Doctrinal Statement

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Preamble

Christ alone rules his church, and Christ rules his church by Scripture alone. Ultimately, our confession is “All Scripture teaches, we believe.” Yet, because of the effects of sin, the necessity for unity in doctrine, and the responsibility incumbent upon the church to “guard the good deposit” (2 Tim 1:14), she has always sought concisely to articulate her faith in doctrinal statements like this one.

Seeking to express Scripture’s teaching as it has been given, this statement provides an abbreviated expression of what we teach regarding Scriptural doctrines essential and distinctive. It provides a set of expectations for current and prospective members regarding our public and corporate teaching ministry. Not every doctrine addressed in this statement is of equal weight. It may be revised as we, by the Holy Spirit, continue to study the word attentively. To him be the glory in the church. Amen.

Revelation

We teach that God has graciously and universally revealed his existence and power in the things that have been made.[1] This revelation of God’s divine nature in creation is enough to render sinful man inexcusable, yet not sufficient to give saving knowledge of his will.[2] Therefore, God further revealed his glory and grace at many times and in various ways,[3] safeguarding this revelation by committing it permanently to writing in the inspired Scriptures.[4] Supremely, God has revealed himself in his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, who is the express image of his nature and to whom the Scriptures witness.[5]

 We teach that the human authors of Scripture were carried along by the Holy Spirit in such a way that Scripture is at one and the same time the very word of God and truly the word of man.[6] Scripture is God’s word in man’s mouth, breathed out by Him, and useful for all His purposes for his people.[7] Being inspired, the Scriptures are utterly truthful, authoritative, without error or guile in the original manuscripts, complete, effective, clear, and sufficient for saving knowledge of God’s will.[8]

We teach that it is the church’s sacred trust to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.[9] She is to believe, defend, and practice it in strict keeping with its original meaning.[10] Under the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the saints must carefully ascertain the true intent and meaning of Scripture and diligently practice its binding applications.[11]

We teach that the Scriptures, because they alone are the word of God, always stand in judgment over men.[12] While the testimony of the church—whether councils, creeds, or eminent saints—may induce a high esteem and reverence for the Scriptures and their teaching, it is only the internal witness of the Holy Spirit working by and with the Scriptures which produces infallible assurance of its truth in our hearts.[13]

God the Triune Creator

We teach that there is one living and true God.[14] The Lord our God is self-sufficient, independent of creation, and the fountain of all being and life.[15] He is eternal, immortal, and unchanging in his character and purposes.[16] He is all-powerful and all-wise in his sovereign rule.[17] He is immense, incomprehensible, and omnipresent.[18] He knows all things, learning nothing from any man and suffering none to be his counselor.[19]

We teach that the Lord our God is most wise, perfect, free, loving, gracious, and merciful.[20] He overflows with abundant goodness, glory, blessedness, and joy.[21] He is holy, patient, and ready to forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin.[22] He is righteous, terrible in His judgments, hating all sin, and will by no means clear the guilty.[23] He is jealous for the affections and obedience of his people.[24]

We teach that this God eternally exists in three equally and fully divine Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and that each of these possesses the whole divine essence, yet without dividing the essence or confusing the Persons.[25] The Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son.[26]

We teach that this God is the Creator of all things.[27] God has eternally enjoyed communion between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and created the world out of his fullness.[28] By his Word and in the power of his Spirit, God sovereignly spoke the universe into existence in six literal days.[29] He rests his being only on himself and is not dependent on the creation for any of his attributes, knowledge, or plans.[30] Creation rests wholly on the Creator God and all time and events flow from the counsel of his will according to his perfect providence.[31]

God the Father

We teach that the Father, the first member of the Trinity, possesses all the divine perfections.[32] He created all things, whether visible or invisible, through his Son, by whom he continues to uphold and rule all things.[33] He is Father first by virtue of his relationship to his Son, then savingly to his people by adoption, then generally to all mankind as their Creator.[34] He is sovereign over all, ordaining and directing all things by his free and unchangeable will, yet in such a way which neither makes him the author of sin or violates creaturely freedom.[35]

God the Son

We teach that Jesus Christ, the second member of the Trinity, is the eternal, only-begotten Son of the Father, and possesses all the divine perfections. He is coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with the Father. He is of the same essence as the Father, true God of true God.[36] Without altering or surrendering any of his divine attributes or prerogatives, the Son assumed a full, complete, and sinless human nature, being born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.[37] He is to be acknowledged as one Christ in two natures—truly divine and truly human—which are without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation.

God the Holy Spirit

We teach that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, possesses all the divine perfections.[38] He proceeds from the Father and the Son and is the Lord, the giver of life, to be worshiped and adored together with the Father and the Son.[39] He is sent to execute the divine purposes.[40] He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.[41] He regenerates the spiritually dead, enabling them to repent and believe.[42] He baptizes, indwells, seals, fills, intercedes for, and comforts believers, assuring them that they belong to God through Christ.[43] He illuminates and sanctifies believers with and through the Word, inwardly teaching them to obey his commandments.[44] He is the guarantee of our inheritance, even of our resurrection from the dead.[45]

We teach that the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows gifts on Christ’s church for its edification.[46] We teach that speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the working of miracles, prophecy, healing, and other miraculous gifts were given to the body in its infancy primarily for the purpose of authenticating messengers of new revelation. Because the foundation of the church has been laid in the inscripturated teaching of the apostles and prophets, we teach that the Spirit no longer bestows these gifts on his church today.[47] Nevertheless, the sovereign Lord is surely able to perform miracles at any time, for which we should readily petition him.

 Angels

We teach that God created a great host of glorious, sinless, spiritual beings called angels. We teach that the most powerful of these angels, called Satan, sinned against God, leading a host of angels in irreversible rebellion.[48] Satan exercises great power over this world.[49] Though he is terribly powerful, and not to be blasphemed, he operates under the constraint of God’s sovereign rule and is destined for eternal punishment in the lake of fire with his angels and all who follow him.[50] The saints need not be afraid of him.

We teach that those angels who did not rebel continue in their service and worship of God. These created beings are not to be worshiped but are ministering spirits, serving God as they serve those who inherit salvation.[51] They minister to the saints as they look into God’s redemptive plan in which they behold God’s manifold wisdom displayed.[52]

 Humanity

We teach that God created mankind directly and immediately in his own image to reflect and display what God is like.[53] He created them male and female, two biologically defined and distinct sexes, complementary according to God’s good creative design.[54] Adam and Eve were created very good and innocent, yet with moral responsibility and the possibility of sin.[55] God commissioned them to rule and subdue the earth and to be fruitful and multiply, stewarding the creation according to his word and for his glory as they walked in fellowship with their Maker.[56]

We teach that Adam and Eve are the first parents of the human race and, therefore, all human beings are made in the image of God.[57] All human life—from conception to grave—is to be cherished and protected and every person treated with dignity.[58] By God’s wise design, the first man and woman were made to complement each other in a life-long, exclusive, one flesh union called marriage. This covenant union of one man and one woman establishes the only divinely approved definition and pattern of marriage and sexual expression.[59] In his wisdom, God has ordained distinct roles within marriage, designed to reflect the loving relationship between Christ and his church—the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ for his church, and the wife is to submit to her husband in a way that models the responsive love of the church for her Savior.[60]

Sin

We teach that Satan, through the craftiness of the serpent, tempted Eve to transgress God’s revealed will. Adam willingly transgressed God’s commandment, whereupon he and all those in him lost their innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, and became subject to God’s righteous wrath. They are inherently corrupted, incapable of choosing or doing what is acceptable to God apart from the Spirit.[61] Mankind, by nature and choice, abides in sin and its misery. They are guilty before God, defiled in conscience, children of wrath, slaves to sin, subject to death and decay, and have no ability to recover themselves.[62] The supreme need of all the children of Adam is to be rescued from sin and death, reconciled to God, and saved from his just and holy wrath.[63]

 Salvation

We teach that Christ is the only mediator between God and man.[64] He lived righteously and sinlessly under the law and exhausted its curse upon the cross.[65] He offered himself according to God’s plan as a sinless sacrifice in the place of sinners—the just dying for the unjust that he might bring us to God.[66] He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, was buried, and on the third day victoriously rose from the dead. He defeated death, confirmed his deity, vindicated his and his Father’s righteousness, and guaranteed everlasting life to those who believe.[67] He appeared to many of his disciples and ascended bodily into heaven where he now sits at his Father’s right hand, interceding for his people.[68] He awaits the time the Father has appointed when he will return in glory,[69] when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.[70]

We teach that salvation from sin is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ and not on the basis of human merit or works.[71] Before time, God freely loved those sinners whom he would graciously save apart from any consideration of their choosing or doing.[72] Through his word and Spirit, they are given new life, which inwardly compels them to repent and trust in Christ.[73] They are united to him and are justified by faith alone.[74] God sanctifies them for his own holy use, progressively bringing them into practical conformity with their righteous standing in Christ.[75] He adopts them and keeps them by his power. He promises glory to them and they will receive it forever and in full.[76]

We teach that justification is the act of God whereby the Father, by virtue of the believer’s union to Christ by the Spirit, declares a sinner to be righteous in his sight.[77] The sole instrument of justification is faith.[78] This does not infuse the sinner with righteousness but is a true declaration on the basis of Christ’s righteousness imputed to the believer and the believer’s sin imputed to Christ.[79] Though sin remains in the believer, his standing before God is forever righteous, never falling from a state of justification.[80] 

We teach that salvation comes by faith alone. Nevertheless, saving faith is also living faith and always bears fruit in keeping with repentance.[81] Good works do not contribute to the believer’s righteousness but are necessary works of grace created by the Holy Spirit who wills and works these things in us as we work out our own salvation.[82] Those who profess faith and produce these works have every reason to be assured of their acceptance with God in Christ.[83] Those who profess faith but do not produce these works demonstrate an unregenerate nature, still being subject to the curse, God’s wrath, and damnation unless they repent and believe.[84]

We teach that true believers possess a new nature, yet still live in the flesh and are not yet free from sin’s influence.[85] While true believers cannot experience sin’s penalty, nor are they compelled to sin, they often do sin, sometimes grievously and against better knowledge.[86] While true believers grieve the Spirit in this way they will persevere in repentance and faith by his grace.[87] The Christian experiences a daily conflict between the Spirit and the flesh, continually seeking to put sin to death and bring righteousness to life.[88] We gladly anticipate the day when we shall be complete and sinless—body and soul—when we shall see him and become fully like him.[89]

The Church

We teach that the church is that mystery of God within which Jew and Gentile are fellow-heirs and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.[90] It is composed of all who genuinely trust in Jesus Christ from Pentecost until the rapture and is to be distinguished from national Israel.[91] The church is Christ’s spiritual body, his bride, a spiritual priesthood, a temple of living stones built upon the cornerstone who is Christ.[92] God has constituted the church to glorify himself by her preaching of the gospel among the nations, the in-gathering of the fullness of the Gentiles, and the care and love of believers for one another.[93] The church exists universally and invisibly, encompassing all and only those who genuinely trust in Jesus Christ across the globe, in heaven and on earth.[94]

We teach that the universal and invisible church manifests itself in local and visible assemblies when those possessing a credible profession of faith gather to teach sound doctrine, exercise discipline, and rightly administer the ordinances.[95] Local churches are to gather regularly for prayer, Scripture reading, singing, giving, preaching, fellowship, and observance of the ordinances.[96] Every member of the body has been given a unique spiritual gift which they are to use in service to Christ and for the wellbeing of the body.[97]

We teach that, for the purity of his body and the protection of his name, Christ has commanded that local churches discipline sinning members. Members who persist in unrepentant sin, after being admonished individually, then by two or three witnesses, then by the church, are to be put out of the church and considered as an unbeliever.[98] Should this person truly repent, they are to be restored to membership with full rights and privileges.[99]

We teach that Christ has given two ordinances to his church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.[100] We teach that Baptism is the complete immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whereby he solemnly and publicly testifies to his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior.[101] It is the initial, external, visible sign of a professing believer’s inclusion in the body of Christ, and their personal and willing identification with the local, visible church. Baptism effects no transformation in the believer, not being a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a good conscience.[102]

We teach that the Lord’s Supper is the remembrance of Christ’s broken body in the bread and his shed blood in the cup and the public proclamation of his death until he comes.[103] When taken with faith, the Supper strengthens believers, nourishes their souls, grows their commitment to Christ, and binds them together in unity. The elements of communion are only symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice. Nonetheless, participation in the Lord’s supper by faith is an actual communion with the risen Christ, who is present with every believer in the assembly by his Spirit.[104]

We teach that Christ is the supreme authority both in the universal church and each local manifestation of it. He exercises that authority by his word.[105] Each local church is autonomous, free from any external authority or control, with the right to self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. Local churches may cooperate with each other for edification and the furthering of the gospel, but each church should be the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation.[106]

We teach that Christ has graciously given to his church two offices for its leadership: Elders and Deacons.[107] We teach Christ has given the church elders (who are also called pastors or overseers/bishops) as undershepherds and stewards to oversee the flock of God between his comings.[108] God calls only qualified, gifted men to be elders.[109] Elders are to pray for the flock, humbly lead them through teaching and example, and shepherd them by exercising oversight. The congregation is to willingly follow and submit to the elders as those for whom the elders must give account.[110] We teach that Christ has given the church deacons to assist the elders in the tangible needs of the church, protecting and promoting the elders’ primary ministries of prayer and teaching of the Word.[111]

We teach that God, the supreme Lord and King of all, has ordained human government for the benefit of society and that we are to pray for, honor, and submit to governing authorities unless doing so would require us to violate God’s revealed will.[112] God has given the civil government the power of the sword in order to protect the righteous and punish evildoers. They are charged with the righteous management of society and may, upon just and necessary occasions, wage war.[113] The church and civil government are to mutually benefit one another while operating separately within their respective, God-ordained realms of responsibility.[114]

Last Things

We teach that at death, the bodies of the saints go into the ground and decay, but their spirits pass immediately into God’s presence where they are made perfect in holiness and are with Christ. There they await the glorious redemption of their bodies in resurrection.[115] The spirits of the unredeemed go immediately to Hades where they are kept under punishment until the time of their resurrection unto the second death in the lake of fire.[116]

We teach the imminent, bodily, glorious return of the risen Christ. At a time unknown to us, Christ will return to gather his church to himself.[117] He will raise those who have fallen asleep in him from the dead and deliver them from the coming wrath by translating them from the earth to be with him forever.[118] God will then pour out his judgment on the unbelieving world for seven years, after which Christ will return to establish his earthly kingdom and reign on and over the earth with his saints for a thousand years, during which time Satan and his angels will be bound.[119] This kingdom will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, blessing, and long life, but will be brought to an end by the release of Satan.[120] He will once again deceive the nations and gather them together to fight against Christ and his saints. But God will devour them with fire.[121] He will judge Satan and his children and commit them to eternal conscious torment in the lake of fire.[122]

We teach that all the righteous shall enter into eternal blessedness in the new heavens and the new earth where we shall reign with Christ forever and ever.[123] God will make all things new, creating a new heavens and a new earth in which God will dwell forever with his people.[124] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.[125] Then our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled his mission, will deliver up the kingdom to his Father, that God may be all in all.[126]

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[1] Romans 1:19–20; Psalm 19:1–4; Acts 17:26–27; Jer 51:15

[2] Romans 1:20–23, 28; 2:1, 15; Hab 1:15–16

[3] Hebrews 1:1; Genesis 12:1–3

[4] Exodus 24:4; Numbers 33:2; Daniel 7:1

[5] John 1:18; 14:9; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3; John 5:39; Luke 24:27; Acts 10:43; 1 John 1:1–4; 1 Cor 15:1–4

[6] 2 Pet 1:19–21; Heb 3:7; Rom 10:20

[7] 2 Tim 3:16–17; Deut 18:18; Ex 4:10–17

[8] John 17:17; Ps 12:6; 1 Sam 15:29; 1 Cor 14:38; Gal 1:8; Deut 18:19; John 16:13; Ps 19:7–9; 2 Sam 7:28; 119:151; 2 Pet 1:3; Rev 22:10–11; Is 44:26; 55:11; Deut 30:14; Heb 2:1–3; 2 Pet 1:3; Ps 84:11; Rom 8:32; 1 Cor 3:21–23

[9] 1 Tim 3:15; Jude 3

[10] 2 Pet 3:16; Deut 4:2; 1 Cor 4:2

[11] Deut 1:5; Neh 8:8

[12] Mark 7:9–13; John 12:47–49; Rom 6:17; 2 Tim 1:13

[13] 1 Cor 2:10–16; Rom 8:15–16; 1 John 2:20, 27

[14] Deut 6:4; Jer 10:10; 1 Thess 1:9; 1 Cor 8:6; Eph 4:6

[15] Gen 1:1; 1 Sam 15:29; John 5:26; Ps 24:1; 33:6; 36:9; 50:12–13; 96:5; Acts 17:24–25

[16] Deut 33:27; Rom 16:26; 1 Jn 5:20; Rom 1:23; 1 Tim 1:17; Mal 3:6; Num 23:19; Job 23:13; Heb 6:17–18

[17] Rev 4:11; 5:12; Matt 9:6; 28:18; Eph 1:11; Rom 8:28; Is 46:10; Heb 1:3; Col 1:17; Ps 47:2; 95:3; Mal 1:14; Dan 7:9–14; Eph 3:10; 1 Cor 1:21–2:16; 2 Pet 3:13

[18] Jer 23:24; 1 Tim 6:16; Rom 11:34; Josh 1:5; Ps 139:7–8; Is 41:10; Matt 28:20; Jn 1:48

[19] Job 37–41; Is 46:9–10; Rom 11:34; John 21:17; 1 Cor 2:10

[20] Job 12:13; Rom 16:27; Deut 32:4; Matt 5:48; Ex 33:19; Rom 9:15; Ex 34:6; Deut 4:31

[21] Ex 33:19; Ps 31:19; Deut 5:34; John 1:14; Rom 1:25; Is 62:5; Zeph 3:17

[22] 2 Pet 3:9; Ex 34:7; Gen 1:1; Hab 1:13; Ex 15:11; Ps 71:19

[23] Gen 18:25; Deut 12:31; Ex 34:7

[24] Ex 20:5; 34:14; Deut 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; Josh 24:19; Ezk 36:6; 39:25; Nah 1:2

[25] Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14

[26] John 5:26; 1:14, 18; 3:16; 15:26

[27] Genesis 1; Eph 3:9; Ps 33:6; Rev 4:11

[28] John 1:1–2; 17:5, 25–26

[29] Gen 1:31–2:1; Ex 20:11; 31:17

[30] Ex 3:14; Ps 90:2; Heb 13:8

[31] Eph 1:11; Rom 8:28; Acts 4:28; Col 1:16–17

[32] Is 63:16; Mal 2:10; Matt 6:9

[33] John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6

[34] John 3:35; Eph 4:6; Rom 8:14; 2 Cor 6:18

[35] Hab 1:13; John 8:38–47; 1 Pet 1:17

[36] Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9

[37] Phil 2:5–8; Heb 4:15; 7:26; Luke 1:35; Col 2:9

[38] Matt 28:19; 1 Cor 12:4–6; 2 Cor 13:14

[39] John 15:26; 2 Cor 3:18; Job 33:4; John 6:63

[40] Gen 1:2; Matt 1:18; 2 Pet 1:20–21; John 3:5–7

[41] John 16:8

[42] John 3:5; 1 Cor 2:12; 1 Pet 1:3

[43] Acts 1:5; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 5:18; Rom 8:27; John 14:26

[44] Eph 1:18; 1 Cor 2:6–16; John 6:45; 2 Cor 3:18; Rom 8:4–6

[45] 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14; Rom 8:9–11

[46] 1 Pet 4:10–11; Eph 4:7; 1 Cor 12:7; Rom 12:6

[47] Eph 2:20; 2 Cor 12:12; Heb 2:1–4; 1 Tim 5:23

[48] Job 1:6; Is 14:12–17; Ezk 28:11–19; Matt 25:41; Rev 12:1–14

[49] John 8:44; Job 1:1–12; Rev 12:10; Gen 3:13; Rev 12:9; 2 Cor 4:4; 11:14

[50] Heb 2:14; Jude 8–10; Matt 25:41; Rev 20:15

[51] Luke 2:9–14; Hebrews 1:6–7, 14; Rev 5:11–14; 19:10; 22:9

[52] Luke 15:10; Eph 3:10; 1 Cor 11:10; 1 Pet 1:21

[53] Gen 1:26–27; 2:7; 9:6

[54] Gen 1:27; 2:18–25

[55] Gen 1:31; Gen 3:1–8

[56] Gen 1:28; Is 43:7; 1 Cor 10:31; Col 1:16; Rev 4:11

[57] Gen 5:3; 9:6; Jas 3:9

[58] Ex 20:13; Deut 5:17; Ps 139:13

[59] Gen 2:24–25; Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18

[60] Eph 5:22–33; Col 3:18–19; 1 Pet 3:1–7

[61] Gen 3:1–8; 1 Tim 2:14–15; Rom 3:23; 8:7–8; 1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1–3

[62] Gen 6:5; Rom 5:15–21; Rom 2:15; Heb 9:9, 14; 10:22; Eph 2:1–3; Rom 6:20; Gen 3:16–17; Ezk 18:20

[63] Rom 1:8; 1 Tim 1:15

[64] Job 9:33; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 8:6; 9:15

[65] Heb 4:15; 1 Jn 2:1; 1 Pet 3:18; Gal 3:13; 4:4

[66] John 10:15; Rom 3:24–25; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:8; 2 Cor 5:21

[67] 1 Cor 15:4, 12–23; Rom 1:4; 4:25 8:11, 34

[68] 1 John 2:1; Heb 7:25; 8:1; John 17; Ps 110:1, 4

[69] Acts 1:9–11; 1 Thess 4:13–18; Rev 20

[70] John 5:22–23; Phil 2:10; Acts 17:30–31

[71] Rom 3:24, 28; 4:6; Eph 2:8–9

[72] Deut 7:7; Mal 1:2–3; Rom 9:11–12

[73] John 3:3–7; 1 Pet 1:3, 23; Jas 1:21; 1 Cor 2:12–13; 1 Jn 5:1; 1 Thess 1:9

[74] Rom 3:24; 6:5, 23; 8:1; Gal 2:16–17

[75] John 17:17; Rom 15:16; 1 Cor 1:2, 30; 2 Cor 3:18; Eph 5:26; Heb 10:14

[76] Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5; 1 Pet 1:5; Phil 1:6; John 10:28–29; Rom 8:30

[77] Rom 3:30; 4:5; 5:18; Gal 2:15–17; Phil 3:9

[78] Rom 3:20–22, 28; 4:5; Acts 13:38–39

[79] Gen 15:6; 2 Cor 5:21; Titus 3:7;

[80] Heb 12:5–11; 1 Cor 11:30

[81] Matt 3:8; Mark 4:20; John 15:2; Rom 7:4; Jas 1:22–27; 2:14–26;

[82] Rom 8:3–6; Phil 2:12–13

[83] Col 2:2; Heb 10:22; 1 John 2:3; 1 Pet 1:13–17

[84] 1 John 1:5–10; 3:14, Heb 6:7–8

[85] Rom 7:13–20; Jas 1:14–15; Eph 4:20–24

[86] Rom 6:12–14; 1 John 2:1

[87] Heb 6:6; Ps 51:10; Phil 1:6

[88] Eph 4:20–24; Col 3:5, 9, 12; Gal 5:17; Rom 8:13

[89] 1 John 3:1–3

[90] Eph 2:11–22; 3:5–10

[91] Matt 16:18; Acts 2:1–4; 1 Thess 4:16–18; Rom 11:1, 11–12, 25–26

[92] 1 Cor 12:12; Eph 5:25;

[93] Matt 28:18–20; 1 Cor 9:19–23; Rom 11:11, 13–15, 25; Rom 12:10; 1 Cor 12:25; 2 Cor 13:11; Gal 5:13; 1 Thess 3:12; Jude 20

[94] 1 Cor 1:2; Eph 1:22–23

[95] 1 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:2; 1 Thess 1:1; Acts 2:41–47; 10:48; 1 Cor 11:23–33

[96] 1 Tim 2:1–2; 4:13; Col 3:16; Eph 5:18–19; 1 Cor 16:2; 2 Cor 9:1–5;

[97] Rom 12:3–8; 1 Cor 12; 1 Pet 4:10–11

[98] Matt 18:15–20; 1 Cor 5;

[99] 2 Cor 2:5–11; Gal 6:1

[100] Matt 28:19; 1 Cor 11:23–32

[101] Acts 2:41; 8:36–38; 10:47; 16:33; Rom 6:1–5; Gal 3:27

[102] 1 Pet 3:21

[103] Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24–25, 26

[104] 1 Cor 10:16–17

[105] Acts 14:23; Eph 1:22–23; 5:23; Col 1:18

[106] Titus 1:5; Acts 15:19–31

[107] Acts 14:23; 20:17, 28; Eph 4:11–12; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 3:1–13; Tit 1:5–11; 1 Pet 5:1–5

[108] Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1–5; Titus 1:7;

[109] 1 Tim 2:12; 3:2

[110] Acts 6:4; 20:28; Eph 4:11–16; 1 Tim 4:13–17; 2 Tim 4:1–5; 1 Pet 5:1–4; Heb 13:7, 17

[111] Acts 6:1–7; 1 Tim 3:8–13

[112] Dan 3:17–18; Acts 4:19; 5:27–29

[113] Gen 9:5–7; Rom 13:1–7; 1 Pet 2:13–17

[114] Acts 4:8–20; Matt 28:19–20; 1 Pet 2:13–17

[115] Luke 23:43; 1 Cor 15:42; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; Rom 6:7

[116] Dan 12:2; Luke 16:19–26; Rev 20:13–15; John 5:28–29; Matt 25:41–46; 2 Thess 1:7–9

[117] John 14:1–3; 1 Thess 4:15–5:11

[118] 1 Thess 1:10; Rev 3:10

[119] Jer 30:7; Dan 9:27; 12:1; 2 Thess 2:7–12; Rev 20:1–7;

[120] Is 11; 65:17–25; Ezk 33:36–38; Zech 8:4; Rev 20:7

[121] Rev 20:7–9

[122] Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10–15; John 5:22

[123] Rev 21:1–22:5

[124] Is 65:17; Rev 21:1–3

[125] Rev 21:4

[126] 1 Cor 15:28