What do We Believe?

What do We Believe?

Good morning!

Today my message is entitled “What do We Believe?”

We just spent the first two months of 2019 looking at the book of Philippians, a letter from the Apostle Paul to the Christian church in Philippi. Paul very clearly tells them what he believes about God and encourages them to follow Jesus Christ in their lives. Now for us – what do we believe?

On the back of your bulletins you will see the “Foundational Christian Truth”. This is what we believe! So where do we get this from – our By-Laws based on the Bible.

I want to take time this morning to discuss this statement and explain some of the words and thoughts this statement puts forth.

ARTICLE 7 – FOUNDATIONAL CHRISTIAN TRUTH

We accept the Bible as God’s perfect revelation of Himself to man. The Bible is accepted among us as authoritative for faith and practice. We believe the Bible is inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts.

Webster’s New World Dictionary gives us:

“Infallible”: Incapable of error: never wrong: incapable of error in setting forth doctrine on faith and morals. ¹

Encarta Webster’s Dictionary of the English language provides this:

“Inerrant”: Incapable of making a mistake, containing no mistakes. ²

We believe in the Bible! You have a choice to make; you either believe the whole Bible is true or you don’t. This is called faith, a faith in God and the Bible. Some call it blind faith, so my answer is how Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV “We live by faith, not by sight.”

Therefore, believing the Bible is God’s Word, we then believe what it says about itself.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hymn writer Haldor Lillenas is quoted in Paul Little’s book “Know What and Why you Believe”,

“The Bible stands like a rock undaunted, Mid the raging storms of time;

Its pages burn with the truth eternal, and they glow with a light sublime.

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble; It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble; I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands.”  ³

After thousands of years, the Bible is still the most read book ever. It not only survives, but its truths are the foundation of most cultures in the world. To follow the Bible in every area of our lives, is to believe in the author, and desire to have a relationship with Him. So, we believe in the one living and true God.

There is one and only one living and true God. He reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

Isaiah 45:5-6 NIV

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;

    apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

    though you have not acknowledged me,

6 so that from the rising of the sun

    to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

    I am the Lord, and there is no other.

We claim this next passage as the reason we are here and as our purpose as Christians. It is Jesus talking to His disciples and He clearly indicates three attributes of God.

Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

We believe that Jesus Christ is God and that He is also the perfect man. We believe in the Virgin Birth and that He lived a sinless life among men. Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for mankind and was raised bodily from the dead to provide justification for all who submit to Him as Master of life. He ascended into Heaven where He is seated on the right hand of the Father. Jesus shall come again to judge all people.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary states:

“Justification”: In Protestant theology it is used to designate the act whereby God, in virtue of the Sacrifice of Christ, acquits a man of the punishment due to his sins and in His mercy treats him as though he were righteous. ⁴

Webster’s states:

“Justification”: By faith, the act by which a sinner is freed through faith from the penalty of his sin and is accepted by God as righteous.” ⁵

In a letter from Josiah Barton – Youth for Christ from last summer, one of the youth was quoted “I trust Jesus and believe in Him because He’s taken all my sins. He’s done that for me so I can be free.” ⁶

We confess Jesus as Master of life, believing that He died for our sin and raised to justify all who believe. By faith in the Risen Son of God we are saved from all sin and born into the Family of God. All who are born into the Family of God will reveal their divine parentage as they grow in grace and godliness and become ever more like Christ the Lord.

Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV

11 It was He (Jesus) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

In that same letter from Josiah Barton, another of the youth was quoted,

“Jesus did all that to make us family? He calls us His family? I want that! I want that life Jesus has, and I want to be His family. That’s incredible! I want that! And I’m going to ask Him to show me He’s real.” ⁷

What a statement! I remember when I made similar statements after God revealed Himself to me. Finding Jesus, developing a relationship with Him and growing in His love and care are the most important steps to take for each one of us. The process might look different for each person, but the result is the same. We become more like Christ each day. We show Christ more each day.

What do we believe? We believe in a risen Savior, a loving Father and a guiding Spirit – God, who made us and brought us back from a life of wandering in the wilderness without Him. We follow His Word to live our lives the way God wants us to and to show others the truth.

This is the “Foundational Christian Truth” that we believe our God has given us. If you have never thought about this or are unsure, I urge you to seek out the truth of God, ask God to reveal Himself to you – you just might be surprised – I was!

Let’s pray!