, are to grow in grace and knowledge (II Peter 3:18).

The prophetic history of the Church of God is embedded in the account of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3.

Those who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh are the true circumcision (Philippians 3:3).

Christians are to present their bodies as living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, which is their spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1).

Christians are to worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).

When two or three come together in Jesus' name he is there with them (Matthew 18:20).

Although Christians no longer need to assemble on the Sabbath to hear the Scriptures read, for few in apostolic times had private copies of the rolls of Scripture, Christians even in today's world need the fellowship provided by corporate worship (Hebrews 10:25).

The normal pattern of corporate worship in the New Testament is on the seventh day Sabbath, beginning sunset Friday through sunset Saturday, and relating to the Christian Passover and the seven annual Sabbaths (Acts 13:14; 13:42; 13:44; 16:13; Hebrews 14:9). The occasion of other meetings in the New Testament are simply incidental exceptions not the rule.

Page last edited: 08/01/04 05:15 PM