Beliefs ~ Based on the Bible, I believe...

1. God has revealed himself to be the Creator and Ruler of the universe, the One Supreme Being to whom all people are accountable for their behavior.

God said: It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens. (Isaiah 45:12)

David the King said: The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalm 103:19)

A New Testament writer said: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)


2. All people are sinners who fail to measure up to God's standards and are condemned to eternal death as punishment for their sin.

The Apostle Paul said: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Paul also said: He [Jesus] will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power. (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)


3. By the grace of God, salvation from sin and its punishment has been provided through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah.

Paul said: He [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25)

Paul also said: Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)


4. Those people who repent of their sins, believe God's word, and commit themselves to Jesus as their Savior and Lord have eternal life.

Jesus said: The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:15)

Jesus also said: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

Paul said: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)


I believe these things because...

1. They are found in the Bible, a historically-based record and explanation of God's involvement in human affairs.

"The events spoken of in the Bible took place at certain times and in definite places. It is, in fact, basic to a Biblical understanding of revelation that its timeless message was given in historical events, through real persons and at places which can be visited by you and by me." (Harry Thomas Frank: Atlas of the Bible Lands, © 1977 Hammond Inc., Maplewood, NJ, page B-3)


2. They solve my biggest problem, sin. They explain how to be released from the guilt and bondage of sin and from the fear of death.

The Apostle Peter said: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

Another New Testament writer said: Since the children [humans] have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)


3. They answer my biggest question: What does life mean? They explain what is going on now and what is going to happen in the future.

Peter said: In his great mercy he [God] has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade ... the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3b-4,9b)

Paul said: And he [God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment -- to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:9-10)


4. They give me hope.

Paul said: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope -- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)


Jesus the Messiah who suffered and died to atone for human sin
is now alive and exalted. That is the reason for my hope.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death --
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
 (Philippians 2:5-11)

This is GOOD NEWS!

________

All Bible quotations on this page are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by New York International Bible Society, and published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan.


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