Tenets of Faith
Special Characteristics

Tenets of Faith

These are the tenets of faith as we see them -- non-negotiable elements of a Biblical worldview.
 

• God

  We believe that there is but one God, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things visible and invisible, revealed in three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• The Father

  We believe in God the Father, the Ancient of Days, who is not aloof from human history but who, through various covenants, has initiated relationship with mankind, and to whom we have now been reconciled through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross. Because of Jesus Christ, we too can now call God "Father."

• The Lord Jesus Christ

  We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His deity, His virgin birth, that He died, was buried and on the third day rose back to life, that He ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. We believe that He is the eternal Son of God, for whom and by whom all things were created.

• The Holy Spirit

  We believe that the Holy Spirit (as the third Person of the triune God) proceeded from the Father and the Son, and is of one substance, majesty and glory with the Father and the Son.

• The Holy Scriptures

  We believe in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, as contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, as the sole revelation of the mind and will of God, and we accept them in their original form as the divine Word of God.

• The Devil

  We believe that the Devil, through temptation and deception, initiated the downfall of man and now seeks to destroy the faith of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and to hinder the further spread of the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.

• Justification by Faith

  We believe that it is impossible to attain salvation through self-effort, but that through simply believing in the atoning death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and in acting out that faith through receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, we receive the remission of all our sins, reconciliation with God and the gift of eternal life. We hold that the believer has an eternal salvation secured in Christ.

• Baptism in Water

  We believe in fulfilling the command of Jesus to baptize believers into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and that this baptism is symbolic of our death, burial and resurrection with the Lord Jesus Christ in His redemptive work on the Cross.

• Sanctification

  We believe it is the glorious privilege of every believer in Christ to be made pure in heart and wholly sanctified by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Christ and the Word of God. A believer cannot be justified by works, but evidences that justification through works empowered by the Holy Spirit.

• The Church

  We believe in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, made up of all who have believed on the Lord Jesus and received the salvation of the Cross, and that this Church will come to the full expression of unity that can only be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to the prayer of Jesus Christ in John 17.

• The Lord’s Supper

  We believe, in accordance with the command of the Lord Jesus, that we should celebrate this ordinance in remembrance of the atoning work of Christ and as an act of fellowship together.

• The Return of Christ

  We believe in the physical second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, returning as He ascended, with power and majesty, to judge the dead and the living. Those not found in the Book of Life will be consigned to everlasting separation from God, described in the Scriptures as the Second Death. Those found in the Book of Life will enter into the glorious presence of God.

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Special Characteristics

These are the special characteristics which flavor the lesson material and ministry approach of the Ames Christian University:

• The Centrality of the Gospel

  We believe that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ must be central to all church teaching and activity. The Gospel is a "whole Gospel for the whole Christian life."

• The Gifts of the Spirit

  We believe in the empowering of the Holy Spirit for service and the present day operation of the gifts of the Spirit, as described in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11.

• The Ministry of Every Believer

  We believe that every believer, regardless of race, gender or educational status, is called by God to participate in His glorious purpose. We are all "full time" in the ministry, even if we have a secular vocation, and to this end, each believer has a unique mix of ministry gifts, as determined by the Holy Spirit.

• The Unity of the Body of Christ

  We believe in the indivisible unity of the Body of Christ, established solely upon the foundation of the Gospel of Christ. We believe that God is bringing His Body into a practical expression of unity, as described in John 17:20-23 and Ephesians 4:13.

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