The Bible

The Bible is God- breathed, inerrant, infallible, and is as it claims to be, the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). God the Holy Spirit used holy men through the process of inspiration to move them to write not just the thoughts, but every word (2 Peter 1:21, Matthew 4:4). This “moving” of the Holy Spirit was not the same as the moving or inspiration that a poet feels as he writes, but was in a sense carrying them to write.

God not only gave His Word, but He promised to preserve it for every generation (Psalm 12:6-7, Isaiah 40:8). As a result, the King James Bible is The Word of God preserved by God for the English-speaking people. The Bible is just as true, relevant, and profitable today as it was when it was written in the original manuscripts (Hebrews. 4:12). According to 2 Timothy 3:16, the Bible is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.

Theology Proper

There is one God and supreme being that is holy, ever-existent, all powerful, all knowing, and ever-present in the affairs of man today (Deutoronomy 6:4, Luke 1:37, Isaiah 40). God is a triune God consisting of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is then three Persons but one Essence, not three distinct gods (1 John 5:7). God is a loving God and at the same time a holy God. Although He loves man, He hates sin.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and at the same time God the Son. Christ was not created, but his relationship to the Father can be seen in the hypostatic union (100% God and 100% man) (John 10:30, John  8:58, John 1:1,14). Since Jesus is God in the flesh, He possesses all of the attributes of God the Father (Mark 2, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-18, 2:9).

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit and lived a perfect life while on earth (Luke 1:34-35). The purpose of His coming was to pay the price of sin on the cross, thereby providing a way for man to receive the forgiveness of sins (Luke 19:10, John 3:16). Without his sacrifice, man would have no hope of ever receiving eternal life.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity. He is not just a force, a power, or a pleasant feeling that one experiences, but is One with God the Father (Acts 5:3-4, 1 John 5:7). When Christ left, He left us the Holy Spirit to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8). At the point of salvation, the Holy Spirit seals the believer, indwells him, and gives him eternal life (Ephesians 1, 4:30). The Holy Spirit then guides, teaches, testifies and witnesses to the believer as One who comes alongside of him in order that he might please God while on the earth (John 14:26, 15:26). The single most important attribute of God is His holiness, evidenced in the person of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 57:15).

Eternal Security

When a person receives Jesus Christ as Savior, he also receives the eternal life that Jesus gives (1 John 5:11-13). Once a person receives eternal life, he cannot lose it. Because a person cannot receive eternal life by his works, it is impossible that his eternal life be taken away because of works. There is also no man that can take it away from him, not even himself (John 10:27-29, Romans 8). If this were the case, eternal life would not be eternal, but temporal. It is God that saves, not the person; at the same time it is God who keeps one saved, not the person.

Man

God made man in His image; this image is one of a perfect state. God also gave man freewill, making him responsible for his own decisions. Because Adam sinned in the garden, every man born after him is born with a sin nature (Romans 3:10, 5:12, 23). A man is not only a sinner only because he sins, but he sins because he is a sinner. Because of the sin of man, the world today has rejected God and His Word. As a result, God required death as a payment for the sin of man and sent His Son to pay the price (Romans 6:23, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Salvation

Salvation from eternal punishment is only received one way, through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). A person must recognize that he is a sinner, that Christ died to pay his payment on the cross, and that he must ask Jesus to forgive his sins and be his Savior. A person must trust Christ and Christ alone for his salvation, for He is the only way (Acts 4:12).

A person does not need to “get his life right” with God before he can approach Him. The whole reason why man needs a Savior is because he cannot “get his life right” enough to find favor in God’s eyes, so he must let God do the work in him. On the other hand, when a person is saved, his works will change (Ephesians 2:8-10). A good indication of whether or not a person is saved is whether their works are meet for repentance (Matthew 3:8). Salvation is repentance from sin and towards God (1 Thessalonians 1:9, Acts 20:21). Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of life. It is not the prayer that saves someone, but the decision of repentance and accepting God’s terms through Jesus Christ for salvation.

The Church

The English word in the Bible is the word ecclesia in the Greek. This is a compound word that uses the words ek and kaleo. The word ek means out of, and the word kaleo means to call. The word ecclesia then by definition is a called out assembly. But not every called out assembly is a church, for the Bible clearly teaches that only those that have accepted Christ as their Savior are part of the church (Acts 2:47). The Bible frequently refers to the church as the Bride of Christ, Christ himself being the Bridegroom. Another name in the Bible for the church is the body of Christ, and specifically names Christ the Head of the church (Colossians 1:18). The church in the Bible is very significant, for Ephesians 5:25 says that Christ gave himself for it. The Bible teaches that even though the church is significant, no one can receive salvation by means of a church, for it is only Christ that can forgive sins (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).

The End Times

The Rapture

The next point on the calendar of God’s events is the rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The Bible teaches an imminent rapture. Paul himself was looking for the rapture to happen in his lifetime (Titus 2:11-13). Eschatologically, the Bible teaches a pre-tribulational, pre-millennial rapture ( I Thessalonians. 5:4-9)

The Judgment Seat of Christ/ Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The believers will be rewarded according to their works at the judgment seat of Christ, rewards which we will be able to cast at the feet of Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11-14, 2 Corinthians 5:10). The believers will then enjoy what the Bible calls the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelations 19:9-10). On earth, the seven year tribulation will begin after the rapture.

The Tribulation

At this time, the Antichrist will make himself known to the world as one that brings peace and stability to the world (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12). This time is referred to by the Bible as the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24, Daniel 9). Half way through the tribulation, the Antichrist will sit in the temple of God in the place of God, committing what the Bible calls the abomination of desolations spoken of by Daniel (Daniel 9:27, 12:11). The great tribulation will then begin, making the second half of the tribulation worse than the first.

Second Coming

At the end of the seven years, the second coming of Christ will take place, in which all the saints will descend from heaven with Christ as our Conqueror and King. The saints will be robed in white riding a white horse while following our Savior (Revelation 19:11-16). At this point, the nations will try to unite and fight against Christ, this battle is called the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:19-21). The battle will really be no battle at all, for Christ will speak and with His voice will He defeat the nations (Revelation 19:21).

Millenium

After the battle of Armageddon, the millennial reign of Christ will begin, and during those 1,000 years Satan will be bound. At the end of the millennium Satan will be loosed again for his final attempt to defeat Christ, but to no avail.

Great White Throne/ New Heaven and New Earth

God will then judge the unsaved dead at the Great White Throne Judgment. Men will be judged according to their works, works which will condemn them to an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). Satan, death and hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:8-10). The earth will then be destroyed and God will make a new heaven and a new earth and in it will be the New Jerusalem where the saints will dwell forever with God (2 Peter 3:9-10; Revelation 21:1-7).