Statement of Faith
Pauper and Pulpit’s (P&P) theological perspectives will inevitably be displayed within any of the writings. Because of this, it is appropriate to express that the author holds to a set of primary doctrines strongly built on careful exegetical study and convictions. Instead of being shrouded in mystery, these convictions are aligned with the following statements and confessions, which they build the basic pillars on which my views are supported from a historical context. At the minimum, all beliefs are built on an affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicaea-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Chalcedonian Definition, and the Athanasian Creed. Of the Confessions, I affirm the 1646 First London Baptist Confession of Faith, holding to the title of a Particular Baptist from this point. Therefore, while recognizing the historical adherence to paedobaptism and the development of Bishops and Presbyters, P&P is firmly credobaptist and a Congregationalist. However, like the Particular Baptists of 17th-century England, these views are specific to communion within a local church body, but we hold to a level of religious toleration for those within the Protestant and potentially larger Christian faith. There also exist many other doctrines that the author holds to, but is not elevated in the manner that would exclude fellowship and therefore, is not expressed in this document. However, the following Statement of Faith is the line of doctrines that P&P holds to as a primary order or level of theology.
THE SCRIPTURES
The sixty-six canonized books that comprise the Bible were written by men divinely inspired and are God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is the 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 authoritative, infallible, and inerrant. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It is sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, 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. God’s intentions are revealed through the intentions of inspired human authors, even when the authors’ intention was to express the divine meaning of which they were not fully aware, as, for example, in the case of some Old Testament prophecies or the numerous instances of typology in the Old Testament. Thus, the meaning of Biblical texts is a fixed historical reality rooted in the historical, unchangeable intentions of its divine and human authors. However, while meaning does not change, the application of that meaning may change in various situations. Nevertheless, it is not legitimate to infer a meaning from a Biblical text that is not demonstrably carried by the words that God inspired. Therefore, the process of discovering the intention of God in the Bible is a humble and careful effort to find in the language of Scripture what the human authors intended to communicate. Limited abilities, traditional biases, personal sin, and cultural assumptions often obscure Biblical texts. The work of the Holy Spirit is therefore essential for right understanding of the Bible, and prayer for His assistance belongs to a proper effort to understand and apply God’s Word. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. Therefore, when there is a question about the meaning of a particular text, it must be understood in light of other passages that speak more clearly.
Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11-12, 18, 89, 105, 140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 4:6-7; 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44- 46; John 5:39; 11:51; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16-36.; 15:5-16; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:12-16; Ephesians 1:18; 2 Timothy 3:15- 17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:10-11, 25; 2 Peter 1:19-21;3:16
THE TRIUNE GOD
There is one and only one living and true God who is an infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful, and holy Spirit who is perfect in all His attributes. God’s knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future. God exists as one divine essence, eternally existing in three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), of which we owe each equal worship, reverence, and obedience.
God, the Father
God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, reigns with providential care as He orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. He is the Creator of all things and the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe who continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events. In His sovereignty, He is neither the author nor approver of sin, nor does He remove the accountability of moral and intelligent creatures. God is the Father of all creation, but only the Father spiritually of those who have become His children through faith in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff; 20:1ff; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; 103:19; 145:8-9; Isaiah 43:3, 15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Habakkuk 1:13; Matthew 6:9ff; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 8:38-47; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthains 6:18; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:9; 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7
God, the Son
Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, is the eternal Son of God who possesses all the divine excellencies and therefore is the coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God. Taking upon Himself a human nature, without altering His divine nature nor surrendering any of the divine attributes, with its demands and necessities, He identified Himself completely with mankind but without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His voluntary and 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 and 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.
Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
God, the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect, emotions, will, eternality, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, and truthfulness. In all the divine attributes, He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son. He is the source of inspiration of the authors of the Scriptures and through illumination, He enables individuals to understand truth. By that, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind through the sovereign activity in creation, the incarnation, the written revelation, and the work of salvation. He is the source of conviction of individuals to sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the source that indwells within the believer, sanctifying, instructing, empower for service, and sealing them until the day of Redemption.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 40:13-14; 61:1-3; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 15:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8, 14; 10:15-17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
MAN
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image and likeness, created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God. Man was created by God as either male or female, biologically defined and distinct sexes, thus, the gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. The purpose of man’s creation was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this, accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world. Man, however, sinned against God through Adam’s disobedience and therefore, man has lost his innocence; incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became subject to the wrath of God; and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine Grace. Unable to recover himself, man is lost and wholly dependent for salvation by God’s grace through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; 139:13-14; Isaiah 6:5; 43:7; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; John 3:36; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6, 23; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 2:14; 11:11-15; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; James 3:9; 1 John 1:8; Revelation 4:11
SALVATION
Salvation is wholly of God by His grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer, and not on the basis of any human merit or work. Salvation includes regeneration, justification, and sanctification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith, characterized first by repentance and followed by obedience, in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Regeneration
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life is given. It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the Word of God, whereby the sinner responds in repentance of their sin and moves toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace and results in the believer to be increasingly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Justification
Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he declares our sins as forgiven, through the imputation of our sins onto Christ, and imputes Christ’s righteousness onto us and thus, declaring us righteous in His sights. This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man and involves wholly the work of Jesus Christ. Justification was pre-ordained through eternity towards all the elect and Christ’s death was done in the fullness of time for their sins, though they may not be justified until the Spirit applies Christ onto them in His timing.
Sanctification
Sanctification is the measured past, present, and future condition of the believer. Past sanctification is positional and instantaneous and should not be confused with present or progressive sanctification. Past sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing and not their present walk or condition and thus, is a declaration of them to be holy and identified as a saint. Present or progressive sanctification is the state of the believer to be brought closer to the standing the believer positionally enjoys through justification. This is accomplished through obedience to the Word of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, allowing the believer to live a life in increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more like Christ. In this manner, every saved person struggles with the daily conflict of trials and temptations against the flesh, but adequate provisions have been made for victory through the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This struggle is inevitable and will be constant in this earthly life, as the eradication of sin in this life is impossible, but the Holy Spirit frees us from the bondage of sin. Future sanctification is the terminology to describe glorification, in which the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Isaiah 55:6-7; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; 13:3; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21, 38; 3:19; 4:12; 11:18; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-26; 4:3ff.; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 18, 30; 6:11, 19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; 7:10; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:16-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16, 22-24; Philippians 2:12-13. 3:12; Colossians 1:9-22; 2:14; 3:1ff.; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3, 11; 3:1; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 10:10, 14; 11:1-12:8,14; 13:12; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-24; 1 John 1:6-2:11; 3:5-9; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.
ETERNAL SECURITY
Security is the means by which all those who are redeemed are kept by God’s power and thus secure in Christ forever. Those whom God has effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace but shall certainly preserve therein to the end as this perseverance depends not upon man’s free will but upon the immutability of the decree of election based on the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and abiding by His Spirit. The privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for sinful living and carnality.
John 5:24; 6:37-40; Romans 5:9-10; 6:15-22; 8:1, 31-39; 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Galatians 5:13, 25-26; Ephesians 4:30; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24
THE LAST THINGS
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment, which designed for the angels who rebelled against God, was found fit to house men who have actively rebelled against God through a rejection of the gift of grace that is salvation. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.
THE CHURCH
Jesus Christ established on earth, of which He remains the head and the authority, His spiritual kingdom, which is His Church, of which he had purchased and redeemed to Himself as a peculiar inheritance; which the Church is comprised of a company of visible saints, called and separated from the world by the word and Spirit of God, to the visible profession of faith of the gospel, being baptized into that faith, and joined to the Lord, and each other, by mutual agreement in the practical enjoyment of the ordinances, of which only two are explicit (Baptism and Lord’s Supper) commanded by Christ, their head and king. Being joined, every local church has the power given to them from Christ, for their wellbeing, to choose among themselves qualified persons, for elders and deacons, having been appointed by Christ for His testament, for the feeding, governing, serving, and building up of His Church; and that none have any power to impose on others other than what Christ has given, as a duty, to maintain the church holy and cared for. The local church, then, is encouraged in cooperation with other local churches, being components of the body and a visible representation of the community of true believers on Earth in this time and the past.
Matthew 11:11; 18:19-20; 24:45; Acts 1:23, 26; 2:37, 42; 6:3; 10:37; 19:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 12:8; 2 Corinthians 6:17; Romans 1:7; 10:10; 12:7-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 14; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:2-7; Hebrews 10:34-35; 12:15; 13:7, 17; 1 Peter 2:5; 5:1-3; 4:15; Jude 3, 20; Revelation 18:4.