CULTure SHOCK SOLUTION DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

It is the commitment of (CULTure Shock Solution) to faithfully uphold the revealed truths of Holy Scripture. We therefore commit ourselves to the following summary statement of the vital teachings of Scripture and the Christian faith. We believe that:

(1) The Holy Scriptures, comprised of 66 books within the Old and New Testaments, are fully and verbally inspired by God and are therefore infallible in the original writings and completely trustworthy in all areas in which they speak. Their central salvation message and essential teachings are clear and accessible to all who follow the standard and self-evident rules of literary interpretation. They are therefore the supreme, unmediated, and final authority of faith and practice for every believer. God has revealed Himself through His Son and through the Old and New Testaments which bear witness of Him.

(2) There is only one eternal, almighty, and perfect God. Within the Being of this one true God exist three eternally distinct and coequal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are the one true God.

(3) Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who took upon Himself human flesh through the miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He who is true God became true man, uniting two natures in one person forever. Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended into Heaven where He now serves as our High Priest, our only Mediator. He will return bodily and visibly to the earth as King of kings and will judge every human being who has ever lived.

(4) The Holy Spirit is the eternal Third Person of the Triune God, the Regenerator and Sanctifier of the redeemed, the Bestower of spiritual fruit and gifts, and the abiding Advocate who empowers believers for godly living and service.

(5) In Adam human beings were created in the image of God (i.e., they share in a finite way the communicable attributes of God, including personality, spirituality, rationality, and morality). Through the fall of Adam that image of God in humanity has been defiled, although not eradicated. Every human being is radically corrupt and estranged from God. Human beings are condemned by God because of their descent into sin, both through their relationship to Adam and through individual choice. The desperate need of humanity is forgiveness of sins and consequent restoration of fellowship with God; yet humans remain totally unable to atone for and restore themselves. In addition, because of the existence and personality of Satan and his total opposition to God, the unregenerate are subject to Satan’s power.

(6) Jesus’ death on the cross provided a penal substitutionary atonement for the sins of humanity. In salvation we are rescued from God’s wrath by His unmerited grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone.

(7) Those who have received the free gift of salvation will live forever in the fellowship and Kingdom of God (heaven). Eternal, conscious punishment apart from the fellowship and Kingdom of God (hell) is the ultimate destiny of unredeemed humanity, Satan, and his entire angelic host.

(8) The Christian church, which is the body and bride of Christ, is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Corporately and individually, its members strive to worship, serve, and glorify God through prayer and praise, diligent study and application of the Scriptures, evangelism, sanctified living, good works, and observance of the rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The ultimate mission of the church is the discipleship of all nations — not only the saving of souls (which is primary) but also bringing the gospel to bear on every aspect of life and thought — until the Lord returns.

9) We affirm that other religions and ideologies are not alternative paths to God, and that human spirituality if unredeemed by Jesus Christ, leads not to God, but to judgment, for Jesus Christ is the only way.

10) We believe that Christian apologetics is the vindication of Christian truth claims and philosophy of life against the various forms of non-Christian philosophies of life. It is the responsibility of every Christian to be equipped in some knowledge and use of apologetics.

11) We affirm that doing the work of apologetics should include the following three dimensions: (a) Apologetics as proof – presenting a rational basis of faith that confronts unbelief in the believer as well as in the unbeliever; (b) Apologetics as defence – answering the objections and overcoming the barriers of unbelief; (c) Apologetics as offence – demonstrating or revealing the foolishness of unbelieving thought and world-views in conflict with the Christian faith.

12) We affirm that in doing the work of apologetics we are to stress that God is also interested in the character of the Christian and in the manner in which truth is communicated. The Christian must speak the truth in love, not being quarrelsome, able to teach, correcting the error with gentleness, kindness, patience and humility.

13) We affirm that in our proclamation of the Gospel we recognize the urgency of calling all to decision to receive and follow Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord and to do so lovingly without coercion and manipulation. We affirm our obligation as servants of God, to lead lives of holiness and moral purity, knowing that we exemplify Christ to the Church and to the world.

14) We affirm we who claim to be members of the Body of Christ must transcend the barriers of race, gender, class and non-essential doctrinal matters within the Body. We affirm that God is calling the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world; so we determine to proclaim it faithfully, urgently and sacrificially until He comes.