1. The Declaration

We believe that 'confessedly great is the mystery of godliness.' While God absolutely is Spirit and invisible, Whom no man has seen or can see, yet for the purpose of creation, He assumed the limitations suggested by the titles, 'The Image of the invisible God,' 'The Form of God,' and 'The Word,' and for the purpose of redemption He yet further limited Himself by being made flesh and tabernacled among us as The Only Begotten of The Father. In spite of all such limitations, and in spite of the problems arising out of His incarnation, we believe we may, with Thomas, fully and unreservedly bow at the feet of Christ and say: 'My Lord and my God'.

2. Scriptural Grounds

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... All things were made by Him ... the world was made by Him' (John 1:1, John 1:3, John 1:10).

'Before Abraham was, I Am' (John 8:58).

'Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power ... Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ... Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but Thou remainest' (Heb. 1:3, Heb. 1:8, Heb. 1:10-11).

'Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created BY Him, and FOR Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist' (Col. 1:15-17).

'Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation' (Phil. 2:6-7).

' ... The church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood' (Acts 20:28).

' ... shall call His Name Immanuel - God with us' (Isa. 7:14; cf. Matt. 1:23).

'Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given ... and His Name shall be called ... The mighty God' (Isa. 9:6).

'These things said Esaias (Isaiah), when he saw His (Christ's) glory, and spake of Him' (John 12:41).

' ... Mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts' (Isa. 6:5).

'1 am the LORD: that is My Name: and My glory will I not give to another' (Isa. 42:8).

3. An Expansion And Exposition Of Some Aspects Of This Mighty Theme.

It has been pointed out that in the frescoes painted by Fra Angelico, the figure of the Saviour is much below the average, the reason being that when this artist attempted to portray his Lord, the solemnity and majesty of his subject overwhelmed him.

We have no ability to select a pictorial representation of the Lord at all, but today, people demand graphics, so we make a feeble attempt to display something. Even when we try to relate in words, Fra Angelico's difficulty expresses something of our own. How can we adequately express what the Lord Jesus is to us? If we are brief, it may seem that we have no reverence for our theme. If we are lengthy, all the pages at our disposal cannot touch the fringe of the subject. If we make no reference to false translations such as that of John 1:1, where some render the passage, 'The Word was a God,' the omission may be misconstrued. If we load our pages with refutations and arguments, we may put out our hands to stay the ark of God. Reasoning and logic are true only when employed within the sphere of our experience. It is true for us to say that nothing can be in two places at one and the same time, but such logic becomes untrue when taken into God's Sphere. We, therefore, content ourselves with the following brief exhibition of the Scriptural grounds for our faith concerning the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We most surely believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man - 'God manifest in the flesh.'  We adhere to the AV. of 1 Timothy 3:16.

We believe that Christ, as a perfect sinless man, was miraculously born of a virgin. Himself untainted by the fall of Adam.

According to Scripture, there are three outstanding attributes of God which He declares belong to no one else. These three attributes are unreservedly given by Scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Creator

'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' (Gen. 1:1).

' . . . in six days the LORD made heaven and earth' (Exod. 20:11).

'For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it ... I am the LORD; and there is none else' (Isa. 45:18).

2. Redeemer

'Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and His Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God' (Isa. 44:6).

3. Jehovah - Lord

'I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another' (Isa. 42:8).

In each of these statements, the claim is exclusive. And we may now seek to shew that these exclusively divine attributes belong to Christ.

1. Jesus Christ is the Creator

'All things were made by Him ... He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not' (John 1:3, John 1:10).

He made the world. Yet He was in the world. This chapter recognizes the problem and solves it.

' ... The Word was God' (John 1:1).

' ... the Word was made (became) flesh' (John 1:14).

' ... by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist' (Col. 1:16-17).

The range here is tremendous. Not only is creation attributed to Christ, but it is for Him and held together by Him. Here, instead of the title 'The Word,' we have 'The Image of the Invisible God' and 'The Firstborn of every creature'. If the title 'Firstborn' be construed as meaning that the Lord had no existence before, how shall we explain its recurrence in Col. 1:18, 'The Firstborn from the dead'? If we accept the inspired explanation which is given in the passage considered - 'The Beginning' - we shall understand its bearing upon creation itself. Christ is called 'The beginning of the creation of God' (Rev. 3:14), not because He was the first One created, but because He created all things.

The first verse of Hebrews states that in times past, God spoke by the prophets, but the second verse reveals a deeper truth - He has since spoken Himself, for the words are, 'Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son (in Son).' The Son is addressed as 'God' and 'Lord' (Heb. 1:8, Heb. 1:10), and the creation, including heaven and earth, is attributed to Him. As we read Isaiah 45:18 and the passages from John, Colossians, and Hebrews already quoted, we have no alternative but to bow in the presence of the Saviour and say, 'My Lord and my God.'

2. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer

There is no need to quote chapter and verse. All we need do is to remind the reader of Isaiah 44:6 and to affirm that Whoever is, in a Scriptural sense, The Redeemer is God.

3. Jesus Christ is the Lord

' ... Every tongue should (shall) confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father' (Phil. 2:11).

This is a quotation from Isaiah 45:23, and by reading the four previous verses in this Chapter, we learn that the One referred to as 'Lord' is God:

'There is no God else beside Me ... I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by Myself, the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear'.

Isaiah 42:8 declares that the Lord will not give His glory to another. When we read that Jesus Christ is Lord, it means that He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the 'I AM' who was before Abraham.

John 12:41 declares that when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in the temple, he saw the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, while Hezekiah most emphatically affirms that the Lord of Hosts seen by Isaiah was 'God ... alone' (Isa. 37:16).

We can understand that the Creator is God, but that this is true of The Redeemer, Who is necessarily man (for He must die), is at first sight a difficulty to many. Yet the question of the deity of Christ could be decided by this matter alone, for He Who is a Redeemer in the Scriptural sense must be God and must also be man. No one else can fill the position, for the Hebrew word for The Redeemer is Goel, meaning a kinsman (as in the story of Ruth). If Jesus Christ is not God, and if He is not truly man, we have no Redeemer.

Now the Redeemer has the following titles in Isaiah:- 'Lord,' 'The Lord of Hosts,' 'The mighty One of Jacob,' 'The Holy One of Israel,' 'The Creator of Israel,' 'Beside Me there is no God' (Isa. 41:14; Isa. 47:4; Isa. 49:26; Isa. 54:5; Isa. 43:15; and Isa. 44:6). Here, then, is the problem. How can God, the Creator, the Lord of Hosts, be 'next of kin' to man? Isaiah, whose emphasis upon the Godhead of the Redeemer creates the problem, supplies the solution:

' ... Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel' (Isa. 7:14).

'Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace' (Isa. 9:6).

' ... Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us' (Matt. 1:20-23).

' ... Feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood' (Acts 20:28).

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1. The Declaration

2. Scriptural Grounds

'And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth' (Gen. 1:26).

'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul' (Gen. 2:7).

'Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God' (Luke 3:38).

'And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven' (1 Cor. 15:45-47).

' ... Adam ... who is the figure of Him that was to come' (Rom. 5:14).

'For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the Son of man, that Thou visitest Him? Thou madest Him (for) a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst Him with glory and honour, and didst set Him over the works of Thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, Who was made (for) a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man' (Heb. 2:5-9).

3. An Examination Of Part Of The Teaching Of Scripture As To The Nature Of Man.

The explicit testimony that many parts of the New Testament give to the literal accuracy of the record of the creation of man makes it impossible for the followers of Christ to accept the many theories that are in circulation that have as common ground a denial of the historical accuracy of Genesis 1 and 2.

One of the most important aspects of the subject we are considering is the realization of the place man occupies in the purpose of God. When we reach the record of the sixth day in Genesis 1:24-31, we read of a transaction that is in marked contrast with the whole of the previous account of creation. The creation of the first heaven and earth, the calling forth of light, the fashioning of the present heavens, the placing of the sun and the moon in their respective spheres, and the creation of vegetable and animal life all go forward at the fiat of the Creator; but the close of the fifth day introduces a marked change. A pause comes in the work. We read of a conference, and the first revelation of the nature of the Godhead is given.

'And God said, Let us make man in our image.' (Gen. 1:26)

The creation of man and the purpose of God are intimately associated. Man is created in the image of God and after His likeness. Christ is the Image of God (Col. 1:15). The creation of man in God's image does not only indicate resemblance in the sense of physical likeness but in the sense of Romans 5:14, 'Adam ... who is the figure (or type) of Him that was to come'.

The likeness seems to be associated with dominion, and this element of rule for God is given a large place in the typical character of Adam. We have it in Psalm 8:4-9, in Hebrews 2:6-8, in 1 Corinthians 15:21-28, and it is alluded to in other places.

Another matter of importance that we learn from Psalm 8:4-9 and Hebrews 2:6-8 is that Adam was made 'for a little, lower than (inferior to) the angels.' Subsequent revelation shows that the intention of God was that Adam and his seed should, at some future time, be raised above angels. Luke 3 tells us that Adam was the son of God; at one end of the genealogy is 'Jesus the beloved Son,' and at the other, Adam (Luke 3:22-23 and Luke 3:38).

Genesis 2:4-25 supplements the account of Genesis 1, giving us fuller details of the formation both of Adam himself and of Eve. 'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.' Man shares with the rest of the animal creation an earthly origin - 'of the earth, earthy.'

There is, however, a difference to be observed.

'And (He) breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.' This expression, a translation of neshamah, occurs 24 times in the Old Testament. If these occurrences are examined, the conclusion arrived at is that this 'breath of life' belongs only to God and to man and not to the lower orders of creation. Man is separated from the rest of creation. He is, for a little, lower than the angels. He is in possession of the 'breath of life,' a gift not possessed by any other creature on the earth. He is in the image and likeness of God.

The characteristics in which man is allied to the existing creation are expressed in the third statement - 'And man became a living soul' (Gen. 2:7). Tradition has it that this implies the immortality of the soul. Scripture declares that Adam, as created, was natural and thus non-spiritual.

' ... The first man Adam was made a living soul ... that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural' (1 Cor. 15:45-46).

The translation blunts the point of the argument here. Our language possesses the two words, 'spirit' and 'spiritual,' but not the words 'soul' and 'soulish or soulical.' Now the word translated 'natural' is rightly 'soulical' if such a word could be permitted. All that Adam was and could give to his descendants was soulish and earthy; the Lord Jesus alone, as the Last Adam and the Second Man, can give spiritual and heavenly enduements. The words, 'man became a living soul,' far from teaching man's spiritual and immortal nature, actually teach the reverse. The following passages taken from Genesis will prove this without any doubt:

'The moving creature that hath life (margin soul)' (Gen. 1:20).

'Every living creature that moveth (margin living soul)' (Gen. 1:21).

'Let the earth bring forth the living creature' (Gen. 1:24).

'Everything... wherein there is life (margin a living soul)' (Gen. 1:30).

The two words nephesh and psuche, the Hebrew and Greek respectively, for 'soul,' occur 857 times in the Scriptures. Yet, not one reference can be found that speaks of an immortal or never-dying soul. Consequently, we reject such teaching as untrue. A reading of Genesis 3:22-23, moreover, shows that The Tree of Life was such that man, by partaking of it, could live forever, but that as a result of sin, God took special precautions to prevent man from living forever by banishing him from the garden. Immortality can only be obtained through Christ and will be entered upon at resurrection (1 Cor. 15:53-54).

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1. The Declaration

Sin is the negation of law, righteousness, faith, and the whole purpose of man's creation. It was introduced into the world by Adam through the temptation of Eve by the Devil. Sin is universal in its embrace so far as mankind is concerned, and its end is death. Death and destruction are the words that summarize its punishment, and eternal conscious suffering finds no warrant from Scripture. John 3:16 teaches that without eternal life, men must perish. Hell is a misused and misunderstood term.

2. Scriptural Grounds

'Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law' (1 John 3:4).

'All unrighteousness is sin' (1 John 5:17).

' ... whatsoever is not of faith is sin' (Rom. 14:23).

' ... all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' (Rom. 3:23).

' ... the wages of sin is death' (Rom. 6:23).

' ... by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin' (Rom. 5:12).

'He that committeth sin is of the Devil' (1 John 3:8).

3. An Examination Of The Scriptures On The Question Of Sin And Its Punishment.

There are three passages of Scripture that categorically assert the nature of sin:

Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

Sin is unrighteousness (1 John 5:17).

Sin is anything not of faith (Rom. 14:23).

Sin is the negative of law, righteousness, and of faith. Scripture defines sin, in the first instance, by what it is NOT. God alone is positive; evil is only able to deny, refuse, obstruct, and disobey. It is darkness and death, the negatives of light and life.

There is a further negative in Romans 3:23, where sin is defined as 'coming short' of the Glory of God. 'Coming short' is the essential meaning of the most important word translated as 'sin' in the Scriptures, viz., Hebrew: Chata.

'Seven hundred chosen men lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss' (chata sin) (Judg. 20:16).

Hamartano, the New Testament equivalent, is derived from two words meaning 'failure to attain or to arrive.' This tragic failure, this missing of the mark by man, has entailed all the terrible aftermath of guilt and shame. The failure that marks initial sin is soon followed by deadly ignorance and alienation from the life of God (Eph. 4:18); life and its activities become purposeless toil; vanity, iniquity, deformity, deceit, ruin, and death make up the tale. These words are not strung together at random or for effect; they are but a summary of the words used in Scripture to describe sin.

So far as man is concerned, sin is universal.

'There is none righteous, no, not one ... all the world ... guilty before God ... all have sinned' (Rom. 3:10,  Rom. 3:19,  Rom. 3:23).

Scripture declares that sin is of the Devil, who "sinneth from the beginning," and that sin is abhorrent to the holiness of God.

What are the wages of sin? 'The wages of sin is death' (Rom. 6:23). When the Old Testament writers speak of the wages of sin, they speak of destruction, of perishing, of being cut off, of being consumed. 'Hell' in the Old Testament is the translation of sheol, meaning the grave. This can be seen by referring to the following passages: Genesis 37:35; Genesis 42:38; Genesis 44:29, and Genesis 44:31; Job 14:10-13; Job 17:13, Job 13:16 (pit); Psalm 6:5; Psalm 30:3; Psalm 49:12-15. The New Testament speaks of death, destruction, perishing, punishment, and torment. Where it speaks of hell, the original is either hades (the New Testament equivalent of sheol) or gehenna.

It has been taught that the words used by The Saviour 'their worm' and 'the fire' (Mark 9:44, Mark 9:46, Mark 9:48) - must imply conscious suffering. Seeing that He quoted from Isaiah 66:24, we are confident that no such implication was intended.

Throughout the whole of Paul's recorded ministry, hell is mentioned once, and we must remember that he declared that he was 'pure from the blood of all men.' His one reference is in 1 Corinthians 15:55: 'O grave (margin, hell), where is thy victory?'

The references to the gehenna of fire are restricted to the Scriptures that deal with Israel and The Kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount, which contains the first reference to gehenna, uses it of Christians, which hardly fits the orthodox teaching concerning 'Hell.' The only passage that contains the words 'everlasting punishment' is Matthew 25:41, where the judgment of the nations in connection with their treatment of the Lord's brethren is in view. Some enter The Kingdom; some are cast into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. Anyone who preaches eternal life on the terms (works) set out in Matthew 25:31-46 can consistently use the warning of everlasting punishment as the alternative (although we think it unwise). But where the preacher of Salvation by Grace announces that 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,' the alternatives must be 'perishing' or 'everlasting life' (John 3:16). If he preaches with Paul salvation by grace, and declares that 'the gift of God is eternal life,' then he must follow Paul in the omission of all reference to Hell, and plainly say, 'The wages of sin is death' (Rom. 6:23).

References to torment are as follows:

Matthew 18:34 Used of one that had been pardoned.

Revelation 9:5 Lasting five months.

Revelation 11:10 Inflicted by the two witnesses.

Revelation 14:9-11 Endured by the worshippers of the beast.

Revelation 18:7, Rev. 18:10, and Rev. 18:15 Used of Babylon, which at the end 'shall be found no more at all.'

Revelation 20:10 Used of the Devil, the False Prophet, and the Beast.

These references show the poverty of orthodox teaching. If torment is preached today, what violence must be done to the contexts of these passages?

The final word concerning the lake of fire in Scripture is that it is 'the second death.'

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1.  The Declaration

We believe that Salvation is by Grace, through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It constitutes the theme of The Gospel, and while a message of unspeakable mercy to the sinner, it stands firm upon the basis of Righteousness, God in His wondrous Love providing the sacrifice for sin, whereby He might be a just God and a Saviour of all that call upon Him.

2.  Scriptural Grounds

' ... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth' (Rom. 1:16).

' ... the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men' (Titus 2:11).

' ... Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins' (Matt. 1:21).

'Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us' (Titus 3:5).

'For by grace are ye saved through faith ... not of works' (Eph. 2:8-9).

' ... a just God and a Saviour' (Isa. 45:21).

3.  Explanation And Expansion Of The Scriptures That Speak Of Salvation.

While the law can only condemn where perfect righteousness cannot be produced, The Gospel brings glad tidings of Salvation for the ungodly, the sinner, and the lost. The reason that The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone that believeth is that therein is revealed a Righteousness of God by the Faith of Jesus Christ, which is unto all and upon all that believe.

While the whole Person and work of Christ form the object of Faith, The Resurrection is especially stressed.

' ... If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved' (Rom. 10:9).

Salvation cannot be merited; it is not of works but The Gift of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is, above all else, 'The Saviour,' and Salvation is ours because of His finished work. He died, The Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. He suffered for our sins. He endured the cross that Salvation might be complete, even to the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new. His precious blood cleanses from all sin, and in His Resurrection, the believer finds the power and pledge of a new and endless life. The fact that God is a just God and a Saviour, that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, that in the very Salvation provided by His Love, He manifests not only His mercy but His Righteousness; this is the believer's sure rock foundation. Salvation is all of grace: free, unmerited favor to the worthless and the lost.

We believe that once saved, the believer has been given an incorruptible seed, created within, and that seed cannot be corrupted or lost. This does not mean that unfaithfulness will not be reckoned or that there is any encouragement to slackness on the believer's part, but that those for whom The Saviour died can never perish, neither can any pluck them out of His Hand. Salvation is the great covering term that stretches from the first awakening to the need for a Saviour to the time when the redeemed are presented faultlessly before His Throne. Salvation includes Justification by Faith without works, the Forgiveness of sins, The Gift of Everlasting Life, and The Hope of Glory.

'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' (1 Tim. 1:15).

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