Salvation

C. SALVATION

We believe that the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatory office of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who, by the appointment of the Father, voluntarily took upon Himself our nature, yet without sin, and honored the divine law by His personal obedience, thus qualifying Himself to be our Savior; that by the shedding of His blood in His death He fully satisfied the just demand of a holy and righteous God regarding sin; that His sacrifice consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was a voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that having risen from the dead He is now enthroned in Heaven, and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection, He is in every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate and an all-sufficient Savior. He is in every way qualified to be and is a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Savior. (Acts 15:11, 16:30-31; Romans 3:24-25; John 3:16; Philippians 2: 7-8; Hebrews 2:14-18; Isaiah 53:4-7; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24)

Appropriation

We believe that salvation is wholly a work of God, performed from beginning to end by Him and that unsaved man cannot do anything to save himself, or make himself more acceptable to God in order to merit God’s saving him. God therefore commands man to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the means of appropriating salvation. Repentance is a change of mind toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith. (Ecclesiastes 3:14; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3: 15-16, 18; Acts 15:11, 16:30-31; Romans 3:24-25; I Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 John 5:13)

Grace and the New Birth

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about solely by God by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the truth of the Gospel. (John 3:3,8, 5:1; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5: 17; Ephesians 2:1-9; Colossians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 5:1-13)

Justification

We believe that justification is that judicial act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous upon the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ; that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any work of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s shed blood. (Romans 3:24, 4:5, 5:1,9; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9)

The Security of the Believers

We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ. This security of the believer is dependent on the work of Christ alone and not the work of the believer. (Philippians 1:6; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 1)