Our Statement of Faith

BeliefMap stands within orthodoxy, supporting standard evangelical beliefs. Our statement of faith is as follows:

God is the greatest possible being. God is the all-powerful (Jer 32:17, 27), all-knowing (1 Jn 3:20), all-good (Mt 5:48, Ps 16:2, 18:30, Num 23:19; 1 Jn 4:8), holy (Hab 1:13, Rev 4:8, Is 6:3), eternal (Isa 57:15) creator of the Universe (Is 40:12, 22, 26; Gen 1:1). Moreover, God alone is the proper object of our worship (Ex 20:3, 4:31; Gen 24:26; 2 Chron 29:28; 1 Cor 14:25; Rev 7:11) and service (Mt 4:10;1 Cor. 6:19; Phil 3:7; 1 Thes 1:9; Heb. 9:14).
 

God is a Trinity: God is a unity of three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is to say, God is an immaterial soul exhibiting three sets of cognitive faculties each of which is sufficient for personhood (i.e. has three centers of self-consciousness, intentionality, and will).
 

Jesus is one of the three persons of the Trinity. His nature is both fully human and fully God (Col 2:9 -- in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, Phil 2:5-8; Jn 1:1-3, 14). He is virgin-born (Lk 1:42), sinless (Heb 4:15; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22, 1:19; 1 Jn 3:5), the promised Messiah (Jn 4:25-26; Mt 16:16-17; Acts 1:6), and a proper object of our worship (Heb 1:6; Mt 28:9; Mt 2:11) and prayer (Jn 14:14; Acts 7:59; Rev 22:20; 1 Cor 1:2).
 

The Gospel is THE GOOD NEWS for believers “by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Cor 15:2-5). More specifically, we are all condemned sinners (Rom 3:23, 1 Jn 3:24), deserving God's righteous judgment.<br/><br/>

Salvation: But through Christ we can be saved from God's wrath (Rom 5:9), i.e. hell, where non-believers are forever condemned (Mt 18:8). Rather than through baptism or any other works, it is through faith alone in Christ that we are saved (Rom 3:28-30, Rom 4:5, 5:1, Gal 2:16, 21, 3:5-6, 24, Eph 2:8-9, Phil 3:9). [Note: Baptism is still an important rite for Christians. As a material representation of a spiritual truth, it resembles a wedding ring: you ought to have it.]
 

Justification: And we, the saved, are saved because Jesus “bore our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Pet 2:24), i.e. because he suffered our penalty via substitutionary atonement, i.e. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21; see Isa 53:4-12). Consequently, we are declared legally righteous by God: justified before God.

The Bible is the canonical set of 66 books. As penned by their authors, they are a product of God's inspiration, working through men, and are trustworthy in all that they say (2 Tim 3:16). Other texts, sermons, etc. may be inspired as well, but the Bible is unique in that it is securely known to be inspired, and can be used to judge other works and teachings. [Note: Nevertheless, neither salvation nor the veracity of the Christian faith is in any way dependent on the inspiration of scripture. Again, see the gospel.]