My Foundations of Faith
By: Michael Lancto
- I believe the Holy Scriptures to be the
sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament. They are the plenarily and
verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith, life, and
church establishment, inerrant in the original writings, and preserved
by divine providence through the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Text
underlying the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, thereby
empowering it as an infallible body of inspired, inerrant truth for the
English speaking world. PSA12:6-7; ISA 59:21; II TIM 3:16; II PET
1:20-21.
- I believe in one Godhead eternally existing in
three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are co-eternal in
being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the
same attributes and perfections. DEU 6:4; II COR 13:14.
- I believe the Father is the one and living God
-- an infinite and intelligent Spirit. EXO 20:2-3; JOHN 4:24
- I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the
Son of God and God the Son. I believe in His pre-incarnate deity (JOHN
1:1); virgin birth (LUK 1:35); sinless life (HEB 4:15); substitutionary
death (II COR 5:21); bodily resurrection (ACTS 1:3); ascension (ACTS
1:9-11); priesthood (HEB 2:17); imminent pre-7year-tribulational rapture
of the church, (I THES 1:10; 4:13-18; II THES 2; REV 4:1); and His
premillenial coming again with His saints to set up His kingdom on the
earth (REV 19).
- I believe that God the Spirit is a Divine
Person equal with the Father and the Son (MAT 28:19). He is restraining
the evil one in this world (II THES 2:9). He convicts of sin,
righteousness, and judgment (JOHN 16:8-11). He comforts (JOHN 14:16-17),
witnesses (ROM 8:16) and sanctifies (I PET 1:2).
- I believe in the vicarious blood atonement of
Jesus Christ for sin. I JOHN 1:7; HEB 10:12.
- I believe in the existence of Satan who was
once a sinless being but who later fell through pride. ISA 14:12-14.
- I believe in the Genesis account of the direct
creation of the universe and man by God in six 24-hour days. I do
not believe in the process of evolution. GEN 1:1; EXO 20:11; JOHN 1:1-3;
HEB 11:3.
- I believe in the voluntary fall of man
resulting in total depravity and guilt of the race of Adam. GEN 3.
- I believe that salvation is by grace through
faith in the person of Jesus Christ and His finished work. EPH2:8-9;
JOHN 3:16.
- I believe in the eternal security and
assurance of believers. Once saved, we are kept by God's power and are
secure in Christ forever. JOHN 6:37-40, 10:27-30; ROM 8:1.
- I believe in the eternal bliss in a literal place
called heaven for all who are saved through Christ's shed blood.
I believe in eternal damnation in a literal place called hell
with literal fire for all who are lost. JOHN 14:1-6; REV 20:11-15
- I believe in the unity of all true believers
who are the Body of Christ that is based upon Biblical doctrine. I COR
12:12-14; II COR 11:2; EPH 1:22-23, 5:25-27.
- I believe in the local church as an assembly
of baptized believers gathered together for the purpose of performing
the great commission. MAT 28:18-20; MARK 16:15. The two Biblical offices
of each local church are pastor and deacon.
- I believe that the ordinances of the local
church are baptism and the Lord's Supper. The only Biblical mode of
believer's baptism, is by total immersion in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit by the command of God (MAT 28:19; ROM 6:4-5). The
Lord's Supper is the commemoration of our Lord's death by the unleavened
bread and the fruit of the vine (grape juice), is always preceded by
self examination (ICOR 11:23-28). The bread and fruit of the vine are
symbolic elements of Jesus body and blood.
- I believe that civil government is of divine
appointment for the interests and good order of human society
(ROM13:1-7); that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously
honored and obeyed (MAT 22:21, Tit 3:1, I Peter 2:13,14); except only in
cases where compliance would cause the believer to sin against God
(Act4:19-20; 5:29; Dan 3:17-18).
- I believe in obedience to the Biblical commands to
separate from worldliness, false doctrine, and ecclesiastical
apostasy unto God. (II COR 6:14-7:1; I THES 1:9,10; I TIM 6:3-5; ROM
16:17; II JOH 9-11)
|