CHRISTOLOGY

Summary Statement: I believe Christ who is preexistent and eternal. He was virgin born into his incarnate state, thereby being both perfectly God and perfectly man. In this state he emptied Himself of his rights as God and become humbled. Because of his impeccability, he was able to be our vicarious atonement and will return to rule the world.

1. Preexistent: Christ existed before the foundation of the world as part of the Godhead (The Trinity was discussed under Theology Proper). Scripture also exerts the fact that Christ was in existence before the worlds were made. John 1:1 refers to Christ as the Word and states that the Word was with God, was God, and that He as the preexistent God was active in creation.

2. Eternal: Not only did Christ exist before the world, but He has an eternal existence. Christ is eternal. This is seen in both John 1:1 and Hebrews 1:3, both of these verses express that Christ was God, and had the essence of God. That fact that he is God makes Him have the same attributes and therefore is eternal.

3. Virgin Born: Isaiah 7:14 states that the Messiah will be born of a virgin. This is necessary for Christ to be able to be both God and Man. In the New Testament it is seen the filling of this prophecy when the virgin Mary conceives Christ by the Holy Spirit while yet being a virgin

4. Incarnate: John 1:14 says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” For Christ to sympathize with mankind He must become part of mankind. This was done through his incarnation.

5. Hypostatic-Union: Christ was both perfectly God and Perfectly man. This is a hard concept to grasp and to explain. Ryie quotes the Chalcedonian Creed which states that this union of God and man was without mixture, without change, without division, and without separation. He was all of both, yet distinctly each.

6. Emptied and Humbled: This doctrine is best seen in Philippians 2. This idea of Christ emptying and humbling Himself is not that He gave up Deity, but rather that He emptied Himself of His Glory and took the form of a man. He did not lose any of His Deity, but rather he added humanity so that He could die for the rest of humanity.

7. Impeccability: As God, Christ is unable to sin, this is the impeccability of Christ. This is why He is our Savior, because He is without sin. This sheds light on the “temptation” of Christ, in that He was unable to sin, therefore the testing was not to see if Christ would sin, but was to prove that he would not.

8. Vicarious Atonement: Christ’s death on the cross was in place of the sinners punishment for his sins. Christ took out place of punishment. This is seen in the Greek preposition anti which means instead of. The use of this is seen in Mark 10:45 as well as other places in the New Testament.

9. Return: In Revelation is seen the return of Christ as KING of kings. He is coming back to rule the world as the Jew wished. This ruling in not for the purpose of liberating the Jews (though it will), but for the purpose of showing the world that even in a perfect atmosphere their hearts are evil and He will judge them for that.

Recently a friend of mine wrote a post on his blog concerning Bible Reading. It is an area that many Christians struggle with including myself. His post brought it to the forefront of my mind once again and challenged me. One thing that he said is a key to the importance of daily Bible reading; that is that through daily Bible reading we are able to get the “big picture” of scripture.

Let us discuss this subject a bit. God gave us His word so that we could learn about Him, so that we could have a relationship with God. A thought comes to mind when I think about the importance of Bible reading: Often when we buy a new electronic or some type of equipment we receive a user’s manual with it. Some people will read the manual before they even turn on their new possession, some will read it when they can’t figure something out, and other will never read it just hoping that they can figure everything out on their own. I think that I can say that I have taken my turn in each of those scenarios. Have you ever been in either of the second two, you think that you are getting along fine, then someone comes along and says “hey did you know that that can do this?!?!” I’ve been there, and I have asked the question “how did you know that” to which they reply “I read the manual!” This is often how we treat God, though the Bible is not a “manual” on God, is does allow us to get to know and begin to understand things about God. Yet often times we find ourselves in the place where we don’t know much about God, we see other Christians who seem to be getting everything and are super happy, yet we don’t understand how they do it. My friend the answer is simple; they have read and are reading the “manual”.

Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

If we want to have a right relationship with God we must read the Bible. If we want to have a right relationship with others we must read the Bible. If we want to have a right relationship with our family we must read the Bible. If we want to have a proper outlook on life we must read the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ¹⁷ That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

There are different ways to read through the Bible, Jeremy has a couple ideas on his blog and there are many that you can find by searching the web, or asking your pastor. A few interesting ones that I have run across are: Reading Chronologically, Some have it arranged so that you can read every day from the OT, NT, Proverbs, and Psalms, and there are some that will read from the different divisions as well. If you have read through the Bible many times and are looking for a way to change things up for awhile there are some other methods as well; there are some reading plans that may have you read all the words of Christ. Others may deal with specific doctrines, and others focus on certain books. One of my favorites is not designed to get you through the Bible in a year, but to get founded strongly on scripture: Read a small book every day for a month, you will be surprised what you learn and how well you know the book by the end of the month, this can also be adapted for longer books.

I hope this has been encouraging and will motivate us to a stronger Bible reading life. I also recommend going and reading Jeremy’s post.

~ Nate

BIBLIOLOGY

Summary Statement: I believe that all sixty-six books of the Bible are God’s Word, and that they are verbally and plenarily inspired, equally by Him. God used human writers as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to pen His sacred book. The Bible is inerrant, there are no errors in the Bible scribble or factual, it is infallible, there could be no errors in the Bible because it is God’s Word. God’s Word is not incomprehensible, but it is illumined to the believer by the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is complete in the form of the accepted Canon, and God has preserved His Word for all generations. Through sound hermeneutics, God’s Word should be the believer’s sole authority for faith and practice. Concerning translations, a translation will derive these attributes of God’s Word, as long as it is translated accurately and with the right method.

1. God’s Word – The Bible is the recorded communication of God in words to mankind. In 2 Peter 1:12-21 Peter’s death is approaching and he wants the Christians to know the truths of God. He states that these truths are not cunning fables, but they were eye witness accounts. He then states that the prophecies (Scripture) are more sure than eyewitness accounts, even eye witness accounts of the voice of God, because these prophesies (Scripture) are the very words of God and not of men.

2. Verbally and plenarily inspired, equally - Bible is the inspired, “God-breathed,” a book that finds its very source in God. (2 Tim 3:16) This verse not only states that the Bible is inspired, but it clearly states that “All Scripture” is inspired, no part being left out of this statement. Inspiration includes not only all of scripture, but it is detailed all the way down the very words the authors penned. God completely inspired every word, not just thoughts for the writers to put in their own words; this is plenary verbal inspiration, full word-by-word inspiration. As a result of the complete inspiration of God, no part of Scripture is more or less inspired than the rest, they are equally inspired.

3. Human Writers – God used human men to write His divine book. 2 Peter 1:21 states the “holy men of God spake,” this gives the scripture a very unique quality in that God allowed each writer’s natural characteristics, vocabulary, and knowledge to show. Yet, because of the moving of the Holy Spirit these books are verbally and plenarily inspired, which is demonstrated by these books exceeding these men’s characteristics, vocabulary, knowledge, and also having a unity of the entire Bible that can only come from its one, common Author, God.

4. Moved by the Spirit – Inspiration was not the forceful over powering of God, but it was the guiding staff of the Shepherd moving His sheep to His desired destination for them. (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Sam 23:1-2)

5. Inerrant – The Bible is accurate and correct in all that it states. The Bible tells the truth. Inerrancy goes beyond just religious matters, but in all matters that the Bible addresses, including science, history, etc., it is accurate and without error. Also, there were no scribal errors on the part of the writers, nor by the moving of the Holy Spirit. Every word was penned exactly as God intended it without mistake. The Scriptures do not error.

6. Infallible – Where as inerrant refers the accuracy of Scripture, infallibility refers to the ability of the Bible to error. Peter says in 2 Peter 1:18-19 that the scripture is more sure than his very own eyewitness account of God’s voice that he heard on the mount. The Word of God will derive its nature from God himself, (1 Peter 1:15,16) God is holy, He cannot sin (error), therefore Scripture, which derives its nature from its Author, cannot error. The Scriptures cannot error.

7. Illuminated – The Bible is written beyond the comprehension of the natural man, but not beyond the Holy Spirit aided believer. It was written so that God could communicate directly with His people. In John 14:26 it is stated that the Holy Spirit will teach the believer all things that God has given him to be able to learn.

8. Canon — The Canon of scripture is that which the inspired Word of God is. God has revealed this canon to His believers by statements in the Bible itself confirming other scriptures, as well as evidences in the books themselves that His Spirit lead His children to see and discern them to be His Word. (2 Peter 3:16)

9. Preservation – The Bible states that God’s truth will be available for every generation, Psalm 100:5. It is also stated in Psalm 119:89 that the Word of God is settled in heaven forever. It goes without question then that God has preserved His Word for all mankind and must be available today. Matthew 5:18 tells us that not only was it preserved, but that is will continue to be preserved until all has been fulfilled.

10. Hermeneutics – The Bible makes it clear that the Christian is to be studying God’s Word. (2 Tim 2:15) To know God better and have a deeper relationship with Him one must spend quality time in God’s Word learning about Him and His workings. In the modern day, many people shun the word “hermeneutics”, a methodology to Bible study, saying that Bible study in not a science. Though some advocators of modern hermeneutics over emphasis the method of Bible study to the Spirit’s, one must not allow this to hinder them from doing everything decently and in order, with a method. (1 Cor 14:40) It is good to have a plan and organization to ones study, a science if you will, so that it can be of the most benefit to those studying.

11. Sole authority for faith and practice – God’s Word is to be the leading authority in a believer’s life. The believer is not to subjugate the Bible to fit his beliefs, but the Bible is to subjugate the believer’s beliefs and actions to be in accordance with the Bible. In 2 Peter 1:16-19 Peter states that they are not following “cunningly devised fables”, but the very voice of God, he then states, as is mentioned earlier, that the Bible is even more sure. From this verse it is clear that the believer is to appeal to the authority of Scripture alone for his faith and practice. (2 Tim 3:16-17) Scripture is sufficient to instruct the believer in all matters, and to mature that believer to spiritual adulthood.

12. Translations – Today there are a plethora of translations available to the believer. This may seem like a good thing, yet when one compares the different translations and see that there are many variances, it can become a confusing mine field. Without going into great detail, there are a few things that must be considered when one decides which translation should be used by believers of God: one must consider the textual base of the translation, is it the preserved texts, or the texts “compiled” by man; also to be considered it the method of translation, did the translators translate the Scripture in a word-for-word sense, or only try to capture the ideas of Scripture; and lastly, but not least, is it an accurate translation, as all of the above stated beliefs are only as true for a translation as that translation is accurate.

ANTHROPOLOGY

Summary Statement: I believe that man, Adam and Eve, was created by God during the creation week. Man was created holy, and in the image of God. Man is a three part unity, consisting of body, soul, and spirit. In the order and method of creation, along with command, God set up the marriage institution, creating the family of which the man is the head. Man was given responsibilities by God that he was to perform, and only one restriction, being to obey God. Satan used this one restriction to deceive Eve, and to cause Adam to rebel. After the Fall of man, he no longer had direct fellowship with God, dying spiritually, losing his holiness. Also at this point physical death came upon the world as a fulfillment of God’s instructions.

1. Adam – In Genesis chapter two is seen the first mention of Adam by name, until this point he was referred to as “man.” Adam was the first man created by God, and in the image of God as seen in chapter one. Later in first Corinthians Adam is contrasted with Christ, Adam being the beginning of mankind and Christ being the beginning of the resurrected.

2. Eve – Eve was Adam’s helpmeet, created by God, from Adam. God used the naming of the animals to show Adam that he was incomplete, and need completion. She was to be under Adam in submission, but not in equality or worth.

3. Created during the creation week – Many secular scientist as well as many Christians have to reconcile sinful beliefs with the truth of the word of God. There have been different forms of this error, mainly being, evolution and it’s sister schools of thought. The truth is simple, and clearly stated in the Word of God. Adam was created by God, this is seen in Genesis 1:26. Adam was not the product of evolution, but the immediate creating act of God. This creation took place on the sixth day of the creation week, two which there is no strong evidence to the contrary. Also, God did not create Adam and then let “natural processes” take their course to finish molding him, when God had made him He said “it was very good.”

4. Created holy – Adam’s pre-fallen state was one of unhindered fellowship with God. Many have called this innocence, yet it must be called more than that, for innocents commutates the idea of absents of sin. Though this was true, there was a greater characteristic that this. Adam and Eve lived in a holy state before God, not just free from sin, but they were set apart(holy) to God, they were God’s.

5. Image of God – There are three areas that man has the likeness of God. First, in man’s physical existence. God gave man a body that is distinct from that of animals. Though God does not have a physical body, he interacts with his creation, and specifically man, by physical means. It was also this physical form of man that Christ took upon himself when he came to earth (Philippians 2). Second, in man’s conscious existence. Animals are destined to live out their lives by habit and instinct. They do not have a choice they have been endowed by God with their plan of living and this is what they must follow. Man on the other hand was created to be in the image of God. Man can make decisions about his life, he can create, he has a free will in the direction that he chooses to follow, something that God has, but animals do not. Third, in self-conscious existence. Man is able to do more than just exist, he has an awareness of those around him and of himself. This allows for the social life, that is more than just reproductive cycle, but is fellowship with fellow humans and with God.

6. Three Part Unity – Man has three parts to his existence body, soul, and spirit. Simple stated the body is the house that the soul inhabits. The soul is that which animates, it is life. This is seen by the many references to people, both individually and collectively, as souls. God formed the body, but it was not alive until he gave it a soul. Animals, though they follow instinct and not a free will, have both a material and immaterial part, which is seen thin the differing personalities of animals. The soul is what gives life to the body. The spirit is then what give man his self-awareness and connection to God. In first Thessalonians 5:23 Paul list all three. The grammatical structure here lends toward three distinct entities, though it does not require it. The overall point whether three or two parts, is the fact that man is a unity. These parts exist together forming man.

7. Marriage Institution – When God creates mankind he shows Adam that he is incomplete and needs a helpmeet. God creates Eve for Adam, and brings her to him. Adam them makes this statement, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” Genesis 2:24. Here is given the Biblical view of marriage. It is one man and one woman becoming one in the sight of God.

8. Man is the head – When God creates Adam and Eve and brings them together in marriage, He has a authority structure in place for them to follow. This is later seen clearly stated in Eph 5:23, where God says that as Christ is the head over the church, so the husband is the head over the wife. Also in 1 Timothy 2:13 and 14, Paul states that man is to be the one in authority because he was created first, and because woman was deceived and man was not. This shows how God setup the authority structure from the time before and through the Fall.

9. Responsibilities – One misconception of our day is that work is the result of the Fall of man. This is not true. God right after creating man gave him tasks to do. These tasks were to be fruitful and fill the earth with offspring, to subdue the earth, to have dominion over the earth, and to keep the garden which God have made for them (Gen 1:28;2:15). Many of these tasks are still to be fulfilled today.

10.  To obey God – Of all the things God gave Adam, outside of his commanded tasks, God only required one thing, that was that Adam obey Him. When God placed Adam in the garden He told him that he could have everything there, but the one tree (Gen 2:17). This one thing is all Adam had to do to remain in right fellowship with God: obey God.

11.  Satan – See Angelology

12.  Fall – Man fell from a holy standing before God when he harkened to Satan and rebelled against God (Gen 3). In the scene in the garden Eve is seen to have been deceived by the wiles of Satan and Adam is seen to have chosen to rebel (1 Tim 2:14).

a. Dying spiritually – Man died spiritually that day and needed a savior to return him to the state of holiness that he originally had before God. This contrast of death and life is often seen in the contrast of the first Adam and the Second Adam.

b. Dying physically – In Genesis 3:19 is the seen the pronouncement of death upon Adam. Physical death is a direct result of sin.

c. Fulfillment of God’s instructions – Genesis 2:17 states that the day that they eat of the tree that God has forbade them to eat they will die. God keeps his word, and these pronouncements of punishments fulfill His Word.

These pages include some doctrinal statements of my beliefs. I believes that every Christian should have beliefs that they hold to, and should know them. Too often we do not know why we believe what we believe, that is something that I hope this blog will change for some people. Since I will be dealing with things slowly over time, I thought it would be good to give you an overview of some of my beliefs. These doctrinal Statements were completed as part of a project for a doctrines class that I took in seminary. They will still be in their original format. Also they had to fit within certain parameters, such as number of pages, as well as most were the first time I had put my beliefs down on paper. This means that they may not be as thorough as I would like, they may not always be clear, or I might have revised the way I would state things. I’m posting them as they are now, and over time intend to refine and work them out a bit.

On the note of putting my beliefs down on paper, I would encourage all Christians to create doctrinal statements of their own. Even if they are only for yourself, it will help you see what you believe and help you know where you really don’t know what you believe and need to do some more study.

~ Nate

Angelology

Anthropology

Bibliology

Christology

Ecclesiology

This post is introducing a new page to the site. I hope that it will benefit all, as stated in the following introduction to those pages, some of the doctrinal statements may still need some work and I will being doing so in the near future, but I wanted to put them up now so they could start being useful. The Statements will work their way on over the next couple weeks. They will be released alphabetically.

(Page Intro, on new page)

These pages include some doctrinal statements of my beliefs. I believes that every Christian should have beliefs that they hold to, and should know them. Too often we do not know why we believe what we believe, that is something that I hope this blog will change for some people. Since I will be dealing with things slowly over time, I thought it would be good to give you an overview of some of my beliefs. These doctrinal Statements were completed as part of a project for a doctrines class that I took in seminary. They will still be in their original format. Also they had to fit within certain parameters, such as number of pages, as well as most were the first time I had put my beliefs down on paper. This means that they may not be as thorough as I would like, they may not always be clear, or I might have revised the way I would state things. I’m posting them as they are now, and over time intend to refine and work them out a bit.

On the note of putting my beliefs down on paper, I would encourage all Christians to create doctrinal statements of their own. Even if they are only for yourself, it will help you see what you believe and help you know where you really don’t know what you believe and need to do some more study.

~ Nate