The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. 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;  Isaiah 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.

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

Exodus 20:3-17;  Leviticus 6:2-5;  Deuteronomy 10:12;  27:17;  Psalm 101:5;  Micah 6:8;  Zechariah 8:16;  Matthew 5:13-16, 43-48;  22:36-40;  25:35;  Mark 1:29-34;  2:3ff.;  10:21;  Luke 4:18-21;  10:27-37;  20:25;  John 15:12;  17:15; Romans 12–14;  1Corinthians 5:9-10;  6:1-7;  7:20-24;  10:23-11:1;  Galatians 3:26-28;  Ephesians 6:5-9;  Colossians 3:12-17;  1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon;  James 1:27;  2:8.

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

Genesis 1:26-28;  2:15-25;  3:1-20;  Exodus 20:12;  Deuteronomy 6:4-9;  Joshua 24:15;  1 Samuel 1:26-28;  Psalms 51:5;  78:1-8;  127;  128;  139:13-16;  Proverbs 1:8;  5:15-20;  6:20-22;  12:4;  13:24;  14:1;  17:6;  18:22;  22:6, 15;  23:13-14;  24:3;  29:15, 17;  31:10-31;  Ecclesiastes 4:9-12;  9:9;  Malachi 2:14-16;  Matthew 5:31-32;  18:2-5;  19:3-9;  Mark 10:6-12;  Romans 1:18-32;  1 Corinthians 7:1-16;  Ephesians 5:21-33;  6:1-4;  Colossians 3:18-21;  1 Timothy 5:8, 14;  2 Timothy 1:3-5;  Titus 2:3-5;  Hebrews 13:4;  1 Peter 3:1-7.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Matthew 16:15-19;  18:15-20;  Acts 2:41-42, 47;  5:11-14;  6:3-6;  13:1-3;  14:23, 27;  15:1-30;  16:5;  20:28;  Romans 1:7;  1 Corinthians 1:2;  3:16;  5:4-5;  7:17;  9:13-14;  12;  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.

There is one and only one living and true God. 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. God is 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.

A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. 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 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 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.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. 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 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.

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. 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 ever present Lord.

Genesis 18:1ff.;  Psalms 2:7ff.;  110:1ff.;  Isaiah 7:14;  Isaiah 53:1-12;  Matthew 1:18-23;  3:17;  8:29;  11:27;  14:33;  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 1:20;  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 2:21-25;  3:22;  1 John 1:7-9;  3:2;  4:14-15;  5:9;  2 John 7-9;  Revelation 1:13-16;  5:9-14;