My Beliefs
In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity
I am not an authority in Christian beliefs, I am a work in progress in God and looking forward to grow to the knowledge of the Son of God, that I may no longer be a child, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Therefore I listed what I have accumulated so far:
* I believe in the Trinity, the God the Father, The Son - Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. (I won't lie that my mind cannot exactly grasp the concept of one God in three persons just like I don't exactly understand "energy" and other deep concepts). To put in words, Jesus is God incarnate, who were with the Father in the beginning, he was born in Earth in flesh conceived by the Holy Spirit, died on the cross and risen after three days, ascended to Heaven as the High Priest - the only Mediator between the God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).
* Jesus came on earth to die for our sins on His first coming. He will come soon not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. The unbelievers will be judged by the words that Jesus had spoken while he was on Earth (John 12:48)
* I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) and it should be the authority in our life.
* I believe that Jesus Christ is the only Way for Eternal Salvation (John 14:6)
* I believe Christian should endure persecution and sufferings and should not deny our Lord Jesus Christ before men (2 Timothy 2:12).
* I believe there is no perfect English bible translation, though I would prefer translations that are not too loose. I believe the Holy Spirit is greater than any bible versions. I believe it is better to have a loose bible translation with constant seeking of God's help in prayer than no bible at all. (I'm memorizing on ESV)
* I believe that it is God's will to heal all who are sick who comes to Him, sometimes sickness or even death could be caused by unconfessed sin or other reasons that maybe only the Lord knows but this doesn't change the fact that it is God's will to heal His children thus we should pray for healing, especially those who believe that all are possible in God. I believe Jesus heals and he never change yesterday, today and forever. However I do not look into this as "essential belief", it should not cause division to the church.
* I believe that immersion baptism is necessary as obedience to Christ's words but I do not believe that baptism is required for eternal salvation. If one truly love Christ, and He said "if you love me obey my commandments", one won't hesitate to be baptized in His name, unless grave circumstance prevents him (example the person crucified beside Jesus in the Cross).
* Eternal Salvation - There are two sides of this doctrine (1) Unconditional or also called Once Saved Always Saved and (2) Conditional or a Saved person can fall away and lose his salvation. Many passages in bible in both sides that tend to have good points. For now what I am sure is that I trust in Jesus Christ 100% on His works, through faith in him by grace alone for my salvation but I show my faith in my actions, for God saved me for good works not through good works.
It seem it doesn't really matter "that much" which side you believe if we understand what each doctrine means, both has pros and cons. It is possible for one to believe in "Once Saved Always Saved" and tend to be careless (some call it license to sin or hyper grace) believing whatever you do you are still saved, some says they don't even need to "repent their sins" after being saved because future sins are also forgiven which I disagree, I think you will have to worry more because if there is no changes in your lifestyle or urge to imitate our holy God after conversion - you might even not yet really "converted" in the first place.
On the other side, if one believe that he can lose salvation, the good thing is one will persevere so much that he will even give up many things in this life that are not honoring the Lord or distracting his walk in faith. The disadvantage is one might be labeled as legalist. Another disadvantage is others will think it is "works salvation", thinking that we need to add to the works of Christ. Honestly, seen all the pros and cons, I tend to rely and believe more to the "conditional eternal security". It is better to suffer and follow the examples laid by our Lord Jesus Christ, persecuted in this world for some peculiar beliefs and share in His glory afterwards. Also, I could never think doing good things means trying to earn salvation, the Bible guides us also that good works outside faith to God are dung in the eyes of the Lord.
I'm praying that the Lord guide me on my process of growing my faith in him in sanctification.
I am not an authority in Christian beliefs, I am a work in progress in God and looking forward to grow to the knowledge of the Son of God, that I may no longer be a child, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Therefore I listed what I have accumulated so far:
* I believe in the Trinity, the God the Father, The Son - Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. (I won't lie that my mind cannot exactly grasp the concept of one God in three persons just like I don't exactly understand "energy" and other deep concepts). To put in words, Jesus is God incarnate, who were with the Father in the beginning, he was born in Earth in flesh conceived by the Holy Spirit, died on the cross and risen after three days, ascended to Heaven as the High Priest - the only Mediator between the God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).
* Jesus came on earth to die for our sins on His first coming. He will come soon not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. The unbelievers will be judged by the words that Jesus had spoken while he was on Earth (John 12:48)
* I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) and it should be the authority in our life.
* I believe that Jesus Christ is the only Way for Eternal Salvation (John 14:6)
* I believe Christian should endure persecution and sufferings and should not deny our Lord Jesus Christ before men (2 Timothy 2:12).
* I believe there is no perfect English bible translation, though I would prefer translations that are not too loose. I believe the Holy Spirit is greater than any bible versions. I believe it is better to have a loose bible translation with constant seeking of God's help in prayer than no bible at all. (I'm memorizing on ESV)
* I believe that it is God's will to heal all who are sick who comes to Him, sometimes sickness or even death could be caused by unconfessed sin or other reasons that maybe only the Lord knows but this doesn't change the fact that it is God's will to heal His children thus we should pray for healing, especially those who believe that all are possible in God. I believe Jesus heals and he never change yesterday, today and forever. However I do not look into this as "essential belief", it should not cause division to the church.
* I believe that immersion baptism is necessary as obedience to Christ's words but I do not believe that baptism is required for eternal salvation. If one truly love Christ, and He said "if you love me obey my commandments", one won't hesitate to be baptized in His name, unless grave circumstance prevents him (example the person crucified beside Jesus in the Cross).
* Eternal Salvation - There are two sides of this doctrine (1) Unconditional or also called Once Saved Always Saved and (2) Conditional or a Saved person can fall away and lose his salvation. Many passages in bible in both sides that tend to have good points. For now what I am sure is that I trust in Jesus Christ 100% on His works, through faith in him by grace alone for my salvation but I show my faith in my actions, for God saved me for good works not through good works.
It seem it doesn't really matter "that much" which side you believe if we understand what each doctrine means, both has pros and cons. It is possible for one to believe in "Once Saved Always Saved" and tend to be careless (some call it license to sin or hyper grace) believing whatever you do you are still saved, some says they don't even need to "repent their sins" after being saved because future sins are also forgiven which I disagree, I think you will have to worry more because if there is no changes in your lifestyle or urge to imitate our holy God after conversion - you might even not yet really "converted" in the first place.
On the other side, if one believe that he can lose salvation, the good thing is one will persevere so much that he will even give up many things in this life that are not honoring the Lord or distracting his walk in faith. The disadvantage is one might be labeled as legalist. Another disadvantage is others will think it is "works salvation", thinking that we need to add to the works of Christ. Honestly, seen all the pros and cons, I tend to rely and believe more to the "conditional eternal security". It is better to suffer and follow the examples laid by our Lord Jesus Christ, persecuted in this world for some peculiar beliefs and share in His glory afterwards. Also, I could never think doing good things means trying to earn salvation, the Bible guides us also that good works outside faith to God are dung in the eyes of the Lord.
I'm praying that the Lord guide me on my process of growing my faith in him in sanctification.
Comments
Post a Comment