STATEMENT OF FAITH
THE PURPOSE OF THIS article IS TO state THE good News (GOSPEL) OF JESUS CHRIST, AND TO PLAINLY STATE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MY LIFE IN ALL RESPECTS WHICH is IN SHORT: The GLORY OF GOD.
I HOPE THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR WANT TO UNDERSTAND MORE, YOU FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME!
THIS IS BY NO MEANS A COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE, AND I’M NOT COPYING A PROPER STATEMENT OF FAITH OR CATECHISM. THIS IS SIMPLY MY EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL, USING BIBLE PASSAGES AND MY OWN COMMENTARY, WHICH IS INFORMED BY OTHER PASSAGES THAT I CONDENSE INTO MY OWN WORDS.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
— Genesis. 1:1
The Triune God of the Bible is the Creator of all things, such as the land, sea, humans, angels, etc.
“Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
— Genesis. 3:9-10
Adam was commissioned to rule and subdue the earth for the glory of God. Instead of trusting God, he let his wife be deceived by the serpent, decided not to trust the word that God had given him about the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and ultimately ate of the forbidden fruit. Somehow, admittedly beyond my understanding, we were represented by the first Adam in the garden in such a way that it could be said that “I was there,” and sinned “in Adam.” This is now part of our human nature and the condition of all mankind; each of us only vindicates this as we continually sin and rebel against Him.
“The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
— Exodus 34:6-7
God is fully loving and gracious, yet fully just and wrathful against guilty sinners. His eternal character defines what is morally right and wrong, and this is written about and expanded upon in the Bible. I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents, written by eyewitnesses (during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses who could’ve refuted the claims), they report supernatural events that were in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. Ultimately, I think I trust the Bible because if you reject the claims of scripture (such as its wisdom, the character of God as reflected in logic, creation claims, etc.) you are reduced to an absurd and foolish worldview.
“The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there are any who understand,
Who seek after God.
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.”
— Psalm 14:2-3
Our depravity is tied up with our own desires to not seek after the true God. We are commanded to be holy, as He is holy, and yet by default, we have no regard for His will. There is no such thing as a “good person” with God’s standards. This leads to the reality that if we stand before a righteous, holy God to be judged, we would all be condemned to punishment.
“For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy rag;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
— Isaiah 64:6
Because even our righteous works are like filthy rags to God, how will we ever make up for our sins against God? One of the important facts that we must understand first to understand the gospel is that you cannot use your own works to “make it up to God.”
“And I will make enemies
Of you and the woman,
And of your offspring and her Descendant;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.”
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.”
”Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
— Genesis 3, Isaiah 53, Ezekiel 36
The gospel shows up in prophecies written down hundreds of years before the time of the One who would fulfill them, that being the eternal Son of God who took on flesh, Jesus the Christ (or messiah).
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
— Matthew 5:17
Jesus of Nazareth came into the world and He lived the perfect life. He was fully faithful to the Father’s will and never sinned, even though He was tempted by Satan in all the ways we are. He completely fulfilled all that we are called to obey in the law of God. He is the “second Adam” and somehow (again beyond my comprehension) those who trust in Christ are represented in Jesus’ righteous life, and it can truly be said that we are “in Him.”
“...and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
“...this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
— 1 John 2:2 & Acts 2:23
The God-Man was to be sacrificed as an atonement for our sins, which was God’s redemptive plan before the foundation of the world. However, it was the sin of man which also caused Him to be sacrificed, both in that sinners physically crucified Him, and also that it was our sin that held Him there to suffer under the wrath of God. This is because those who trust in this sacrifice are supernaturally “united to Christ” or “in Christ” in his punishment and death. Therefore it can truly be said that “me and my sins are crucified with Christ.” This is why both the punishment for sins has been paid, and my old self/slavery to sin is put to death.
“...and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:4-8
Three days after Jesus died and was buried, He rose from the dead. He was alive, flesh and bones, and could eat and drink. In His resurrection, He vindicated Himself and his prophecies as well as displayed His defeat of and authority over the Serpent and death. We are again gloriously and mysteriously “united to Christ” in His resurrection such that we even now have resurrection life and because this is true of us, we ought not to go on sinning. Because we are united to Him in a very real way, His resurrection is also our confidence that we will be raised from the dead someday. Finally, after 40 days of being on the earth after His rising, He ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father and will judge all of humanity when He returns. Those who trust in Christ will live eternally on the new re-created earth in the immediate presence of God (heaven). In God’s wisdom, the long story of redemption will end us up with an even more glorious existence than was even possible in the first garden.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16
The only way to have eternal life is to believe in Jesus Christ.
“...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
— Mark 1:14-15
The “kingdom” is a huge recurring theme in scripture. God is redeeming a people from every tribe and tongue into His kingdom. He is King right now over His kingdom and there will be a future time when the fullness of the kingdom will be on earth. The original plan for the earth ruled and subdued by men, with righteousness by trusting in the Lord has not been thwarted by Satan. His kingdom will come, and His will WILL be done on earth as it is in heaven. God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sin and believe the gospel. Without this, no one will see the kingdom of God and will spend an eternity away from God’s grace in hell.
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
— Revelation 4:11
If someone, having been given new life, a new heart, and new desires truly believes this, then giving God glory is the necessary outworking of that faith. The glory of God should be our foundational and only reason for anything we do. His glory is the reason we exist, and fundamentally the reason that anything ‘is.’ God permits and ordains evil to happen, for if God had no patience for evil, we would all have been subject to the wrath of God the moment we were conceived (remember the verses above?). God is glorified both in the redemption of sinners, and the justified destruction of the wicked. Only by God’s abounding grace do we stand on the earth even today. Whether we are eating, drinking, forging hammers, or whatever we do, it should ultimately be to glorify God.
Amen
Most of these passages are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) 1995 translation.