July 1929
307
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
From the New President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles S TA T EM E N T OF DOCTR INE OF THE B IBLE IN S T ITU T E OF LO S ANGELE S E v ery m em ber of th e B oard of D i re cto rs, an d every te a c h e r and m is sionary, is re q u ire d to sig n th is S ta te m en t of D octrine th e first of every y e a r; and no one can ever p reach or tea ch in our b u ild in g s a n y doctrine c o n tra ry to it. I. a lie n ated from th e life of God th ro u g h th e ig norance th a t is in them , h ard en ed in h e art, m o rally and sp iritu a lly dead th ro u g h th e ir tre sp a sse s a n d sins. T hey cannot see, nor e n te r th e kingdom of God u n til th ey a re born a g a in of th e H oly S pirit. IX.
IV. • T he L ord Jesu s, before H is in c a rn a tion, ex isted in th e form of God, and of H is own choice laid aside H is divine g lo ry and took upon H im self th e form of a se rv a n t an d w as m ade in th e lik e ness of men. In H is p re -e x iste n t sta te , He w as w ith God and w as God. He is a divine person possessed of a ll th e a tt r i butes of D eity, and should be w orshiped as God by an g els a n d men. “In Him dw elleth a ll th e fu ln ess of the- Godhead bodily.” A ll th e w ords th a t He spoke d u rin g H is e a rth ly life w ere th e w ords of God. T h ere is ab so lu te ly no e rro r of a n y k in d in them , and by th e w ords of Je su s C h rist th e w ords of a ll o th er tea ch e rs m u st be tested . V. The L ord JeSus becam e in every r e sp ect a re a l m an, possessed of a ll the e sse n tia l c h a ra c te ris tic s of h u m a n n a tu re . VI. By H is d e ath upon th e cross, th e Lord Je su s m ade a p e rfe c t ato n em en t fo r sin, by w hich th e w ra th of God a g a in s t sin n ers is appeased a n d a g ro u n d fu rn ish e d upon w hich God can deal in m ercy w ith sin n ers. He redeem ed us from th e curse of th e law by becom ing a cu rse in our place. He w ho H im self w as a b so lu tely w ith o u t sin w as m ade to be sin in our b eh alf th a t we m ig h t becom e th e r ig h t eousness of God in Him . T he L ord Je su s is com ing a g a in to th is e arth , p e rso n ally, bodily, and visibly. T he re tu rn of our L ord is th e blessed hope o f th e b e liever, and in it God’s p u rp o ses of g race to w a rd m an k in d w ill find th e ir consum m ation. VII. The H oly S p irit is a person, and is possessed of all th e d istin c tiv e ly divine a ttrib u te s . He is God. V III. Man w as c rea te d in th e im age of God, a fte r H is lik en ess, b u t th e w hole h u m an ra ce fell in th e fa ll of th e first Adam . All men, u n til th e y accept the L ord Je su s as th e ir p erso n al Saviour, are lost, d a rk en e d in th e ir u n d e rstan d in g ,
Men a re ju stified on th e sim ple and single g ro u n d of th e shed blood of C h rist a n d upon th e sim ple and sin g le condi tio n of fa ith in H im who shed th e blood, and a re born a g a in by th e quickening, ren ew in g , c le an sin g w o rk of th e H oly S pirit, th ro u g h th e in stru m e n ta lity of th e W ord of God. X. All those who receive Je su s C h rist as th e ir S aviour and th e ir Lord, and who confess H im as such before th e ir fellow men, becom e ch ild ren of God an d r e ceive e te rn a l life. T hey becom e h e irs of God and jo in t-h e irs w ith Je su s C hrist. A t d e ath th e ir sp irits d e p a rt to be w ith C h rist in conscious blessedness, and a t th e second com ing of C h rist th e ir bodies sh all be ra ise d and tra n sfo rm e d in to th e lik en ess of th e body of H is glory. XI. All those who p e rsiste n tly re je c t Je su s C h rist in th e p re se n t life sh a ll be ra ise d from th e dead an d th ro u g h o u t e te rn ity e x ist in a s ta te of conscious, u n u tte rab le , endless to rm e n t an d a n guish. X II. The C hurch c o n sists of all th o se who, in th is p re se n t dispensation, tr u ly be lieve on Je su s C hrist. I t is th e body and bride of C hrist, w hich C h rist loves and fo r w hich He h a s given H im self up. X III. T h ere is a p erso n al devil, a being of g re a t cu n n in g an d pow er, “T he prince of th e pow er of th e a ir,” “T he p rin ce of th is w orld,” “T he god of th is ag e.” He can e x e rt v a st pow er only so fa r as God suffers him to do so. He sh a ll u ltim a te ly be c a s t in to th e lak e of fire a n d b rim sto n e and sh a ll be to rm e n ted day and n ig h t forever.
T he Bible, c o n sistin g of all th e books of th e Old and New T estam en ts, is th e W ord of God, a su p e rn a tu ra lly given re v elatio n from God H im self, co n cern in g H im self, H is being, n a tu re , c h ara cte r, w ill and purp o ses; a n d con cern in g m an, his n a tu re , need, d u ty an d destiny. The S c rip tu re s of th e Old and New T e s ta m en ts a re w ith o u t e rro r or m is s ta te m en t in th e ir m oral and sp iritu a l te a c h in g s and reco rd of h isto ric a l facts. They a re w ith o u t e rro r or defect of an y kind. II. T h ere is one God, e te rn a lly e x istin g and m an ife stin g H im self to us in th ree P e rso n s—F a th e r, Son an d H oly S pirit. III. Our L ord Je su s w as su p e rn a tu ra lly conceived by th e pow er of th e H oly S p irit and born of a v irg in—Mary, a lin e a l descen d an t of David. He lived and ta u g h t an d w ro u g h t m ig h ty w o rk s and w onders and sig n s e x ac tly as is recorded in th e fo u r Gospels. H e w as p u t to d eath by crucifixion un d er P o n tiu s P ilate . God ra ise d from th e dead th e body th a t had been nailed to th e cross. T he L ord Je su s a f te r H is crucifixion show ed H im self alive to H is disciples, a p p e a rin g un to th em by th e space of fo rty days. A fter th is th e L ord Je su s ascended in to heaven, a n d th e F a th e r caused H im to sit a t H is rig h t hand in th e heavenly places, fa r above a ll ru le an d a u th o rity and pow er an d dom inion an d every nam e th a t is nam ed, n o t only in th is world, bu t also in th a t w hich is to come, and p u t a ll th in g s in su b jectio n un d er H is feet, and gave H im to be H ead over all th in g s to th e Church.
I HAVE signed the above Statement of Doctrine with no mental reservations, for I have taught these truths all through a ministry of forty years. It is a Statement of the Fundamental truths of God’s infallible Word. It is the Confession of Faith upon which this Bible Institute was founded. I knew the founders and their interpretation of this Statement of Doctrine. To accept the responsibility of the President of the Bible Institute and be untrue to the faith of its founders would not be honest. God helping me, I shall maintain, teach and defend the faith, and shall insist that each member of the faculty and each contributor to the columns of T h e K in g ’ s B u s in e s s be true to that historic faith. We shall be intolerant of all erroneous teaching con cerning faith and life. The most intolerant teacher is Jesus Christ. He said, “He who is not with Me, is against Me.” He never had a kind word for those who wilfully taught false doctrine. It will be the business of the Institute in every department to warn the students under its care against the subtleties of Modernism. To ignore the fact that there is a Satanic fight going on among professed Christians against the integrity of God’s Word and the historic faith, is the height of foolishness.
It will also be the business of the Institute to warn those under its care against the divisive influence of mod ern religious fads. The refuge of Gamaliel is the refuge of a coward. As a leader and teacher in Israel he should have pronounced against the new movement, or given to it his hearty endorsement. But the best way to counteract error is to teach the truth. Our students shall not be taught all about counter feit money. They must learn to handle good money! Our program will be constructive. Jesus Christ teaches positive truth, and truth lights men’s pathway to God. In contending for the essentials of our faith, we fear the possibility of quenching the great Fundamental of life : “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” We love men and women because our Lord loved them. He never tried to win their faith by using a club. He wept over Jerusalem! He died for them! Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we shall oontend earnestly for “the faith once for all delivered unto the saints,” but in our contention we will endeavor to show forth the life of our loving Lord. We shall work with the churches. We desire the con fidence of faithful pastors. We know something of their
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