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This
"Statement of Fundamental Truths" contains the 16 doctrines of the
Assemblies of God. These are non-negotiable tenets of faith that all
Assemblies of God churches adhere to. Four of these, Salvation, the Baptism
in the Holy Spirit, Divine Healing, and the Second Coming of Christ are
considered Cardinal Doctrines which are essential to the church's core
mission of reaching the world for Christ.
Assemblies of God
Statement of Fundamental Truths
The
Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. This Statement of
Fundamental Truths is intended simply as a basis of fellowship among us
(i.e., that we all speak the same thing, 1 Corinthians 1:10 [KJV/NIV]; Acts 2:42
[KJV/NIV]).
The phraseology employed in this Statement is not inspired nor contended for,
but the truth set forth is held to be essential to a full-gospel ministry. No
claim is made that it covers all Biblical truth, only that it covers our need
as to these fundamental doctrines.
- The Scriptures Inspired
- The One True God
- The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
- The Fall of Man
- The Salvation of Man
- The Ordinances of the Church
- The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
- The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in
the Holy Spirit
- Sanctification
- The Church and Its Mission
- The Ministry
- Divine Healing
- The Blessed Hope
- The Millennial Reign of Christ
- The Final Judgment
- The New Heavens and the New Earth
1. The Scriptures Inspired
The
Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and
are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith
and conduct.
2. The One True God
The
one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I
AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has
further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and
association as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The
Adorable Godhead
a.
Terms Defined
The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as related to the
Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with
Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding of the
doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from
"gods many and lords many." We therefore may speak with propriety
of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a trinity or as one Being of three
persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.
·
Matthew 28:19 [KJV/NIV]
·
2 Corinthians 13:14 [KJV/NIV]
·
John 14:16-17 [KJV/NIV]
b.
Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead which He expressed in
specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but that
this distinction and relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable and
incomprehensible, because unexplained.
c.
Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes him the
Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the
Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Spirit which
constitutes Him the Holy Spirit and not either the Father or the Son.
Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy
Spirit is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because
these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one
Lord God Almighty and His name one.
d.
Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are never identical as to Person; nor
confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the Godhead; nor opposed
as to cooperation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as
to relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father is with the Son,
as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the
Father, as to authority. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son
proceeding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation and authority. Hence,
neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works separately or
independently of the others.
e.
The Title, Lord Jesus Christ
The appellation, "Lord Jesus Christ," is a proper name. It is never
applied in the New Testament, either to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. It
therefore belongs exclusively to the Son of God.
·
Romans 1:1-3 [KJV/NIV]
·
2 John 1:3 [KJV/NIV
f.
The Lord Jesus Christ, God with Us
The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal nature, is the proper and
only Begotten of the Father, but as to His human nature, He is the proper Son
of Man. He is therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who because He
is God and man is "Immanuel," God with us.
g.
The Title, Son of God
Since the name "Immanuel" embraces both God and man in the one Person,
our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title, Son of God, describes His
proper deity, and the title, Son of Man, His proper humanity. Therefore, the
title Son of God, belongs to the order of eternity, and the title, Son of
Man, to the order of time.
h.
Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ
Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ to say that Jesus
Christ derived the title, Son of God, solely from the fact of the
incarnation, or because of His relation to the economy of redemption.
Therefore, to deny that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that the
Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and relationship
in the Being of God; a denial of the Father, and the Son; and a displacement
of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
i.
Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by Himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; angels and principalities and
powers having been made subject unto Him. And having been made both Lord and
Christ, He sent the Holy Spirit that we, in the name of Jesus, might bow our
knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father
until the end, when the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may
be all in all.
j.
Equal Honor to the Father and to the Son
Wherefore, since the Father has delivered all judgment unto the Son, it is
not only the express duty of all in heaven and on earth to bow the knee, but
it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Spirit to ascribe unto the Son all the
attributes of Deity, and to give Him all honor and the glory contained in all
the names and titles of the Godhead except those which express relationship
(see Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead, Unity of the One Being of
Father, Son and Holy Spirit , and Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead)
and thus honor the Son even as we honor the Father.
3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
The
Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:
His
virgin birth,
His
sinless life,
His
miracles,
His
substitutionary work on the cross,
His
bodily resurrection from the dead,
His
exaltation to the right hand of God.
4. The Fall of Man
Man
was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own
image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary transgression fell
and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which
is separation from God.
5. The Salvation of Man
Man's
only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of
God.
Conditions
to Salvation
Salvation
is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being
justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to
the hope of eternal life.
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