Salvation

Salvation comes by faith through grace. Today a person is saved by believing that Christ died for their sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4¹. God is offering salvation by grace, not works2. Grace is God’s attitude whereby He gives a benefit without the consideration of merit. In other words, you cannot earn salvation because God is not offering salvation based upon works, who you are, or even who you will become – no merit is considered3. What God requires for salvation is that you take Him at His Word. Faith is the undergirding4 of that which is hoped for, the evidence of accomplished deeds5 not seen and is always based upon a promise6. Direct faith at Christ through the facts of the good news by which we are saved (believing that He died for your […]

The Armor from God: Defense Against Satan

The remaining, my brethren, be caused to be empowered in Christ and in the might of His strength. Clothe yourself with the full armor from God facing your ability to stand facing the methodologies of the slanderer. For our wrestling is not facing blood and flesh, but facing rulers, facing authorities, facing world powers of darkness of this age, facing the spiritually malignant evil in the heavens. Because of this, all of you take up the whole armor from God, in order that all of you should be enabled to stand in the malignantly evil day and having for yourself worked out all to stand. Therefore, all of you stand having girded your loins in truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having bound up the feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Over all taking up the shield of the faith, by which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the malignantly evil one. And to receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword belonging to the Spirit, which is the individual utterances from God, through all communication of worship and supplication, communicating by worship at all times in the spirit and into this same watching with all persistence and supplication concerning all the saints… Ephesians 6:10-18.

The armor from God, our defense against Satan, is a mental process that we go through when under attack from Satan to protect our minds from his methods, by which he seeks to keep our minds from thinking on the things above and influence our actions. Independence from God, […]

Stewardship and Dispensations:

The Significance of Οικονομός and Οικονομία

The sixty-six books of the Bible span thousands of years of human history and beyond. They begin before God created man and end with the creation of new heavens and a new earth where righteousness settles down and feels at ease^[1]. Within the pages of the Bible, we see changes in God’s relationship and standard for mankind and the failure of mankind to live up to God’s expectation, which ultimately brings judgment. In the Garden of Eden, Adam was not allowed to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil^[2]. Upon eating the fruit from this tree, his spirit was separated from God^[3], he became subject to physical death, and he was expelled from the garden^[4]. Having been expelled from the garden, God’s expectation for humans was for them to properly govern the manner of their lives by the knowledge of good and evil, now that they possessed it. However, again, men failed, and God judged the earth by bringing a flood^[5]. After the flood, God instructed Noah that men are to govern themselves and that capital punishment is to be implemented^[6]. Again, men fail to follow God’s instruction, reject God, and seek their own way. Therefore, God brought judgment and forced man to separate and spread across the earth^[7]. This judgment brought about multiple languages and the division of the continents, which caused man to spread out across the earth^[8].  Having scattered man across the face of the earth, God then approaches Abram and ultimately offers him four covenants^[9]. These covenants included a promise of land that Abraham and his descendants […]

Spirit Beings (The Other Created Intelligent Beings in the Universe)

The Different Types of Spirit Beings

Cherubim

The highest order of the spirit beings. There are ones with four faces, two faces, and one face. Ezekiel 10:1 -22.

Seraphim

These spirit beings are seen around the throne of God and described as having six wings. Isaiah 6:2, 6; Revelation 4:8

Angels

This rank of spirit beings are the messengers. They are involved in the day to day activities of both heaven and earth. 1 Kings 19-23: Daniel 10:13; Hebrews 1:14

Satan

Satan is a Cherub whose name was Lucifer¹ Satan is at this time the god of this age.² He is the originator and keeper of the world system.³ He is an adversary of Christians.⁴ He still has access to the third heaven were he goes before God and accuses the brethren.⁵

Creation of Spirit Beings

All Spirit beings were created in one act and were created fully mature.⁶

Present Duties of the Unfallen Angels

The angels that did not fall presently minister to the heirs of salvation.⁷ They are the messengers of God.⁸ They carry out the judgments of God.⁹ They protect God’s People.¹⁰

The Fallen Angels

One third of the angels fell with Satan.¹¹ They are presently known as demons.¹² They have […]

The Church (The Assembly belonging to God)

The Church

The Church is made up of those who are in the body of Christ¹. The Church began on the Day of Pentecost². The Church is only for those who are of the Dispensation of Grace³. Christ is the Head and the saints are the Body⁴. Through the Church, God shows to the principalities and powers His manifold wisdom⁵.

The Purpose of the Local Church

A quality of the body of Christ is represented in the gathering together of the saints. The purpose of the assembling of the saints in a local church is to teach, and edify the saints⁶. Each local church body is autonomous in its daily affairs⁷.

Membership in the Local Church

Only those who base their salvation on Christ’s death for their sins and resurrection from the dead three days later and have been baptized (immersed) in water are eligible to become members of a local church

Leadership Positions in the Local Church:

Bishop

The Bishop or Pastor is a male who has been given the Spiritual gift of pastor even teacher gift and qualifies according to Scripture for the office⁸. This position is to guide, feed and guard the local assembly. The leadership of the Bishop is solely in the realm of teaching and therefore has no right to govern over the local church