My Statement of Faith

I was asked to write my statement of faith in order to hold a Bible study in a particular church's facilities. I thought this was great. More churches need to be concerned with what is being taught and who is teaching! I wish I could just spit out great insight and then send it on, but I really had to think about each thing I wanted to say and so on and so forth so here is what I came up with...

I believe in the Apostle’s Creed which recognizes the person and work of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit the three in one Godhead. Mankind, since the fall of Adam, is sinful and separated from God by sin. God in His grace calls men to Himself and saves them through Jesus Christ by the work of the Spirit in a person as they hear the gospel. God’s justice demands a punishment for sin; this was met by God’s mercy as He sent His Son to suffer the consequences of our sin. Jesus lived the perfect life that Adam, Israel, and we could not live, and it is through repentance and faith in Him that we are redeemed and also justified in his sight (Romans 5:1-2).

“I believe that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father apart from Him” –John 14:6. I believe in the word of God, the Bible, to be our source and standard for truth. It is infallible, without error and useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). I believe that salvation is by faith alone a gift of God and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-10). I believe that as Christians fruit should flow from our love for God and from a heart and life that has been changed by Him.

This is an excerpt from (http://www.opc.org/beliefs.html) that I found helpful. I believe that it accurately describes how a person is saved and ought to then live:

Those whom God has predestined unto life are effectually drawn to Christ by the inner working of the Spirit as they hear the gospel. When they believe in Christ, God declares them righteous (justifies them), pardoning their sins and accepting them as righteous, not because of any righteousness of their own, but by imputing Christ's merits to them. They are adopted as the children of God and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies them, enabling them increasingly to turn from sin and act righteously. They repent of their sins (both at their conversion and thereafter), produce good works as the fruit of their faith, and persevere to the end in communion with Christ, with assurance of their salvation.

A SIGN

I was driving down the interstate and there were many questions on my mind was the answer yes, . . . or . . . no, this, . . . or . . . that, I didn't know. They weren't like test questions but big life questions the kind that rarely leave your mind at ease.
Driving from school, headed home going 66 or maybe 67, I looked out at the night sky and the few stars that softly shown. I though how nice it would be if only God would right the answer to all my questions right there in the sky so plain for me to see. That is when I saw it.
It was a regular night in January at 7:36 with the temperature being 51 degrees outside but much warmer in my car! The sign up in the sky was bright yellow and read "LANE ENDS MERGE LEFT" Great! A sign in the sky for me! So if this was related to my questions I knew that I needed to go left but . . . did left stand for yes or maybe it was no since of course left has less letters then right and no had less letter then yes. Or maybe it was about that other decision telling me to do "this" but you know I was really leaning more towards "that". Ahhhh!
After much contemplation, I realized I knew nothing more than when I started for left could be no or could be yes. This sign was not from God.
I smiled to myself thankful that God has written all we need to know in his word. So I come home open my Bible and begin to read the truth and wisdom which set me free, show me hope, and guide my future. God has written and grants discernment too!

2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness"
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Note: Everything written did not necessarily directly correspond to my exact thought patterns but was written in this way to communicate the worth and necessity of scripture.