Strong
In Grace Doctrinal Statement
We believe that all the Scripture (New and Old Testaments)
is inspired by God, that the whole Bible in its original text is without error,
and that the Bible is the only authoritative guide for faith and practice and
as such must not be supplemented by any other fields of human learning. We believe that all the Scripture centers
about the Lord Jesus Christ in his person and his work, and hence no portion,
even the Old Testament, is properly read or understood unless it leads to him.
We believe that there
is only One God. The Godhead eternally
exists in three persons- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – and that
these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and
perfections, and worthy of precisely the same homage, confidence, and
obedience.
We believe that Jesus
Christ is the eternal Son of God, The Second Person in the Godhead. He came to the world that he might manifest
God to the world, fulfill prophecy, and become the Redeemer of a lost
world. To this end, he was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of Virgin Mary, and received a human body and a
sinless human nature. We believe that,
on the human side, He became and remained a perfect man, but sinless throughout
His life; yet he retained His absolute deity, being the same time very God and
very man.
We believe that man was
originally created in the image and likeness of God. This was a unique and
special creation, as contrasted to being derived from any pre-existing life
forms. Furthermore, we believe that God created everything “after its kind”
which excludes any position that allows for an evolutionary process between
kinds.
We believe that shortly
after the creation, the first man fell into sin, and as a consequence of his
sin, lost his spiritual life and became under the power of the Devil. We also
believe that the spiritual death, or total depravity of human nature, has been
transmitted to the entire human race, except the Man Jesus Christ, hence every
person is born into the world with a nature that is essentially and
unchangeably bad apart from divine grace.
We believe that Jesus
Christ voluntarily accepted the death on the cross to take away the sin of the
world, bearing the holy judgments against sin, which the righteousness of God
must impose. His death, was therefore
substitutionary in the most absolute sense- the just for the unjust- and by his
death He became the Savior of the lost.
We believe that He arose from the dead in the body in which He was
crucified; He ascended into heaven in that body glorified, where He is now our
interceding High Priest.
We believe that, owing
to universal death through sin, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he
is born again; and that no degree of reformation however great, no attainments
in morality however high, no culture however attractive, no baptism or other
ordinance however administered, can help the sinner to take even one step
toward heaven; but a new nature imparted from above is absolutely essential to
salvation, and only those thus saved are the children of God.
We believe that our
redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
who died in our place; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good
resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulation of
any church, nor all the churches that have existed since the days of the
Apostles can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood, or to the
merit of the finished work of Christ in the cross.
We believe that the new
birth of the believer come only through faith in Christ and that repentance is
a vital part of believing, and is in no way, in itself, a separate and
independent condition of salvation; nor are any other acts, such as confession,
church membership, baptism, prayer, sacraments, or work of righteousness, to be
added to believing as a condition to attain or sustain salvation.
We believe that
sanctification, which is setting apart unto God, is threefold: It is already
complete for every born again Christian because his position in Christ is
perfect. We believe that a Christian, however, retains his sin nature, which
cannot be eradicated in his life.
Therefore, although his standing is perfect, his present state is no more
perfect than his experience in daily life. There is, however, a progressive
sanctification wherein the Christian is to grow in grace, and to be changed by
the unhindered power of the Holy Spirit. We believe also that the child of God
will yet be fully sanctified in his state as he is now sanctified in his
standing in Christ when he shall see the Lord face to face.
We believe that all
true believers everywhere, once saved shall be kept saved forever. We believe, however, that God is a holy and
righteous Father and that, since he cannot overlook the sins of his children,
He will, when they persistently sin, chasten them and correct them in infinite
love; but having undertaken to save them and keep them forever, apart from all
human merit, He, who cannot fail, will at the end present every one of them
faultless before the presence of His glory and conformed to the image of his
Son.
We believe that every
born again Christian is a member of the Church of Christ, regardless of
membership or nonmembership in the organized churches of earth. We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s
Supper are the only sacraments and ordinances of the church and that they are a
spiritual means of testimony for the church in this age. We believe that the
mission of the church is to witness concerning its Head, Jesus Christ,
preaching the gospel among all nations. We believe that the church will be
caught be to meet the Lord in the air prior to the tribulation.
We believe after the
great tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back again personally and
visibly to set up His Kingdom. At the close of the earthly Kingdom, He will
judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the
eternal reward of the believer and the eternal punishment of the unbelieving.
We believe that both the reward and punishment is a state of full consciousness
as contrasted to temporary or complete cessation of consciousness, or merging
with eternal oneness, or annihilation of the damned, or a “second chance” or a
period of suffering or purification in preparation for entrance into the
presence of God.
Source: Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Theological
Seminary Doctrinal Statements. Strong In Grace is not associated with these
organizations or any other organization, church, or denomination in any manner.
Strong In Grace/ strongingrace.com/ strongingrace.org
is a ministry of Lois Amari.
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