If you have time: How many believe this?

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Defender of the Faith 777

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I wrote these articles not too long ago. They're what we and my other friends personally believe.

We believe in God, the Heavenly Father, God the Son: Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. We accept that they are one God, Spirit, and Essence, with three distinct personalities. We believe that He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.

We belive that the Holy Bible is God's Word, infallible, and for use of teaching instruction and correction. We believe that God preserved the truth of His message throughout the centuries, and accept it's inerrancy to this very day.

We believe that God laid aside His divine rights and chose to dwell incarnate among us as Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who served not only to obey the law, but also to fulfill it. We believe that He abolished the Levitical laws under God's authority and established the New Covenant through His death and resurrection, according to the Scriptures. We hold to the belief that He is our eternal prophet priest and king.

We believe that the fall of man marked an epoch of sin in the human race, therefore isolating us from God. We believe that no human soul deserves to dwell with god in His perfection and holiness because of this sin nature.

We believe that Jesus Christ offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, dying that we might be able to live with Him in heaven. We believe that by accepting His death and gift of forgiveness, man's relationship with God can be restored and we can enter into God's family through faith in Jesus Christ, as taught according in accordance to the Scriptures.

We believe that baptism is an outward manifestation of the inward washing of Christ's blood upon the soul. We believe that this public display has no impact on a person's salvation, and serves only as a symbol to confirm the decision with Christ to others.

We believe that good works are the outward signs of Christ in our hearts, made manifest to others, and that they should be done solely because of our love for Christ. We believe that these displays do not add or detract from the work that Christ Jesus finished on the cross, but will however affect heaven's rewards.

We believe in one heaven with God, and one hell outside of His presence; we believe that heaven is not for good people, but for sinners who are forgiven. We believe that all equally deserve to be cast from God's presence because of our sin, and that only through faith in Christ can we stand justified before Him.

We believe in man's freedom to worship as their hearts so dictate. We believe that these rights established by God and government are of utmost importance to respect; we ask that these same rights are not denied of us.

We believe in the importance of sharing Christ's message of salvation. We believe that we are all called to preach the gospel, to use words only when absolutely necessary.

We believe in the eschatological prophecies recorded in the book of Revelation, and literally believe in the Lord's second descent for His saints. We believe that all with be resurrected, judged, and sent to eternal life or death depending on the state of the soul and its iniquities.

Doctrine of the Trinity:

Matthew 3:16-17 Matthew 28:19-20 Deuteronomy 6:4 Acts 5:3-5
1 John 5:7 Isaiah 9:6 Mark 2:4-5 John 1:1&14 John 10:30 John 20:28 Romans 9:5

Doctrine of the Bible (regarding the nature of revelation, inspiration, and inerrancy):

Mark 13:31 Luke 21:33 1 Peter 1:24-25 2 Timothy 3:16 2 Peter 1:20-21

Doctrine of the Incarnation:

Genesis 3:15 John 1:1&14 Phillipians 2:5-7 Colossians 1:19-20

Doctrine of the New Covenant:

Matthew 26:28 2 Corinthians 3:4 Galatians 3:17 Hebrews 7:22-24 Hebrews 7:8-13

Doctrine of Original Sin:

Job 14:4 Psalm 51:5 Romans 5:12-14 Romans 5:19 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

Doctrine of Salvation:

John 3:16 John 6:47 Acts 2:21 Mark 2:4-5 Galatians 2:21 Romans 3:22-24 Romans 10:9-10 Galatians 3:21-22 Ephesians 2:8-9

Doctrine of Baptism:

Matthew 3:11 Acts 10:44-46 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 1 Peter 3:20-21

Doctrine of Good Works:

Isaiah 64:6 [Matthew 5:16&James 2:14-24] Proverbs 24:12 Mark 9:34-35 Romans 2:6 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 2 Corinthians 5:10
 

Defender of the Faith 777

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Oh, lol. Don't say you're a rookie cause you don't know that!! We're all rookies compared to the Man. I'm a teen and have only been a Christian for about 3 years. We are all rookies. Simply sinners who have been forgiven.

Eschatology- the study of end times and its prophecies. Soteriology- the study of salvation
Theology proper- the study of God as revealed to us
Christology- the study of Christ
Pneumatology- the study of the Holy Spirit
Anthropology- the study of man and humanity
Hamartiology- the study of sin
Ecclesiology- the study of the church

*You can add -logical such as biology: biological; eschatology: eschatological*

I had to consult the Nelson Study Bible for a lot of those. Just thought I'd clear it up for US. LOL It's safe to say that I needed that too. Thanks! TTYL Jesus loves you!
 
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Defender of the Faith 777

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Wilikers! I was thinking that you were my friend's mom. She goes on forums a lot and goes to First United Methodist, Denton. Oh well, thanks anyways.

*Will looked out of the blank window pane. At this point after the post, he had never felt stupider. Oh yes, he had felt stupid before; that's how he always feels. But now rookie is laughing out loud at him...* Just kidding. I do feel dumb a lot, but I don't feel bad at all; I'm comfortable with it.
 
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Lanakila

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I guess from a fast perusal of the first post on this thread I agree with everything posted too. Defender, I am not a young lady though, LOL. Old Married Female Virgina with 4 kids is the stats I give in chatrooms LOL.
 
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lucypevensie

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After a quick read I do say that I agree. Do you agree that Jesus rose bodily from the dead? I always look for that word "bodily" because many people believe in the resurrection but not that Jesus body was resurrected--only his spirit. Maybe a little technicality, but not if you're dealing with JWs and others.
 
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Originally posted by lucypevensie
After a quick read I do say that I agree. Do you agree that Jesus rose bodily from the dead? I always look for that word "bodily" because many people believe in the resurrection but not that Jesus body was resurrected--only his spirit. Maybe a little technicality, but not if you're dealing with JWs and others.

Well, Matthew 28:9 states (NIV) Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him." Both the KJV and NKJV use the phrase "held Him by the feet."

In Luke 24:36-39 (NKJV) it states "Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, 'Peace to you'. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

In John 20:17 (NKJV) it states "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father...'"

There may be other verses I have missed, but these few make it very clear that the risen Christ was not just a spirit, a hallucination, or a figment of the mourning disciples' imagination. He was a physical person. I hope this helps. :)
 
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Defender of the Faith 777

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THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT!! I was looking for that verse for so long, I just sorta gave up and looked for other issues. That verse that where God shouts "IT IS FINISHED!" dying for *us* is a powerful statement that explains that we cannot stand before a perfect God and declare ourselves righteous. We cannot bribe our way into heaven with our "filthy rags". Such belief is blasphemy to God and His true glory. If you would have asked me what I would tell God if I stood before Him on judgement when I was Catholic or LDS, I would have given Him my resume on how "good" I was! What kind of disgusting pride is that?! I truly regret having believed that.

Welcome to the forums!

Yep, Jesus was physically resurrected. He conquered the grave, Thomas felt His wounds, he ate bread and honey. No way a spirit can do that much. Jesus was not in the same body though. He was in His glorified body, as we will one day be resurrected in our glorified bodies like Christ.

TTYL Jesus loves you!
 
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aggie03

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One thing that I do have a problem with is - when you type "we believe" in the front of the things that you believe, you begin to do the same thing that happened in 325 AD - the year that the Nicene Council developed the first creed and created what later became the catholic church. This was the birth of denominations within the church of Christ.

Now I'm not saying that what you wrote was necessarily wrong or that I don't agree with it - I haven't had time to read through it thuroughly yet and according to some of the other replies it doesn't sound like you said anything I might diagree with. But I would say this:

We are commanded to study the scriptures and show ourselves approved before God - no one else can do this for you, this is something that you must do on your own, so when you write something you should say I believe, lest you make the same mistake that Charlemange did with the council of Nicene and create a man-made creed.
 
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Defender of the Faith 777

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Yes, it was an imitation off of the Catholic Nicene Creed and the LDS Articles of Faith. Denominations exist, we cannot help that. If there were only Christianity, with no other sub denominations, and us worshiping with LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. there would be no unity. Denominations (believe it or not) create an organized unity in the small group of believers in an area. In the big picture, it is not fun to think about all these denominations.

I did see a problem with the "We" part; it is an allusion to the two others. Though it would create divisions back then when there was only one church, it would create unity at a time such as this, where churches are mindlessly divided over unimportant issues. I agree that it is not worth dividing the body of Christ. The first creed was meant to bear testimony to others, not themselves. It would clarify their truths to those who did not know. This is not meant to say, "Here's what we believe; don't like it, get out!". Because of the Scripture, it is meant as a witnessing tool to others.

Besides, I haven't seen any divisions from disagreements yet. The few that do see faults with what we believe are not going to be suddenly divided now. They were discreetly dividing themselves without realizing it. This clarifies the boundaries. I do understand your point. I agree with it, to an extent.
 
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