What I believe about
God and Salvation
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God's written word for all people and for all time tells the story of man's rebellion against Him and His plan to restore all things back to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, from beginning to end. Every word of it is true, complete, and without error (Ps. 12:6, 119:89; Prov. 30:5-6; Matt. 5:18).
God speaks to us through the Bible and tells us how to live a life that pleases Him and brings Him glory. It teaches us what He cares about, convicts us of our sin, shows us how to do things His way, and trains us to be His soldiers, fully equipped to fight the good fight of faith and take hold of the eternal life to which we have been called (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
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There is only one true God, Creator of all things, existing in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, throughout all eternity. The Father elected us by His great mercy, the Son redeemed us by His blood and raised us up to a new life in Him, and the Holy Spirit will present us perfect and complete on the day we meet our Savior. (Gen. 1:1, 1:27; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:21; Mt 3:16-17, Mt 28:19; Jn. 1:18, 10:30, 14:7, 17:21; 2 Cor. 3:17, 13:14; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 2:18, 4:6; Col. 2:9)
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God loves us so much that "He gave his only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).
God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him; saved us by His grace—we can't take credit for it—it is a gift from Him; predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons and daughters; sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise; blesses us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3-14, 2:8); and has great plans for our lives to give us a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11) and to help Him build His kingdom (Matt. 28:19).
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Jesus loves us so much that "He suffered and died, was buried, and raised from the dead on the third day" (1 Cor. 15:3-4) so that our sins could be forgiven, our relationship with God restored, and we could spend eternity with Him.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the Creator God, born of a virgin, fully human and fully God, with an eternal, sinless nature (Heb. 7:26, Rom. 5:19), and He is the only way to heaven (Jn. 14:6, Rom. 1:20). Through His sinless life and dying in our place, He defeated the devil and made a way for those who believe in His name to have an intimate relationship with God and enter His kingdom now and throughout all eternity (Jn. 14:6, 1 Jn. 2:2, Heb. 4:16).
He is coming again to "judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness" (Ps. 96:13b) and to "bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts" (1 Cor. 4:5) and "restore all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time" (Acts 3:21).
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The Holy Spirit loves us so much that He takes up permanent residence in our hearts the moment we proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Rom. 8:11); baptizes us into the body of Christ (Rom. 6:3); guarantees our eternal inheritance until we acquire full possession of it (Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30; 1 Cor. 3:16); gives us new life (Jn. 3:5-8, Titus 3:5); is our Comforter, Helper, and Guide (Jn. 14:16-18); pours God's love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5); gives us wisdom and understanding of the things of God (1 Cor. 2:9-13); shows us the right way to live (Jn. 14:26, 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:12) and the right way to pray (Rom. 8:26-27, Eph. 6:18, Jude 1:20); manifests His fruit in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23); gives us spiritual gifts to strengthen the faith of others (Rom. 1:11-12; 1 Cor. 12:4, 11; Eph. 4:11-12); grants us the power to obey and serve Him (Acts 1:8, Matt. 28:18-20); and provides joy in all things as we learn to trust in the God of our salvation (1 Thess. 1:6, 2 Cor. 13:14, Rom. 15:13).
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“We are God's masterpiece, created us in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).
We are given spiritual gifts to love, encourage and serve our family in the Body of Christ, and all the resources we need to live a godly life. We are called to go out into the world to share God's love with others and help Him build His kingdom (1 Cor. 12:7, 14:12-13; Matt. 28:18-20, 2 Pet. 1:3).
Nothing can separate His love for us that is ours in Christ (Rom. 8:39), and He will complete the good work He began in us at the day we meet our Savior (Phil. 1:6).
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“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), but God loves us so much that “while we were dead in our trespasses and sins” without power or desire to honor Him or do anything of eternal consequence, “Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).
If you surrender your life to Christ and "confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9) from the old person you used to be walking in darkness without any knowledge of God to living a life of His abundant grace and becoming the person He created you to be, like Him in righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:24).