God

We teach that there is but one living and true God (Deut. 6:4; Is. 45:5-7), perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing, and subsistent in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14) – each equally deserving the same worship and obedience.

God the Father

God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity (I Cor. 8:6), orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Ps. 145:9; Eph. 1:11; Phil. 2:13). He is the Creator of all things (Gen. 1:1-3 1). As the absolute and highest Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence and redemption (Ps. 103:19; Romans 11:36). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass and continually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and events (I Chron. 29:11). This He does in such a way so as not to be the author and approver of sin (Hab. 1:13; James 1:13) nor to abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (Ez. 18:20; Romans 14:12). He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ; and He relates Himself to His own as their Father (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:3-6; Heb. 12:5-9).

God the Son

Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine Excellencies, and in these he is coequal, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 10:30; 14:9).

We teach that in the incarnation He surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation Christ’s divine nature united itself with a human nature in an indissoluble union, and so he became the God-man (Phil. 2:5-8).

We teach that Jesus Christ represents the fusion of humanity and deity into an indivisible oneness (Col. 2:9).

We teach that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1:25; Luke 1:26-35), that He was God incarnate (John 1:1-3, 14, 18) and that the purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God (John 1:29; I John 1:1-3), redeem men (Acts 20:28; Eph. 1:7; Rev. 5:9), and rule over God’s kingdom (Is. 9:6).

We teach that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross, and that His death was voluntary (John 10:17-18), substitutionary (I Peter 2:24), propitiatory (Romans 3:25), and redemptive (Eph. 1:7).

We teach that, upon the basis of the efficacy of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin, declared righteous, given eternal life and admitted to the family of God (Romans 5:1, 8- 11; 8:1, 14-17).

We teach that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead; and that He is now ascended to the right hand of the Father where He is ministering as our Advocate and High Priest (Matt. 28:6; Luke 24:39-43; Heb. 4: 14-16; 7:25; 9:24).

We teach that by the resurrection of Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of Christ. In addition, God accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross and His bodily resurrection as the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:28-29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 6:5; 1 Cor. 15:20, 23).

We teach that Jesus Christ will return to receive the Church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the Rapture and, returning with His Church in glory, will establish His kingdom in its millennial manifestation (Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:4-6).

As the mediator between God and man (I Tim. 2:5), the Head of His Body the Church (Eph. 1:22; 5:23; Col. 1:18), and the coming universal King who will reign on the throne of David (Is. 9:6; Luke 1:31-33), He is the final Judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as the Lord of life and the only Savior (Acts 17:30-3 1).

God the Holy Spirit

We teach that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the divine attributes, and that in these He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son (Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; I Cor. 12:4-6). Compare Isaiah 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25-26, and Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17. The divine attributes of the Holy Spirit include:

• Intellect – I Corinthians 2:10-13
• Emotion – Ephesians 4:30
• Will – I Corinthians 12:11
• Co-equality – Matthew 28:19; I Corinthians 12:4-6; II Corinthians 13:14
• Eternalness – Hebrews 9:14
• Omnipresence – Psalm 139:7-10
• Omniscience – Isaiah 40:13-14
• Omnipotence – Romans 15:13
• Truth – John 16:13

We teach that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to the world of men. We recognize His sovereign activity in the creation (Gen. 1:2), the incarnation (Matt. 1: 18; Luke 1:35), the written revelation (II Peter 1:20-2 1), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).

We teach that the work of the Holy Spirit in this age began at Pentecost when He came from the Father, as promised by Christ (John 14:16, 15:26), to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His Church (I Cor. 12:13). The broad scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-8); glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14) and transforming believers into Christ-likeness (II Cor. 3:17-18; Gal. 5:22- 23).

We teach that the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher who guided the apostles into all truth as they submitted to God’s revelation in Scripture (John 16:13). We teach that every believer can possess the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation (Romans 8:9; I Cor. 3:16) and that it is evident by speaking in other tongues, and it is the duty and privilege of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

We teach that the Holy Spirit alone administers spiritual gifts to the Church (I Cor. 12:11), not to glorify Himself or the gifts by ostentatious displays, but to glorify Christ (John 16:14) and implement His work of redeeming the lost (Acts 1:8) and building up believers in the most holy faith (II Cor. 3:18).

We teach, in this respect, that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts (I Cor. 12:11) for the perfecting of the saints today (I Cor. 14:12). We teach that the confirming sign gifts (speaking in tongues, interpretation, healing, and working of sign miracles) were evangelistic gifts in the beginning days of the Church for the purpose of confirming the Gospel message (I Cor. 14:22a; II Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3-4), and active in the church today to be part of normative church worship and service.