P3 Statement of Faith
- Jul 2, 2024
- 7 min read
Scriptures
We believe that Scripture (the Bible) is God’s gracious self-revelation to man. We believe that “all Scripture is God-breathed (verbally inspired by God) and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. We believe that men were set apart by God and moved by the Holy Spirit to write the words of Scripture. We believe that the Scriptures (66 books of the Old and New Testaments) are inerrant in the original texts and therefore serve as our final authority for faith and life. We may not add to, subtract from, or seek to change the plain literal, grammatical, and historical meaning of the text. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Proverbs 30:5, Isaiah 1 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21)
The Triune God
There is one and only one living and true God who has eternally existed in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. We believe that God is all wise, all loving, all powerful, and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. (Psalm 147:5, James 1:5, Prov. 2:6, 1 John 4:8, Eph. 2:4-7, Rev. 19:6, Col. 1:17, Jer. 32:27, Psalm 139:1-6, 1 John 3:20)
God the Father
We believe that God the Father reigns with providential care over His creation, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His will through grace. We believe that God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. The Father sends the Son into the world to save it. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. (Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 2 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 3:16; 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7)
God the Son
We believe in Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, the sole Mediator between God and man, and the visible image of the invisible God. We believe that He became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. In his infinite love for the lost, Jesus died as the perfect, spotless sacrifice, shedding his blood on a Roman cross for the sins of the world. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a
substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. We believe that Jesus ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of our Advocate. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and present Lord. (Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 3 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46;
John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:7, 20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:1-2; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16)
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. We believe in the Holy Spirit of God as the Divine Person who inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. He brings conviction of sin to the world and as the Holy Minister responsible for the regeneration, sanctification and preservation of the saints. We believe that He is the indwelling Guide and Counselor in all believers, guiding them into all truth as the Father wills. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. (Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 4 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17)
Mankind
We believe that man was uniquely created in the image and likeness of God, male and female. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Because of this, man became totally depraved and unable in himself to remedy his lost condition. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; 5 Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is a free gift from God for the redemption of the whole man for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ who by his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for believers. Salvation is given by grace and received through faith in Jesus Christ apart from any human merit or deed. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, conversion, justification, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus as Lord (Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 6 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5)
The Church
We believe that the Church is the spiritual Body and espoused Bride of Christ. The Church is God’s ordained messenger and vehicle for the Gospel, through which God saves His people. The Church is the means through which God saves His people; the Church is the messenger of and vehicle for the Gospel. We believe that Jesus Christ instituted two sacraments in the New Testament, which the Church should embrace and practice: Baptism and Communion (the Lord’s Supper). We believe that the Universal Church is expressed through local, autonomous churches which are led by qualified leaders and who are gospel centered. While we believe that both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder is limited to men and outlines in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We believe that every believer is called to be part of a local church body, as we were created to live and serve and exercise our gifts in biblical community. We also believe that churches should be planted by other churches. (Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; 28:19; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 8 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 11:23-26; 12; 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3)
Last things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord. (Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 11 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13)