New Life Worship Center

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22

The Adorable Godhead
a. Terms Defined
The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we convey to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from "gods many and lords many." We therefore may speak with propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a trinity or as one Being of three persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.

Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16-17

b. Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but that this distinction and relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable and incomprehensible, because unexplained.

Luke 1:35; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Matthew 11:25-27; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3-4

c. Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes him the Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Ghost which constitutes Him the Holy Ghost and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy Ghost is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one.

John 1:18; John 15:26; John 17:11; John 17:21; Zechariah 14:9

d. Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are never identical as to Person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the Godhead; nor opposed as to cooperation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as to relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father is with the Son, as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son proceeding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation and authority. Hence, neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works separately or independently of the others.

John 5:17-30; John 5:32; John 5:37; John 8:17,18

e. The Title, Lord Jesus Christ
The appellation, "Lord Jesus Christ," is a proper name. It is never applied in the New Testament, either to the Father or to the Holy Ghost. It therefore belongs exclusively to the Son of God.

Romans 1:1-3; 2 John 1:3

f. The Lord Jesus Christ, God with Us
The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal nature, is the proper and only Begotten of the Father, but as to His human nature, He is the proper Son of Man. He is therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who because He is God and man is "Immanuel," God with us.

Matthew 1:23; 1 John 4:2; 1 John 4:10; 1 John 4:14; Revelation 1:13; Revelation 1:17

g. The Title, Son of God
Since the name "Immanuel" embraces both God and man in the one Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title, Son of God, describes His proper deity, and the title, Son of Man, His proper humanity. Therefore, the title Son of God, belongs to the order of eternity, and the title, Son of Man, to the order of time.

Matthew 1:21-23; 2 John 1:3; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 7:3; Hebrews 1:1-13

h. Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ
Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ to say that Jesus Christ derived the title, Son of God, solely from the fact of the incarnation, or because of His relation to the economy of redemption. Therefore, to deny that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that the Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and relationship in the Being of God; a denial of the Father, and the Son; and a displacement of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

2 John 1:9; John 1:1; John 1:2; John 1:14; John 1:18; John 1:29; John 1:49; 1 John 2:22,23; 1 John 4:1-5; Hebrews 12:2

i. Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; angels and principalities and powers having been made subject unto Him. And having been made both Lord and Christ, He sent the Holy Ghost that we, in the name of Jesus, might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father until the end, when the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may be all in all.

Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 3:22; Acts 2:32-36; Romans 14:11; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

j. Equal Honor to the Father and to the Son
Wherefore, since the Father has delivered all judgment unto the Son, it is not only the express duty of all in heaven and on earth to bow the knee, but it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost to ascribe unto the Son all the attributes of Deity, and to give Him all honor and the glory contained in all the names and titles of the Godhead except those which express relationship (see Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead, Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost , and Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead) and thus honor the Son even as we honor the Father.

John 5:22,23; 1 Peter 1:8; Revelation 5:6-14; Philippians 2:8,9; Revelation 7:9-10; Revelation 4:8-11
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Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31; Luke 1:35

His sinless life,

Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22

His miracles,

Acts 2:22; Acts 10:38

His substitutionary work on the cross,

1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21

His bodily resurrection from the dead,

Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4

His exaltation to the right hand of God.

Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3
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4. The Fall of Man
Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.

Genesis 1:26,27; Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6; Romans 5:12-19
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5. The Salvation of Man
Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Conditions to Salvation
Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life.

Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7

The Evidence of Salvation
The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.

Romans 8:16

The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.

Ephesians 4:24; Titus 2:12
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Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4

Communion
The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements --bread and the fruit of the vine-- is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4), a memorial of his suffering and death (1 Corinthians 11:26), and a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26), and is enjoined on all believers "till He come!"
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7. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.

Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31

This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.

Acts 8:12-17; Acts 10:44-46; Acts 11:14-16; Acts 15:7-9

With the baptism in the Holy Ghost come such experiences as:

an overflowing fullness of the Spirit,

John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8

a deepened reverence for God,

Acts 2:43, Hebrews 12:28

an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work,

Acts 2:42

and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost,

Mark 16:20
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8. The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Ghost
The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.

Acts 2:4

The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use.

1 Corinthians 12:4-10; 1 Corinthians 12:28
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9. Sanctification
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God.

Romans 12:1,2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12

The Scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."

Hebrews 12:14

By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

1 Peter 1:15,16

Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by the faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:1-11; Romans 6:13; Romans 8:1,2; Romans 8:13; Galatians 2:20;
Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter 1:5
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Mark 16:15-20

Worship of God.

John 4:23,24

Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.

Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 19:11-14; Revelation 20:1-6

This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel,

Ezekiel 37:21,22; Zephaniah 3:19,20; Romans 11:26,27

and the establishment of universal peace.