low lll Cn , becolllc children of God and rece ive ete rn a l life. They becollle h e ir s of Goel a nd j o int - h e ir s with Je s us C hri st. At d eat h their spirits depart to be with C hr is t in conscious blessedn ess, and at t he Seco nd Coming of C h rist th e ir bod ies shall be raised and transformed into the li ke ness of th e body of 1-1 is glory. A ll those who p e rs istently reject J esus C hri st in t he prese nt life sha ll be raised from the dea d and throughout eternity ex ist in the sea cc of conscious, unutte rabl e, e nd less to rme n t a nd angu ish. The C hurc h consists of a ll chose who, in thi s prese nt d ispensat ion , t rul y belie ve in Jes us C h rist. It is the bod y and brid e of C hri st , wh ic h Chr ist loves a nd fo r wh ic h I-le has g ive n Himse lf. Th e re is a pe rsona l dc\·il , a be in g o f g reat cunning and powe r: "The pri nce of th e po\1·cr of t he a ir," "The prin ce of thi s world," "The god o f ch is age." He can exe rt vas e power onl y so far as God suffe rs him co do so. I-le shall u lti lllatel y be cas e in to the lake of fire and brimstone and sha ll be tormented da y and night fo reve r. Note: This rlor1ri11al s1a1e111e11t , prese111erl here as origi11al/y co11ceiverl by 1hefo1111rlfl's of the orgrmi.'l',atio 11 , has been a11rl co111i11- 11es lo be the s1r11erl 1/ieologiwl posi1io11 of Bio/a University. Wherr "111a11 '' i.l' 11serl, re/e/'/'illJ?: 10 the h11111a11 mff, it i11d11r!es both ge11- rlen ill arlr!itio11, the fo/!o'IJ'.•i11g explr111ator)' 110/es i11rlicate the orga11izatio11 's 1111rle1s1a11rli11g a11rl 1earhi11g positio11 011 certai11 poi111s whirl! r-o11/r/ be s11bjert to 'i..'arious i11wpreta1io11s: The Sc ri ptures are to be interpreted acco rdin g co d is pe nsac iona l di sc in cc ives \\'ith the convic ti on chat the retu rn o f the L ord for His C hurc h will be prc mill e nni a l, before t he T ribul at ion , and ch at the '.\lillennium is to be the lase of t he dispensations. The existe nce of the Creation is not exp la in ab le apa rt from the ro les of Goel as the sol'e rcign c reator and susta iner of th e e ntire natural realm. Co ncepts suc h as the istic o r threshold evo lut ion do not adequate ly explain creation . T hough the re lll av be many fillings of the Hol y Sp irit, there is onl v one bapti sm whi ch occ urs at the ti Ille of rege n era tion . The g ifts of t he Spiri t a re g ive n co believers acco rd in g co the Will o f God fo r the purpose of bui lding up t he C hurch. During t he foundational e ra o f the C hurch (i.e ., the t iIll e of C hr ist and the Apost les) Goel gave spec ia l manifes tation s of th e ove rtl y supe rna t ural and lll ira cu lous g ifts (e .g., ton gues, heal ings , llliraclcs) as "s igns" chat witness co th e l'al idicy of chose bea ring new canoni cal reve lation (c.f. 2 Cor. 12: 12; 1-l e b . 2:3--t). Beyond the foundat ional era, God in H is sove re ignty lllay grant any sp iritua l g ift and wo rk mirac ulou sly for the benefit of I !is Church at any ti Ille. T h e B ible is c lear in its teac hin g o n the sa nc tit y of human life . Life begin s ac co ncept ion . \Ve ab h or t h e des truct ion of in noce nt life through abort ion-on-demand . Co nfess ion be fore lllen is \'iewe cl as tangib le fruit of sa l va t ion and not as a qualifving conditi on fo r sa lva ti on. Bio la Un ive rs ity does nor necessa ril y deny e lllp loyment co pe rsons lll e rc ly for lack of firm personal co nv ic t ions on any teaching position in t hese exp lan ato ry notes . H oweve r, Biola l -ni, ·e rs icy docs we igh carcfull v th e unde rsta nding and p e rso nal co n v ict ions of e lllpl ovmenc app li ca nts o n t hese
There is one God, e cernall v ex ist ing and manifesting Him se lf to us in three Pe rsons - Father, Son and Hol y Spirit. Our Lord J es us was s upe rna turall y co ncc il'ed by the power of the H o ly Spirit and born of a virgi n - i\lary, a lin ea l desce ndant of David. H e lived and caught and wrought mi gh ty works and wo nd e rs and signs exactly as is reco rcl e cl in t he four Gospels . He was put co d ea th by c ru c ifixi on under Pontius Pilate. God raised from th e dead the bod y chat had been na il ed co th e cross. T he Lo rd Jes us after H is crucifix io n s howed Himse lf co be a li ve co Hi s disciples, appear ing un to chem by the space o f 40 da ys . Aft e r chi s, the Lord Je s u s ascended into heave n , and th e Father ca used H im co s ic at Hi s right han d in th e heave nl y places, fa r above all ru le and amhoricy and power and dominion, and every name chat is named, not onl v in chi s wo rld , but a lso in chat which is co come, and put all things in su bJCC cion und e r Hi s feet , a nd gave Him to be I-l ead ove r all th ings to t he C hurch. T he Lord Jes us, befo re Hi s inca rna t ion, ex iste d in the fo rm of God and of Hi s own c ho ice laid aside 1-Ii s di v ine g lo ry and took upon H illl se lf the form o f a servant and was made in th e like ness of me n. In Hi s pre-ex iste nt scace, H e was wit h God and was God. H e is a divine pe rso n possessed of a ll th e attributes of Deity, and shou ld be wo rshipe d as God by ange ls and man . " In Him clwc ll cch all the fullness o f t he Godhead bodi ly." All th e words that He spoke dur ing H is earth ly life were the words of God. T he re is abso lute ly no erro r of an y kind in chem, and bv the wo rds of Jes us Chr ist the words of a ll ocher teache rs muse be ces tecl. T he Lo rd Jes us became in eve ry res pect a rea l man, pos sessed o f all che essentia l characcc ri sc ics of human natu re . By Hi s death on the cross, the Lord Jes us lll ade a per fect acone lll e nc for s in , by whi ch the wrath o f Goel aga in st s inn e rs is ap peased and a gro und furnished upon whi c h God can dea l in lll e rcy with sinne rs . He redeeme d us from t he cu rse of the law by becoming a curse in our place. H e who H imse lf was abso luccl v without s in was made co be s in on ou r beh a lf ch a t we mi ght become the ri ghteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jes us is comin g aga in co hi s ea rth , pe rso na ll y, bodi ly, and visibl y. The return o f ou r Lord is the b lessed hope of th e be li eve r, and in it God's purposes of grace cowa rd mankind will find th e ir co nsummati on. T he H oly Spirit is a person , and is possessed of all th e di st inctive ly divine att ri butes. 1-I e is Goel . Man was created in t he image of Goel , after Hi s likeness, b u t the who le human race fe ll in the fall of th e first Adalll. All lllen , Until t hey accept t he Lord Jes us as their persona l Savior, are lose, da rke ned in the ir und ersta nding, alienated from the life of God throug h the ignora nce that is in ch e lll, ha rde ned in heart, lllOra ll y and s pi ritua ll y dead throu gh their trespasses and sins. They cannot see, no r enter the King do lll of God unti l they a re born again of t he I-Joly Spirit. Me n are j ustified on th e s illlpl e and sin gle gro und of th e shed b lood of C hr ist and upon the s imp le and s ing le cond i t ion of fait h in 1-lilll who she d the blood, and arc bo rn again by t he qu icke n ing, re new in g, c lea ns in g work of th e Holy Sp ir it, t h ro ugh the in st rulll e ncalicy of the Word of God. All chose who rece ive Jes us C hri st as th e ir Sal'ior and the ir Lord, and who confess I-Jim as such befo re the ir fe l-
Gene ral Information • 5
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