What I Believe

It's not all that popular these days to have a "statement of faith" on your blog. I don't know why, to be honest. What we believe should have immediate and far-reaching impact on every area of our lives. Therefore, knowing what we believe, and why, should be at the forefront of our journey.

There's been a bumper-sticker seen here and there over the past few years that states: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." I've recreated my own version here. While the word "outrage" may conjure up some negative associations, I believe there is something of a visceral "oomph" behind the use of the word. It's not necessarily about anger, or militancy -- it's more about having a sense of passion, determination, and sticking to your convictions even when (maybe especially when) popular public opinion doesn't like it. The "open mic" in the picture simply represents the need to somebody to take a deep breath, step onto the stage, and say what they believe. With conviction. (check out Taylor Mali's thoughts on conviction)

The Vineyard movement has had an interesting trajectory of highs and lows, and has made mistakes but learned from them. John Wimber's emphasis on empowering the whole Body ("everyone gets to play"), being open to the Holy Spirit, and yet keeping "the main and the plain" of Scripture front and centre, is part of the "radical middle" that I aspire to. And the best summation of what I believe, and try to live by, would be the Vineyard Statement of Faith.

the Vineyard's Statement of Faith (a.k.a. my theological metanarrative)

1. God the King and the Holy Trinity

WE BELIEVE that God is the Eternal King. He is an infinite unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power, and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory.

2. God the King: The Creator and Ruler of All Things

WE BELIEVE that God¹s kingdom is everlasting. From His throne, through His Son, His eternal Word, God created, upholds, and governs all that exists, the heavenly places, the angelic hosts, the universe, the earth, every living thing and mankind. God created all things very good.

3. Counterfeit Kingdom: Satan and Demonic Hosts

WE BELIEVE that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against God, taking a host of angels with him. He was cast out of God¹s presence and, as a usurper of God¹s rule established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil upon the earth.

4. The Kingdom in the Creation of Man, the Fall and The Doctrine of Original Sin

WE BELIEVE that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness, and God¹s judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God¹s good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam¹s original sin. Human beings are born in sin, subject to God¹s judgment of death and captive to Satan¹s kingdom of darkness.

5. God's Providence, Kingdom Law and Covenants

WE BELIEVE that God did not abandon His rule over the earth which He continues to uphold by His providence. In order to bring redemption, God established covenants which revealed His grace to sinful people. In the covenant with Abraham, God bound Himself to His people Israel, promising to deliver them from bondage to sin and Satan and to bless all the nations through them.

WE BELIEVE that as King, God later redeemed His people, by His mighty acts, from bondage in Egypt and established His covenant through Moses, revealing His perfect will and our obligation to fulfill it. The law¹s purpose is to order our fallen race and to make us conscious of our moral responsibility. By the work of God¹s Spirit, it convicts us of our sin and God¹s righteous judgment against us and brings us to Christ alone for our salvation.

WE BELIEVE that when Israel rejected God¹s rule over her as King, God established the monarchy in Israel and made an unconditional covenant with David, promising that his heir would restore God¹s kingdom reign over His people as Messiah forever.

6. Christ the Mediator and Eternal King

WE BELIEVE that in the fullness of time, God honored His covenant with Israel and His prophetic promises of salvation by sending His only Son Jesus into the world. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, as fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was annointed as God¹s Messiah, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God¹s kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. Gathering His disciples, He reconstituted God¹s people as His Church to be the instrument of His kingdom. After dying for the sins of the world, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the covenant of blessing given to Abraham. In His sinless, perfect life Jesus met the demands of the law and in His atoning death on the cross He took God¹s judgment for sin which we deserve as law-breakers. By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers. The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus¹ birth from David¹s house, His Messianic ministry, His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God¹s Son and David¹s heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God¹s reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today.

7. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church at Pentecost in power, baptizing believers into the Body of Christ and releasing the gifts of the Spirit to them. The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church, gifting us for ministry, and driving back the kingdom of Satan by the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus.

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is our abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the filling or empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today. We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all the biblical gifts of the Spirit. We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing, and for recognition and empowering of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church.

8. The Sufficiency of Scripture

WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Holy Scripture so that the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final and absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

9. The Power of the Gospel Over the Kingdom of Darkness

WE BELIEVE the whole world is under the domination of Satan and that all people are sinners by nature and choice. All people therefore are under God¹s just judgment. Through the preaching of the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, God regenerates, justifies, adopts, and sanctifies through Jesus by the Spirit all who repent of their sins, and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By this they are released from Satan¹s domain and enter into God¹s kingdom reign.

10. The Church: Instrument of the Kingdom

WE BELIEVE in the one, holy, universal Church. All who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and form the living Body of Christ, of which He is the head and of which we are all members.

11. Baptism and the Lord's Supper

WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water baptism and the Lord¹s Supper. Both are available to all believers.

12. The Kingdom of God and the Final Judgment

WE BELIEVE that God¹s kingdom has come in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Christ ­ His return to the earth as King. After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about final defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment and the eternal blessing of the righteous and eternal conscious punishment of the wicked. Finally, God will be all in all and His kingdom, His rule and reign, will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, recreated by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will be forever worshipped.

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