The Statement of Faith for The ARK of Salvation
What WE Believe
We
believe the Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is the Word of
God, written. As a "God-breathed" revelation, it is thus verbally
inspired and completely without error (historically, scientifically, morally,
and spiritually) in its original writings. While God the Holy Spirit
supernaturally superintended the writing of the Bible, that writing nevertheless
reflects the words and literary styles of its individual human authors.
Scripture reveals the being, nature, and character of God, the nature of God's
creation, and especially His will for the salvation of human beings through
Jesus Christ. The Bible is therefore our supreme and final authority in all
matters that it addresses.
We
believe that the physical universe, the realm of nature, is the visible creation
of God. It declares God's existence and gives a trustworthy revelation of God's
character and purpose. In Scripture, God declares that through His creation all
humanity recognizes His existence, power, glory, and wisdom. An honest study of
nature -- its physical, biological, and social aspects -- can prove useful in a
person's search for truth. Properly understood, God's Word (Scripture) and God's
world (nature), as two revelations (one verbal, one physical) from the same God,
will never contradict each other.
We believe
in one infinitely perfect, eternal and personal God, the transcendent Creator
and sovereign Sustainer of the universe. This one God is Triune, existing
eternally and simultaneously as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. All three persons in the Godhead share equally and completely the one
divine nature, and are therefore the same God, coequal in power, nature, and
glory.
We believe
that Jesus Christ is both true God (the second Person of the Trinity) and true
man (the Incarnate Son of God). We also believe in the great events surrounding
Jesus Christ's life and ministry, including: His eternal preexistence, His
virgin birth, His attesting miracles, His sinless life, His sacrificial death on
the cross, His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into
heaven, and His present work in heaven as High Priest and Advocate. He will
return in glory to resurrect and judge all mankind.
We believe
that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, is indeed a Divine
Person, coequal with the Father and the Son. We also believe in the ministry of
the Holy Spirit in salvation, a ministry which includes anointing and glorifying
Christ, convicting men of their sin, bringing about the regeneration of lost
sinners, and indwelling believers and empowering them for godly living and
spiritual service.
We
believe God created mankind in His image and likeness (having rational, moral,
relational, and spiritual capacities) to fellowship with Him and give Him glory.
Human beings are therefore the crown of God's creation (possessing inherent
dignity and moral worth), and thus distinct in kind from all other life on
earth. Adam and Eve, the first human beings, chose to rebel against God and go
their own autonomous way. As a result, all of mankind became separated from God,
the image of God in man distorted, and the sinful nature passed on to all their
progeny. Because of original sin (which includes both corruption and guilt),
unregenerate human beings are incapable of pleasing or commending themselves to
God. The only remedy for mankind's pitiful predicament is redemption through
faith in Jesus Christ.
We
believe God has acted sovereignly to bridge the gap that separates people from
Himself. He sent His Son, born of a virgin, attested by miracles and by a
sinless life, to bear the full penalty for humanity's sin. Jesus Christ suffered
and died in the place of sinners, thus satisfying the Father's just wrath
against human sin, and effecting true reconciliation between God and mankind for
those who believe. In the atoning death of Christ, both God's love and God's
justice are fully manifested. The righteousness of Jesus Christ in perfectly
fulfilling the law of God has been graciously credited to all believers.
Redemption is solely a work of God's grace, received exclusively through faith
in Jesus Christ, and never by works of human merit.
We believe
justification is a judicial act of God's grace wherein He acquits a person of
all sin and accepts that person as righteous in His sight because of the imputed
righteousness of Christ. Justification is strictly a work of God's grace,
apprehended through faith alone, and solely on the account of Christ.
We
believe Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, conquering sin, death, and all
the powers of Satan. The resurrection is God's historical affirmation and
vindication of Jesus Christ's unique identity, mission, and message. Historical
evidence of the resurrection is manifest in Christ's empty tomb, His many
resurrection appearances, and in the emergence of the Christian church. Jesus
Christ now resides at the right hand of the Father, and lives to indwell all who
recognize their sinfulness, who repent, and who turn their lives over to His
authority.
We
believe the church is the spiritual body of Jesus Christ (its Founder, Head, and
Shepherd) and that it encompasses all true believers at all times and places.
The function of the church is to carry out the Lord's expressed will through the
power of the Holy Spirit. One of the central purposes of the church is to preach
the Gospel (in both word and life), the good news that humankind can find
salvation from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. All people who have placed
their faith (confident trust) in Jesus Christ for salvation belong to the church
and are, thus, the people of God. This community of believers is made up of
people who are neither perfect nor sinless, but by grace their lives are coming
more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, expressing His love, joy,
peace, and other Christ-like qualities.
We
believe the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth, personally, bodily, and
visibly to establish his glorious reign in a kingdom that will never end. As the
sovereign Lord, He will resurrect and judge all humanity. Those who have
received His offer of life through the Gospel will go to eternal blessings in
heaven; those who have rejected it, to eternal conscious torment in hell. We
look forward to the blessed hope, Christ's Second Coming in glory.
We
believe Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. And since Christ has
commissioned His people, the church, to go into all the world to disciple, to
baptize, and to teach everyone everywhere to obey His Word, we desire, by His
grace, to play our part in reaching the world with the Gospel of Christ.
