Many people have been asking me about my statement of faith. I've been reticent to offer one for various reasons. A friend and I put together for a project I am involved with, and I agree with it completely. I think it is pretty good. I have no problem considering this my personal Statement of Faith. What do you think?
1st) We believe in the divine, literal, historical inspiration of the Bible, which is therefore inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts. We affirm that the 66 books of the Bible (Hebrew Scriptures and New Covenant), are the standard of all truth, the final authority for doctrine and practice. Rabbinic Jewish literature is of human origin .We regard it as in no way binding upon our faith. 2nd Tim. 3:16; 1 Peter 1:21
2nd) We believe that there is only one God revealed by the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Covenant. He is infinite and perfect, eternally existing in a complex unity– the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – each possessing the nature of deity, while maintaining an individual personage.
Deut. 6:4; Acts 17:24; Psalm 90:2; Matt 28:19 – 20
3rd) We believe that the first human Adam was created in the image of God. Adam sinned and as a consequence all people born since then are now guilty before God and with a nature of rebellion against Him. Genesis 1:26 – 27, 2:7; Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1 - 3; Romans 5:12
4th) We believe that God the Son, the eternal Word, took human form to Himself and was known as Yeshua/Jesus of Nazerath the son of Mary, a direct descendant of King David, Judah, Isaac, and Abraham. We believe in His full deity; His virgin conception by the work of the Holy Spirit; His full humanity and His sinless life.
Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; John 1:1 – 3, 14, Colossians 2:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15, 7:26.
We believe Yeshua, the Messiah is the promised Priest, Prophet and King. As the great High Priest, He offered Himself once and for all as the only effective sacrifice for the sins of men, dying for our substitutionary atonement, once and forever. He continues His priestly ministry as He intercedes for His people. As the Prophet, He revealed the purpose and mind of God in His redemption message to Israel . As the King, He began His reign as Messiah when He ascended into heaven after His death and bodily resurrection. He will return physically and visibly to reign on earth.
Romans 6:9 – 10; Revelation 20:1; Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22 – 24; Matthew 13:57;
5th) We believe in the full deity and the personality of the Holy Spirit. We believe that He bears witness to Messiah Yeshua through the Word of God; that He convicts people of sin; that He regenerates individuals, baptizing them into the body of Messiah; that He indwells, seals, fills, helps, and produces in believers the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 6: 11; Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 2:10 – 11; Ephesians 4:30;
John 16:8; Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5: 22 – 23; John 16:8 – 11; Titus 3:5; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13
We believe that the Holy Spirit sovereignly gives spiritual gifts to believers. I Corinthians 12:1 – 11, 28 – 30; Romans 12:6 – 8; Ephesians 4: 11
6th)We believe in justification by grace alone through faith alone a part from works for eternal life. Faith in Messiah Yeshua is the only way of salvation for both Jew and Gentile. There is not a mandate to observe Torah for ones salvation. Salvation is not linked with types of worship, celebration, feast, sabbath and dietary law but in the one who these things pointed to in the first place Jesus the Messiah. Salvation does not come from the way his name is pronounced but in the person that he is and the work that he did on the cross. Ephesians 2: 8 – 9; Acts 4:12; Romans 8:27 – 30; John 10:28 – 30
7th) We believe that the church is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who have accepted Yeshua as the promised Messiah. Gentiles who have come to faith in Messiah Yeshua are fellow heirs with Jewish believers of the promises of God. Ephesians 2:15 We believe in the establishment of the local assembly of believers where both Jews and Gentiles are encouraged to live together in unity. Hebrews 10:24 – 25; Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 3: Titus 1:5 – 9
8th) We believe that the final state of those who have trusted in Messiah Yeshua will be eternal life in the presence of God. The state of those who have not trusted in the Messiah will be one of eternal judgment. Matthew 25:46; 2 Thessalonians 1:8 - 9
9th) We believe that God made an everlasting and irrevocable covenant with Abraham. It includes the unconditional election of Israel as God’s chosen people, the promise of the Messiah through whom the entire world will be blessed and the gift of the land of Israel to the Jewish people. Salvation does not only come to Jewish people but also to Gentiles. Jewish people are identified as descendants of Israel (Jacob) no matter what country they are born in. Jewish people are not made up of entire nations that claim to be descendants of one of the "lost tribes" Genesis 12:1 – 3, 15:9 – 17, 17: 1 – 5; 2 Sam.7: 12 – 16; Romans 9 – 11
10th) We believe that Yeshua/Jesus is the King of the Jews, He will physically come back to Earth to rule & reign for a 1,000 years from Jerusalem to fulfill all the Kingdom promises made to Israel. (John 19:19 & Zechariah 14)
