GES Full Doctrinal Statement

GES Full Doctrinal Statement*
Revised March, 2005

Theology Proper

We believe that there is one true God, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each of whom possesses equally all of the attributes of deity and elements of personality (Deut 6:4; Ps 90:2; Matt 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor 13:14; Rev 1:4-6).

Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and perfect man, deity incarnate, born of a virgin, and neither sinned nor could have sinned. By His death as a substitute for sinners He infinitely satisfied divine justice and salvation for all who believe in Him.

He arose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He had lived and died. His resurrection body is the pattern of that body which will ultimately be given to all believers (John 20:20; Phil 3:20-21).

The Lord Jesus Christ, in His glorified body, is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God the Father, where He presently fulfills the ministries of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate for the saved (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. He is, always has been, and always will be fully God, with intellect, emotion, and will. He has been intimately involved in all that God does, including creation, justification, and sanctification.

The Holy Spirit gives each believer one or more spiritual gifts. He gives these gifts “for the common good,” in order that believers might serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Some spiritual gifts, such as apostleship, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings, and prophecy, were only given for the foundational period of the church (Eph 2:20). These foundational gifts ceased by the time the apostles went to be with the Lord.

The fact that no one on earth today has the gift of healing does not mean that God does not miraculously heal today. It merely means that He heals without the aid of men and women utilizing the gift of healing.

The biblical gift of tongues was the divinely given ability to witness to the unsaved in a foreign language unknown to the speaker. It was not untranslatable vocal sounds. The gift of interpretation was the ability to accurately translate (not paraphrase or approximate) a foreign language not previously learned by the interpreter.

The Scriptures

We believe that the Scriptures are God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16-17). God moved holy men to write (2 Pet 1:20-21) and He made certain that what they wrote was without error in the original documents. He has revealed Himself and His eternal plan to mankind in the Bible. Divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts of the Bible.

The NT interpretation of the OT, both factually and theologically, represents an authoritative way of interpreting the Bible. For example, if the author of Hebrews says that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead, then that is indeed what Abraham believed.

The Bible is the necessary and sufficient source of spiritual sustenance for the believer, and is able to equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). Especially important in maintaining a godly walk is a continual focus on the Second Coming of Christ in the prophetic teachings of Scripture (2 Pet 1:3-11).

Unfallen Angels

We believe that God created a great number of innocent, spiritual beings, known as angels. Though they were created without sin, they were capable of sinning for a time. Two-thirds of the angels avoided sin when tempted by the fall of Lucifer. After that time, God sealed the unfallen angels in a state of holiness, thus making them eternally faithful.

Unfallen angels have as their raison d’être the service of God. Some serve directly in God’s presence, praising and exalting Him. Some serve Him by aiding believers in a variety of ways, including warring with Satan and his fallen angels.

Satan and His Angels

We believe that one of the greatest angels, the Archangel Lucifer, sinned through pride and rebelled against God. He convinced one-third of the angels to join him in his sin. There is no possibility of redemption for these fallen angels. They are doomed to an eternal abode in the lake of fire, though most are free today to serve Lucifer, also called Satan or the devil.

Satan was judged at the cross, though the execution of that judgment will not take place until Christ’s Second Coming. Satan now rules as the “god of this world.” At the Second Coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for the thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom. After the thousand years he will be loosed for a short time, during which he will lead one final rebellion, and then after his final defeat he will be cast into the lake of fire where he will experience conscious eternal torment.

Anthropology

We believe that the first human, Adam, was created in the image of God. Through disobedience he sinned and thus was alienated from God, died spiritually, and suffered the corruption of his nature (though still retaining the image of God), rendering him unable to please God.

This fall took place at the beginning of human history, and all individuals born since then suffer these same consequences—are fallen, sinful, and lost and are thus in need of the saving grace of God. This saving grace cannot be experienced by any person in the world apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ (Gen 3:1-19; Rom 3:10-20, 23; 8:12-21; Eph 2:1-3).

While eternal salvation is hypothetically possible through perfect obedience to God (Rom 2:13; see also Luke 10:28b), it is actually impossible due to the fallen nature which each person inherits from his parents.

Eternal Salvation

We believe that God sovereignly chose those who would be saved before the foundation of the world. This we call divine election. Yet this must be balanced against the equally biblical truth that people are able to respond to God’s drawing. Ultimately there is a mystery here that we cannot now fully comprehend. God sovereignly chooses and man is free to respond to God’s drawing.

The sole condition for receiving eternal salvation from hell is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died a substitutionary death on the cross for man’s sin and rose from the dead (John 3:16-18; 6:47; Acts 16:31). No act of obedience, preceding or following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, turning from one’s sin, baptism, or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered as a part of, faith as a condition for receiving eternal salvation (Rom 4:5; Gal 2:16; Titus 3:5). This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the giving and receiving of a free gift (John 4:10; Eph 2:8-9; Rev 22:17).

There is no biblical distinction between “head faith” and “heart faith.” Saving faith is the conviction that Jesus Christ indeed guarantees eternal life to all who simply believe in Him for it (John 5:24; 11:25-27; 20:31; 1 Tim 1:16).

Eternal Security

We believe that any person who believes in Jesus Christ for eternal life receives that gift which, as the words eternal life suggest, can never be lost. Every child of God possesses this eternal (or everlasting) life and, being regenerated, justified, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, is safe and secure for all eternity. The believer is eternally secure since Jesus Christ guarantees it (John 6:35-40; 11:25-27). Therefore, it is inconsistent with the gospel and with Scripture to seek to gain or keep eternal salvation by godly living.

Assurance of Salvation

We believe that assurance of eternal salvation is sufficiently grounded on the promise God makes in His Word that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ possesses eternal life (John 5:24; 1 John 5:9-13). Since a person can know whether or not he believes the gospel, no other basis for assurance is needed. Good works, which can and should follow regeneration, are not an indispensable verification of saving faith, even though they may have a secondary, confirmatory value (Eph 2:10; Titus 3:8).

Assurance is of the essence of saving faith. That is, if a person has never been sure that he personally is eternally secure by faith alone, then he has never been regenerated. Assurance is always present at the moment of saving faith, though it is possible that a Christian may later doubt his salvation.

Motivations for Godly Living

We believe that the Scriptures present several motivations for obedience in the Christian life, including gratitude, fear of God’s chastisement, desire for God’s temporal blessings, and the prospect of the Judgment Seat of Christ and the possibility of shame or confidence and eternal loss or eternal reward.

Fear of hell is not a legitimate motivation to obey God since He guarantees eternal life apart from obedience. One cannot fear hell and at the same time believe the gospel.

However, a Christian can, through sin, lose his fellowship, joy, power, testimony, and reward and incur the Father’s discipline. Membership in God’s family is eternal, being established by the new birth; fellowship, however, is dependent upon obedience to the Word of God (Matt 6:19-21; 1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Cor 5:10, 14; Gal 5:22-24; Heb 12:2-11; 1 John 2:28; 4:19).

Sanctification

We believe that there are three aspects of sanctification: past, present, and future (or, ultimate). At the moment one believes in Christ, he is positionally sanctified, or set apart to God. That is a past event for all believers. Presently God is working to conform believers more and more to Christ. However, believers may thwart this work and even in the godliest of saints this work will not be perfectly or fully accomplished prior to death or the rapture when all believers will become sinless.

The Christian Walk

We believe that the ultimate goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in the believer’s life is to produce spiritual maturity reflected in consistent Christlike behavior and attitudes (Luke 14:25-33; Gal 5:22-25; Col 1:24-29). Therefore, obedience to the Word of God, while not necessary for obtaining eternal salvation from hell, is the essential responsibility of each Christian (Rom 6:12-23; 1 Cor 2:14-3:4; Heb 5:13,14). However, the Bible does not teach that this obedience will be manifested in all believers. If a believer does not yield to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in his experience, failure will result, evidenced by sinful acts or even prolonged disobedience (1 Cor 10:1-13; Gal 5:16-21).

The spiritual life is not primarily a matter of observing commandments. Though there are commandments to be obeyed, the heart of the spiritual life is focusing on Christ and thereby developing a spiritual mindset. Obsessing on the commandments produces sin and failure. Fixing one’s attention on Christ produces life and peace.

Confession of sins is an essential aspect of ongoing fellowship with God (1 John 1:9). Whenever a believer is made aware of some sin in his life, he should be open and honest with God and confess it. As long as a believer remains open and honest with God, he continues to walk in fellowship.

There is a difference between maturity and fellowship. Carnality relates to spiritual maturity not fellowship. A carnal believer remains in fellowship with God as long as he is open and honest. It takes time for a new believer to grow to spiritual maturity.Yet he can walk in fellowship from the first moment of his rebirth.

A spiritually mature person is one who no longer acts, thinks, and speaks like the unsaved. Once a person grows to the point of spiritual maturity, there is still plenty of room for growth. No one ever “arrives” in the Christian life. We are to continually press on toward the goal of the prize of ruling with Christ.

Perseverance in the faith should be the aim of every believer. However, it is not something that every believer will achieve. Believers must take care to stand fast lest they fall away from the Lord either doctrinally or morally.

The Church

We believe that the Church, that is, the body and future bride of Christ, is a spiritual entity made up of all believers of this present age despite their affiliation with churches and organizations. The Church was born on the day of Pentecost. Since Pentecost all who believe in Christ are members of the Universal Church.

The Universal Church is visibly functional through groups called local churches which meet regularly in identifiable locations. These should be autonomous and governed by their own leadership (1 Cor 1:1-2; Phil 1:1; 1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:17). The congregation is responsible to submit to its leadership (Heb 13:17).

The Word of God commands believers to gather together in local congregations, to devote themselves to worship, prayer, the teaching of the Bible, observance of the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the edification of the body, and an active witness to the unsaved world. A local expression of the church is found wherever Christians meet regularly in obedience to these commands.

The Lord gave the church two ordinances to be practiced until He returned. The Lord’s Supper is to be conducted regularly by believers in remembrance of Christ’s death on our behalf.

The other perpetual ordinance the Lord gave the church was Christian baptism. We are to urge those whom we lead to faith in Christ to publicly manifest their faith in Christ by being baptized. Since only believers are to be baptized, one who was baptized prior to regeneration has not yet undergone Christian baptism and should submit to baptism even though he or she was sprinkled or immersed in the past.

Church discipline should be a vital part of church life. Steps of church discipline may include confrontation by one person, by several of the church leaders, by all of the church leaders, and, finally, if the person refuses all efforts to bring him to repentance, exclusion of the individual from the Lord’s Table until he does repent.

The Great Commission

We believe that the Lord Jesus sent His apostles out to make disciples of all the nations. This was to include evangelizing the unsaved and then baptizing and instructing those who came to faith in Christ. The Lord wishes all believers to carry on this work until He returns.

The Bible does not mandate a particular style of evangelism or discipleship, other than that discipleship is to be done through the local church. The key to evangelism and discipleship is fidelity to the message, not techniques.
While methods are not commanded in Scripture, there are some that are inconsistent with the teachings of Scripture. Any method that violates God’s Word in order to evangelize or disciple should be avoided.

Pretribulational Rapture

We believe that the next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy is the coming of the Lord Jesus in the air to receive to Himself both the dead in Christ and believers who remain alive (1 Thess 4:13–5:11). Even believers who are morally indolent and not prepared for the Lord’s return will be raptured (1 Thess 5:10). The rapture will take place before the outpouring of God’s wrath on mankind, which occurs during the seven-year period called the Tribulation.

The Second Coming of Christ and the Millennium

We believe that the Second Coming, or Second Advent, refers to the period initiated by Christ’s descent into the air to rapture the Christian Church and is climaxed by His triumphant manifestation at the end of the Tribulation to establish His kingdom.

For a thousand years following His Second Coming, Christ will reign over the nations of the earth, bringing them righteousness, justice, and peace (Isa 9:6-7; Rev 20:1-10). At the end of this time Satan will be released and allowed to foster a rebellion against the King of kings. That final rebellion will be put down by Christ and will be followed by the Great White Throne Judgment and the eternal state.

The Two Judgments

We believe that there is no such thing as a single judgment for all people, believers and unbelievers. Believers will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ before the Millennium begins; unbelievers at the Great White Throne Judgment after the Millennium has ended. No unbeliever will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ and no believer at the Great White Throne Judgment.

In both cases people are judged according to their deeds. Unbelievers will receive a degree of suffering in hell commensurate with their deeds and the amount of light they rejected. Believers will receive a degree of joy and honor and glory commensurate with their deeds and their fidelity to maintain their Christian testimony.

The Eternal State

We believe that at physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and the unbeliever into eternal separation from Him. The bodies of all the dead shall be raised: those of believers to a resurrection of glory; those of unbelievers to a resurrection of eternal condemnation. All of the lost will experience conscious, physical punishment in a literal place called the lake of fire, forever (Luke 16:19-31; Phil 1:23; 2 Thess 1:6-10; 2 Pet 3:8-13; Rev 20:1-15; 21:1-22).

Dispensationalism

We believe that there are various dispensations in the history of mankind. Currently we are in the church age, or age of grace, which was preceded by the age of law that focused on the nation of Israel. The Millennial and then the Eternal kingdom will follow the present age.

There is a literal future for national Israel that is distinct from the future of the Church. In the Millennium and the Eternal Kingdom, the Lord Jesus will rule from Jerusalem in Israel over Jewish believers. There will also be many Gentile nations in the kingdom, which will have unique local governments under the ultimate headship of Christ (cf. Rev 21:24).

Justification was by faith apart from works in the Old Testament just as it is by faith apart from works in the New Testament (Rom 4:1-8; Gal 3:6-14).

*Note: Though anyone may join our mailing list, to become a member of GES or have your church added to our Church Tracker, you must agree with the Affirmation of Belief, not necessarily the full Doctrinal Statement above.

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