Christian Evidence - The Best in Christian Apologetics

Beliefs: Essentials

God

God exists eternally (not created) as one being, having the attributes of being omnipotent (all powerful) omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (present within all parts of the created universe simultaneously) and all loving. God is revealed to us in the form of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Father

God, the Father, is the Holy Presence of God in Heaven, a real place that exists outside of our physical universe.

Son

Jesus Christ is the only begotten (not created) Son of God, born of the virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Son is the full representation of God in human form - both fully human and fully divine. Jesus Christ led a sinless life as the perfect lamb of God. He voluntarily died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins, thereby giving us redemption from death, so that we might have a personal relationship with the Father. Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead, demonstrating the validity of His substitutionary death and the power of the Father in fulfilling His plan of redemption. Jesus will return to earth in glory as absolute Judge and King.

Gospel

The gospel is the "good news" that God has loved us so much that He provided His son, Jesus Christ as the means by which we can be declared sinless, and so, live with God forever in heaven.

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the power of God expressed to and through all who claim Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit convicts the world (and believers) of sin and encourages them to repent and turn to God. The Holy Spirit gives power to the believer to fulfill the perfect will of God and to be conformed to the image of Christ.

Mankind

God created mankind (males and females) in His own image so that they might have a personal relationship with Him. However, the first humans (Adam and Eve) rebelled against God, believing the lies of Satan, thereby suffering both spiritual and physical death. God, in His love, promised to send the Messiah, by whom the sins of the world could be taken away for all who trusted in Him. Jesus, through His sinless life, fulfilled the promises of God and is the only means by which mankind can reestablish a personal relationship with God.

Bible

The Bible is the inspired word of God given through the writing styles of men led by the Holy Spirit. It is inerrant as originally written.

Church

A church is a local gathering of individuals who call Jesus Christ their Lord and have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. This assembly of professed believers meet together in the name of Jesus Christ for baptism, the Lord's Supper, worship, praise, prayer, fellowship, testimony, the ministry of the Word, discipline, and the furtherance of the Gospel. The Church is the sum of all believers who call Jesus Lord and is the visible representation of His Body on the earth.

Ordinances

Jesus established two ordinances for the Church - believer's baptism and holy communion.

• Baptism. Jesus commanded us to baptize all new believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a believer's public confession of faith in Jesus Christ, and represents his death with Christ and his resurrection to new life through Christ. Baptism is neither sufficient nor necessary for justification, but represents a believer's willingness to obediently follow Jesus.
• Holy Communion. Jesus instituted communion (unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine) at the last supper (a celebration of Passover). The unleavened bread represents the Lord's body, whereas the fruit of the vine (the cup of blessing) represented the new covenant in His blood. He told us to "do this in remembrance of Me" until He comes again.

Worship

Worship is a natural response to what God has done for us and can be expressed in many different ways (both corporate and private). Corporate worship and service is to be done with a local body of believers and is not optional for obedient Christians.

Salvation

Salvation is the process by which the believer becomes conformed to the image of Christ. The process begins through a confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord (God and Master) and Savior. Through faith alone we are justified (declared righteous) before a Holy God. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer to guide and lead him through the process of sanctification. The process is completed through the power of God as the believer is resurrected to live eternally in heaven with God.

Beliefs: Non-essentials

The Creation

The universe was created by God for the express purpose of allowing spirit beings the choice to love or reject God. The original creation was very good, but was never intended to be perfect or to be eternal. God created the universe using well-defined physical laws that clearly attest to the power and righteousness of God. God neither deceives us through his written word nor the reality of His creation. Both accounts proclaim that the universe is ancient.

We believe that God created life through His miracles, not through the process of macroevolution.

End Times

The Lord Jesus Christ will return for His Church and to judge the nations of the world. Prior to this event, the Bible indicates that followers of Jesus Christ will go through the Great Tribulation at the hands of the unrighteous, but will be raptured or protected from the pouring out of God's wrath during the judgment of the unrighteous.

Sanctity of Human Life

We believe that God is the author and giver of life and that we should not play God to shorten the life of those created in His image. For this reason, we are against abortion and euthanasia and destroying human embryos in the name of science.