Wow... so what do you really believe?

Others> Wow... so what do you really believe?  If you have parted ways with contemporary orthodoxy, then what else have you parted with?

Me> Yes I have parted ways with both Arminianism and Calvinism.  However, I hope that I have not unnecessarily parted ways with the thoughtful conclusions and hard-won discoveries of Christians through the ages.  I seek to be a Christian, not a contrarian!  Disagreement over one point, whether major or minor, is not reason to disagree carte blanche.  For example, some claim that there is no punishment in Hell after death for the unbelieving because a God of love would never do such a thing.  However, the Scripture plainly says otherwise in Luke 16:19-31.  Others abandoned the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity to claim that God is one and only one person and became Unitarian Universalists.  Sadly the Unitarian Universalist movement has lost all anchor to Scripture.  They have abandoned the good conclusion that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct persons, yet one God, Deuteronomy 6:4, Romans 9:5, Acts 5:3-4.

In short, I believe...

  1. In one true God, existing eternally as one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, John 14:9-21, who is in essence spirit, John 4:24, light, 1 John 1:5, and love, 1 John 4:8.
  2. That the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the unique, inerrant, inspired Word of God in the original autographs, and the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct, 2 Timothy 3:16.
  3. In the sovereignty and active rule of God in creation, the fall, history, revelation, miracles, prophecy, redemption, and final judgment, Romans 8:20-21.
  4. That man was created by God in His image, but that since Adam's fall, all men are sinful and by nature deserve God's wrath, Ephesians 2:3.
  5. That Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, fully human and fully divine, eternally existing as God, yet born in time of a virgin, and that He lived a sinless and perfect life, 2 Timothy 2:5.
  6. In the historic death of Jesus as the full and only atonement, guaranteeing loving forgiveness for the sins of all mankind, in His bodily resurrection from the dead, and in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, 1 John 2:1-2.
  7. That all mankind is justified by the loving grace of God and redeemed on the basis of the death of Christ, which is received through faith, Ephesians 2:8-9.
  8. That the Holy Spirit is the effective agent in regeneration, bringing individuals to faith and transformed lives, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
  9. In one universal church, Christ's Body, to which all believers belong, and in particular
    churches accountable to God, led by elders who rule in doctrine and discipline,
    while acknowledging individual conscience, 1 Timothy 5:17, 1 John 2:27.
  10. That believing mankind is rewarded in paradise after death, while unbelievers suffer punishment in Hades after death merited by their sinful nature and their rejection of the grace of Christ, Luke 16:19-31.
  11. In the future, visible, physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, Titus 2:13.
  12. In the final resurrection of redeemed mankind to the enjoyment of God forever, and the damnation of those excluded from the Book of Life to the Lake of Fire prepared for the Devil and his angels for the ages of the ages, Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20:10.

Curiously it is rare to find a Christian that says they are 100% Calvinist or 100% Arminian.  Most Christians find some dispute with these theologies and so find an alternative compromise.  Yet will most Christians be willing to seriously consider the creed above as I have defended from the Scripture?  Will you return with me to the historic faith and Biblical gospel that Christ is the Savior of all mankind?