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The Net Ministries Statement of Faith
WE BELIEVE…
 The Bible
God inspired
humans to write the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament,
and they are true and infallible in the original manuscripts. These
scriptures are our authoritative rule of faith and conduct.
The Nature of
God
God is
eternally existent in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. God is infinite, omniscient, unchangeable, perfect, good,
holy, true and awesome. He loves his creation deeply, and his
highest desire is for each of us to dwell in his presence forever.
The Nature of
Satan
Satan is a
created being. He was originally a good angel who held a place of
honor and authority in God’s kingdom. He proudly aspired to usurp
God’s rule and was therefore cast out of God’s presence, taking a
third of the angels with him. He established a counter-kingdom of
darkness and evil upon the earth, and now his malevolent desire is
to be worshiped and obeyed in place of the true God, and to hurt God
by harming his creation.
 The
Creation and Fall of Man
Man was
created in God’s image to have sweet, intimate fellowship with God
and to govern the earth. Tempted by Satan, Adam and Eve disobeyed
God’s one directive, “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.” Through their rebellion, Satan gained access to
God’s good creation. Physical and spiritual death, sickness, toil,
pain, evil and destruction are the consequences of Adam’s original
sin.
God’s Plan of
Redemption
In order to
redeem fallen man, God established covenants which revealed his
grace to sinful people. In his covenant with Abraham, God bound
himself to his people Israel, promising to deliver them from bondage
to sin and to bless all nations through them. Through Moses, God
established laws to govern our fallen race and to show us our moral
responsibility. In the fullness of time, God sent his own Son, Jesus
Christ, as the ultimate sacrifice to permanently atone for
the sin of all those who will accept his finished work.
Jesus Christ
Though
there are multitudes of adopted sons and daughters of God,
Jesus Christ is his only “begotten” Son. Born of a virgin,
Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. He lived a sinless
life and performed miracles on earth. As both the creator and
the only perfect human being that ever lived, he alone had the legal
authority to buy back his fallen creation by paying the price for
their wrongs. Therefore, he voluntarily died on the cross to atone
for the sins of every person who has ever lived. He rose from the
dead on the third day and is now exalted at the right hand of the
Father.
The
Salvation of Man
Nobody is
righteous, we are all sinners by nature and by choice. And we can’t
possibly save ourselves or be good enough to get into God’s family
because his standard is absolute holiness. But we can be made
right and clean and perfect, simply by confessing to God that we
have done wrong and are in need of a Savior…by acknowledging that we
are hopeless without him. When we accept the finished work of Jesus
Christ and promise to love and serve Him forever, we are transferred
out of Satan’s kingdom and are “born” into a new race…into the
family of God himself. And we will live eternally with our kind
master in his glorious kingdom.
Hell - The Unfortunate Alternative
Once a
person is old enough to understand right and wrong, he is
responsible to follow his conscience. God is at work in all people,
lovingly wooing them and showing them internally the way to truth
and life. Tragically, those who reject God and die under Satan’s
dominion will be doomed to dwell with their selfish master in his
eternal home of torment…hell. They will have no further opportunity
to hear the truth and turn to God.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
But those
who have been born into God’s kingdom through faith (a group
collectively called the Church) will be helped by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church on the Day of
Pentecost, and he now indwells every believer. He sanctifies
us, helping us to forget our former way of living and gradually
teaching us to think and act more like our good Father. He inspires
us to worship God and releases spiritual gifts so that we can build
up others. And he works through the Church to passionately pursue
and woo people who do not know Christ, for he longs that no one
should perish.
 Two Ordinances
God asks
all believers to participate in water baptism and the Lord’s Supper
to remember and identify with the death of Christ. Baptism by
immersion in water is a clear picture of Christ’s death, burial and
resurrection. Communion is also a reminder of his death…the wine (or
grape juice) signifies his blood that was shed for us, and the bread
signifies his body that was broken for us.
God’s Kingdom
on Earth
One day, Jesus Christ
will return to the earth to rule as king. Everyone will see him and
bow, acknowledging that he is the rightful ruler of all creation.
Satan and all those who follow him will be defeated and banished.
God will reign forever in righteousness over a new heaven and a new
earth, recreated by his mighty power.
A Massive End-Time Harvest
God's ultimate
purpose is to build a family, a holy people who will dwell with Him
in joy forever.
Before Christ returns to rule the earth, there will be a mighty
outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a worldwide call to come into "The
Ark" of safety in God's presence before this current world is destroyed and re-created. Friend,
don't wait until that last moment. Give your heart to Him now.
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