1. The Scriptures. The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation (Exo. 24:4; Deut. 4:12; 17:19; Josh. 8:34; Psa. 19:7-10; 119:11, 89, 105, 140; Isa. 34:16; 40:8; Matt. 5:17-18. 22:29; Lk. 21:33; 24:44-46; Jn. 5:39; 16:13-15).

2. God. There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

B. God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

C. God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service (Gen. 1:1-2; 18:1; Exo. 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11; 20:1; Lev. 22:2; Deut. 6:4; 32:6; Psa. 2:7; 19:1-3; 51:11; 110:1; 139:7; Isa. 7:14; 43:3, 15; 53:1-12; Matt 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; Jud. 14:6; Rom:8:9-11, 14-16, 26-27; 1 Cor. 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11, 13).

3. Man. Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image and likeness. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love (Gen 1:26-30; 2:5, 7, 18-22; 3; 9:6; Psa. 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isa. 6:5; Jer. 17:5; Matt. 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Rom. 1:19-32; 3:10-18, 23; 5:6, 12, 19, 6:6; 7:14-25; Eph. 2:1-22; Col 1:21-22).

4. Salvation. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour.

B. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

C. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

D. Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed (Gen. 3:15; Exo.3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matt. 1:21; 4:17;16:21-26; Lk. 1:68-69; 2:28-32; Jn 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21, 36; 5:24; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; Rom. 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-26).

5. The Family. God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenantal commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race. To be clear, we do not believe in homosexual marriage or transgenderism as we view this goes against God’s design for marriage and the family.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

6. Spiritual Warfare (Deliverance, Healing, Proclamation of the Truth, Denying of Self, and Sanctification). Paul writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12)

Fundamentally speaking, there are two kingdoms: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He would expose the kingdom of darkness by casting out demons (Matt. 12:28), healing the sick (Lk. 4:40), and proclaiming the good news, thereby setting captives free (Lk. 4:18). However, Jesus would later empower His disciples, whom He would appoint as apostles to do the same (Mk. 3:13-15). After His resurrection, during The Great Commission, “He commanded believers to make disciples and teach them to obey everything He commanded” (Matt. 28:20). Since healing, deliverance, along with proclaiming the kingdom of God, were a significant characteristic of His ministry, Liberty Church will follow these biblical practices.

Moreover, Paul shares with the Corinthians, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Cor. 10:3-6).

Another aspect of spiritual warfare is combatting fallacious arguments opposed to the Word of God. These arguments are fought with biblical truth, wisdom, and reason. Church leaders and laity need to know the Word of God for several reasons:

Attacks from within (the flesh). Peter writes, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). This theme is found throughout Scripture of contending with ungodly desires that are lodged within our dead sinful flesh. The Ten Commandments (Law of God) served as a schoolmaster (paidagōgós) to help train Israel in righteousness until Christ (Exo 20.; Gal. 3:24). A schoolmaster, historically, was authorized to train a child by administering discipline, chastisement, and instruction. To obey the commandments of God, one has to contend with one’s sinful nature. Believers must be trained to draw from the Word of God when those moments inner conflict arises. At times, these internal conflicts could be caused by temptation, demonic affliction, complacency, etc. Regardless of the cause, arguments that occur from within must be destroyed by applying the Word of God.

Attacks from without (2 Cor. 7:5). Whether it is Atheism, cultural Marxism, Hinduism, Buddhism, the various branches of Paganism and Occultism, etc., the Christian worldview will be challenged while living in an increasingly hostile post-Christian world. How do we respond when others challenge us with opposing worldviews? A firm understanding of Christian theology and apologetics will help believers gain confidence to stand against opposition and demolish opposing arguments.

This war against our souls due to sinful desires indicates the need to value virtuous character development. As stated above, the believer must incorporate self-discipline while growing in biblical instruction. The goal is conforming to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

When all is considered, spiritual warfare has many different components that the believer needs to be aware of. This is critical to understand and learn because each aspect is important regarding Christian maturity and, to a degree, the freedom Christ purchased for us to walk in. These differing but related aspects will be integrated into preaching, teaching, and specialized training(s) at Liberty Bible Church.