Doctrinal Statement of Faith
The Holy Scriptures, comprised of Old and New Covenants (these two covenants were based on the suzerain vassal treaties, initiated by God, non-negotiable and governed by Him) are fully and verbally inspired (God breathed) by God and are therefore infallible-inerrant in the original writings (manuscripts) and completely trustworthy in all areas in which they speak, espouse, instruct, teach and proclaim. Their central salvation message and historical essential teachings are clear-plain-comprehendible and accessible to all who follow the standard and self-evident rules of logical reasoning-literary interpretation. They are therefore the supreme, unmediated and final authority of faith and practice for every Christian. (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21).
God is One, there is only one eternal, sovereign, immutable, almighty and perfect God. Within the Being of this one (monotheism) true God exist three eternally distinct, self-existent, (comprises all the attributes of deity) co-eternal, co-existent and co-equal Persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (one what and three who’s). These three Persons are the one true God in nature, essence and substance. (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Isaiah 6:1, 40:13-18, 46:9-10).
Jesus Christ, is the eternal Son of God, (God the Son) the Second Person of the Trinity, who lovingly and willingly took upon Himself human flesh (incarnated) through the miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He who is true God (homo-ousios) became true man, uniting two natures (God-man) in one person forever. Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into Heaven where He now serves as our High Priest, Advocate and our only Mediator. He will return bodily, known and visibly to the earth as King of kings and will judge every human being who has ever lived. (John 1:1, 20:28; Romans 9:5; Phil. 2:6; Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8; 1 John 5:20; John 13:3, 17:5; Colossians 1:15-19; 1 Timothy 3:16, and Hebrews 1:3; Isaiah 9:6, 7:14 and Matthew 1:22-23; Jeremiah 23:6; Isaiah 40:3; Hebrews 1:8; 1 Timothy 3:16; john 10:36; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1-2, 8:58, 17:5, 24; Colossians 1:15; 1 John 1:1; Revelations 1:8; Matthew 18:20, 20:28; John 3:13, 2:24-25, 16:30; 21:17; Revelation 2:23; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 3:21; Revelation 1:8 cf. john 5:17; Hebrews 1:3; Matthew 28:18 and immutable Hebrews 1:10-12, 13:8; John 20:28; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 1:6 cf Exodus 34:14 and Matthew 4:10; john 11:25 cf John 5:25, 28-29, 6:39,40,54, 5:22, 8:18, 14:9; Mark 9:37; john 12:44, 14:1, 5:23, 15:23).
The Holy Spirit, is the eternal third Person of the Triune God, the regenerator, comforter and drawer (for the unregenerate) sanctifier of the redeemed, the bestower of spiritual fruit and gifts, and the abiding presence, who empowers believers for godly living and service. (John 14:26; Romans 8:14; John 14:26; Romans 8:26; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14, 12:11; Acts 8:29, 15:28, 5:1-4; Isaiah 6:8-9 with Acts 28:25; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews10:15; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Ephesians 2:22; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11; Psalm 139:7; Zechariah 4:6; Hebrews 9:14; Genesis 1:2; John 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Matthew 28:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
Mankind, in Adam, human beings were created in the image-likeness of God (i.e., they share in a finite way the communicable attributes of God, including personality, spirituality, rationality, intelligence, acumen and morality). Through the fall of Adam that image of God has been defiled-contaminated, although not eradicated or instantly eliminated. Every created being is radically corrupt, vile, evil, totally depraved, wicked and estranged from God. Human beings are condemned by God, because of their descent into rebellion-sin, both through their relationship (nature) to Adam and through individual choice or volition. The desperate need of humanity is forgiveness of sins and consequent restoration of a relationship with God; yet humans remain helplessly unable to atone for and restore themselves. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:10, 23; John 3:3, 3:16; Acts 13:38-39, 4:12; Matthew 25:46; 2 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
Crucifixcation, Jesus’ death on the cross (perfect atoning sacrifice) provided a penal substitutionary atonement for the sins of humanity. In salvation we are rescued-redeemed or spared from God’s wrath by His unmerited grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone. (Romans 6:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Matthew 20:28; Romans 3:21; 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 2:12; Romans 8:5-8; Colossians 1:20-21; Galatians 3:13; 1 john 1:5; Romans 3:4, 24-26, 1:18, 6:23; John 10:17-18; 2 Peter 2:1; Matthew 20:28; Romans 3:10-12, 20, 28; John 1:13; Ephesians 2:1-5, Romans 5:12-15, 6:6, 3:23-26).
Eternal Life, those who have believed-received-trusted the sufficient free gift of salvation will be raised from the dead or raptured (snatched up from their earthly lives) to meet Christ at His Second Coming, and their bodies will be transformed like unto His glorious, immortal body. They will live or dwell forever in the fellowship-presence and Kingdom of God in a new heaven and a new earth. Eternal, conscious punishment-torment apart from the fellowship and Kingdom of God (hell and the lake of fire) is the ultimate destiny of unredeemed humanity, Satan, and his entire angelic host (Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11; Titus 2:13; Revelation1:7; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 1 John 3:2, 2:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:18; Matthew 24:36; john 6:39, Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:9-15; Revelation 6:17, 7:14; Jeremiah 30:7; Zechariah 12:2-3, 14:1-3; Revelation 19:7-9, 14; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Zechariah 14:9; Revelation 19:15-16, 20:2, 4-6, 19:20, 20:1-3; Joel 3; Matthew 25; Amos 9:15; Ezekiel 34:28, Psalm 2:9; Isaiah 11:4; Romans 8:19-21; Revelation 20:7-15; Mark 9:48, 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:2-3, 2:3-5).
Bodily Resurrection, we affirm in the bodily (corporal) resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one to one correspondence with the body that lived and the body that was crucified. This is an indisputable event of history: unique, unmatched and unparalleled; the chief cornerstone and the substratum of Christianity. We deny the gratuitous often-postulated post-modern assertions of the Jesus Seminar, progressives, historical revisionist, evolutionist, liberal critics, higher criticisms and current agnostic-atheist hypothesis. (1 Corinthians 15:17; Job 19:25-27; Psalms 16:9-11, 22:22, 118:22-24; Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:30-32; Luke 18:31-34; John 2:19-22, Acts 1:3; Luke 24:33-43; John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Romans 4:24-25; Hebrews 7:25; John 14:19, 5:26; Romans 1:4; John 14:19; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 1:19-21; Acts 17:31).
The Christian Church, which is the body and bride of Christ, is composed of all persons, who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been redeemed-regenerated, called by the Father through the Holy Spirit. Corporately and individually, its members strive to worship, preach-teach, serve, honor and glorify God through prayer-praise, diligent study and application of the Scriptures, evangelism, sanctified living, good works, and observance of the rites of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The ultimate mission or strategic goal of the church is the discipleship of all nations–not only the saving of souls, (which is primary) but also the proclamation of the gospel to bear on every aspect of life and thought, until the Lord returns. (Acts 2:41, 15:13-17, Ephesians 1:3-6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
Sola Scriptura, infallibility of the Scriptures. Scripture alone is the absolute primary source for all faith, doctrine and practice. It is the final court of arbitration for moral and doctrinal matters. Both Christ, prophets and the apostles viewed Scripture and Scripture alone, as the unerring-inerrant word of God. That Jesus held Scripture in the highest regard is evident from statements such as these: “The Scripture cannot be broken”; “Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything has been accomplished”; “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law”; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. “ Jesus even asserted that greatness in heaven will be measured by obedience to Scripture. When he disputed with the Pharisees-Sadducees on their view of tradition, Jesus proclaimed, “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition...”. Scripture therefore determines whether tradition is acceptable. When Jesus was tested by the Sadducees concerning the resurrection, He retorted, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures”. When confronted with the devil’s temptations, He responded three times with the phrase, “It is written”. Clearly, Jesus accepted or received Scripture as the supreme-ultimate authority and subjected Himself utterly to it. And, as followers of Christ, our view of Scripture cannot be inferior to His. Scripture derives none of its authority from the church; its authority is inherent-innate, because it is the very Word of the living God. It is active, living and perfect in its discourse. “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. (2 Timothy 3:16; John 10:35; Matthew 4:4-10, 5:18-19, 22:29, 24:35; Luke 16:17, Mark 7:13, Luke 24:44).
Inerrancy, Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, (in regards to the original autographer not the various translations) being free from all falsehood, fraud, perversion or deceit. We affirm that the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Scriptures, assuring believers of the truthfulness and remembrance of God's written Word. We deny the often postulated idiosyncratic fundamental rhetoric that tries to undermine sound reason and evidential objective truths. We deny that this witness of the Holy Spirit operates in isolation from or antithetical to Scripture. We deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history, philosophy, logic and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses (macroevolution) about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation, the fall and the flood. We affirm that scripture can stand apologetically against any form of sound logical/philosophical hypothesis presented by liberal or progressive critics. We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy is grounded or rooted in the teaching of the Bible about inspiration. We deny that Jesus' teaching about Scripture may be dismissed by appeals to accommodation or to any natural limitation of His humanity. We affirm Jesus was God in nature even in His incarnation. We affirm that the doctrine of inerrancy has been integral to the Church's faith throughout its history. We deny that inerrancy is a doctrine invented by Scholastic Protestantism, or is a reactionary position postulated in response to negative higher criticism. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16; Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; Matthew 5:18; John 5:39-47; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:2; John 16:13).
Role of Women, we affirm that scripture teaches the co-equal (spiritually) and ontological equality of men and women. However, we do recognize the distinction between gender roles in the hierarchy of church. In accordance with the order of creation, men (only) are to pastor the flock, women function in a subordinate role in compliance with scripture. Women are not inferior to men, nor are they spiritually inadequate, but do serve a different function in the economy of God’s redemptive plan. Hence, women instructors can teach classes/courses at the Friends of Ruth Mission to women, however, church services will be conducted by men with pastoral experience (Genesis1:26-27, 9:6; Exodus 21:15, 17, 28-31; Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 11:3, 14:12; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:11-13, 5:17-21; 1 Timothy 2:12; Titus 1:5-9; Revelations 1:6).
Faith Movement, we deny the false doctrines, abhorrent beliefs and unscriptural teachings-practices of the “Word of Faith Movement”. First, men are not nor can they ever attain deity; it is impossible for a finite entity to obtain an infinite state. A necessary being (God) has by nature no beginning and no ending (infinity), hence contingent beings (mankind) must have a cause for its existence, therefore possess only creatureliness, not Godhood. Second, words (positive affirmations) uttered by faith cannot create or produce ultimate reality; this is the sole appendage of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and intelligent sovereign power. Only God has the puissance within Himself (the power of being) to create (call into existence that which had no existence). Third, we affirm that God in the past and in the future miraculously heals; however, this is not normative today. Because of advancement in medicine and science, God seldom instantaneously-supernaturally heals. Hence, we deny that God is obligated to heal any believer, whose level of faith matches or meets His criteria. Even though faith is integral to the believer, it does not solely determine whether the person will be healed (there are no guarantees). Though healing is available or provided in the atonement, the will of God is paramount, faith is always subordinate in matters of physical healing. Fourth, we deny sabellianism or the modalistic view of the Trinity. God is not one revealed in three manifestations or modes, but one in nature, consisting of three separate, co-equal, co-existent yet distinct personages. Fifth, we deny that speaking in tongues is a sign of being baptized in the Holy Spirit nor is it the only manifestation depicting a true believer. When a person acknowledges their sin, repents, surrenders, believes (trust in the sacrificial atoning death of Jesus Christ) and invites Christ into their heart to be their personal Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to dwell or abide in them assuring, securing, and sealing their salvation. Sixth, we deny practices involving: slaying in the spirit, sardonic laughter, spiritual drunkenness, etc. The practitioners and advocates, who foster these dogmas utilize occult-cult techniques such as: esoteric hypnotic mantras, hyper-suggestibility, mass (large audiences) stimulus, altered states of consciousness, peer pressure, and subtle suggestions. We affirm these occult-cult practices as perversions of the precepts exposed in scripture and are inconsistent with centuries of orthodox Christian doctrine. Believers are to be sound-minded, sober, vigilant and self-controlled, not easily persuaded by every wind of doctrine that blows across their spiritual landscape. (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:28, 43:12b-13, 57:15a; Romans 1:20a; 1 Timothy 1:17; Acts 17:25; Colossians 1:16-17; Romans 11:36; Hebrews 11:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 8:16-17, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Luke 3:21-22, John 14:16-17, 2 Corinthians 13:14;1).