May God Bless all that chose to read, study, and inject these words that I have written. Written for my benefit, and with the Grace of God, that read them.
 
 

Excerpt
My Christian Statement of Faith
(Joe Lantz)

I admit that there are many Statements of Faith of the Christian Church. I wish to submit the following as it describes best how I personally interpret which is best for me.

“I believe in the inspiration of the Holy Bible as the true Word of God, that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God”, and that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The Holy Bible, as the revelation of the Person and will of God, is the final rule of faith, doctrine, and practice for the Christian church.

I believe in one true and living God, as revealed in the Holy Bible, Who is supreme and infinite in being, perfect, pre-existent before all things, and the Creator of all.

I believe that Jesus Christ is God Himself. God, the Creator of the universe, became a human being in Jesus. He was miraculously conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin. He lived a life of sinless purity, revealing God to a lost and fallen mankind. He performed the complete will of God, doing all things pleasing to the Father, being obedient even unto death, on the Cross. He was slain for the sins of mankind.

At the cross, God laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and He died in our place. As a sacrificial Lamb, without blemish before God, He was the proprietor of our sin.

It is through His shed blood that we have atonement, the forgiveness of sin, and there is salvation in no other. Upon His death, He was buried in a tomb, and was in the earth for three days. He rose again on the third day, alive bodily, physically, and spiritually, having abolished our sins, and triumphing over all powers. He showed Himself alive after His passion to hundreds of witnesses, by many infallible proofs. With witnesses beholding Him, He then ascended into Heaven, there to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is The Gospel, the power of God unto salvation, which was sent to be preached unto all mankind.I believe that this same Jesus will return from heaven to this earth in power and glory. He will gather to Himself His elect, the church, which is His bride, and that He will judge the living and the dead, and that His saints will rule with Him in His kingdom.

I believe in the Historical Christian Church. It was begun by Jesus Christ, and nurtured by the Apostles. It entered a state of spiritual decline and weakness from the third century A.D. to approximately 1520 A.D. when renewed life and restoration arose within the Christian Church when Martin Luther began to preach the Gospel of Salvation and Justification by Faith.

Since then, many more truths have been restored, by God through ensuing movements, and in various groups and through numerous individuals. This one Universal Christian Church, which has been present down through twenty centuries, is the Body of Christ, made up of all those who place their faith in the Son of God as Saviour. Jesus Christ Himself is the Supreme Lord and Head of this universal Church, His Body.

I believe in the fellowship of the saints, that is, the brotherhood of all Christians, those who believe the Gospel. That I must endeavor to walk in harmony with the love of God, caring one for another, edifying one another, as fellow members of Christ’s Body.

With sadness, I state that there are false religious groups calling themselves “Christian”, such as the Jehovah’ Witnesses, The Mormons, Christian Science, The Unification Church, etc., which are not truly Christian in my personal view, as they do not embrace the Gospel of Salvation and these essential Bible Truths, to the best of my knowledge.

Unfortunately, these poor souls, and others in severely false doctrine, though well intentioned, are still outside the gate of Salvation, and are not in this fellowship of the saints, the Body of Christ. I believe it is my duty to love them, pray for them, and seek to show them the true Christian Faith, hoping to win some over, but that meanwhile, I must also let them know that these kinds of heresies are not true representatives of Jesus Christ. I must lovingly show the difference between truth and error.

I believe in Christian living, in accordance with the Bible; Water Baptism; the Lord’s Supper; and ***PRAYER.*** Christians should study the Holy Bible, seek to obey it, and preach it. I should earnestly endeavor to draw sound and true doctrine from the Holy Scriptures. I should see to share the Gospel of Salvation with everyone, and to bring honor to the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.