Personal Statement of Faith

 (Bible references are from the King James Version unless otherwise specified.)

There are lots of things I believe based on the Bible. This is just a choice sampling of my beliefs, and to start out, that's my first point, while I am brief and picky in the description of my faith, my faith in the Bible is not. That is, I believe in EVERYTHING the Bible says, even though I don't understand or know it all. There are many things in the Bible that the contemporary Christian world does not believe, or simply glosses over. While I believe there is no damnnation in struggling, mulling, and chewing over tough issues, there IS damnnation in finally rejecting it in your heart, which I will explain later.

Now, why would I publish a Statement of Faith? Normally, some churches do this for others to identify the church's beliefs so they can make a decision on whether or not to join that church. I've decided to publish this Statement of Faith because I want it on record what I believe. If I am persecuted for my beliefs, I want it to be crystal clear why I am persecuted. If I am incorrect in my beliefs, I want it to be crystal clear from Scripture where I am wrong, so I may correct it (Proverbs 6:23).

Psalm 119:11 says "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." I know the gist of Bible concepts, and even a few words in certain verses that have popped up in my memory. However, I have not memorized all of the chapter/verse indexing of today's Bible. I use a program called e-Sword where I can search for and copy/paste verses verbatim. (not an endorsement, btw). Plus, over the years, many people, including whom some would call extremeists, have pointed me to many controversial Bible passages. These passages must ALL be given the same weight of importance as "nice" verses like John 3:16 and Psalm 23. There are lots of "Adam Ruins Everything" parts of the Bible. So, if anything, a lot of the Bible knowledge, of which all of it ultimately comes from God (Romans 11:36), is from independent study and outside discovery, very little of which was actually learned in today's churches. Now, on to my beliefs.

On The Bible

I believe the Bible, being the 66 books of common canon, is the Word of God in written form. I believe that to believe what is written is to believe Jesus, for He is the Word of God (proofs include John 1:1, John 1:14, I John 1:1, I John 5:7, Revelation 19:13). I believe that faith in the Word is salvation (Luke 8:12), as later described in this statement.

I believe that the Bible, also called the Scriptures, is a trustworthy source of truth and useful for instruction (2 Timothy 3:16), and that the safest way to extract true doctrine is through the Scriptures alone, because if you get your truth from (that is, rely on) a preacher, commentator, etc. (even though he may lead you to the Scriptures), you will be trusting in man, and the LORD says you are under a curse if you do so, according to Jeremiah 17:5.

I don't believe that the King James Version is the only legitimate version for English speakers.

On God

I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6). I believe that there is one God (Mark 12:29, I Corinthians 8:6, I Timothy 2:5, etc.) called The Father throughout the New Testament (example: John 6:27) However, I also believe that the entity or entities appearing in Genesis 3:6, Genesis 32:24, Genesis 18:2, among other places, are also God. In fact, the Old Testmament word for God is 'ĕlôhı̂ym, which litearlly means "gods". So, while there is only one God, could these "entities" be more appropriately called gods (that is, within the one God)? I agree that this is a direct violation of the concept of sole monotheism, yet this one God is still a plural being, THIS I believe wholeheartedly (Genesis 1:26, as in let "US", "OUR" image, "OUR" likeness, etc.).

Also, God's very nature, while also a Spirit (John 4:24), is very humanoid. Genesis 1:26 teaches that God created man in His own image and likeness. To put it another way, we look like God. We LITERALLY look like God. Is that not the very definition of likeness? Is not the face of Theodore Roosevelt on Mount Rushmore made in the image and likeness of Teddy? It is literally the same with God and man.

Am I now saying that God is a man? Well, Exodus 15:3 explicitly states that "The LORD is a man of war", so taken literally, God is a man. Yet, at the same time, God is not a man...(Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Job 9:32) ...with the sinful qualities of man that are expressed in the verses previously mentioned. If God is a man, then he is a different kind of man than us. Do I believe that God, by nature, is a kind of man then? Yes. I believe wholeheartedly that He is a man of war, for that's what it litreally says. I also believe wholeheartedly that God has appeared as a man (Genesis 32:24, 28), and men (Genesis 18:1-2) many times, beyond the man Jesus Christ. As a kind of man, I believe it. As a man like us, I believe God is not such a man.

On Jesus and His Work

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Luke 22:70, John 1:34, etc.) the Lord (as confessed in Romans 10:9).

I believe that Jesus Christ came to this earth, as prophesied in the book of Isaiah, among other places, to "save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). He was born of a virgin (v. 23), lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), died on the cross for ALL (Hebrews 10:10), and was raised from the dead on the third day (Matthew 28:6). I believe he ascended to Heaven, and will one day return to Earth to judge the living and the dead (Acts 1:11, 2 Timothy 4:1). Without what Christ did, without His blood, our going to Heaven is impossible (Hebrews 9:22).

I also believe that is not inaccurate to call Jesus God, for John 1:1 calls The Word (made flesh as Jesus in v. 14) "God", Thomas declared Him to be his God (John 20:28), and John calls Him "the true God, and eternal life" in I John 5:20.

On The Holy Spirit

I believe that the Holy Spirit is given to all believers, who has sealed us, and is the "down payment", or "earnest" of our Heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 1:14, 2 Corinthians 1:22, among others). The Holy Spirit also teaches us the Truth, and that we need no other teacher (I John 2:27), even though there is a place for Bible teachers (James 3:1).

On Heaven

I do not dare try to describe what Heaven is like, in fear of altering the Book of Revelation as mentioned in the warning in Revelation 22:18-19.
However, I do believe that Heaven is a place we are to strive to enter, because Jesus calls it “paradise” (Luke 23:43), and it is not Hell. Which brings me to the next section...

On Hell

I don't know too much about Hell, other than the following concepts being mentioned:

• Fire (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:15, etc. There's so many verses about fire in connection to Hell)
• Forever (The KJV of Matthew 25:41 uses the word “everlasting”)
• Torment (The KJV of Luke 16:24 (now, this may be a different place than what the previous cited Scripture verses speak of) uses the word “tormented”).

I personally collectively call Hades and Gehenna (I think there was another word for Hell, I'm not sure) Hell, as a catch-all term for a very unpleasant place with the concepts of fire, forever, and torment.  Again, I don't know much about Hell, all I know is don't want to go near any of the place or places mentioned.

My belief on how horrifying Hell is, is based on the account of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 (I present the ESV here), now, mind you, the Hades in this passage and the Lake of Fire in the Book of Revelation may be two different places, but both are still quite unpleasant.

"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

On Salvation

I believe that what salvation is, is escaping the fate all humanity deserves (Romans 6:23): Eternity burning in Hell. In fact, let me repeat "What Needs To Be Told Immediately:"

• There is a judgment coming on all humanity (Revelation 20:11-12).


• None of us are good enough to pass muster (James 2:10). No one is righteous. (Romans 3:10)


• We deserve death because of our sin (Romans 6:23)


• If even the righteous die in the body (Hebrews 9:27), then another death is prescribed for the unrighteous.
  This is referred to as the 'second death', what we call Hell, in Revelation 20:14. A literal lake of fire.


• Anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life, as v.15 says, will be cast into this Hell.



• So how can anyone escape this terrible place? In Acts 16:30, the jailer asked what he must do to be saved. Peter and Silas' response? :

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." --Acts 16:31

• What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
  
  Firstly, you must trust Jesus in everything.
  
  Secondly, Jesus is the Word of God, says John 1:1, 14, I John 1:1, among other places.
  
  Meaning, that Jesus is not just the whole manifestation of God (Colossians 2:9), He is also God's very words, God's very testimony, also found in the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16).
  In other words, Jesus is the Bible!
  
  Faith in Jesus means both faith in Jesus Himself and in what the Bible says.
  
  If you believe what the Bible says, and EVERYTHING the Bible says, you believe in Jesus, and you will be saved.
  
  However, if you don't, you will be damned. (Mark 16:16) Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved (Acts 4:12). All other ways (Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, JW, Modern Judaism, Islam, Shinto, etc.) lead to Hell, because they either preach a false teaching about God and/or preach a false Jesus, none of which save (also see Galatians 1:8-9).

On a personal note, I am more motivated by the stick than the carrot. In this world of comfort, Heaven seems like a mere extension of it, as if it's an entitlement, whereas Hell, and all that is described about the place, is a far cry from the comfort of the world, and in the eyes of the world, is unjust, given it's pain and agony. However, God's justice and our justice are not the same. (Isaiah 55:8)

What else do I believe?

As I've said in the beginning, these are a choice sampling of my beliefs. These beliefs are things that the world would commonly call controversial, which is why I put them here. Why post something that most everyone agrees with? How does that show true faith? These are some things atheists would attack Christians on, so among those hard topics, here's what I believe:

• On False Teachers: If a person is teaching things that are not in Scripture, as Scripture, by definition, they are not teaching the doctrine of Christ (the Word of God) but something else. They do not have God (2 John 1:9) and are to be fleed from (John 10:5). Why? Because they bring "damnabe heresies" (2 Peter 2:1), meaning, if you believe the false teachers, you will go to Hell (that's the damnable part)! Stay in the truth, and you will be safe.


• On Christmas: Christmas is unbiblical, mainly because of mixing the true praise of God (birth of Christ) with lies and worldliness (Catholic traditions, legends of the Nativity that are not Biblically accurate, such as Away In A Manger and Little Drummer Boy, pagan greenery, etc.). Read John 4:24, Romans 12:2, I Corinthians 10:14, and 3 John 11 to know about TRUE worship.


• On How Many Will Be Saved: I believe that few people will find the narrow way, which leads to eternal life in Heaven. The rest will follow the broad way, which leads to destruction (Hell). (Matthew 7:13-14)


• On "Once Saved, Always Saved": In particular, I speak of the "Free Grace" version of the doctrine, which states that if you were in Christ at ANY time in your life, no action, no lifestyle change, good or ill, will keep you from going to Heaven. While it is true that believers are sealed (as described in the Holy Spirit section), it is also true that apostasy, or falling away from the faith, exists (Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:26, among others.) God even says that those who are unforgiving are damned, believer or not (Matthew 6:14-15, among others). There's also other acts of impenitence all over Scripture that keep one, believer or not, from entering the Kingdom of God. (Note that I said IMpenitence, take heart in that 2 Corinthians 7:20, I John 1:9, and the like, still ring true) So, no, Free Grace is false doctrine.


• On Slavery: Slavery (which has nothing to do with the amount of melanin in the skin), by definition, is one person owning another.
  Slavery must not normally (see the crime clause) be practiced in the U.S.A., for it is illegal (Romans 13:1) via the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  However, in and of itself, the Bible does not explicitly condemn slavery, but requires the following of each member of the dynamic:
  • The Slave: Must be subject to the master, whether that master is kind or cruel. (I Peter 2:18-21)
  • The Master: Must provide what is right to the slave and must not mistreat them (Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 4:1)
  
  
  Here are some more points I wish to drive home about slavery:
  • I am against any kind of slavery where the slaves are abused. (see Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1)
  • I believe there is a time and place for freeing slaves (see Exodus 21:26-27 and Deuteronomy 15:8), as in slavery must not always be permanent.
  • I believe that we are all slaves to something or someone. We are either slaves to sin (Romans 6:16) or to Christ (I Corinthians 7:22).
  • I believe that most of us are also already slaves because of debt (Proverbs 22:7). To those in debt, MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO GET OUT OF IT! (Romans 13:8, I Corinthians 7:23)


• On Saving For Retirement: Saving for retirement is ungodly, if it is for yourself (Matthew 6:19).


• On Divorce: God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), and to marry another after a divorce, or to marry one who is divorced, brings adultery (Matthew 5:32, 19:9, Mark 10:11, Luke 16:18, etc.)


• On Supporting Your Parents: A form of honoring your parents is tending to their needs. (Mark 7:10-13 references a twisting of this concept.) To not support your parents is to be marked worse than an unbeliever (KJV uses the term "infidel") (I Timothy 5:8)


• On Abortion: I define an abortion as the intentional termination of a pregnancy so that the child in the womb dies. Because of this, I do not define a miscarriage as an abortion. Neither do I define removing an “ectopic pregnancy” to be an abortion, because in that case, it is not the intention that the child dies. So, I believe that in all cases, abortion is a SIN, for it is murder (Exodus 20:13, Psalm 22:10).
  Rape and incest are no excuse, because one sin cannot be made right by another sin.
  Youth is also no excuse, if the mother is too young and mentally immature to care for the child, there's always the grandparents or other caregivers to help (but to be honest, as a personal opinion, the baby's father is preferred).
  Now, in the case of the mother's life being in danger, I am in favor of methods for treating the mother, even if the child unintentionally dies. In fact, according to this article by The Federalist, there are always methods of saving the mother's life without intentionally killing the child. So no, not even saving the life of the mother is an excuse for murdering the child.


• On Following Your Heart: I believe to do so is wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9)


• On The Death Penalty: I believe the death penalty should not be opposed at all. Romans 13:4 says:
  
  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
  
  "he" being a government leader. The government has the God-given authority to put evildoers to death.
  
  I also believe that the death penalty is appropriate specifically for murderers, for the Bible says:
  
  "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." -- Genesis 9:6 
  "So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it." -- Numbers 35:33