The 66 books of the Bible are the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. Every word of Scripture in both the Old Testament and New Testament is just as relevant for believers today as it was when it was first written, and it is God’s sole written revelation to mankind.
Joshua 1:8; Psalm 12:6; Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 30:5; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21
There is only one God who exists eternally in three equal Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are one essence and possess the same divine attributes, and they work harmoniously in creating, sustaining, and redeeming the world.
Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 45:5-6; Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 12:32; John 10:30; John 14:9-11; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Timothy 2:5
As the first Person of the Trinity, God the Father is merciful and gracious, and His will is to save all who come to Him through faith in His Son. He is not distant or unknowable; He knows and loves His people, and He wants them to know and love Him.
Psalm 103:8-12; Psalm 139:1-12; Isaiah 41:10; John 6:40; 1 John 4:7-9
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He was conceived by the virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, in order to redeem sinful man through His physical death and resurrection from the dead. Being fully God and fully man, he became a substitutionary sacrifice and is now seated at the right hand of God as High Priest. He will return to establish His kingdom.
Matthew 26:64; Luke 1:30-35; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:14-16; Revelation 22:20
The Holy Spirit indwells all believers who have placed their faith in Jesus as their Savior, baptizing them into one body. He advocates for them, helps them, seals them as His own, and guides them in all truth. He convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, and He regenerates, sanctifies, and empowers all who believe.
John 14:16-17; John 16:7-15; Romans 8:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30
Men and women were created by God in His image. The disobedience of the first man, Adam, led to both the physical and spiritual death of all mankind. Everyone is born with a sinful nature and has become alienated from a holy God. There is nothing that anyone can ever do on their own to remedy this sin problem, and they can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:16; Romans 3:9-12; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:12, Romans 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:12
Each person can only be saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus as their Savior. All people are born with a sin nature and are therefore justly condemned to eternal separation from God. Through His grace and mercy, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross as full payment for the sins of the world. Jesus died, was buried, and physically rose from the dead on the third day. All who believe are declared righteous by God, born again of the Holy Spirit, granted eternal life, and adopted as His children. Once saved, believers can never lose their salvation. The assurance of their salvation rests entirely in the work of Jesus Christ.
John 3:3-8; John 3:16; John 6:40; John 10:27-30; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:21-24; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:14-16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 1:18-19
The Holy Spirit indwells all believers, and God calls believers to be holy, as He is holy. At the moment of salvation, all believers receive a new spiritual nature and are no longer slaves to their old sin nature. However, they still retain their old sin nature, which is in direct conflict with the new nature. Sanctification is the ongoing process by which God, through the Holy Spirit, helps believers to grow in holiness and resist the temptations of their sin nature. Although believers may sometimes stumble, there is nothing that a believer can do to lose his salvation. This assurance should not be used as a license to sin or legalism.
Matthew 5:13-16; Romans 6:5-13; Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:13-25; Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Peter 1:14-16
The Church consists of all believers who have placed their faith in Christ as their Savior. It is a living body, of which Christ is the head, and its mission is to evangelize, baptize, and disciple people of all nations. The local church is an assembly of believers that has been organized to carry out the work of the Church and administer the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 9:31; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-17; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 10:25
All believers are given spiritual gifts to equip them for ministry and edify the Church. Sign gifts are distinct from other spiritual gifts and include speaking in tongues, prophesying, and healing. Sign gifts were given for the specific purpose of authenticating the gospel message and the ministry of those who preached it within the early Church, and they are not normative for the Church today. There is only one baptism of the Holy Spirit that takes place at the moment of salvation, and all believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38; Acts 4:10-16; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:7-13; Hebrews 2:4; 1 Peter 4:10-11
All believers are called to correctly handle God’s Word. The Bible is intended to be interpreted in a literal, historical-grammatical method, and this consistently literal hermeneutic must be applied to all of God’s Word. As a result of this approach, dispensationalism offers the best way to understand how God has worked throughout history. Salvation has always been by grace alone through faith alone, but God has worked in different ways (dispensations) at different times in history. These dispensations include innocence (Genesis 1:1-2:25), conscience (Genesis 3:1-7:24), human government (Genesis 8:1-11:32), promise (Genesis 12:1-Exodus 19:25), law (Exodus 20:1-Acts 1:26), grace (Acts 2:1-Revelation 20:3), and kingdom (Revelation 20:4). Because the Bible is to be interpreted literally, the Old Testament promises to Israel have not been transferred to the Church; they will be fulfilled just as God promised, and the Church has not replaced Israel in God’s program.
Genesis 1:1-2:25; Genesis 3:1-7:24; Genesis 8:1-11:32; Genesis 12:1-Exodus 19:25; Exodus 20:1-Acts 1:26; Acts 2:1-Revelation 20:3; Revelation 20:4; 2 Timothy 2:15
Jesus will return to earth in an imminent, personal, visible, and glorious manner, just as He promised. Prior to establishing His kingdom on earth, He will rapture His Church, ushering in the 7-year tribulation on earth for the purpose of preparing Israel for her Messiah. At the end of the seven years, Jesus will return to earth with His Church to establish the millennial Messianic Kingdom. At the end of Jesus’ thousand-year reign, Satan and all unbelievers will be judged and thrown in the lake of fire, where they will suffer everlasting punishment. Following this judgment, God will establish a new heavens and a new earth, where believers will be surrounded by the everlasting presence of God.
Note: While this view of the end times is the most accurate according to a literal interpretation of Scripture, it is not an essential doctrine, and there may be differing beliefs among Christians concerning the end times (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).
Daniel 9:25-27; Zechariah 12:1-14:21; Matthew 24:3-51; 1 Corinthians 13:9-12; 1 Corinthians 15:51; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 6:1-22:21