Striving to be ... Consistent ... Conservative ... Orthodox ... Evangelical ... Protestant ... Christocentric
2. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who possesses perfect and exhaustive knowledge of the past, present, and future, and who preserves, regulates, governs and directs all things so that nothing in the world happens without either his causation or permission. God is the author of good but not of evil. Yet even evil is governed by God in that God limits it and directs it to an end fitting with his overall plan and purpose.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, dying on the cross as a substitute and sacrifice for sinners. He arose bodily on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father. He will return personally and visibly at the end of the age to fully establish God's Kingdom.
4. We believe that part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and, during this age, to convict sinners, enable them to believe, regenerate the believing sinner, and indwell, guide, instruct, and empower the believer for godly living and service.
5. We believe that humanity was created in the image of God but fell from its original sinless state through willful disobedience and Satan's deception, resulting in eternal condemnation and separation from God. In and of themselves and apart from the grace of God human beings can neither think, will, nor do anything good, including believe. But the prevenient grace of God prepares and enables sinners to receive the free gift of salvation offered in Christ and his gospel. Only through the grace of God can sinners believe and so be regenerated by the Holy Spirit unto salvation and spiritual life. It is also the grace of God that enables believers to continue in faith as well as good in thought, will, and deed, so that all good deeds or movements that can be conceived must be ascribed to the grace of God.
6. We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his resurrection were provided for the salvation of all people, but are effective only for those who believe. Christ's death and resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation, and only those who believe in Jesus Christ become born of the Holy Spirit and thus become children of God.
7. We believe that God’s saving grace is resistible, that election unto salvation is conditional on faith in Christ, and that persevering in faith is necessary for final salvation.
8. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead; of believers to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord; and of unbelievers to judgment and eternal punishment.
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10 comments:
A great theologian.
I agree even though I disagreed in significant areas of his theological perspective i.e. his open theism. In most other matters, particularly Arminian, I think he was pretty solid.
I really had a love for this guy. His humility and openness set great examples for anyone to follow, and in particular, anyone in the theological blogosphere. Sad day.
Derek,
I have always had mixed feelings about him theologically but have long appreciated his humility and Christian demeanor.
Tom,
I am not going to allow your personal problems with those who love Christ to be aired here. I am sure you can find a couple accommodating sites that will provide a place to vent.
Be gone and be blessed
One thing that the life of Clark Pinnock demonstrated is that embracing Arminianism is often the first step one takes on the Highway to Hell.
Tom,
Could you elaborate on your "embracing Arminianism" comment?
Tom wrote:
One thing that the life of Clark Pinnock demonstrated is that embracing Arminianism is often the first step one takes on the Highway to Hell.
As Mr. Johnson inquired, I think you should unpack these thoughts a bit more. As a representative of Calvinist thought on the internet, what is it about classical Arminian thought that leads to hell? Aside from the fact that the late Dr. Pinnock's journey to open theism originated with his early Calvinism, I would be interested to have you present your views of what you consider hellbound Arminian thought. Perhaps if I created a thread just for that purpose it would help? You would have an unedited Calvinist platform to go at it full steam. Let me know.
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