"What We Believe"

"What We Believe"

1) "The Bible: We believe that the Bible, composed of 66 canonical books in their original languages, is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God (Psa 119:89; 2Tim 3:16; 2Pet 1:20-21)."

2) "Trinity: We believe that God is a Trinity of 3 Persons, namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who are all co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal. Each person of the Trinity has the same attributes, perfections, and authority. (Deut 6:4; 2Cor 13:14)."

3) "Total Depravity of Man: We believe that man is created in the image of God but as a result of Adam's original sin of disobedience in the garden of Eden, the entire human race receives a totally corrupt and depraved nature. Every member of the human race is born physically alive but spiritually dead meaning they are separated from God. This totally depraved state of man qualifies him for grace. Grace is all that God is free to do based solely on the merits of the Person and Work of Christ. Man has absolutely no ability to redeem himself or restore his relationship with God (Rom 3:22-23, 5:12-17; Eph 2:12)."

4) "Person and Work of Christ: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became a human being while maintaining His divine nature. He is undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person forever (John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 1:15, 19; 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 1:3; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 1:1-2; 4:2; 2 John 1:7). He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary to reveal God, fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law, redeem the entire human race, and resolve the ancient pre-historic war between God and the fallen angels by the total defeat of Satan. We believe that Jesus Christ fully accomplished redemption for the entire human race through His voluntary, substitutionary, spiritual death on the cross (Col. 1:13-14; Eph. 1:7).

The Father was propitiated by this death of the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union and therefore accepted the total outpouring of His Son's human soul unto death, which was the result of His substitutionary spiritual death (Isa 53:9-12; cf. 1 John. 2:2). Christ's death also reconciled the entire human race to God (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:22; 1 Pet. 2:24). The Father's acceptance of His death demonstrated by the literal physical resurrection of the humanity of Christ from the dead (Luke 1:35; Joh 1:1; Rom 3:24-26; 4:24-25; 1Cor 15:1-4; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 9:22; 13:20-21; 1Pet 1:3-5, 18-20, 2:24, 3:18). Furthermore, we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has been promoted to the highest rank position in the government of God, over the entire cosmos and has supreme power and authority over it since He is now seated at the right hand of the Father (Phlp. 2:6-11). At the right hand of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ is the church age believer's Great High Priest, acting as both intercessor and advocate for believers.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the indisputable and acknowledged Head of the Church, which is His body. He will return to crush all the enemies of God who are rebellion against Him (Rom 8:34; Eph 1:19-23; Heb 7:25-27; 1 John 1:1-2). He has the authority to conduct the judgment of all unbelievers at the conclusion of human history (Rev. 20:11-15) as well as the evaluation of all church age believers (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10), and the evaluation of all regenerate Israel (Ezek. 20:37-38; Zech. 13:8-9; Mal. 3:2-3, 5; Matt. 25:1-30)."

5) "Person and Work of the Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is a person not a force (John. 14:26; 16:13-15). He convicts the world of the sin of unbelief (John. 16:7-14), restrains evil from its ultimate manifestation (2 Thess. 2:6-7), glorifies Christ and guides believers into all truth (John 16:7-14). The Holy Spirit makes the Word of God understandable to the believer (1 Cor. 2:10-16). We believe that at the moment a person exercises faith alone in Christ, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit places that person in an eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer with Christ in His death and resurrection positionally (1 Cor. 12:12-13; Ga. 3:26-28), which forms the basis for experiential sanctification. God the Holy Spirit also permanently indwells (1 Cor. 3:16), seals (Eph. 1:13), and regenerates each believer (John. 3:1-8; Titus 3:3-5). He guides and empowers the believer to do the will of the Father (Eph. 5:18; Philp. 2:13) It is the responsibility of each believer to be filled by means of the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) and to walk by means of the Spirit (Gal. 5:17). The believer is prohibited from either quenching (1 Thess. 5:19), or grieving Him (Eph. 4:30)."

6) "Salvation: We believe that eternal salvation is received by the sinner who makes the non-meritorious decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Christ's accomplished redemption on the cross provided man's reconciliation to God. (John 3:15-16; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 20:31; Act 16:31; Rom 3:24-25; 5:11, 16; 2Cor 5:18-21; Eph 2:8-9)."

7) "Eternal Security: We believe that all believers are eternally secure. Each has the right to personal assurance of their eternal security. (John 10:27-30; Rom 8:1, 38-39; 1Cor 1:4-8; 1Thess 5:23-24; Heb 10:14)." -Pastor Bill Wenstrom (1 of 2)

http://www.wenstrom.org/modules.php?name=StaticText&pagename=what_we_believe

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
"What We Believe"

1) "The Bible: We believe that the Bible, composed of 66 canonical books in their original languages, is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God (Psa 119:89; 2Tim 3:16; 2Pet 1:20-21)."

2) "Trinity: We believe that God is a Trinity of 3 Persons, namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit w enstrom (1 of 2)

http://www.wenstrom.org/modules.php?name=StaticText&pagename=what_we_believe[/b]

"What We Believe"

8) "Church: We believe that the church, which is the Body of Christ is composed of all church age believers. The church is a spiritual organism, and all believers are in union with Christ and is not based upon affiliation with Christian denominations or organizations. (1Cor 12:12-14; Eph 1:22)."

9) "Satan: We believe that Satan, as the Scriptures state, is the greatest creature ever to come from the hand of God (Ezek. 28:12-13). He is presently the ruler of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2), which he usurped from Adam in the garden (Gen. 3:1-5). He was the "anointed cherub who covers" (Ezek. 28:14). He led the angels in worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity past. He became arrogant by reason of his perfect wisdom and beauty (Ezek. 28:16-17) and became disenchanted with his position and rebelled against God. He led a rebellion against God taking with him a third of the angels (Rev. 12:4). He was sentenced to the Lake of Fire by God with a third of the angels (Mt. 25:41), but has been graciously granted an appeal by God. Human history outworking of this appeal of Satan's. He is now the openly declared enemy of God. Satan's objective both then and now is to be like God and to usurp the throne of heaven (Isa. 14:14). He was defeated at the Cross by Christ. His sentence will be executed at the completion of human history and will then be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10-15)."

10) "Dispensations: We believe that a dispensation is a period of time during in which God employs a particular plan and man is tested to see if he will be obedient to that specific plan. We also believe that a dispensation is a period of human history explained in terms of divine revelation. History is defined as a series of administrations or eras. Each dispensation reflects the unfolding of God's plan for mankind and constitutes the divine viewpoint of history. It is essential for believers to understand dispensationalism in order to orient to God's will, plan, and purpose for their specific period of history that they are living in (Eph 1:7-11; 3:16; Rom 16:25-26; Col 1:26; Joh 1:16-17)."

11) "Rapture: We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to gather the church to Himself in the earth's atmosphere. He will receive to Himself believers who have died and believers who are alive at His coming. This is also known as the "Rapture" or "Resurrection of the Church" (1Cor 15:51-57; 1Thess 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14)."

12) "Tribulation: We believe that the rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel's seventieth week. The latter half of this seven-year period is the time of Jacob's trouble, the Great Tribulation (Jer 30:7; Dan 9:27; Mat 24:15-21; Rev 6:19)."

13) "2nd Advent of Christ: We believe that the Great Tribulation will culminate in the (pre-millennial) return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom. At this time He will literally land on the Mount of Olives and will deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies. This event will mark the literal 1000 year reign of Christ on planet earth (Zec 14:4-11; Mat 24:15-25; 2Thess 1:7-10; Rev 20:6)."

14) "Eternal State: We believe that the soul and the human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation immediately pass into His presence at the moment of physical death (2 Cor. 5:8). The soul and the human spirit remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming. At this time, soul, human spirit and body reunite, and shall forever be associated with His glory. The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium. At this time, the soul and body reunited shall be cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. Not to be annihilated but to be salted with everlasting destruction and banished from the presence of the Lord forever (Luk 16:19-26; 23:43; 2Co 5:8; Phi 1:23; 2Th 1:7-9; Jud 6:7; Rev 20:11-15)."

15) "Responsibility of the Believer: The responsibility of the believer after salvation is to desire the sincere milk of the Word and to be continually nourished by it so that he may grow spiritually in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God's desire that first every man be saved, and secondly that every believer in Christ come to intimately know Him through the inculcation of the Word of God (1Titus 2:4). The effectual work of God's Word brings the believer into adjustment with God's purpose, plan, and will. The internal execution of God's Word brings glory to the Lord (Rom 12:1-2; 2Cor 13:9; 1Titus 4:6; 1Pet 2:2; 2Pet 3:18)."

16) "Church Ordinance: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to be observed until His return (1Cor 11:23-36)."

17) "Sovereignty: We believe that God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign. He exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of, and consistent with, the essence and attributes of deity (1Chron 29:11-12; Dan 4:35; Psa 24:1; Eph 1:11; 1Titus 6:15). However God in His sovereignty will not violate the free will of man. The free will of man and the sovereignty of God coexist by divine decree (1Titus 2:4-6; Rom 5:8-10: 32-33; 16:24-25; John 3:16, 36)."

18) Spirituality: Though salvation is the result of one decision to believe, spirituality is the result of continuous decisions to depend upon the Holy Spirit and to be filled with the Spirit. The believer is mandated not to quench nor to grieve the Spirit by personal sin and by rejection of His grace and power. In addition, to walk by means of the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit, the Christian life can only be fulfilled by the power of the Spirit (Gal 5:16; Eph 4:30; 5:18; 1Thess 5:19). We also affirm that a believer's intimacy with the Holy Spirit, also known as fellowship, is suspended once he commits personal sins. This intimacy is restored when he names and cites his sin(s) to God (1 John 1:9)."

19) "Spiritual Gifts: We believe that God the Holy Spirit, in grace and apart from any human merit, administers a spiritual gift to believers in this dispensation. Some permanent spiritual gifts in existence today are Pastor/Teachers, Evangelists, and Administrators. We further maintain that the temporary spiritual gifts ceased with the completion of the canon of scripture. These temporary gifts were, apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, healing and working of miracles (1Cor 12:13; Eph 4:7-12; Rom 12:4-8). Though spiritual gifts of miracles and healing have ceased, God may, and does, heal and miraculously intervene by His direct action (Isa 46:10; Mat 28:18; Jam 5:16)." -Pastor Bill Wenstrom (2 of 2)

http://www.wenstrom.org/modules.php?name=StaticText&pagename=what_we_believe

Who are "we" in this article?
Who is included, and who is excluded?

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Who are "we" in this article?
Who is included, and who is excluded?

At the link given, there is a link to "Doctrinal Topics." It opens a door to a rather huge expansion on the core beliefs.

Originally posted by JS357
At the link given, there is a link to "Doctrinal Topics." It opens a door to a rather huge expansion on the core beliefs.

Of whom? Every christian, every catholic, every self proclaimed christian, or wat?
Is it the dogmas of which one must believe to the letter to be able to call oneself christian?
What if some christian agress with the most of the points but disagree with one or two, is he a sinner or what?
For me it is just a number of points and references to the bible. Nothing more?

For me, to be a christian, is personal and noone else should tell me what is right and what is wrong. It's a thing wholy between me and my god.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Of whom? Every christian, every catholic, every self proclaimed christian, or wat?
Is it the dogmas of which one must believe to the letter to be able to call oneself christian?
What if some christian agress with the most of the points but disagree with one or two, is he a sinner or what?
For me it is just a number of points and references to the bible ...[text shortened]... e else should tell me what is right and what is wrong. It's a thing wholy between me and my god.

It's pretty common for churches to spell out their beliefs on their website in order to allow people to make an informed decision when seeking out a church. Within Christianity there is a WIDE variety of beliefs, since the Bible is littered with conflicting/contradictory information. The beliefs in the first two posts are the beliefs of the following church and, from what I gather, the beliefs of GB.

Wenstrom Bible Ministries is a non-denominational church, which teaches the Word of God verse by verse. The purpose of this church is to make sound doctrine available to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe the Bible to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed.

We are holding church service in the Marion Iowa area 4 days a week.

9AM CST Sunday
7PM CST Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

If you are in the area and are interested in attending email or call for directions to our current meeting location.

http://www.wenstrom.org/index.php

Evidently they aren't established enough to have a set meeting place.

Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
It's pretty common for churches to spell out their beliefs on their website in order to allow people to make an informed decision when seeking out a church. Within Christianity there is a WIDE variety of beliefs, since the Bible is littered with conflicting/contradictory information. The beliefs in the first two posts are the beliefs of the following chur ...[text shortened]... rg/index.php
[/quote]

Evidently they aren't established enough to have a set meeting place.

That's the paradox of the christian faith. Every denomination defines "to be christian" according to their own particular dogmas. The rest are not christians. Some says even that the catholics are not christians, because they don't believe this or that. Mostly protestants think so. And then there are people that say that, if you believe in jesus, then you are christians. Even the muslims believe in Jesus as their prophet so they must be christians too, right?

Where is the universal least common denominator for christians? None, I would say.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Of whom? Every christian, every catholic, every self proclaimed christian, or wat?
Is it the dogmas of which one must believe to the letter to be able to call oneself christian?
What if some christian agress with the most of the points but disagree with one or two, is he a sinner or what?
For me it is just a number of points and references to the bible ...[text shortened]... e else should tell me what is right and what is wrong. It's a thing wholy between me and my god.

I think the Pastor-Teacher is the person to ask:

from the Library I cited:

"The pastor-teacher is a male church age believer who at the moment of salvation and by divine appointment has been given the spiritual gift and authority to communicate the Word of God to his fellow believer priests in the royal family of God who have been assigned to him by God. He is to exercise this authority in order to further the spiritual growth of his congregation to Christ-likeness.

"Every believer in the church age has been assigned to a pastor-teacher without exception (1 Pet. 5:1-4). Every believer without exception has been assigned to a pastor-teacher who has charge over them in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). The pastor has been delegated authority from the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the human instrument used by God to communicate His Word."

(It goes on for 186 pages, just on Pastor-Teacher...)

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Who are "we" in this article?
Who is included, and who is excluded?

Those who believe in Christ: 6) and 8).

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Of whom? Every christian, every catholic, every self proclaimed christian, or wat?
Is it the dogmas of which one must believe to the letter to be able to call oneself christian?
What if some christian agress with the most of the points but disagree with one or two, is he a sinner or what?
For me it is just a number of points and references to the bible ...[text shortened]... e else should tell me what is right and what is wrong. It's a thing wholy between me and my god.

"For me, to be a christian, is personal and noone else should tell me what
is right and what is wrong. It's a thing wholy between me and my god."

Yes... 15)

Originally posted by FabianFnas
That's the paradox of the christian faith. Every denomination defines "to be christian" according to their own particular dogmas. The rest are not christians. Some says even that the catholics are not christians, because they don't believe this or that. Mostly protestants think so. And then there are people that say that, if you believe in jesus, then you ...[text shortened]... oo, right?

Where is the universal least common denominator for christians? None, I would say.

Faith alone in Christ alone. Period.

Originally posted by JS357
I think the Pastor-Teacher is the person to ask:

from the Library I cited:

"The pastor-teacher is a male church age believer who at the moment of salvation and by divine appointment has been given the spiritual gift and authority to communicate the Word of God to his fellow believer priests in the royal family of God who have been assigned to him by God. ...[text shortened]... t used by God to communicate His Word."

(It goes on for 186 pages, just on Pastor-Teacher...)

Thanks, JS.

TL;DR - A bunch of BS

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Thanks, JS.

YAWN

Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
Those who believe in Christ: 6) and 8).

Are you saying that everyone who believes in 6 and 8 also believes in all the other stuff in those two posts? If so I think you may be mistaken.

--- Penguin.