RTS

Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Matthew 16:16), the second Person of the Holy Trinity (Matthew 28:19), fully God and fully man (John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 5:20), uncreated (Colossians 1:17), eternal (Micah 5:2; John 8:58), sinless (1 John 3:5), conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18-23). He is the Creator of the universe (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2), the Sustainer of all things (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3), and the Savior of all who believe in Him (John 3:16). Through His death on the cross, He made atonement for sin (Galatians 3:13), was resurrected on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and ascended into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:9; Hebrews 10:12). One day, He will return to establish His eternal Kingdom (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 11:15).

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity (Matthew 28:19), the divine Comforter who was promised (John 15:26). He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11), regenerates, and baptizes the believer at the moment of conversion (John 3:3-6; 1 Corinthians 12:13), permanently indwelling in them (1 Corinthians 6:19). He seals believers as God’s eternal possession (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14) and grants them spiritual gifts to equip them for the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).

The gift of tongues was the supernatural ability given by God to certain believers to speak of the greatness of the Lord in a language they had never learned (Acts 2:4-11; 1 Corinthians 12:30). This ability served as a sign of God’s impending judgment upon the generation that rejected the Son (1 Corinthians 14:21-22—compare with Deuteronomy 28:45, 46, 49). As such, this gift ceased in the first century, once God’s judgment fell upon the Jews in A.D. 70. at the hands of Titus, the Roman general, as foretold by the Lord Jesus Himself (Luke 13:34-35).

The Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and infallible (John 10:35; Psalm 119:11), breathed out by Him in the original writings (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the sole rule of faith and practice for Christians (Romans 15:4), given to us through holy men who spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). The Bible is God’s essential instrument not only for the salvation of sinners (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:15; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23), but also for the believer’s growth in sanctification (Psalm 119:9; John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12).

Man and woman were created by God in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27; 5:1-2; James 3:9), without sin (Ecclesiastes 7:29), with wonderfully formed bodies (Genesis 2:7, 21-22—see also Psalm 139:14) and immortal souls (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Matthew 10:28). God then gave them dominion over all creation (Genesis 1:26, 29-30) and entrusted them with the responsibility to care for it (Genesis 2:15).

At the time of humanity’s creation, God established marriage (Matthew 19:4-6), a solemn act that unites a man and a woman. Marriage must never take place between a believer and an unbeliever (1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15) or between people of the same sex (Leviticus 20:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). It establishes a new family unit, grants the right to enjoy sexual pleasure, and creates a bond that is dissolved only by the death of one of the spouses (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Luke 16:18; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 39; Hebrews 13:4).

Sin entered the world through a voluntary act of the first human (1 Timothy 2:14), who, in Eden, disobeyed God’s explicit command by eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6—compare with Genesis 2:16-17). As a result, the entire human race, represented in Adam, became sinful (Romans 3:23; 5:18). Death, which is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), came upon all people (Romans 5:12), who are now separated from God (Ephesians 4:18), eternally lost (Matthew 25:41, 46), and living according to the dictates of their own passions and futile reasoning (Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17).

The provision for human salvation was made in Christ, who, through His death on the cross of Calvary, satisfied God’s requirements by bearing the consequences of our guilt (Matthew 20:28; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). By rising on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), our Lord demonstrated that God’s justice was fully satisfied in Him at Golgotha (Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 1:3). Now, all that is required is for the sinner to receive Him by faith (John 3:36; Ephesians 2:8) as the only and sufficient Savior (Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5) in order to obtain the forgiveness of sins (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 1:7) and the removal of guilt that leads to eternal condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Man’s salvation is by faith in Christ alone and never by good works (John 6:28-29; Romans 3:20-24; Galatians 3:11). This faith is a gift from God, granted to His elect (John 6:65; Acts 11:18; Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1), meaning those whom the Lord, solely by His grace, chose before the foundation of the world and predestined for salvation (Romans 9:14-18; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11). Election occurred without God foreseeing any virtue that would make the predestined worthy of His favor (Romans 5:6-8; 9:10-13). Nor did God choose His people based on foreknowledge of their faith, since, as already stated, saving faith is granted by Himself to the elect (John 6:37, 44, 65; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29-30).

The church is the community of believers in Christ (Ephesians 1:1), purchased, founded, protected, built, and guided by Him (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28). It gathers to worship the Triune God (Acts 13:1-2), firmly uphold the revealed truth (1 Timothy 3:15), observe the Lord’s ordinances (baptism and communion), foster a loving, edifying, and pure fellowship among the brethren (Acts 2:42-47), and proclaim salvation to the world (1 Peter 2:9)—all with the ultimate purpose of promoting the glory of God (Ephesians 3:21).

The two ordinances established by Christ that must be regularly observed by the church are baptism and communion (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 22:19-20). The first, which cannot be understood as a means of salvation (1 Corinthians 1:14-17), must be performed only after the individual believes (Acts 2:41-42), and therefore, infant baptism is unacceptable. The correct form of baptism, according to the Bible, is the full immersion of the believer in water (Mark 1:9-11; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-39). As for communion, it should be distributed in two elements: the bread, which symbolizes the body of Christ, and the cup, which represents His blood (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). These elements must not be withheld from any believer in Christ (1 Corinthians 11:28). It should also be emphasized that communion is a memorial in which the church remembers the death of the Son of God on the cross of Calvary for the remission of sins. The belief that the body and blood of the Lord are in some way present in the elements, or that eternal life can be obtained by partaking of them, is superstitious.

Angels are powerful spiritual beings created by God to glorify Him and carry out His commands (Psalm 103:20; Isaiah 6:2-3). One of their roles is to minister on behalf of believers (Luke 16:22; Hebrews 1:13-14). It is known that all angels were originally created holy by God (Job 38:4-7). However, there are indications in the Scripture that, before creation, some of them rebelled. Now called demons, they have been permanently confirmed in wickedness (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6), while those who remained in their original state, also referred to as elect angels, were confirmed in goodness (1 Timothy 5:21). There is no hope of repentance for demons (Hebrews 2:16), nor is there any possibility of the good angels falling. Both categories have a fixed place in God’s future plan (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; 1 Corinthians 6:3; Revelation 12:7-9).

Satan, our adversary, is an angel created by God without sin who once held a position of authority over other spiritual beings (Ezekiel 28:12-15). However, driven by pride, he rebelled, desiring to be like God. As a result, he was cast out of his original position and destined for hell (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:15-19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9-10). His work primarily consists of accusing, attacking, and tempting God’s servants in order to destroy them (Job 2:7; Acts 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:9-10). He also seeks to obstruct the advance of the gospel and deceive people, keeping them under his control and dominion (Mark 4:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:26).

God’s plan for the future includes the resurrection of believers (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16), the rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53), the rise of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), the Great Tribulation (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:21-29; Revelation 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5), the Second Coming of Christ (Matthew 24:37-44; Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7), the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-6), the Final Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-8). At the end of history, the righteous will live forever in God’s presence, while those who rejected the salvation offered by Christ will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction (Daniel 12:2-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 14:9-11).