Summary of biblical convictions

[All Scripture references are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.]

This document seeks to summarize our church's convictions on a number of world-view and doctrinal matters that the Bible speaks to, in the hope that it will provide our membership and any other interested parties insight into how we approach the Scriptures especially as it may pertain to the proclamation of the Gospel and the specifically Christian practices that go along with it.

We call this a Summary, and it is important to understand five things about it:  

1. We hope that church members will refer to this document to deepen their walk with the Lord through meditating on the scriptures provided in each topical entry as they consider how each statement brings those verses together into a clear conviction to be believed and/or practiced.  We further hope that this process will result in personal spiritual growth that allows our members to become more confident in their capability to share God's Word with non-Christians as well as strengthening our ability to wisely disciple one another in love.  Lastly, we hope that these statements will inspire you to come up with your own statements of conviction about what it means to have a relationship with God.
2. This document does not carry a weight of authority of its own.  Any Christian may question and challenge the validity of any statement being made in the Summary if they feel the honest need to do so.  Such challenges are to be regarded as a healthy way to strengthen the foundations of our collective understanding of God’s Word and in how to obey it (successful challenges will hone its clarity and failed challenges will reinforce its current formulations, so this is true whether or not the challenge succeeds in producing a change in the Summary).
3. The Summary is designed to be progressive in the way it presents our biblical convictions, with foundational truths discussed first that then lend themselves to the understanding of further convictions we also hold.  If at any time you feel that a statement being made in this document leaves certain conclusions open and unanswered, keep reading.  You may find the closure you are seeking in a later statement that builds upon the earlier one you are wrestling with.
4. It does not replace the local church’s study series as a means of studying God’s Word with would-be converts.   But becoming well versed in the Summary should help strengthen our presentation of those studies.

5. The Bible contains many more themes and teachings than what is being presented in this Summary.  The Summary is intended to focus upon only those themes and understandings deemed relevant to a full and accurate presentation of the Gospel as we have come to understand it.

The material in this Summary is presented with the Restoration paradigm in mind, affirming our recognition of and need for this vital element in the pursuit of an authentic Christian ministry designed to promote the relevancy of our faith and to outlast ourselves, God willing.

Restoration paradigm defined:  The on-going work of the Spirit in helping us rediscover and reimplement the teachings and practices of the 1st century church as preached by the Apostles, preserved in Scripture and intended for all generations of Christians to imitate until the end of the Age comes.

I.  THEOLOGICAL WORLDVIEW: (A worldview is a way of grasping the relationships that exist, or ought to exist between the various elements of reality that are taught in a belief system.  It represents the overarching mental or intellectual framework within which these realities are arranged, prioritized, and articulated.)

1. God exists.  
   
   1. God is a being, just as you and I are beings that exist.  He is the pre-existing and everlasting being.  He is Eternal.  He had no beginning, and will have no end (Isaiah 43:13; Hebrews 11:6).  
   2. God is the one and only being in all reality who possesses godhood, and the designation of deity - the status of being a real god worthy of being worshiped for who and what He is. (Exodus 3:14; 1 Chronicles 16:8-36, Isaiah 37:16).

2. God is the Creator. 
   
   1. All things that exist (other than Himself) were made by Him.  He is the Uncaused, First Cause of all that ever was, now is, or shall ever be.  He understands and set in motion all of the primal conditions underlying and upholding the rest of reality.  He made The Universe, and everything in it: space-time, matter & energy, and everything that is made from these things, as well as the physical laws and dimensional realities that govern their interactions (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 44:24; Acts 17:24).  
   2. Through the infinite power of His Word, God created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that is in them, “out of nothing”, (Latin: ex Nihilo, which intends to emphasize that the things created did not exist in any substantive form other than as a mental blueprint in the mind of God prior to His acts of Creation which brought them into existence.)  In truth however, this is not the most accurate term we could use to describe the creative process, since His all-powerful Word is not “nothing”.  Ex Deo – “out of God” – is more precise (Psalms 33:6; Isaiah 48:12-13; Revelation 4:11).  
   3. This perspective affirms that God’s primary creative activities were causally direct, purpose driven, intelligently designed and accomplished through divine (i.e. beyond natural) agency, while not denying that the creative processes employed by God may also have involved intermediary stages of natural development.  It is further affirmed here that such processes may have left a record of His creative activity within the Natural Order, but with little or no means available to us for positively correlating such evidence with the divine nature of its true origins, thus explaining the rise in popularity of alternative (i.e. "secular", “naturalistic”, or “atheistic”) interpretations regarding the origins of the Universe (and Life) that differ fundamentally from that which is being professed here.  Because of this, we affirmatively choose to exercise faith in the Christian/Biblical worldview on origins over all other possible options open to reason (Isaiah 45:18; Hebrews 11:3).

3. God is Spirit.  God is Holy.  God is Perfect.  
   
   1. God does not need a physical body in which to exist.  His Spirit is self-sufficient, self-sustaining, and self-perpetual.  The essence of God's Spirit is the very essence of Life itself; all other life forms are alive because God chose to impart life to them from His own Spirit (Job 34:14-15). 
   2. God never does anything that is wrong or evil (Job 34:10).  Not because he can’t (He is all-powerful), but because He won’t.  He refuses to act in contradiction to His Truth, Love, and Goodness (Malachi 3:6).  Existentially, the option to choose evil must exist for God - at least in the technical sense of a potential alternative, otherwise we are denying that God has free will which would invalidate the genuineness of His truth, love and goodness.  It is this very fact that God always chooses to do the right thing that ultimately sets Him apart from the created orders – both Natural and Divine – and demonstrates His unique holiness (Exodus 15:11; Psalms 29:2; Revelation 4:8).
   3. God’s holiness proves His claim to perfection, thus qualifying Him to act as the Judge of all other morally obligated beings, both celestial and human (Psalms 9:4; Matthew 5:48; Hebrews 12:23; 2 Peter 2:4).

4. God is Good, God is Love, God is Truth, God is Light.  
   
   1. These are the qualities of God that we, as His special creation, were meant to grasp and imitate.  All things good, lovely and true find their ultimate origin in God; there is no good thing that exists apart from Him, that is, outside the scope of His Will.  Therefore, every manifestation of goodness in the world must be attributed to God rather than arrogated to ourselves even when we are the primary actor through which such goodness comes (Psalms 23:6; Mark 10:18; James 1:17).
   2. Perhaps God's most important quality, relative to ourselves, is His love.  His love answers the cosmic question: why?  Why are we here?  Why do we have free will?  Why has God revealed Himself to us?  Why rescue us from our doomed state?  Why are we even allowed to ask, "why"?  Because He loves us radically and unconditionally, and the magnitude of His love exceeds our capacity to explain it (John 3:16; Ephesians 3:17b-19; 1 John 4:16).
   3. God is the source of all Truth and of all true understanding and insight that any of us ever experience in our lives.  This is what is meant by the Biblical phrase, “...the light of the world” (John 1:9, 8:12, 12:46), and we call our experience of that light, Illumination (1 John 1:5).  We also call it, Wisdom, which we acquire from internalizing God’s Word into our hearts.
   4. God created us to live in harmony with His goodness by pursuing goodness ourselves for its own sake (Psalm 34:14; 3 John 1:11).  He created us to live in harmony with His love by expressing it back to Him in our spirits as worship (Deuteronomy 10:12), and towards others in our daily lives as compassion and friendship (1 John 4:12), and He created us to live in harmony with His Truth, which is revealed to us by God’s Holy Spirit through the Scriptures which have been consolidated into the book we know as the Holy Bible (John 16:13-14).

5. The Bible is God’s one and only Revelation of the Truth to Mankind.
   
   1. The Bible consists of 66 individual works of scripture, called books for the sake of simplicity.  It is subdivided into two major works:  The Old Testament, composing the first 39 books, and the New Testament, composing the remaining 27 books.
   2. Each of these books was originally penned by chosen men called prophets whom God inspired to write portions of His divine message through the agency of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).  This means that the true author of the Bible is the Holy Spirit, rather than the men who put ink to parchment (i.e. scrolls), which makes its contents authoritative and completely trustworthy as a guide to illuminating our understanding about the nature of God, the origins of all things (Creation), the nature and destiny of the human race, as well as the plans and purposes of God for Man (2 Timothy 3:16).
   3. It doesn’t tell us everything we might wish to know about these things, but it does tell us everything God knows we need to know about such things in order to be in a right relationship with Him and with each other (Deuteronomy 29:29).
   4. Many other writings within the Judeo-Christian tradition do exist, however, they were rejected for inclusion in the canon (i.e. the completed works) of Scripture after careful examination.
   5. We take it on faith that though the Bible is managed by men (and some of questionable character), its content was selected by divine agency, and is being protected and preserved from degradation and corruption, maintaining its ability to reveal the Truth to all generations regardless of time or honest translation (Psalms 119:114; John 17:17).
   6. False translations do exist, but in light of the many surviving editions of the genuine article, we can rest assured that we will always have access to the Truth and thereby be able to recognize the false when it is proffered (Jude 1:24-25).

6. The Biblical Relationship between Belief, Righteousness and Faith.
   
   1. Accepting the teachings of the Bible as Truth embodies the ideal of belief.  Obeying its moral, ethical and relational imperatives embodies the ideal of righteousness.  Combining belief with righteousness embodies the Christian ideal of faith (James 1:22).  
   2. Belief by itself can be purely abstract (i.e. Ivory Tower philosophy – Colossians 2:8; James 2:19).  Righteousness by itself can be purely legalistic (i.e. going through the motions – Matthew 5:20; Mark 7:6).  
   3. Faith on the other hand springs from rightly understood beliefs, and compels us to rightly motivated actions and attitudes.  When we exercise faith, we are demonstrating our confidence and trust in God (the source and subject of our beliefs) through obedience to biblically sanctioned actions and expectations (Deuteronomy 11:13; Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 11:1-2).  
   4. The Bible shows us how to build faith in God, and walk faithfully before Him all the days of our lives (Genesis 17:1; 2 Timothy 3:15).

7. The Incomprehensibility of God.
   
   1. Even though the Bible gives us information about God's nature, a full understanding of the nature of God is ultimately incomprehensible to us (Job 11:7-9).  
   2. Our minds are powerful engines of reasoning compared to other living things, but ultimately, we are still limited in our ability to perceive transcendent realities (e.g. we cannot conceive of a “place” without assigning to it some sense of three-dimensionality, such as area, distance or volume, even though we may realize that such things might not actually apply to transcendent places like Heaven or Hell - Psalms 139:6).  
   3. We are also limited in the sense that we can only contemplate one aspect of the nature of God at any given moment in time.  Nor can we extricate ourselves completely from the influences of historical events, social pressures and philosophical perspectives that impact our understanding of the Scriptures (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  
   4. These limitations lead us to recognize that, even with the help of the Scriptures, our understanding about the nature of God can only be an approximation, and this state of affairs is the expected result when finite minds attempt to contemplate an infinite being (Psalms 145:3).  
   5. In general, what the Scriptures tell us about God leads us to believe that He is a singularly unique being who knows all that there is to know (omniscient - Job 28:24; Hebrews 4:13), that He can do all things that can be done (omnipotent - Job 42:2; Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26), and that He is everywhere, and in touch with everything in Creation at all times (omnipresent - Proverbs 15:3; Psalms 139:7-10).  
   6. He is limited only in the sense that He too makes choices - always in accordance with His Will and the demands of His own holiness - which necessarily eliminates other possible choices He could have made instead (Psalms 132:13; Romans 9:18).   Such was the case when he chose to redeem mankind from sin and death rather than destroy us outright (Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalms 111:9; Titus 2:14).

8. The Mystery of the Trinity.
   
   1. Though God is a singular being in His eternal essence, He displays the fullness of His deity through the agency of three distinct persons that share in that one essence of being.  This arrangement is known in Christian theology as the Trinity.  
   2. The logic of the Trinity is based upon making a clear distinction between a being, and a person.  Whereas each human being possesses a singular sense of self, or personhood, God’s sense of self does not require conformity to this principle; rather His divine nature transcends it (Isaiah 55:8-9).  How it is that God can exist as a single being comprised of three distinct persons is part of the mystery of God (i.e. a truth which cannot be fully expressed using human language and reason).
   3. The three persons of the Trinity are God the Father, God the Son (who incarnated as Jesus Christ of Nazareth), and God the Holy Spirit (often referred to in ancient Christian writings as the paraclete).  Each is fully divine, meaning fully belonging to the same, singularly divine essence of being and fully eternal (or co-eternal as it is often expressed), hence, fully God (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2).
   4. Trinitarian theology - as explicitly understood today, is not explicitly stated in Scripture, but a very persuasive case for it is implicitly derived from the many instances throughout the Bible in which concepts that express God's divinity (such as divine names, activities, and attributes, as well as people's reactions to God's presence, etc.) occur interchangeably with reference to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Consider the following: 
      
      • Mark 12:29 - The Lord our God is one.
      • John 20:17 - The Father is God in Heaven.
      • John 4:23 - God is spirit.
      • Matthew 10:20 - The Spirit of the Father speaks through you.
      • Romans 8:9-10 - The Spirit of God in you = the Spirit of Christ to whom you belong.
      • Galatians 4:6 - God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.
      • Mark 1:1 - Jesus is the Son of God.
      • Colossians 2:9 - In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
      • Acts 2:36 - Jesus is both Lord and Christ.
      • 2 Corinthians 3:17 - The Lord is the Spirit.
      • 1 Corinthians 6:19 - The Holy Spirit who is in you.
      • Ephesians 4:4-5 - One Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father of all.
      • ‍
      • This is just one example among many that reveal a Trinitarian pattern in the divine attributes of God revealed in scripture.  The Bible is saturated with these patterns, strongly indicating that they are intentional. 
      • ‍
   5. Because churchmen didn't fully articulate this idea until two hundred or so years after the New Testament was completed, not all conscientious bible students today regard Trinitarian theology as a valid interpretation of Scriptural intent.  As such, we do not require that people accept the Trinitarian concept of God in order to be saved, however, we are convinced that God's Word invites us to discover a deeper, more intimate way of knowing God through the Trinitarian formulation of His nature, mysterious though it may be (Ephesians 1:17).
   6. Each person of the Trinity fulfills a critical role in God’s plan for Mankind (the focus of which is currently centered upon our redemption - Isaiah 63:16; Ephesians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:13-14).  The Father decrees, the Son enacts, and the Spirit fills.  These roles should not be viewed as independent of one another but rather as complementary to, and cooperative with each other.  The term Godhead is often used in Christian writings to refer to this internal working relationship between the persons of the divine Trinity (An Old Testament allusion to this working relationship may be found in Jeremiah 51:15).

9. God's Male Gender distinction.
   
   1. God is neither male nor female, but as reflected in all three members of the Trinity (Ex: Genesis 1:27; John 4:26, 16:27; Romans 8:16), God chooses to identify Himself with, and portray Himself as one who belongs to the masculine gender, even though He is also the source from which all feminine qualities originate.  
   2. The obvious intent in this is to provide a clear continuity between God’s right to exercise authority over His Creations with the pre-existing understanding that the role of leadership is a masculine principle, which God assigned to males as their particular responsibility in human society.
   3. It is therefore a matter of propriety that we honor God's choice in this matter by addressing Him using masculine gender distinctions only as have all the generations of faithful men and women that came before us.  
   4. Beyond this simple requirement however, the only biblical mandate we are given when addressing or speaking of God is to revere His name, and to avoid blaspheming (i.e. cursing, or speaking evil of) God in any way (Exodus 20:7, Matt 12:31).

10. The Creation of Man.
    
    1. Man is God’s self-proclaimed, crowning achievement among all the works of His hands (Genesis 1:31; Psalms 8:4-6).  
    2. He created us to share in the stewardship of His Creation and to walk in fellowship (holy friendship) with Him and with each other.  As such, we are a part of the created order of Nature along with everything else in the Universe (Psalms 115:16; Isaiah 45:12).  
    3. But God has not just given us biological life as He has the rest of the living things on Earth, He has also given us a uniquely privileged spiritual perspective through His decision to make us in His own image or likeness, making Man the only part of the Natural Order that also has the potential for participating in the Divine Order (Genesis 1:26; 1 Corinthians 15:49).  
    4. Mankind’s uniquely advanced mental complexity serves as the primary evidence of this spiritually significant investment which God has made in us.  Our Intelligence operates in a fashion similar to that of God’s (if on a much more limited scale), producing uniquely “human” capacities for self-awareness, introspection, reasoning, language and expression (i.e. communication), learning, complex emotions, and free will (Psalms 139:14).  
    5. These endowments give us the capacity to exercise wise and loving stewardship over Creation and to reflect the praises of Nature back to God as worship and personal devotion.  It also allows us to grapple with the transcendent aspects of knowing God, such as His divine nature, and the realities of our own origins, spiritual condition and eternal destiny; examples of such would include Heaven and Hell, Salvation and Judgment, the existence and activities of other spiritual beings (angels, demons, etc.), the outworking of divine miracles in a natural world, etc. (Hosea 14:9; Acts 17:26-27)  
    6. God created Man for Himself because it pleased Him to do so, and as such we are ever indebted to Him for giving us life and the ability to enjoy it (Ecclesiastes 5:18, 9:9; Acts 17:25).  

11. The Fall of Man.
    
    1. Man’s original condition when first created was in a state of innocence.  We were unaware of the concepts of good and evil, and thus not subject to the motivations of pride, fear, hate or selfishness (Genesis 2:25).  In this original state, humanity was “good” and “holy” in God’s sight.  (Gen 1:27); 
    2. When Adam & Eve, the first humans, chose to ignore God’s warning regarding the consequences of eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, they became guilty of the sin of rebellious disobedience, and fell from their blessed state of innocence into that of being sinful (i.e. they became, “Sinners” - Ecclesiastes 7:29).   
    3. This first sin has become known as the Original Sin, and it resulted in the event we call, the Fall of Man.  It is for this reason that God proclaimed his initial punishments for sin, altering the very fabric of life on Earth, and having to introduce death into the world as a consequence for sin and to limit its impact upon the world henceforth (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:12).  
    4. These judgments were universal in scope because mankind’s role over Creation was also universal in scope (Romans 8:20-21).  Thus, His judgment against sin had to incorporate all of Creation, not just Mankind in order to be wholly effective in countering sin’s corrosiveness.
    5. The effect of eating the forbidden fruit resulted in the permanent alteration of Adam & Eve’s human nature, as their very souls yielded to the new state of awareness the fruit bestowed upon them ("Then the eyes of both of them were opened,..."  - Genesis 3:7).  
    6. Our original condition before the Fall was perfect in God's sight, thus this change in our nature moved us from that state of perfection into one of imperfection - the very definition of the term, corruption.  Because this corruption occurred at the fundamental level of our nature as human beings, it is now an inseparable part of who and what we are, and is thus passed on to our offspring through each successive generation no matter how “good” we might be ourselves (Genesis 6:12; Jeremiah 5:21; Romans 7:5).
    7. When speaking exclusively about this aspect of the human condition, it is referred to in Scripture as the sinful nature, translated from the Greek word, sarx, which literally means, "flesh", but whose contextual usage in the Bible implies the weakness/failure of the flesh that draws us towards selfishness and makes sin seem more appealing to us than righteousness (Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 7:18).  This is to distinguish it from our original, God-given, and good human nature.

12. Man's True Enemy.
    
    1. The architect of our Fall was Satan (lit. “The Accuser”, a title; not an actual name), also called the Devil - a celestial being whose selfish pride and jealousy towards humanity’s role in Creation led him to become mankind's prosecutor before God (Job 1:6; Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:9-10).
    2. Though we are not told how, Satan commands a significant contingent of other celestial beings, drawn to him perhaps by his success in orchestrating The Fall, and the apparent freedom (for the time being) with which he operates as our primary spiritual Adversary (1 Peter 5:8).
    3. There are other spiritual beings attested to in the Old Testament (referred to by the term, “sons of God” - Gen 6:1-2; Deut 32:8) who were placed in charge of aspects of the Creation because we abdicated our role as co-rulers with God when we fell from grace.  Since that time, many of these lesser ‘gods’ (Hb: elohim) fell into league with the Devil, not upholding the purposes for which God gave them their original (and temporary) authorities (Ps 82).  These beings are also mentioned by Paul as, “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Eph 3:10), and elsewhere in his writings (Eph 6:12, Col 2:15, etc.). For a deep dive into this topic, please consider watching this 30-minute video here. 
    4. These are the sources from which came the idolatries and false religions of the ancient world.  Men, ignorant of the Word of God and under the influence of their sinful natures, listened to perverted counsel and revered them as gods and taught others to do the same (Amos 2:4; Romans 1:21-25; 1 John 3:8).
    5. Scripture does not tell us how demonic spirits came to be but many have suggested that it resulted from celestial/human interbreeding in ancient times while others think it is the result of angelic beings choosing to follow Satan rather than God.  The New Testament depicts the world of 1st century Palestine as demon-haunted, with the phenomenon of demonic possession being a recurring theme of opposition to Jesus’ (and the early church’s) ministry of the Gospel (Genesis 6:4; John 10:20; Acts 8:7).

13. The Sinful Nature Defined.
    
    1. Within ourselves, the sinful nature manifests itself as an inclination or compulsion to act selfishly, and when we allow it to overrule our consciences we sin, either against God, which is rebellion, or against others, which is cruelty (Genesis 4:7-8).  
    2. It is important however to make a distinction between the sinful nature itself, and the acts of sin it coaxes us to commit.  The condition of having a sinful nature is not itself a sin that God charges against us, despite what the terminology might otherwise seem to suggest.  
    3. Each human being is born into the world without any sin accredited to them, as they have yet to do anything right or wrong, good or bad (John 9:1-3; Romans 9:11).  But this state of initial sinlessness at birth is not the same thing as the original condition of innocence that humanity enjoyed before Adam & Eve sinned, for since that time the reign of death has begun, and we are all subject to it (Romans 5:14).  Nevertheless, until such time as a person actually does commit sin, they cannot rightly be accused of being a “sinner” simply because they have a sinful nature (Romans 7:9).  Understanding this point is vitally important to the development of the teaching regarding the sinlessness of Jesus (explained in point #16 below).

14. Sin Defined.
    
    1. Though the sinful nature is passed on from parent to child, generation after generation, sins themselves are not so transmitted (Deuteronomy 24:16).  
    2. Sin is always the result of an act – either inwardly or outwardly - of a person’s free will, and as such cannot be inherited from, nor by another (Ezekiel 18:30; Romans 2:6).  
    3. A person’s sin can affect later generations in terms of its consequences, and this is often viewed as a just punishment inflicted by God upon the sinner (c.f. Exodus 34:6-7; Lamentations 5:7).
    4. This form of “inheritance” however is not the same thing, categorically speaking, as an actual transmission of guilt for the sins committed by another person.  Thus, the guilt associated with Adam & Eve's first sin is not being charged against the whole of humanity as some claim (Ezekiel 18:20).  
    5. We are not living under a universal sentence of guilt for the Original Sin, but rather under the universal curse of death's reign over all flesh necessitated by Sin's entrance into the world (Romans 5:12-17, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

15. Our Slavery to Sin, and God's Grace Towards our Children.
    
    1. As each of us grows up, the presence of the sinful nature within ourselves inexorably leads us into views and behavior that inevitably result in the commission of sins (Romans 7:14, 21).  
    2. The nature of the corruption within our souls (produced by our knowledge of good & evil), coupled with the realities of being born into the world without the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit, in a state of general ignorance, and surrounded by sinful influences even from those who love us, effectively guarantees that every person will sin at some point during their upbringing.  
    3. Mercifully, God postpones His judgment against our sinful acts until we reach adulthood, for prior to then we are unable to properly exercise faith in His teachings, and we are too immature to comprehend or take responsibility for our actions, and God knows this (Isaiah 7:15-16; 1 Corinthians 7:14ff).  This is a general and universal condition of grace that God extends to all children (as well, I am convinced, as to those adults who suffer from forms of mental retardation that prevent them from developing an adult perspective on sin and moral responsibility, effectively remaining children-in-state their entire lives), in which their souls are vouchsafed from final Judgment if they should die prematurely.  We summarize this point by saying, “children do not need to be saved because their spirits are safe in God’s loving providence” (Proverbs 14:26; Matthew 18:3; Luke 18:16; 1 Corinthians 14:20).  Thus, there are no theological grounds upon which to base the practice of baptizing infants.
    4. Once we are mature enough to be held accountable for our actions in God's sight, whatever sins we’ve committed beforehand will be held against us on the Day of Judgment, along with any other sins committed from that moment on (Proverbs 20:11; Romans 11:32), unless we actively pursue reconciliation by embracing God’s plan of salvation as taught by Jesus and the Apostles (2 Corinthians 5:20).  This is because it is the unforgiven sin in our lives that ruins our relationship with God (Isaiah 59:2-3).

16. Jesus, the Exception to the Rule.
    
    1. The only exception to the rule of inevitability as it pertains to human sinfulness (as set forth above in point #15) was Jesus Christ Himself, and only because the unique circumstances of His birth via the direct agency of the Holy Spirit allowed Him to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in full (i.e. complete, or unlimited) measure throughout His life (Matthew 1:18; Luke 2:40; John 3:34; Colossians 1:19).  
    2. As a result, Jesus was able to fully trust in God’s promise to protect Him (Luke 4:10-11), and in the power of the Spirit to aid Him (Luke 4:14) in overcoming the sinful nature that warred against His soul during His days on Earth.  Because He achieved a unique degree of submission, He also received a unique degree of spiritual strength by which Christ triumphed over sin where we could not (Hebrews 5:7).  
    3. So, we acknowledge that, “all men have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) - all men that is, except Christ Jesus Himself for, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22), and, “…in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5ff).  
    4. But He had to endure its tempting influence during His lifetime just as we do because, “...he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18, emphasis mine).  
    5. Thus, it is true and accurate to say that Jesus Christ was subject to the sinful nature just as we are, but unlike us, He overcame that nature through the power of the Holy Spirit as He submitted in all things to the Will of God (Hebrews 5:8-9).  

17. God's Solution:  The Way of The Cross.
    
    1. God's provision for our salvation is established through the work of His Son, Jesus Christ who died a substitutionary death of atonement by crucifixion (death on a cross - a Roman instrument of torturous execution), in order to take upon Himself the curse (penalty) of death that God imposed upon us all after Adam's original sin was committed (Acts 2:23; Galatians 3:13; Hebrews 12:2).  
    2. Because He was truly sinless, Christ's blood was holy and perfect, and when it was shed upon the cross, God proclaimed it an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world, for it is written, "...without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22 - see also: Leviticus 17:11; Romans 3:25-26; Colossians 1:20.)  It follows then that the shedding of perfect blood resulted in a perfect forgiveness, opening the way of salvation to a world of imperfect (i.e. lost) souls (Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 2:2).
    3. Three days after Christ suffered death and burial, God miraculously raised Him from the dead, "...because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:24).
    4. Christ's resurrection confirms the truthfulness of His testimony regarding spiritual realities and the trustworthiness of His promises to deliver those who believe and have trusted in Him from death and final judgment (John 10:14-18, 27-30).  This is the very heart of the Good News (2 Timothy 2:8).
    5. Those who “fall asleep” (i.e. die) in Christ go to a temporary place of repose which, at the time of Christ, was referred to as, “paradise” (also referred to in scripture as, “Abraham’s Bosom”) to await Jesus’ return to judge the living and the dead. (Luke 16:22, 23:43; Acts 10:42).  This is what is meant by our current belief that when we die, we go to Heaven, though that is not a biblically accurate way of putting it since we tend to confuse the dwelling place of God Most High, wherein He sits enthroned above all else (Psalm 11:4, 29:10), and wherein Jesus, our king and faithful High-Priest sits at the right hand of the majesty in Heaven and serves before God as our collective mediator in the heavenly Temple (Hebrews 9:24) - we tend to confuse these things with the after-life in general (i.e. going to ‘be with the Lord’), but the Scriptures do make a distinction between these two ideas, subtle though it may be.  For further information about this, please watch this linked video by Prof. N.T. Wright.

18. Our Blessed Hope.
    
    1. According to Scripture, Jesus has promised to return to us in a Second Coming, at which time the dead shall rise at His command, the wicked and unbelieving will be judged and condemned to final destruction (i.e. “the second death” - removal from existence) in the lake of fire (Gehenna), and the righteous (in Christ) will be rewarded with new resurrection bodies, immortality and everlasting fellowship with God in the New Creation - a fully restored cosmos of a new Heaven and new Earth, purged (cleansed) by fire of all things sinful and ungodly (John 5:28, 14:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10a; Titus 2:11-13; Hebrews 9:28; 2 Peter 3:7 & 10-13; Revelation 20:14-15, 21:1-4).
    2. Beyond these things, no one can truly conceive of what God has prepared for us to do and to be in the fullness of His Kingdom.  The only word we have to describe it is, “glorious” (Psalm 87; Hebrews 12:22-24).

II.  DOCTRINAL UNDERSTANDINGS: (Doctrines are the ideas in a belief system that are regarded as the most critical or central to the proper explanation and practice of those beliefs.)

1. The Plan of Salvation.
   
   1. We receive God's mercy and are reconciled to Him when we faithfully accept Christ's sacrifice on our behalf through belief in Him and in His Gospel (the Good News), responding in repentance from our acts of sin, and in publicly confessing, "Jesus is Lord" at our baptism into His Name for the remission of our sins. (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38-39, 4:12; Romans 6:4, 10:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21).  
   2. All of these faithfully obedient responses must occur in order to ensure the terms of the New Covenant have been fulfilled in receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (John 1:11-13; Hebrews 10:19-23; 2 Peter 1:10).  
   3. When a person believes in their heart the Message that Jesus is Lord, the Son of God, "...who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), the process of Conversion has begun (Ex: Acts 2:37).  This is a necessary prerequisite for a genuine response to the Gospel that leads to salvation, but it cannot be regarded as a sufficient response in itself to produce reconciliation - the state we enter into only after we have responded adequately to the Gospel as previously stated.  This is because such desire (though good and proper) springs from our emotions rather than from our will, by which we exercise faith.  When Conversion is genuine, it prompts humility that produces obedience to the aforementioned commands (i.e. repentance, confession and baptism), otherwise it has not produced the fruit of repentance, and remains incomplete and thus inadequate. (Matthew 3:8-10; Acts 18:24-26; 1 Corinthians 15:2; James 2:14, 17).
   4. The true biblical meaning of the concept of faith in Jesus Christ involves both an inward conviction regarding His identity and His work in establishing the New Covenant, as well as an outward expression of that conviction through our willing obedience to His commands, especially those pertaining to salvation (Romans 1:16, 3:22; 4:18-24; James 2:20-24).
   5. It must be stressed here that the onus of responsibility for carrying out God’s plan of salvation falls far more heavily upon the shoulders of those who preach and teach the Gospel than on those who are trying in good faith to hear and receive it (Isaiah 9:16; Galatians 1:6-9; James 3:1).  If God so wills to save sinners who have responded sincerely to an inadequate presentation of the Gospel, that is between Him and them, but the Scriptures do not give us reasons to hope for this (Proverbs 19:2; Romans 10:14-15; 1 Timothy 4:16).  Thus, it is not our place to presume that such grace has been extended under such circumstances.
   6. Should we find ourselves in a position to evaluate another’s faith claim, and discover that important aspects of their claim are inconsistent with the plan of salvation as presented above, we who know the Truth are honor-bound to explain to them the way of God more adequately (c.f. Acts 18:26b; 1 Peter 3:15) with the expectation that they will fulfill the terms of the New Covenant which have not yet been observed and/or properly administered according to the plan (Ex: Acts 19:1-5).

2. God's Promise Fulfilled.
   
   1. Once a person has faithfully followed the Lord’s plan, they receive the indwelling of the promised Holy Spirit as a seal of redemption; a deposit that identifies them as saved from God's wrath and final judgment and destined to inherit eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14).
   2. The Spirit within now empowers them with a source of divine strength for carrying out the Lord's will during the remainder of their lifetime here on Earth (Ephesians 3:16-21).  
   3. They also become members of Christ's body, the Church, (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:27) and can then be properly addressed using the terms of inclusion such as, "Christian", "Brother/Sister” (gr. adelphoi, trans. “Brethren”), "disciple", "believer", "saint", "child of God", etc. (Romans 8:14).
   4. From God's point of view, the "sinner" becomes justified, meaning, "just as if I'd never sinned" (Romans 3:24, 8:1-2).

3. Do Not Drift Away.
   
   1. Because salvation is based on faith in Jesus, and faith is a free will choice each of us must continually make, there always exists the potential for losing one's salvation if we should later choose to renounce our allegiance to Christ by abandoning our trust in His teachings (thereby demonstrating faithlessness - Hebrews 6:4-6, 10:26-31; 2 John 1:8-9).
   2. There is always therefore the need to, "-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12ff), and, "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6).  
   3. This does not imply that we enter into, and remove ourselves from God's grace and mercy on a daily basis depending on how well we live each day, rather it becomes apparent over time whether or not we are being sincere in our efforts to honor Christ in our lives through the patterns in our choices (Galatians 6:7-9; Hebrews 2:1).
   4. Whenever we recognize that we are going astray (Ex: 2 Corinthians 11:3), we have the opportunity to repent and get our lives back on track (2 Corinthians 7:11).  Repentance - turning our hearts back to God - is the ever-available remedy God has granted us against drifting away (Hebrews 3:12-14; Revelation 3:19).
   5. Jesus warns us however that God's patience in this matter is not to be taken for granted, because eventually, if we do not humble ourselves before Him in repentance, He will cut off those branches from the vine that will not bear its fruit (Luke 13:1-5; John 15:1-8; Romans 2:4, 11:17-22).  
   6. This has much more to do with the attitude of our hearts than with the strictness of our obedience (Psalms 86:11).  But if our attitude towards Christ is right, our lives will reveal it through our desire and attempts to obey Him (John 14:23-24).
   7. Ultimately, this is the part of our walk with God that we are responsible for before Him.  What can’t God do?  He can’t force anyone to repent.  We must choose to do so when called for.

4. The Kingdom of God and the Church of Christ.
   
   1. The Bible teaches that the Church Jesus started is a spiritual institution comprised of both heavenly and earthly elements, and that the circumstances of its inauguration during the celebration of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-17) clearly associate its existence with the establishment of the Kingdom of God prophesied to appear in the Last Days (Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 2:44; Joel 2:28-32).  This association does not mean that we are already experiencing the fullness of God's Kingdom in our lives as members of Christ's Church, but rather that the qualities ascribed to the Kingdom of God as expressed in the Scriptures are now being made manifest in the world through our lives as we bear witness to the reality of Jesus' resurrection and all that it implies for the future of our world.  We refer to this as the Kingdom (of the future) breaking into our present reality.
   2. Just as Christ was the earthly incarnation of God, and the fore-taste of fellowship with Him, so too His Body, the Church, is the earthly incarnation and fore-taste of His Kingdom (Hebrews 12:22-24 - Mount Zion is a metaphor for the Kingdom of God).  This is not because the Church is perfect - far from it, but because we in the Church proclaim Christ's sovereignty over the Earth and submit to His rule (i.e. His teachings) showing ourselves to be citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20).  Within the Church, people are able to experience “Kingdom living" - an expression that intends to capture the essence of the Christian lifestyle: living to please God, pursuing loving, meaningful relationships, engaging in purposeful and beneficial activity together, and the development of a resilient character as we grow in Christ-likeness.  
   3. With the establishment of the Church began the final age of this world - The Age of the Spirit, bringing to a close the Age of the Law (Romans 7:6).

5. The Purpose of the Church.
   
   1. The Bible describes the Church as the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23).  The scriptures always speak of the body of Christ in the singular tense, thus there is one body (Church), just as there is one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God (Ephesians 4:4-6).
   2. Through the Church, the full revelation of God's plan for mankind is made known to all Creation and made available to all who will accept Jesus' offer of salvation.  It is the living embodiment of the truth of the Gospel (Ephesians 3:6, 10-11; 1 Timothy 3:15).
   3. As such, we need the Church, but the Church also needs us to do our part in supporting and caring for one another along life’s journey together.  This won’t always be easy, but that’s how you know it is based in love (John 21:15-17; 1 Corinthians 12:21-26).
   4. Those who lead the Church have a responsibility to ensure that what is established as doctrine for the Church does not go beyond what is written in the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 4:1, 6; 1 Timothy 4:16).  Therefore, the Church should always strive to keep the list of essential teachings and practices shorter rather than longer, not adding unnecessary beliefs, requirements or expectations on top of those which God has established for us in His Word (Acts 15:10-11, 17:11). 
   5. According to the Scriptures, we are to strive for unity in the faith by agreeing with each other on matters of doctrinal importance (1 Corinthians 1:10) and to avoid causing divisions among ourselves based upon disagreements over who is the most popular or persuasive leader, or debating what the essential elements of the faith are that have been entrusted to us once for all (Jude 1:3).  We are not to promote cults of personality, sectarianism or independent religious orders; these are not to be recognized as legitimate representatives of the Body of Christ by genuine Christians, for no such divisions existed in the early Church, nor does the New Testament teach that such divisions would ever be an acceptable development in the growth of the Church.  In fact, the opposite is true (John 17:21-23; Ephesians 4:11-13; Titus 3:10).  
   6. When honest disagreements and differences of opinion do arise that are of a nature to threaten the Church's peace, unity and/or witness, church leaders are to gather together in council with each other to resolve the dispute(s) in a godly manner (Ex: Acts 6:1-4, 15:5-6).  But if a clear consensus on the matter cannot be reached even at this level of discussion, it must be declared, "a disputable matter" (Romans 14:1-5), and each party should do what they think is best for themselves within the context of maintaining peace and a Christ-centered focus (Romans 14:17-18, 22). 
   7. By living up to Jesus' high calling of holiness and unity, the Church becomes a beacon of hope and a collective witness to the power of the Holy Spirit active in the world through God's chosen people.  Seeing this signature of God's power and presence is the only way to convince other religious people (Christian, or otherwise) that, "We are the circumcision" (Philippians 3:3), the People in whom and through whom the grace of God has appeared to all men (2 Timothy 1:9-11; Titus 2:11). 
   8. This universal body of believers gathers together throughout the world into localized groups called assemblies (gr. ecclesia) or congregations and it is through the activities of these groups that the wisdom of God and the virtues of the Christian way of life are taught, practiced and proclaimed to the world (Psalms 43:3; Matthew 5:14-16).  

6. Church Practices.
   
   1. The local congregation assembles for communal worship once a week on the Lord's Day (Sunday, the first day of the week - Acts 20:7).  Every Christian that can be present is highly encouraged to attend these services, and their absence will be felt when unable (or unwilling) to do so (Hebrews 10:24-25).  
   2. The primary purpose for meeting together on that day of the week is to worship God by remembering and honoring Jesus' sacrifice on the cross in a worthy manner through a communal partaking in the Lord's Supper, (1 Corinthians 11:23-29), and to celebrate His victory over death as the Risen King by raising our hearts and voices together in prayer and song to God (Psalms 95:2; Colossians 3:15-17; Hebrews 2:12).  
   3. We also look forward to the mutual encouragement of our fellowship with each other and to hearing the Word of God preached to reinforce our convictions to persevere in our faith (Acts 2:42; Romans 1:11-12; Hebrews 3:13-14).
   4. As Christians, we are commissioned by our Lord to participate in the Ministry of Reconciliation by sharing with others the good things God has done for us and inviting them to seek Jesus while they still can (Isaiah 55:6; Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).  
   5. Because our commission comes directly from Jesus, who is our high priest (Hebrews 3:1), we are authorized to proclaim His message to all of Creation as members of the royal priesthood He established upon returning to Heaven to be with the Father (Hebrews 4:14; 1 Peter 2:9).  This priestly ministry is a joint effort; a partnership between the Lord, ourselves, and other Christians (whom Scripture refers to as, "companions", "fellow servants", "partners", "co-workers", etc. - Ex: Romans 16:3).   
   6. This work on Christ’s behalf as His ambassador's cuts against the grain of worldly desires and attitudes, making it difficult for the message to be heard (1 Corinthians 1:18).  This can lead to misunderstandings and persecution, but we are not to retaliate in kind when this happens.  Instead, we are to pray continually for the strength to represent Christ in a lost world, and for the good of others even when they persecute us (Matthew 5:44).  
   7. We are to practice integrity, purity, hospitality, and to be rich in generosity and compassion towards others in the hope that it will soften hearts and make the teachings of Christ more attractive to those who witness our lives and hear our testimony (Romans 12:11-13; Titus 2:9-10). 

7. Growing in the Lord.
   
   1. The maturing process Christians undergo as we grow in the Lord is intended to build character, and to improve our capacity to express faith, hope and love towards God, each other, and the lost; i.e. those who haven't become Christians yet (1 Corinthians 13:11-13).  
   2. The Scriptures refer to this process as, sanctification (2 Corinthians 7:1), the continual progression in our lives towards Christ-likeness (2 Peter 1:5-9).  
   3. As we proclaim the Message of Truth, life's circumstances will often converge upon us in ways that reveal our spiritual deficiencies.  As we recognize our weaknesses, we are driven to prayer and fasting, bible study and seeking godly counsel from others in search of the strength to endure and overcome our shortcomings and sinful natures (Psalms 51:3-4; 1 John 3:18-20).  
   4. Sometimes, our deficiencies will be pointed out to us by a well-meaning fellow Christian, and when this happens, our duty is to be "...quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19ff).   We are free to evaluate all such advice and admonitions in light of the Scriptures and in prayer, and to act on it as the Spirit convicts us (1 Timothy 1:5).  
   5. This approach is consistent with the biblical expectation to love one another as Christ Himself loves us (John 13:34-35), and epitomizes discipleship - the lifestyle of spiritual learning and doing that Christ envisioned for His people to embrace (Proverbs 9:9; 27:17; Colossians 1:28).

8. Relationships between Church Members.
   
   1. The single most important quality a Christian can demonstrate in their life is a love for God, and for others (Mark 12:33).  Our love for God is shown through our devotion to understanding and obeying His Word (1 John 5:3).  Through obeying God's Word, we learn how to love each other (1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 5:2).  As a result, our relationships with other Christians should be among the closest and strongest friendships we will ever know (1 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 5:1-2).  This makes perfect sense when you consider the fact that we will all be together forever with the Lord in eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:13ff).  
   2. This also serves to explain the apostle’s teachings on marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:22-33; Hebrews 13:4), and the expectation for single Christians to limit their search for a husband or wife to the fellowship of believers (2 Corinthians 6:14).
   3. Because we want to love God, we must strive to purify ourselves from sin (2 Corinthians 7:1).  This is accomplished (or at least engaged in) when we confess our temptations and sins to our closest friends and ministry partners and pray about it together on a regular basis (James 5:16).  This helps to prevent hard-heartedness, and to reinforce our awareness of the spiritual battle that we are engaged in together against the spiritual forces of darkness (Hebrews 3:13; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 4:8).  

9. Resolving Conflicts.
   
   1. When it comes to resolving conflict between Christians, Christ gave us the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), and the Rules of Reconciliation (Matthew 18:15-17) to follow.  
   2. As such, we should seek to model kindness, patience, understanding and forgiveness towards one another in the hope that our good example will be reciprocated, and we should seek to address hurts openly and quickly and for the sake of restoring the bonds of peace and fellowship that unite us in Christ (Ephesians 4:2-3; Hebrews 12:15).  
   3. We should refuse to harbor ill will towards each other, even when things do not work out between us to our complete satisfaction, remembering that God has not treated us as our sins deserve. (Psalms 103:10; Proverbs 24:29; 1 Corinthians 6:1-7; Ephesians 4:26; 1 Thessalonians 5:15).
   4. If a matter of disagreement should arise between disciples that does not involve the commission of sin, and neither party is persuaded by the other to alter their perspective, then they should agree to classify the matter as, “disputable” in the same sense that Paul describes in Romans 14.

10. Serving the Lord.
    
    1. Because we all belong to Christ, we are all expected to participate in Christian ministry, but how each of us does this depends on the gifts we have received from the Spirit as well as the opportunities we are granted to serve in His family (1 Corinthians 12:7; Galatians 6:10).
    2. The key attitudes we must seek to foster are a willingness to serve, and a willingness to grow in our ability to serve (2 Peter 1:8; Revelation 2:19).  Those who do grow in this capacity will often be invited to take on additional responsibilities in the church which if pursued diligently, leads to a greater reward at the return of Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16; 1 Corinthians 3:12-14).
    3. Having said this, it is also acknowledged that not everyone is intended to become, "great in the sight of the Lord" (Ex: Luke 1:15), and this is perfectly acceptable so long as we do not withhold giving God our best effort, whatever that may be ("From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded..." - Luke 12:48).  Thus, we may infer that to him who has not been given as much, less shall be expected with regard to those aspects of ministry that involve such giftedness.  
    4. We want everyone to grow in their faith and service as much as possible without insinuating that a failure to achieve a higher level of involvement in the ministry should imply a less committed heart to God, for it does not. 

11. The Importance of Roles.
    
    1. Many forms of ministry have been formalized into roles, as the best way to meet the specific needs they address with the level of consistency those needs require (1 Corinthians 3:5).
    2. Some of these roles are basic and open to anyone willing to volunteer for them.  Examples include ushering, assisting with child care needs during meetings, participating in outreach groups, and Bible studies.  
    3. Some roles however require more spiritual maturity in order to be considered ready for them such as song leading, small group leaders, children's teachers and stewards of church funds, etc.  These are categorized as Lay Leadership roles in the church (Ex: Acts 6:2-4).  
    4. Beyond these (in terms of responsibility) are the roles of appointed leadership. (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 3:8-9)

12. Leadership: The Noble Calling.
    
    1. Christ calls for specific men and women to lead His Church, and these will be recognized from among the people of God by their gifts, and by how their lives meet the standards of leadership outlined in the Scriptures for deacons, elders and overseers respectively (1 Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:6-9).  
    2. Preachers, teachers, evangelists, church administrators, councilors, program coordinators, and house church leaders are all examples of leadership roles in the church today which Christians with the right heart and spiritual ambitions are encouraged to pursue (Ephesians 4:11-13).  
    3. Similarly, the Lord calls women to lead other women as lay leaders and deaconesses to ensure that gender-specific needs are being met in the Church (Romans 16:1; Titus 2:3-5).  
    4. These leadership appointments are consummated through the commendation (i.e. general consensus or agreement) of the people, and by the approval of the body of elders who have spiritual jurisdiction over the affected congregation(s) (Acts 15:40; 2 Corinthians 10:12, 18; 1 Timothy 5:17).
    5. With leadership comes both spiritual authority, and responsibility.  We must respect that authority as coming from the Lord, and do what we can to imitate their faith, and support their efforts to shepherd the flock (Hebrews 13:7, 17).

13. Helping the Poor.
    
    1. The Lord commands us to be "open-handed" towards the poor and the needy among us, and to give freely not grudgingly. (Deuteronomy 15:8-11; Proverbs 14:31, 19:17; Matthew 5:42).
    2. This should not always take the form of giving money; we should be willing to help in whatever ways we are able to (Acts 3:1-6).
    3. People are worth exchanging our 'stuff' for.  There are so many places in Scripture where God champions the cause of the poor and the downtrodden (Proverbs 19:17; Luke 12:32-34, 16:9; Acts 2:45; Titus 3:14).
    4. Our church recognizes that hospitality and care for the poor reflect God's own heart, as demonstrated throughout Scripture. This calling shapes our identity and practices as a community of faith (Proverbs 28:27; Acts 4:32-35; James 1:27).
    5. We are committed to meeting both spiritual and practical needs, understanding that meaningful care for our neighbors involves tangible support, advocacy for the marginalized, and the sharing of our resources (Isaiah 1:17; James 2:15-16).

14. The link Between Gratefulness and Generosity.
    
    1. When we consider all that the Lord has done for us, our first response must be gratefulness.  Our gratefulness is proven genuine by our willingness to give ourselves over to doing the Lord's work in whatever capacity we are able (1 Corinthians 15:57; Colossians 2:6-7).  
    2. That work takes many forms, but the work of preachers, evangelists and church administrators is very demanding, so much so that those who perform these tasks must truly give themselves over to them as a calling in order to do a good job of it.  That means they need our material support so they can be free to give their full attention to the spiritual work God has called them to do (1 Corinthians 9:14).
    3. For those of us who have the means to do so (which is probably most of us - 1 Timothy 6:17-19), we should provide our leaders with material support through monetary offerings made to the church in thanksgiving to God for the spiritual support we receive from our participation in the Body (1 Corinthians 1:4-7, 9:11).
    4. For many, this practice has resolved itself into a Christianized form of the Jewish tithe, or "tenth", meaning, 10% of our earnings we give back to God's household (the Church) in the hope that it will return to us as blessings (favor) from the Lord (Malachi 3:10).  This pattern of giving is often followed by Christians for two reasons:
       
       1. The New Testament expresses a continuity between the Old and New Covenants at this point (1 Corinthians 9:13).
       2. because 10% is easy to calculate when budgeting for it.
    5. There is no specific command in the New Testament telling us that any particular level of giving is required (there is no minimum nor maximum), but a general review of the Scriptures on the topic reveals that God wants us to be generous in giving, and that He is pleased when we excel in this act of grace, and for those among us who are blessed with a steady income, a tenth should serve as a good starting point in our efforts to heed God's upward call to become people who graciously seek to meet the needs of others (2 Corinthians 8:7-8, 9:11-12).  Ultimately, each Christian must decide for themselves how much they will give, and how often they intend to give it according to their own conviction on the matter (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).  It is hoped however that our decisions will be guided by our faith in God rather than our fear of facing financial hardships.

As a summary of our core convictions regarding the Gospel message in the Bible, this document is always subject to amendment as God sheds new light from the Scriptures on our beliefs and practices.  Be that as it may, until such time as a legitimate need to update its contents should arise, this document shall be held to accurately reflect the perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ who has entrusted us with His message, and who binds us to observe and to teach it until He returns.  Amen.