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"Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89) God has revealed Himself and His will in various ways throughout human history. He has revealed Himself to some degree in 'natural revelation'; the universe about us shows us much about the Creator. He has revealed Himself eloquently in the Person of Jesus Christ, when God adorned Himself with humanity and dwelt within His creation. And the LORD God has revealed Himself most articulately through His written revelation, the Bible. The Bible, with its 39 Old Testament books and its 27 New Testament books is inerrant (no mistakes), infallible (divinely protected), final (no progressive revelation) and authoritative (requiring an obedient response). God's Word should always be read and studied by interpreting what it says literally unless the context dictates otherwise (parables, types and signs, etc. that are permitted by the context and/or sanctified common sense).
God's Nature: (The Triune Godhead) "There are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." (1 John 5:7) God is ONE divine essence (Deuteronomy 6:4), existing in a plurality (Genesis 1) of three distinct, eternal, co-equal Persons (Isaiah 48:16, Matthew 28:19). Simultaneously, the Father exerts His divine will, the Son/Word executes the divine will, and the Holy Spirit explains and exalts the will of God in Creation. Our awesome, almighty LORD (called 'the Godhead' in Romans 1:20) is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and transcendent. He is holy, eternal, sovereign, immutable and glorious over all things past, present and future. He is the beginning and end of all things temporal and the point of all things eternal. All things spiritual or material, temporal or eternal exist solely for His purposes and His eternal glory (Romans 11:33-36).
God The Son: (The Deity of Jesus Christ) "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels..." (1 Timothy 3:16) God the Son took on humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ. His incarnation was planned in the will of the Triune Godhead in eternity past, prophesied throughout the centuries in the Old Testament, announced and celebrated by angels and fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in the first century AD. The written record of God's personal visitation to earth is contained in the writings of the gospels of the New Testament scriptures. Scriptures of both Old and New Testaments concur and adamantly assert the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 20:28-29, Acts 20:28, Titus 2:13, etc.). He lays claim to the Names of God (Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 1:23, John 8:58, Revelation 1:11, etc.). He claimed equality with the Father (John 5:22-24, 10:30, 14:6-9). He accepted worship (Matthew 1:11, Mark 5:6,Luke 24:52, John 9:38, etc.), which was blasphemous if Jesus was not indeed God (Revelation 19:10, 22:9). The Lord Jesus forgave people of their sins, which only God can do for sinners (Mark 2:5, Luke 7:48 & 23:34, John 8:10-11, etc.). He lived a perfectly sinless, holy life at the end of which He laid down His life by dying on the cross for the sinfulness of the whole human race. After three days Christ arose from the dead, appeared to many and ascended to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father until His return (1 Timothy 6:13-16, Hebrews 7:25-28, etc.).
God The Holy Spirit: (The 'Counselor & Comforter') "I (Jesus) will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive...He dwells with you and will be in you..." (John 14:16-17) The eternal Holy Spirit began to fully exert His ministry on Pentecost after the Lord Jesus returned to heaven (Acts 2:32-33). His ministry is to persuade the world of sin, judgment and righteousness (John 16:8-11), in order to convince people of their desperate need to turn from sin to the Savior and to make them cry out to the Lord Jesus for pardon and mercy as they trust what He did on the cross for them. Upon sincere repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, He takes up residence in that person making him or her 'the temple of the Holy Spirit'. This permanent residential presence seals the believer as God's possession (body, soul and spirit) throughout this life (Ephesians 1:11-14). Once at home in the life of a new believer, the Holy Spirit regenerates new spiritual life, places him or her into the family of God (Spirit-baptism) and begins to gradually transform him or her with a total person makeover and lifestyle conforming them to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-29, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24). As the dynamic life force within 'the body of Christ’ (the Church), God the Holy Spirit also installs, activates and perfects unique spiritual abilities (gifts) with which the new Christian can worship, pray, witness and serve the Lord and other believers. The Holy Spirit empowers and fills the Christian to the degree the believer yields himself or herself to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:18-21, Galatians 5:16-23). Failure to 'be filled with the Holy Spirit' causes Him to be grieved and in time quenched which causes more disobedience, defeat, depression, chastisement and eventual physical death if repentance and restoration do not occur (1 Corinthians 3:11-17, Ephesians 4:30, 1Thessalonians 5:19-23, Hebrews 12:5-15, 1 John 5:16-19, etc.).
God's Grace: (Salvation By Grace) "...by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared... that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10) All human beings from the moment of conception are depraved (spiritually dead and under the wrath of holy God (Ephesians 2:1-3). This sinful nature is inherited from Adam, the first parent of the human race (Romans 5:12-21). In eternity past God foreknew this 'fall' of man would happen and decreed to provide a way for individual salvation through the Savior (1 Peter 1:18-21). To guarantee that many would benefit from God the Son's redemptive mission to earth, the triune Godhead predestined that a great number of human beings would come to faith in the gospel provided by Jesus' death and resurrection (Ephesians 1:4-6, Romans 8:28-30). Those whom God foreknew to believe are called 'the elect' (Romans 8:28-33, 1 Peter 1:2). They are the ones who respond positively to the Holy Spirit's conviction about their sinfulness and unworthiness before God (Romans 3:23) with repentance and faith (John 6:37, 2 Timothy 2:25-26, 2 Peter 3:9). Only 'the elect' comprehend the hopelessness of trusting religion and good works to make them right with God (Titus 3:5). Only God's chosen ones fully grasp the magnitude of Christ's vicarious sacrifice on the cross to take away their sins and be clothed with Christ's righteousness in God's sight (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Only these truly repentant 'elect' will come to Christ in prayer asking His pardon, grace and new life (Romans 6:23, 10:9-13). When any person truly repents toward God and trusts Jesus Christ for salvation, he or she manifests his or her 'election' (choosing by God) and may be absolutely certain of everlasting life (John 3:16-17, 1 John 5:11-13, etc.). Genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ also show their true love for the Lord through a great desire to practice a godly lifestyle and do good works for their God and Savior. They do not serve to get God's favor, but rather to show Him and others the sincerity of their faith and love toward God for His awesome gift of eternal salvation (Hebrews 13:15-16).
God's Ultimate Habitations: (Heaven or Hell Forever) "Do not marvel at this: for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation..." John 5:28-29 God is very clear about the places where souls of deceased people go when this life is finished. Biblical death commences when one's soul/spirit separates from the body (James 2:26), Physical death is not the end of existence, but just the entryway into everlasting life or everlasting death (Matthew 25:34 or 25:41). The immortal part of human beings is the indestructible 'image of God' part of all people (Revelation 14:10-14). The soul's ultimate disposition for the infinite future beyond this lifetime is forever fixed by one's personal decision about the Lord Jesus Christ in this life (1 John 5:11-12). Those leaving this life without a personal relationship to Jesus Christ go immediately to a place called Hell which was created for the devil and his rebel angels (Matthew 25:41). Hell is their temporary residence and place of torment while waiting for their final day before God for sentencing to the
God's Prophetic Plan: (These Last Days) "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat...Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." 2 Peter 3:10-15 (Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:16-18, 5:23; Titus 2:11-13, James 5:7-9, Jude 14-15, Revelation 1:7-8, 3:10-11, 22:12-13) Although there are various opinions about God's plan for the future, the position held by CBF is based upon a literal, grammatical view of biblical interpretation. With this simple, natural method of Bible study, an eschatology or 'last days' scenario like the following is revealed: 1) the pre-tribulational 'rapture' (evacuation) of all true believers, concluding the Church Age (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18), 2) the judgment seat of Christ in the clouds just before our translation on to heaven (John 14:6, 1 Corinthians 3:11-17, Revelation 7:7-14), 3) during the rapture and rewards assembly with believers above, the seven year tribulation period or 'Day of The Lord' begins on earth (Revelation 8-19), 4) the second coming of the Lord Jesus to earth (Matthew 24:29-31, 2 Thessalonians 1:5- 10, Revelation 19), 5) the Judgment of the Living Nations (Matthew 25), 6) the 1000 year (Millennium) Kingdom reign of Christ on the earth culminating in the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20) and 7) the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21). In summation, CBF holds to what is known as the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational, view of eschatology. CBF accepts other view-points of the rapture (mid-tribulational and post-tribulational), but requires that the church point of view be respected by all making CBF their church home (Ephesians 4:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14, Hebrews 13:17).
The preceding topics are ESSENTIALS at CBF presented in brief. If you seek more detailed biblical information, please contact CBF to receive our Church Constitution & By-Laws or converse with one of our pastors or elders about your specific question(s).
For other biblical positions of CBF on the nature of the Church, local church discipline, spiritual gifts, man and sin, angels and demons, etc., please contact one of our pastors or elders.
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