This Statement of Fundamental Truths is not intended as a creed for the Church, nor as a basis of fellowship among Christians, but only as a basis of unity for the ministry alone (i.e., that we all speak the same thing, 1 Cor. 1:10; Acts 2:42). The human phraseology employed in such statement is not inspired nor contended for, but the truth set forth in such phraseology is held to be essential to a full Gospel ministry. No claim is made that it contains all truth in the Bible, only that it covers our present needs as to these fundamental matters.
1. THE SCRIPTURES INSPIRED.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason. 2 Tim. 3:15, 16; 1 Pet. 2:2.
2. THE ONE TRUE GOD.
The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent, self-revealed “I AM;” and has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association, i.e., as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29; Isa. 43:10, 11; Matth. 28:19.
8. MAN, HIS FALL AND REDEMPTION.
Man was created good and upright; for God said, “Let us make man in our image and in our likeness.” But man, by voluntary transgression, fell, and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Gen. 1:26–31; 3:1–7; Rom. 5:12–21.
4. THE SALVATION OF MAN.
(a)Conditions to Salvation.
The grace of God that brings salvation to all men has appeared through the preaching of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ; whereupon man is saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit which is shed upon him richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; and, having been justified by grace through faith, he becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life. Tit. 2:11; Rom. 10:13–15; Luke 24:47; Titus 3:5–7.
(b)The Evidences of Salvation.
The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation, is the direct witness of the Spirit. Rom. 8:16. The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness, Luke 1:73–75; Titus 2:12–14; the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:22, and brotherly love, Jno. 13:35; Heb. 13:1; 1 Jno. 3:14.
5. THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER.
All believers are entitled to, and should ardently expect, and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:1–31.
6. THE FULL CONSUMMATION OF THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY Spirit.
The full consummation of the baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit and fire, is indicated by the initial sign of speaking in tongues, as the Spirit of God gives utterance. Acts 2:4. This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth. Acts 10:44–46; 11:14–16; 15:8, 9.
7. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, THE GOAL FOR ALL BELIEVERS.
The Scriptures teach a life of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command, “be ye holy for I am holy.” Entire sanctification is the will of God for all believers, and should be earnestly pursued by walking in obedience to God’s Word. Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16; 1 Thess. 5:23, 24; 1 Jno. 2:6.
8. THE CHURCH A LIVING ORGANISM.
The Church is a living organism; a living body; yea the body of Christ; a habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Every local assembly is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the First-born, written in heaven. Eph. 1:22, 23; 2:22; Heb. 12:23.
9. THE MINISTRY AND EVANGELISM
A divinely called and a Scripturally ordained ministry for the evangelization of the world, is the command of the Lord, and the chief concern of the Church. Mk. 16:15–20; Eph. 4:11–13.
10. THE LORD’S SUPPER.
The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements, bread and the fruit of the vine, is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 1:4; a memorial of his suffering and death, 1 Cor. 11:26; and a prophecy of His second coming, 1 Cor. 11:26; and is enjoined on all believers “until He comes.”
11. BAPTISM IN WATER.
The Ordinance of Baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures, by all who have really repented and in their hearts have truly believed on Christ as Saviour and Lord. In so doing, they have the body washed in pure water as an outward symbol of cleansing while their heart has already been sprinkled with the blood of Christ as an inner cleansing. Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Math. 28:19; Acts 10:47–48; Rom. 6:4; Acts 20:21; Heb. 10:22.
12. DIVINE HEALING.
Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers. Isa. 53:4, 5; Matth. 8:16, 17.
18. THE ESSENTIALS AS TO THE GODHEAD.
(a)Terms Explained.
The terms “Trinity” and “Persons,” as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, yet are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from “gods many and lords many.” We, therefore, may speak with propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a Trinity or as one Being of three Persons, and still be absolutely Scriptural. (Examples: Matth. 2:6; 8:16, 17; Acts 15:15–18.)
(b)Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead.
Christ taught a distinction or Persons in the Godhead which he expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that this distinction and relationship, as to its existence, is an eternal fact, but as to its mode it is inscrutable and incomprehensible, because unexplained. (That is, it is not explained as to how there can be three persons in the Godhead.) (Luke 1:35; 1 Cor. 1:24; Matth. 11:25–27; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Jno. 1:3, 4.)
(c)Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes Him the Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Spirit which constitutes him the Holy Spirit and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore, the Father is the Begetter; the Son is the Begotten; and the Holy Spirit is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three eternally distinct and related persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one. Jno. 1:18; 15:26; 17:11, 21; Zech. 14:9.
(d)Identity and Co-operation in the Godhead.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are never identical as to Person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect of the Godhead; nor opposed as to co-operation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as to relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father is with the Son as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son proceeding, as to nature, relationship, co-operation and authority. Hence, neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works separately or independently of the others. Jno. 5:17–30.
(e)The Title, Lord Jesus Christ.
The appellation “Lord Jesus Christ” is a proper name. It is never applied, in the New Testament, either to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. It therefore belongs exclusively to the Son of God. Rom. 1:1–3, 7; 2 Jno. 3.
(f)The Lord Jesus Christ, God with us.
The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal nature, is the proper and only Begotten of the Father; but, as to His human nature, He is the proper Son of Man. He is, therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who, because He is God and man, is “Immanuel,” God with us. Matth. 1:23; 1 Jno. 4:2, 10, 14; Rev. 1:13, 14–17.
(g)The Title, Son of God.
Since the name “Immanuel” embraces both God and man in the one Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title, Son of God, describes His proper Deity, and the title, Son of Man, His proper humanity. Therefore, the title, Son of God, belongs to the order of eternity, and the title, Son of man, to the order of time. Matth. 1:23, 21; 2 Jno. 3; 1 Jno. 3:3; Heb. 7:3; 1:1–13.
(h)Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ.
Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ to say that Jesus Christ derived the title, Son of God, either from the fact of the incarnation, or because of His relation to the economy of redemption. Therefore, to deny that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that the Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and relationship in the Being of God; a denial of the Father and the Son; and a displacement of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in flesh. 2 Jno. 9; Jno. 1:1, 2, 14, 18, 29, 49; 8:57, 58; 1 Jno. 2:22, 23; 4:1–5; Heb. 12:3, 4.
(l)Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord.
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right band of the Majesty on high; angels and principalities and powers having been made subject unto Him, And, having been made both Lord and Christ, He sent the Holy Spirit that we, in the name of Jesus, might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father until the end, when the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may be all in all. Heb. 1:3; 1 Pet. 3:22; Acts 2:32–36; Rom. 14:11; 1 Cor. 15:24–28.
(J)Equal honor to the Father and the Son.
Wherefore, since the Father has delivered all judgment unto the Son, It is not only the express duty of all things in heaven and in earth to bow the knee, but it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Spirit to ascribe unto the Son all the attributes of Deity, and to give him all the honor and the glory contained in all the names and titles of the Godhead, (except those which express relationship. See paragraphs b, c and d) and thus honor the Son even as we honor the Father. Jno. 5:22, 23; 1 Pet. 1:8; Rev. 5:6–14; Phil. 2:9, 8; Rev. 7:9, 10; 4:8–11.
14. THE BLESSED HOPE.
The Resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ, the rapture of believers which are alive and remain, and the translation of the true church, this is the blessed hope set before all believers. 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rom. 8:23; Tit. 2:13.
15. THE IMMANENT COMING AND MILLENIAL REIGN OF JESUS.
The premillenial and imminent coming of the Lord to gather His people unto Himself, and to judge the world in righteousness while reigning on the earth tor a thousand years is the expectation of the true Church of Christ.
16. THE LAKE OF FIRE.
The devil and his angels, the Beast and false prophet, and whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, the fearful and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators and all liars shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
17. THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.
We look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21 and 22.