What we believe 信じていること

what-we-believe-header

1.旧新約聖書を原典において何ら誤りなき、霊感された神の言であり、人間の救いについて神のみこころを完全に啓示し、すべてのキリスト者の信仰と生活の神的、究極の権威であることを信じる。

2.万物の創造主であり、無限に完全であり、父、子、聖霊の三人格において永遠に存在される唯一の神を信じる。

3.イエス・キリストは聖霊によってやどり、処女マリヤより誕生された真の神であり又真の人であること、又聖書に示すとおり、十 字架上にわたしたちの罪の犠牲として死なれたことを信じる。そして主は死より肉体をもって復活し、天にのぼり今は高き所にいます大能者の右に座している大 祭司および助け主であることを信じる。

4.聖霊のみわざが主イエス・キリストに栄光を帰し、現在の時代においては人々に罪を認めさせ、信じる罪人を新生させ、敬虔な生活と奉仕のために信者に内住し、信者を導き、教え、力づけるものであることを信じる。

5.人間が神のかたちにつくられ、罪の中に堕落したために失われているものであること、また人間は聖霊による新生を通してのみ救いと霊的生命を与えられることを信じる。

6.イエス・キリストの流された血と復活がすべて信じる者の義認と救いのための唯一の基盤であり、イエス・キリストを受け入れる者のみが聖霊により新生して神の子となることを信じる。

7.水の洗礼および主の聖餐が現代の時代における教会により守らるべき礼典であることを信じる。しかしそれらは救いの手段としてみなされてはならない。

8.真の教会がイエス・キリストにある救いの信仰を通し、聖霊により新生し、そのかしらであるキリストの体に結合されているすべての人により構成されるものであることを信じる。

9.真の教会の会員である者のみが地方教会会員資格をもつものであることを信じる。

10.イエス・キリストが教会の主であり、かしらであること、またすべての地方教会がキリストのもとに個々の業務を決定し、つかさどる権利をもつものであることを信じる。

11.わたしたちの主イエス・キリストの御自身による千年王国前の、切迫した再臨を信じる。この「祝福に満ちた望み」は信者の個人的生活と信仰に重大な意義をもつものである。

12.死者の肉体の復活を信じる。信者は主とともなる永遠の祝福と喜びによみがえり、不信者はさばきと永遠に意識する刑罰によみがえることを信じる。

Our statement of beliefs, taken from the Evangelical Free Church of America.

God

1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible

2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition

3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

Jesus Christ

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ

5. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit

6. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church

7. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living

8. We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ’s Return

9. We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny

10. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.