Key Concepts
+ The Preserved Word
+ Sense and Sequence
+ Right Division
+ The Gospel of the Grace of God
+ The Mystery
+ Road Sign Passages
+ Sonship Curriculum
Doctrinal Distinctions
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1. I believe in God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures. He is singular in essence (God is One) yet triune in personage (Father, Son, Holy Ghost). 2. I believe the Holy Scriptures are God’s authoritative written Word, inspired individually and wholly. The Bible, God’s Word, is inerrant and preserved in the Majority Text. The King James Version is the very best translation of the Majority Text - in English or in any language. 3. I believe man is totally depraved, utterly sinful and unable to do anything to save himself from the righteous judgment of God. In glorious humility and grace, God, the Son, came in the likeness of man and vicariously bore the wrath and punishment for man’s sin. Only by believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as Savior - can man be saved. 4. I believe all true grace-age believers in Jesus Christ should “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, believing in and agreeing on the seven doctrinal items listed after that statement. [Ephesians 4:3-6] “One body” = the Church, the body of Christ, distinguished by Christ’s revelation to Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles and steward of the mysteries (of which one is the Church, the body of Christ). This church is made up of Jew and Gentile, slave and free; it teaches and holds to the Gospel of the Grace of God. It implements the revelation of Jesus Christ to Paul, to whom was given the dispensation of the Grace of God. This “one body” is not the Jewish ‘church’ of Jewish remnant believers that John and Jesus called out in the Gospels. John and Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom warning these believers to prepare for the Kingdom. In Acts 1-12, the original apostles also called Jewish believers to separate from this untoward generation. They announced the Pentecost signs indicated they were in the ‘last days’ of the Jewish program; they preached Jesus as the Messiah, and awaited His return. “One Spirit” = the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit of adoption, the holy Spirit of promise; who baptizes (places) us into the body of Christ, indwells the believer, and acts as the earnest of our heavenly inheritance. The supernatural signs of the Holy Ghost evidencing the Jewish end times [Acts 2-10] are for the Jewish end times and not for this age. Also, the supernatural gifts of the Spirit for the early Church have ceased with the completion of God’s Word. [1 Cor. 12-14] “One hope” = the transformation of our mortal bodies into immortal, incorruptible bodies; referred to in Scripture as the ‘glory of God’; the ‘redemption of our body’, ; the ‘hope of righteousness’, and the ‘hope of eternal life’. [Rom. 5:2, 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:20-58; Gal. 5:5; Titus 1:2] “One Lord” = God, the Son, the LORD (Jehovah) of the Old Testament, humbled Himself to come in the form of man to accomplish salvation for mankind. Then He was exalted far above all authority as the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture prophesies that every being in heaven, in earth, and under the earth will bow before Him and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. He is “Lord both of the dead and the living”. [Phil. 2:9-11; Rom. 14:9] “One faith” = the faith of Jesus Christ; the faithful Son’s accomplishment of redemption and propitiation for the forgiveness of man’s sin. The faith of Christ, the finished work of Christ (the obedience, the innocence, the self-sacrifice), then becomes the subject of our faith; so that the ‘one faith’ is His faith, then our faith is in Him and in what He has done. God’s righteousness then is revealed “from faith to faith”. [Rom. 1:16, 3:22; Gal. 2:16] “One baptism” = in the age of Grace the Holy Ghost places believers into the body of Christ, by baptizing us into His death, burial, and resurrection whereby we become identified as “in Christ”. The baptisms by water, by fire, or of the Holy Ghost belong to the Jewish program. Water baptism demonstrated the believing Jew separating from the unbelieving nation; the baptism of the Holy Ghost indicated the end times of the Jewish program; and the baptism of fire will occur later at the time of judgment. “One God and Father of all” = the Supreme Being, eternal, infinite and sovereign ‘of all’ (believers and unbelievers); He is the Father, the source of all, and the would-be protector and mentor of any who believe. He is above all, through all, and in all. The greatest reality for man is that there is one God that he (man) is responsible to - and the one and only God is actually our Father, by means of creation and then by adoption when we trust in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ = God, the Son. 1. God has written His Word intentionally; He has said what He meant and meant what He said. 2. There is sense and sequence to the order of the Scriptures. 3. Rightly dividing God’s Word is the only accurate way to handle the Scriptures and ensure appropriate application of the Scriptures. 4. God’s leaders serve, they do not rule. They hold the mystery of the faith, model that faith, and serve the Church, the body of Jesus Christ, through godly edifying. God’s leaders recognize Jesus Christ as the ‘head’ of the church, and they function as His servants for His body. 5. God desires believers to become mature adults; the immature are to be protected but not perpetuated. God desires us to think as He thinks, do as He does, and labor with Him in His efforts. 6. The Holy Ghost’s work consists chiefly of baptizing believers into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and renewing our minds through the sound doctrine of God’s Word delivered to the Apostle Paul. 7. God’s will is clearly stated - the salvation of all mankind and the sanctification of believers. God’s will does not consist of daily events. 8. God’s predestination, as Sovereign of the world, pertains to big events and big entities. God does not predetermine what happens to every individual every day, nor does He predetermine what a person may choose to do - including sin. God does not cause every crime, weather catastrophe, animal attack, car accident, nor lottery winner. 9. Our faith in God pertains to our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, the One who saves us from the penalty of sin. We expect bad and difficult times because we live in an ‘evil age’, in a realm where Satan is the ‘god of this world’ and ‘the prince of the power of the air’. Our belief in God is not in question when we suffer persecution or other of life’s difficulties because we know that He has not caused them. Neither do we expect God to change these circumstances, recognizing we are not in contract with God for blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience (Law).
1. Grace = the kindness of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to provide a reconciling solution for man; it is unmerited and available though we are helpless, ungodly sinners, and enemies of God 2. Faith = believing in God’s provision; trusting in the finished work of Christ for the propitiation of my sin and the redemption of my soul 3. Sound doctrine = the revelation of Jesus Christ to Paul which forms the teachings for us in the age of Grace - “all things pertaining to our faith and practice” 4. Dispensation = there are three designated economies or ages in the Scriptures; Law, Grace, and the Fullness of Times. The first two correspond to God’s major programs: the Jewish program and the Gentile Grace program. The third is the culmination of “all things”. whereby the two programs are gathered together into one. [Gal. 4:4; Rom. 5:1-2; Eph. 3:1-7; Titus 2:11, 3:4-7; Eph. 1:10] 5. Edification curriculum = the meaningful progression of instruction found in the Pauline Epistles:
Imagine having ‘a little chat’ with Balaam’s ass Number 22:21-35 records a most unusual event in the life of a prophet for hire. Balaam, the son of Beor, was sought by Balak, the king of the Moabites, to curse the Israelites as they entered the plains of Moab. God told Balaam not to do so and he obeyed the Lord. Balak sent more emissaries and more promises of “very great honor” for Balaam to curse the Israelites. This time God told him to go with them if they called but only to speak what He says. Balaam went with them without their calling to him, so God wa angry with him and placed an angel in the way of the animal he was riding - an ass. The ass saw the angel and turned aside twice and Balaam beat the animal each time for not going forward. Then the ass sat down and Balaam smote the animal with a staff. “And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass . . .” and the animal asked why it had been beaten the three times. Balaam said he did so because the animal had mocked him and if he had had a sword in his hand he would have killed the ass. The ass asked him if it had ever done this before and Balaam said, “Nay”. “Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way . .” It has been through the faithful instruction of a few of God’s servants that I have had my eyes opened and seen that I should change course - and embrace the Gospel of the Grace of God. My hope is that each of us will experience “a Balaam’s Ass moment”; having been formerly blind to a simple understanding of the Bible, we may be informed, and our eyes will be opened, and we will truly know God’s Word! (I desire to act, figuratively speaking only, as Balaam’s ass in halting the progression of confusion in modern Christianity.) |