Doctrinal Statement

~ SHORT VERSION ~

1. THE WORD OF GOD

I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God’s will for salvation, and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.
 

2. THE TRINITY

I believe in one God, creator and sustainer of all things, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that these are equal in every divine perfection and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.
 

3. GOD THE FATHER

I believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love.  He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men and women, hears and answers prayer, and He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
 

4. JESUS CHRIST

I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son, and has precisely the same nature, attributes and perfections as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  He is not only true God, but true man conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  We believe in His sinless life, His substitutionary atonement, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, His priestly intercession on behalf of His people, and His personal, visible, return from heaven.
 

5. HOLY SPIRIT

I believe in the Holy Spirit, His personality, and His work in regeneration, sanctification, and preservation.  His ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and implement Christ’s work of redeeming the lost and empowering the believer for godly living and service.
 

6. HUMANITY

I believe God created humanity, male and female, in the image of God and free from sin.  We further believe all persons are sinners by nature and choice and are, therefore, spiritually dead.  We also believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates those who repent of sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior.

 

7. SALVATION

I believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, and was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received through faith apart from any human merit, works, or ritual.  We believe salvation results in righteous living, good works, and proper social concern.

 

8. THE CHURCH

I believe that the Church is the spiritual body of which Christ is the head and is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  This body expresses itself in local assemblies whose members have been baptized upon a credible confession of faith and have associated themselves for worship, instruction, evangelism, and service.  The ordinances of the local church are believers’ baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  We also believe in the interdependence of local churches and the mutual submission of Christians to each other in love.

 

9. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

I believe that each local church must be free from interference by any political authority.  We also believe all men and women are directly responsible to God in matters of faith and life, and that they should be free to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences.

 

10. CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

I believe that the supreme task of every believer is to glorify God in life and conduct and be blameless before the world.  Each Christian should be a faithful steward of all possessions and seek to realize in every area of life the full stature of maturity in Christ.

 

11. LAST THINGS

I believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and lost, the eternal existence of all people in either heaven or hell, in divine judgments, rewards, and punishments.

 

~ LONG VERSION ~

 

Doctrine of Revelation

            There are two types of revelation when it comes to our knowledge of God.  The first is General or Universal Revelation, and the second is known as Special Revelation. Universal revelation shows us things we can know about God throughout all of creation. This type of revelation is readily available to every person who has ever lived or will ever live. God reveals himself through nature and the beauty and design of his creation (Romans 1:20). He is also revealed through other human beings, because each person has been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28) and are able to reflect who He is even despite human depravity (2 Corinthians 3:18). God’s moral law has been written on every human being’s heart and, through their consciences, they bear witness to God (Romans 2:14-15). It is also possible to discern God’s presence through historical movements. We know from verses in scripture, such as, Acts 17:26 and Job 12:23, that God plays an active role in the rise and fall of nations which works towards his larger goal.

            The second type of revelation that is available is special revelation which is God actually stepping in and revealing himself to a specific person or people. One of the examples of this that we have is that of the Bible. All of scripture is what is known as God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), which means that while God did not physically write all of scripture himself through the Holy Spirit, the authors were inspired to write exactly the message God wanted to give to the readers. Other forms of special revelation come in the form of prophetic visions, experiences, angels or dreams (Genesis 37) (Matthew 1:20-21). As believers and followers of Christ, each one of us has access to the Holy Spirit, which is a direct connection with God, and the Holy Spirit speaks into our lives and is able to encourage and convict us (Romans 8:2-6) (Acts 2:1-5) (Luke 24:25-47). The supreme act of God’s special revelation is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ who came to earth and became flesh (John 1:1)(Col. 1:26-28) (Hebrews 1:1-2); through this action, Christ was able to show us what a sinless life looks like. It is the example that Christ has given us and the teachings that He shared with us that inform us what our lives should look like and how we should be living out our days on this earth.

           I hold to the idea of full inerrancy which claims that the Bible is fully and completely true. The difference between this view and an absolute view of inerrancy is that, when it comes to matters of historical or scientific relevance, full inerrancy would say that the authors of the Bible reports are accurate in the way they appear and what the Bible teaches is correct in the way that it is taught.

Doctrine of God: The Trinity

            The Trinity is the name that is given to the three personhoods of God which are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While the word Trinity is not used as a term in scripture there is evidence that shines light on this theological term. We are told repeatedly from scripture that God is One, (Deuteronomy 6:4) (Zechariah 14:9) (James 2:19) dispelling the polytheistic notions that god’s exist in all sorts of different capacity. With the clear understanding that there is only one true God ‘singular’, we must look at the persons of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We know also from Scripture that the Father is God, Jesus is God (John 1:1, 20:28) (Titus 2:13) (Mark 14:62), and the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4) (Corinthians 3:17-18).

            Within the Godhead of the trinity, there is not a hierarchy of importance; God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are to be seen equally as God. However we do see that within the Trinity, there is a voluntary submission from one person to another. For example, in Jesus’ time on earth, Jesus himself states “I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). The Father takes on a role of sending with both the Son (John 3:16) and the Holy Spirit (Galatians 4:6). The submission of Christ to the Father was not just relevant during his time on earth but also after the second coming; "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:28). The trinity is a wonderful example of what it means to live in perfect community with one another. This is a level of community and communion that all of creation desires and longs for, and because we were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28), we also desire this connection with one another and with God.

Doctrine of God

            The doctrine of God looks at the nature and attributes that we can know about God from special revelation in the Bible and universal revelation, which is built into creation. We know that God is a spiritual being (John 4:24) and is not a created being but creator of all things (Genesis 2:7) (Deuteronomy 30:20) (Jeremiah 10:10). God exists outside of and/or beyond the physical realm of the universe as we know it. God is an eternal being who was around before the creation of the world (Colossians 1:16, 17) (Isaiah 40:28), and God will exist long after this earth fades away (Psalms 90:2) (Revelation 10:6).

            God possesses attributes and traits that come along with personality; jealousy (Exodus 20:4-5), anger (Psalm 7:11), love (John 3:16) (1 John 4:16), hate (Malachi 2:16), mercy (Romans 9:18), forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7).  God is entirely good and no evil or bad exists within His character (Psalm 100:5, 136:1). God is completely holy and has nothing to do with evil or wickedness (Isaiah 6:3, Leviticus 11:44). God is constant and unchanging; there is no increasing or decreasing in Him (Psalms 102:26-27) (Malachi 3:6). God is relational and desires a personal relationship with each person that He created but does not depend on those relationships for anything that He lacks because He lacks nothing.  God is infinite in terms of space, time, knowledge and power, God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient (Psalms 90:2) (Matthew 19:26) (Hebrews 4:13). God is righteous and by extension the law of the Lord is perfect as he is (Psalm 19:7). God delights in exercising kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth (Jeremiah 9:24).

 

God the Father

            Throughout scripture we can see God referred to as Father. In the Old Testament, He is referred to as the Father of the nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:6) and also the Father of specific people (Jeremiah 3:4) (Malachi 1:6). In the New Testament, we have even more references to God the Father, especially in relationship with Christ the Son (Mark 14:36). God is spirit and is not bound by a physical body and no one has ever seen Him (John 1:18). God the Father has compassion on those who fear him (Psalms 103:13).

            God the Father is part of the Godhead of the trinity along with Christ and the Holy Spirit in perfect fellowship; all three equal. God the Father is sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent (Jeremiah 23:23-24) (Matthew 24:36). God the Father is the same God in the New Testament that He is in the Old Testament. God the Father is a missional God who cares about His people and has a heart for those who do not know Him (John 3:16). God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts (Galatians 4:6) God the Father is a forgiving and merciful God who seeks to reconcile the fallen creation. God the Father is creative; through Him all creation came into existence.

 

Doctrine of Jesus

            Jesus is the Son of God and one person of the Trinity. Jesus is the Messiah and the only pure and spotless Lamb of God who is worthy of praise (1 Peter 1:19). Jesus came to earth, was born of a virgin mother (Luke 2:7) (Matthew 1:23), and is both fully human and fully divine. Jesus’ humanity does not void his divinity, nor does His humanity void His divinity. In John 1, we see both the fact that Jesus was God and with God in the beginning and was the source of creation. (John 1:1-4) Later in John 1, we are told that the word became flesh and dwelt among us which speaks to the human nature of God. (John 1:14) Jesus is an eternal being, just as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are, and was present at the creation of the universe and is not a created being. (John 1:1-4)

            While Christ was in the form of God he willingly made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of humanity (Philippians 2:7). By doing this Christ took on a human nature and with it all the weakness that comes along with being human. Christ emptied himself out laying aside certain divine attributes such as omnipotence and omnipresence while retaining perfect moral characteristics.[1]

            Jesus lived a perfect life as a human being without sin; Christ overcame temptation by Satan in the wilderness (Mark 1:12)(Matthew 4:1-10)(Luke 4:1-13)(1 John 3:5). Jesus is described as a high priest, holy blameless, innocent, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26). Jesus is the conqueror of death; being crucified on the cross and dying a real physical death and being buried in a tomb for three days, he broke death’s sting and rose supernaturally from the grave (Luke 24)(Matthew 28)(Mark 16). After the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven and took His place at the right hand of God (Mark 16:9) (Luke 24:50).

            Jesus is the only path to redemption and salvation for human beings and the only way to come to the Father. (John 14:6) The sacrifice that was made on the cross was a sacrifice that covers with blood the sin of all humanity, the salvation offered through belief, and acceptance of Christ is open to all people regardless of race, gender, hair color, eye color, and any other physical trait that can be mentioned (Luke 19:10).

            Christ’s mission on earth has several different aspects that all center around God’s ultimate will to seek the lost. Christ came to reveal the Father and to serve as a prophet who spoke God’s message (John 1:18) (Hebrews 1:3, 3:1). Christ came to put away sin and to destroy the works of the devil (Hebrews 9:26) (1 John 3:5, 8). Christ came to prepare a church for His second coming (Hebrews 9:28). Christ came to establish the Messianic kingdom on earth, both physically and spiritually (Isaiah 9:6) (Jeremiah 23:5-6) (Zechariah 14:16-17). We are told that Christ also came to judge the world (John 5:22-27) (Romans 2:16).

 

Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

            The Holy Spirit has been referred to as the forgotten God or an afterthought to the Father and the Son. This is not true; the Holy Spirit is an equal part of the Trinitarian God and just as worthy of our praise and worship. Like the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit is an eternal being that exists outside of time and was there in the beginning when the Earth was created (Hebrews 9:14). There are several passages in scripture that equate the Holy Spirit to God. One is found in Acts 5:3-4 in the story of Ananias and Sapphira who lie to the Holy Spirit. The biblical author goes on to claim that they have not just lied to human beings but to God. The Holy Spirit is shown to have complete knowledge, which is something that only is attributed to God (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

            The Holy Spirit is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10), omnipotent (Romans 15:19), and Omniscient (Isaiah 40:13-14). The Holy Spirit had a role in the creation of the world (Job 33:4) (Genesis 1:2). Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit has a part in the resurrection and that the Spirit of God intercedes on behalf of the Christian (Romans 8:11, 26). The Holy Spirit plays an active role in the process of salvation, regeneration, and sanctification (John 3:5) (2 Thessalonians 2:13). The Holy Spirit gives revelation and inspiration to individuals (Genesis 41:16, 38) (2 Peter 1:21).

            The Holy Spirit is the source of inspiration and gifts for those who have accepted Christ and have been baptized with the spirit (Acts1:4-5). There are different kinds of gifts given by the Holy Spirit to different people, but they all come from the same Lord (1 Corinthians 12:4). The gifts of the Spirit include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the power to do miracles, prophesy, discernment of the spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10), also service, teaching, exhortation, liberality, and acts of mercy (Romans 12:6-8). The Holy Spirit decides which of these gifts to give and to whom (1 Corinthians 12:11). The Holy Spirit takes on the role of teacher and counselor in our lives after conversion and is referred to in scripture as the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16-17).

 

Angelology

            Angels are not eternal beings like God but they are created by Him with the purpose of serving and carrying out His will. We see evidence of their creation in scripture, in Psalm's 148:1-5, the psalmist calls for all the angels and heavenly hosts to praise the Lord for He commanded and they were created and in Colossians 1:16 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities."

            While angels appear multiple times in the bible in the form of humans, they are still non-temporal beings. We see this in scripture; they are referenced as being connected with heaven. Angels have more wisdom than man (2 Samuel 14:20). While being created by God, angels fall short of humans because they are not created in the image of God and in the end times, humans will be exalted above the angels 1 Cor. 6:3. We know that angels are limited in their knowledge because Jesus acknowledges that not even the angels know the hour or day-only the Father holds that knowledge (Matt 24:36).

            The angels’ purpose is to be servants of God and to carry out His will. At times, they are messengers bringing tiding of good news like the revelation of the empty tomb (Matthew 28:5-7), other times they carry out God's judgment (Genesis 19). Angels are used to protect God's people as guardians (Psalms 91:11). There is a hierarchy of angels and clear divisions between them that attach different service responsibilities.

            Demons are fallen angels, which are a group of angels that decided to rebel against God. From the Bible, we know that this happened sometime after creation and before Adam and Eve ate from the tree in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1-7). This also tells us that Angels are capable of making free will decisions. Demons have the ability to possess human beings; we have multiple accounts in the Gospels where Jesus frees people from demonic possession. We also know that, in Christ, we have the power to remove demons from possessed individuals (Mark 9:14-29).

            Satan has the ability to tempt human beings into doing the wrong thing and fall into sin. In the Garden of Eden, he tempted Adam and Eve into eating from the one tree in the garden that God had forbid them to eat (Genesis 3:1-7). Satan knows scripture and what God has said and is able to twist and pervert it to try and tempt people and he even uses this knowledge to try and tempt Jesus in the desert (Genesis 3:1-7) (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan is no match for God, he is in no way God's equal, and the outcome of his presence on this earth has already been decided (Revelation 14:12). Satan is a fallen angel and is a created being that is jealous of humanity and desires to separate God's people from God.

 

Doctrine of Creation, Humanity, and Sin

            The first verse of the bible introduces God and His awesome power to create, with the phrase "in the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). We know that things came into being through God simply speaking to them (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26). God created ex nihilo or out of nothing, by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3). Creation shows the power of God's words. God not only created the earth, but is also the author of everything both visable and invisible (Colossians 1:16).

Human beings have been created by God and have been created in His likeness and image (Genesis 1:26-28). Our purpose, as human beings, is to praise God and be a reflection of His image in the world. When God created humanity, dominion of the world was handed over to humans; they were to rule over all of creation and to be fruitful themselves, multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28-30). At this time, before the fall of Adam and Eve, God looked at His creation and called it good (Genesis 1:31).

            Because human beings were created by God and called good after they were created, it was not until the fall that sin entered into the equation. The fall was the product of human beings having the capacity to choose to either obey God and His command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, or to not believe God’s command and to listen to the serpent’s temptation and eat from the tree (Genesis 3). Sin can be described as anything that is in opposition to God. Sin takes something that God made, which is naturally good and perverts it in some way. The consequence inflicted upon the individual that sins, is death (Romans 6:23). Every single person is afflicted with the affinity to sin, not one person who has ever lived, with the exception of Jesus, has been able to live a sin-free life (Romans 3:23). Every single aspect of life has been touched and affected by sin. The only hope that we have is found in the cross and the price that Christ has paid to cover our sins.

 

The Doctrine of Salvation and Sanctification

            Throughout scripture we are given a picture of a gracious, loving, forgiving, merciful God who wants what is best for His people. God's desire is for redemption of His creation and for what was corrupt to become cleansed and reconciled. Redemption is necessary for each and every person, because we are all tainted by sin and all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). There is nothing that we can do on our own to achieve salvation, no amount of works, no amount of charity, and no amount of going to church can save us from the penalty that comes with sin that leads to death (Romans 6:23).

            Sanctification is the process in which a person is purified and made holy or consecrated to God. We are called to be sanctified and to cleanse ourselves so that we can become a holy vessel that is honorable for use (2 Timothy 2:21). Scripture tells us that those who are in Christ are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we are to be sanctified by truth (John 17:17). This does not mean, however, that we have arrived where we need to be. The concept of Christian sanctification falls under the idea of ‘yes but not yet’. The Christian life is not supposed to be easy; if it was, Jesus would not have told the rich young ruler to give up all that he owned (Matthew 19:16-22). There are strong examples of people who were clearly ‘in Christ’ that still struggled day in and day out. Paul repeatedly asked for a thorn to be removed from his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) and countless Christians have been martyred throughout history. Sanctification is something that we should be constantly working and striving for; but the only way that it is possible is through the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

            As Christians, our hope lies in Christ Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life and the only way to the Father is through Him (John 14:6). It is only through Christ's life; death, and resurrection that we have the hope of salvation. Jesus paid the ransom for our sins in full with his blood on the cross, and it is this blood that cleanses all of our sins (1 John 1:7). In order to receive this gift of Jesus’ atoning blood and to gain eternal life is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to accept the truth of the Gospel (Acts 16:30-31). Not every person will be saved and enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:13-14, 21) (Luke 13:23-27). As humans, we have the free will to choose to rebel against God and to not accept the gift of Jesus' saving blood, even though it is for them as well. I believe that human beings were created with the ability to make free will choices and can choose to either follow God or to live in rebellion (Deuteronomy (30:11-19). In giving humans free will to make this choice, God is displaying his loving nature; loving us so much that He is willing to let us make the wrong decision. Furthermore, with that decision, God was willing to send his Son into the world to display the depths of His love for humanity and that he would be willing to let his Son pay the price for our sins (John 3:16). God has perfect foreknowledge, therefore He knows all of the decisions we are going to make or could possibly make. This does not take away our ability to choose those decisions. We cannot be saved on our own accord; we need the grace of Christ (Ephesians 2:8).

            I follow a classical Wesleyan/Armenian approach to the order of salvation. First God’s electing grace through Christ is applied to all who will believe in Him. Next, based on the perfect foreknowledge of God we are predestined and elected for salvation. While under the influence or corruption of sin prevenient grace allows a person to make the free will choice of accepting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Subsequently, a person makes the choice to accept Christ and repent of their sins. At this point a person is justified by their faith and begins the process of regeneration and sanctification. The final step is glorification after a believer’s death and judgment it is the application of redemption.

 

Ecclesiology

            The church is not a building or a specific place where believers gather once or twice a week. It is also not a specific denomination of churches like the Lutheran church, First Methodist church or the Baptist church. The church is made up of the people who gather in these structures who are a part of the different denominations. The church is to be the bride of Christ; part of the body and being of Christ (Revelation 19:7) (Ephesians 5:22-33).  The church is described by the metaphor of the human body in scripture with Christ being the head of the body (Romans 12:4-5) (Ephesians 5:23). This signifies the missions of the church as carrying out the will of Christ, just as the parts of the body carry out the will of the head. The parts of the human body do not have their own selfish agenda; they simply do the work that the brain tells them to do. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gives the disciples the great commission giving the order to go out and to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20). The church should have missional focus; whether that focus is overseas, across the country, or in its own backyard (preferably all of the above). God is a missional God; and we, being the church, should be carrying out the missional purpose to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to people all over the world.

            God gives various spiritual gifts to believers and establishes ministries within the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) (Ephesians 4:11). Every believer has a role to play in the church and specific gifts to help them in these roles. Some are called to be elders and bishops who are to be in leadership positions to help guide the church (1 Timothy 3:1-13) (Titus 1:5-9). These leadership roles should be filled with people who exemplify Christ-like characteristics in their own lives. I believe that leadership roles within the church should include both men and women dependent on the gifts and calling that they have received personally and no discrimination should take place based on gender (Galatians 3:28).

            Baptism is the symbolic action of submission that symbolizes a believer’s acceptance of Christ, forgiveness of sins, and the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized into Christ, we are also baptized into his death (Romans 6:3). The act of going under the water symbolizes death with Christ; then, when you are pulled back up out of the water, it symbolizes that we are raised from the dead just as Christ was raised from the dead (Romans 6:4). It also symbolizes the death of our old life and the beginning of our new life in Christ. Water baptism is a cleansing or purification ritual, and we see the call of Peter in Acts 2 to repent from our sins and to be baptized in the name of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38). In the same verse, Peter goes on to tell those who have repented and been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ that they will also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

            The Lord’s Supper should be celebrated as a reminder of Christ’s work and presence in the church, and a reminder of the future that awaits us in God’s kingdom (Luke 22:14-22) (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). It is to be celebrated within the context of believers and in a way that is honoring to Christ. It also should include a self-examination, confession of sins and asking for forgiveness (1 Corinthians 11:27-34).

 

Eschatology

            We know as Christians that Christ will one day return and usher in the fullness of the kingdom of God (Acts 1:11) (Hebrews 9:28).When this day comes there will be no more sorrow, pain or death for those who love God (Revelation 21:4). But for those who do not love God, but love evil, they will be cast into the lake of fire (21:8). Only the Father knows the exact day and time of Jesus’ return (Matthew 24:36). There will be signs however that the time of Christ’s return is drawing near such as: the great tribulation, the desolating sacrilege, the darkening of the sun, and the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) (Matthew 24:9-36). We are told to be prepared for the second coming and that we are not in the dark about this event (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8). At the return of Christ, those who have died will raise and meet him, and those who are currently living will be caught up with him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

            I personally hold to a postmillennial view that suggests we are currently living in the first millennium. This view sees the millennium not as a specific thousand years but as the entire church age. The major theme of this view, is that the gospel message will be so effective that the whole world will be reached for Christ. This view looks at the Great Commission as something that will be carried out in Christ’s authority and will succeed (Matthew 28:18-20). The spread of the gospel will be effective due to the power of its message not due to our increased ability to present it. I hold to a posttribulation view in which Christ’s followers will experience the great tribulation.

                       

 

 

 

[1] Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed., ed. L Arnold Hustad (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2001)237.