My Statement of Faith

Revelation

I believe that God has revealed himself to mankind, on two main categories. The first category is General Revelation where we can see God is revealing himself through his creation “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:20). The Second category is his Special revelation which happened in his Theophany: Like God talking from the Burning Bush, “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:4.

Christophany: Like what happened with in the book of Daniel "Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, 'Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?' They replied, 'Certainly, Your Majesty.' He said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.'” – Daniel 3:24-25.

And in his written Word “The Bible” where God has revealed more about Himself and His story with Mankind in an inspiration, inerrant and infallible way. “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” (2 Peter 1:19). It’s been said that a table must have at least three legs to stand on. Take away any of the three legs, and it will surely topple. In much the same way, the Christian faith stands on three legs. These three legs are the inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy of Scripture. Take away one, and like the table, the divine authority of the Christian faith will surely topple. These three “ins’” complement each other, yet each expresses a slightly different distinction in our understanding of Scripture. Inerrancy simply means that the Bible is without error. It’s a belief in the “total truthfulness and reliability of God’s words.” Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). This inerrancy isn’t just in passages that speak about salvation but also applies to all historical and scientific statements as well. It is not only accurate in matters related to faith and practice, but it is accurate and without error regarding any statement, or period (John 3:12). Unlike other important doctrines such as the Virgin Birth, the Deity of Christ, and the Trinity, the historic Christian Church, in general, has never given an official statement on the doctrine of Scripture. However, inerrancy was assumed from the beginning, and doctrines are based on it even in the earliest Creeds. Inspired means that it’s God breathed his words using the knowledge in the head of the disciples. Infallible means that there cannot be any error.

Also, we need to add, Incarnation which is the Highest revelation possible where God showed Himself by being united with blood and flesh. (Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16).

 

God

I believe in The Holy Transcendent Immanent God, who is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. I started by Holy, as holy gather all his attributes not only an attribute in itself, as God is holy omnipotent, holy omnipresent and holy omniscient; He is holy in whatever attribute He has. As well as Transcendent which means that He is God is outside of humanity's full experience, perception, or grasp. The immanence of God means that he is knowable, perceivable, or graspable. Everything has been made through Him and without Him, nothing could have been created. I believe that God is One in His essence or we can say his nature, and the meaning of one based on the understanding of the Fathers, mean the one who moves towards a relation, nothing like Him as God is infinite and we have only one infinity, and being one means also that He is not a number one as God is above numbers. However, God is also Triune relationally (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) Trinity in Hypostasis and One in Nature who is worshipped and glorified alone. If Love is the highest moral value we can conceive then God should be love, and if God is love, then He should have a relationship that makes him love, and this relation should be not to himself as a selfish God but also not out of Him as God created everything and He should be in this relation eternally, accordingly this relation cannot be understood except if God is more than one Hypostasis, and as His love in inclusive not exclusive then He should have more than one Hypostasis. Here we can understand the biblical revelation that God is Triune God. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19) On the Other hand, I believe that God wants to include mankind in his loving relationship among his Hypostasis and that’s by making us partakers of his divine nature as the Bible is saying, “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:4. And this doesn’t mean that we are going to be God, but we are going to be his children who are united with Him through the Holy Spirit and being united with Jesus Christ, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:22-23.

 

Man

I believe that man is created in the image of God, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”” (Gen. 1:26). Trichotomic in structure, so I believe in Spirit, Soul, and Body, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Thes 5:23 Also I believe that we are made with Traducianism where we can have kids in our Image which is the image of God. And that’s How God gave us a unique power to create like Him and this creation is reflecting the core of human beings. Our Image is also reflecting mainly the social image of God, which means that unlike the rest of creation, human life is not an end in itself.” Because man is made in God’s image, he is different from the other created beings. Man’s image-bearing status places upon him a privilege and responsibility of “fulfilling his earthly existence in relation to God, and this entails responsibility for his actions.” The concept that we are finite is not still preventing us from being reflective as humans. We can image God. The Social image of God is the most central concept, as all the other things cannot be revealed except in relations. it combines them. You have the aspect of consciousness, doing, being, morality, and function. And that is shown obviously in our sexuality, which is the base of our humanity. Sexuality shows our incompleteness; neither Adam was made to be fulfilled in God alone nor Eve was made to be fulfilled in Adam alone. But they were made for each other. The Christian understanding is that any autonomous individualism is an antichrist concept. we are relational beings. We are all the result of incompleteness, and we will not be fulfilled until we become in a relationship with the body of Christ, where we fulfill one another. We are created for community; we are called for a community. The new community is a place where people are fulfilled with the image of the Trinity, by the power of the spirit we live reflecting his image and putting other's needs before our needs. However, it is not about us. It is about Jesus, the one who became man—the Trinitarian existence. We do not live to be fulfilled but for others to be fulfilled for the glory of God. And we should stay bold, faithful, and accountable till the second coming of Jesus Christ. “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:21. Amen!

Sin

I believe that there are two basic kinds of sins: inherited depravity, “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Rom. 3:12) which is our inborn inclination toward evil, and actual acts of sin.  Not only are all men born under the penalty of death, as a consequence of Adam's sin, but they are born with a depraved nature also, which m contradistinction to the legal aspect of penalty, is generally termed inbred sin or inherited depravity. This is defined in the language of the creed as ""that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam, by reason of which every one is very far gone from original righteousness". Acts of sin are “willful transgression of a known law”, The nature of sin is not that we fail to succeed in being equal to God, it is the failure to ascend to the capacity that we are able as human beings. Sin is a choice; an avoidable choice through the grace of God. If it is avoidable then we are accountable. Sin as an act of the will is to be separated from sins of ignorance or mistakes.

I believe that the Scriptures teach that the presence of death in the world, with all its attendant evils, is due to man's sin. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”... “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5: 12-14, 17, 18). Here it is clearly taught that before of Adam, there was neither sin nor death; after his fall, there were both, and these are regarded as the direct consequences of sin. It seems clear also from this statement that natural evil is the consequence of moral evil, for death is by sin.

Original Sin or Inherited Depravity are terms applied to the subjective moral state or condition of man by birth, and therefore express the moral condition of man in his natural estate. This depravity must not, however, be regarded as a physical entity or any other form of essential existence added to man's nature. It is rather, as its name implies, a deprivation of loss. The doctrine of man's depravity rests upon the solid foundation of Scripture and the universal testimony of human experience. I believe as well that when we look from a rational perspective, we will find that if we believe in Traducianism, where mankind is able to create people in their image, this means that it is their full image with all the problems and benefits, and one of these problems is depravity. When we look at kids how they do things that their parents do even if they have never seen their parents we will be amazed of how people can inherit not only physical traits but even moral ones.

 

 

Jesus Christ

I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal and only begotten Son of God, who became fully man while still being fully God, whose two natures, united in one Person without separation, and the same time: no less divine because of His humanity and no less human because of His deity. When Christ “partook of flesh and blood” (Heb 2.14). Christ was already a person before He came into the world. He had always been a person, eternally sharing the nature of God, but in “becoming flesh” He assumed, appropriated and took to Himself, in full union, another nature (ours), and made it His own as much as it is ours, without sin. In other words, the eternal Son of God added a human nature, with its body, soul and spirit, to His divine nature. Thus, He is one person with two natures. For this we should be eternally thankful, for what is not assumed cannot be redeemed. Only because the Lord Jesus assumed full unabbreviated humanity – flesh enlivened by a rational soul – can He redeem us, represent us and reign with us in the age to come. To avoid confusing Christ’s natures, it must be understood that when, at the moment of conception, Christ’s divine nature was united with His human nature, there was no loss or transfer of any essential attributes of either nature. Christ’s human attributes belong only to His human nature; His divine attributes to His divine nature; while the attributes of both natures belong to the one person. Had Christ’s two natures been in some way fused or merged, the fundamental truth of God’s immutability would be in peril. But no: the divine essence or nature cannot change.

At the moment of incarnation,

1. Christ’s deity was not humanised (or He would have ceased to be truly God)
2. Christ’s humanity was not deified (or He would not have been truly human)
3. Christ’s humanity and deity did not convert by fusion into a novel third entity.

Historically, the truth of two natures united in one person has been called “hypostatic union”. and four adverbs have been used to describe it. Christ’s divine and human natures were and are united unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly and inseparably. This union, unbroken even in His death on the cross, will last eternally. The “man in the glory” will ever be one person with two natures. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life.  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, died on the cross, providing the full atonement for the sins of the whole human race, and rose bodily from the grave, thereby defeating the power of sin and death; He ascended into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, where He continually makes intercession for us and he will come again as a victorious lion from the tribe of Jude to redeem us and give us a new heaven and new earth where we will live with him forever.

 

Salvation

•       I believe that salvation is wholly by grace alone, yet a gift that we must freely accept through the enablement of God’s prevenient grace; which means Grace goes before the unwilling to make him willing; it follows the willing to make his will effectual. And this prevenient grace works through synergism which is the belief that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom, “12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” Phil 2:12-13… I believe that we are saved by grace not by works through faith “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9). I believe also that salvation assumes repentance which means true repentance involves changing one’s mind—and heart—about his sin, Repentance includes: Conviction – realizing that you are a sinner deserving punishment and unable to save yourself (self-knowledge). Contrition – being truly sorry that you have sinned against God. Resolution – a full resolving to turn from sin and to obey God. Thus, true repentance involves the mind, the emotions, and the will. And based on our salvation we get justified by grace which is the act of God whereby he declares us righteous. It is God forgiving our sins, counting us righteous, no longer holding us accountable for our sin. “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins.” (Rom.3: 24-25), then Regeneration takes place which is an instantaneous work of God that brings spiritual life to a man and renews his fallen nature. It is to be born again. It is man's (partial) restoration to the image of God. It is that great change which God works in the soul, when he brings it into life; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.  It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the almighty Spirit of God, when it is "created anew in Christ Jesus,’ when it is ‘renewed after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness “¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,” (Col. 2:13). “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22). I believe that anyone can lose his salvation if he did not keep his faith and his holy fear.

Holy Spirit

I believe that the Holy Spirit, is not an impersonal force, but biblically He is active in our lives, a distinct person, and fully God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. “² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.³ And God said, …” (Gen. 1-3). And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters like a bird that gives life and air to its children, so we can see that the Spirit of God is infinite as He is from the beginning and also acting which means that He is an active effective person who can act. The Holy Spirit can abide in people and people could be born from Him. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 year”, In this verse we can see another Character of the Holy Spirit that it can abide or contend with or we may say strive man-kind which means that God’s Spirit is a person who has authority. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). In Genesis 41: 38, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”  Or in other words, it could be the Spirit of Gods, and here I would like to mention that the idea that the Spirit of God can abide in people or people could be born from it, was not strange in the OT which made it understandable for the Israelites the God’s Spirit is acting and abide in people. Also if we go the book of Exodus we will find mainly 1 characteristic of the Holy Spirit, 1. In Exodus 31:3: “and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,”

I believe that the Holy Spirit can equip people and get them prepared in the same power that He empowered others with, like verse 1:17 of Luke:

“and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” The Holy Spirit will empower John the Baptist with the same power He empowered Elijah with. I also believe the Holy Spirit that He can take over when He fills people and glorify God in unique ways like what happened with Elizabeth in Luke 1:41-42: “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” I believe that the Holy Spirit also has fruits that come once He abides in you, and we can see this clearly in Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

 

The Church

I believe that the church is the body of Christ, and consists of all who believed in the essentials of faith and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and God. This Church is one holy catholic apostolic church. The church is: One because through the Spirit we have a shared life in Christ and one confession. Holy by its Christlike character, and godly behavior. Catholic, or universal, because we are connected to all true believers, not limited to time or space. Apostolic because it lives under the authority of the apostles, in doctrine and life. The Church is the primary work of the Holy Trinity for whom Christ die where there is no salvation outside of it. I believe that the church has two natures; Organism and Organization. Images Depicting the Organism like, The Head and the Body, Headstone & Building, Bridegroom & Bride, Shepherd & Sheep, Vine and Branches. And the church as an organization is From the beginning there were Church Offices – Bishop/Elder, Deacon (Qualification lists for elder and deacon in I Timothy 3), keep up with the number of saved (membership role), meet at stated times, have church discipline, raise money for the Lord's work. ^“They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:45-47). Accordingly, I believe that a healthy church is a learning, caring, loving, worshiping, evangelistic church. I believe that the whole church is unified in Christ, even if they are split into different denominations, however, we believe in the Nicene Creed that differentiates the church that believes from the Heretic churches which says: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,   eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

Last Things

Eschatology includes biblical teachings concerning both the first and second comings of the Messiah, the resurrection and reward of the righteous, the resurrection and judgment of the unrighteous, the period of time known as the Tribulation, the relationship of Israel and the Church, the period of time known as the millennium, and the new heaven and new earth.

I believe that Jesus Christ has come to earth around 2000 years ago to reveal God, die for us, and resurrected, ascended to sit on the right hand of the Father. And Christ’s second coming will transpire in two events: there will be a Rapture and also a Revelation.  These hold that the Rapture will precede the Revelation by a period of time and will consist of Christ coming for his saints to take them to be with Him.  The Revelation of Christ will occur at a later period of time which will consist of Christ’s coming to this earth with his saints. However, I believe that the church will not skip the tribulations. This will be followed by Christ inaugurating his kingdom on earth and occupying the kingship of Israel as the rightful heir of David’s throne, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” (II Samuel 7:16); “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:7); “³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33). I believe that God will redeem Israel, so we can be all one nation literally. I believe also in Eternal heaven for believers where they will be in the glorified body that Jesus Christ resurrected with and they will have a holy life in the presence of the Lord “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (Mat 22:30) and eternal hell for non-believers in the afterlife. I believe that Hell is not a physical fire however it is much worse than a fire. “he Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Mat. 13:41-43), “dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thes 1:8-9)