We Believe | Go Ezelle

The Scriptures

We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the infallible Word of God, verbally inspired by God, [i] and without error [ii] in the original manuscripts.

We believe that God’s intentions, revealed in the Bible, are the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and what is right.

The Trinity, One God as Three Persons

We believe in one living, [iii] sovereign, [iv] and all-glorious [v] God, eternally existing in three [vi] Persons: God the Father, [vii] fountain of all being; [viii] God the Son, [ix] eternally begotten, not made, [x] without beginning, [xi] being of one essence [xii] with the Father; and God the Holy Spirit, proceeding in the full, divine essence, [xiii] as a Person,[xiv] eternally from the Father and the Son. Thus each Person in the Godhead is fully and completely God.

God’s Election

We believe that God’s election is an unconditional [xv] act of free grace [xvi] which was given through His Son Christ Jesus before the world began. [xvii] By this act God chose, before the foundation of the world, those who would be delivered from bondage to sin [xviii] and brought to repentance [xix] and saving faith [xx] in His Son Christ Jesus.

God’s Creation of the Universe and Man

We believe that God created the universe, [xxi] and everything in it, [xxii] out of nothing, [xxiii] by the Word of His power. Having no deficiency in Himself, nor moved by any incompleteness in His joyful self-sufficiency, [xxiv] God was pleased in creation to display His glory [xxv] for the everlasting joy50 of the redeemed, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. [xxvi]

We believe that God directly created Adam from the dust of the ground and Eve from his side. We believe that Adam and Eve were the historical parents of the entire human race; [xxvii] that they were created male and female equally in the image of God, [xxviii] without sin; [xxix] that they were created to glorify their Maker by trusting His all-sufficient goodness, and obeying His all-wise counsel; and that, in God’s love and wisdom, they were appointed differing and complementary roles in marriage as a type of Christ and the church. [xxx]

Man’s Sin and Fall from Fellowship with God

We believe that, although God created man morally upright, he was led astray from God’s Word and wisdom by the subtlety of Satan’s deceit, [xxxi] and chose to take what was forbidden, [xxxii] and thus declare his independence from, distrust for, and disobedience toward his all-good and gracious Creator. Thus, our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original innocence and communion with God. [xxxiii]

We believe that, as the head of the human race, Adam’s fall became the fall of all his posterity, in such a way that corruption, guilt, death, and condemnation belong properly to every person. [xxxiv] All persons are thus corrupt by nature, [xxxv] enslaved to sin, [xxxvi] and morally unable [xxxvii] to delight in God and overcome their own proud preference for the fleeting pleasures of self-rule.

Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God

We believe that in the fullness of time [xxxviii] God sent forth His eternal Son as Jesus the Messiah, [xxxix] conceived by the Holy Spirit, [xl] born of the virgin Mary. [xli] We believe that, when the eternal Son became flesh, [xlii] He took on a fully human nature, [xliii] so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one Person. Thus the Person, Jesus Christ, was and is truly God and truly man, yet one Christ and the only Mediator between God and man. [xliv]

We believe that Jesus Christ lived without sin, though He endured the common infirmities and temptations of human life. [xlv] He preached and taught with truth and authority unparalleled in human history. [xlvi] He worked miracles, demonstrating His divine right and power over all creation.

We believe that Jesus Christ suffered voluntarily [xlvii] in fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan, [xlviii] that He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, [xlix] that He died, [l] was buried [li] and on the third day rose from the dead [lii] to vindicate the saving work of His life and death [liii] and to take His place as the invincible, everlasting Lord of glory. [liv] During forty days after His resurrection, He gave many compelling evidences of His bodily resurrection [lv]and then ascended bodily into heaven, [lvi] where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, [lvii]

The Saving Work of Christ

We believe that by His perfect obedience to God [lviii]and by His suffering and death [lix] as the Lamb of God, [lx] Jesus Christ obtained forgiveness of sins [lxi] and the gift of perfect righteousness [lxii] for all who trusted in God prior to the cross [lxiii] and all who would trust in Christ thereafter. [lxiv] Through living a perfect life and dying in our place, the just for the unjust, Christ absorbed our punishment, [lxv] appeased the wrath of God against us, [lxvi] vindicated the righteousness of God in our justification, [lxvii] and removed the condemnation of the law against us. [lxviii]

We believe that the atonement of Christ for sin warrants and impels a universal offering of the gospel to all persons, so that to every person it may be truly said, “God gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.” [lxix] Whosoever will may come [lxx] for cleansing at this fountain, and whoever does come, Jesus will not cast out. [lxxi]

The Saving Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit has always been at work in the world, sharing in the work of creation, [lxxii] awakening faith in the remnant of God’s people, [lxxiii] performing signs and wonders, [lxxiv] giving triumphs in battle, [lxxv] empowering the preaching of prophets [lxxvi] and inspiring the writing of Scripture. [lxxvii] Yet, when Christ had made atonement for sin, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, He inaugurated a new era of the Spirit by pouring out the promise of the Father on His Church. [lxxviii]

We believe that, apart from the effectual work of the Spirit, no one would come to faith, because all are dead in trespasses and sins; [lxxix] that they are hostile to God, and morally unable to submit to God or please Him, [lxxx] because the pleasures of sin appear greater than the pleasures of God. [lxxxi] Thus, for God’s elect, the Spirit triumphs over all resistance, [lxxxii] wakens the dead, removes blindness,[lxxxiii] and manifests Christ in such a compellingly beautiful way through the Gospel that He becomes irresistibly attractive to the regenerate heart.

The Justifying Act of God

We believe that in a free act of righteous grace God justifies the ungodly by faith alone apart from works, [lxxxiv] pardoning their sins, [lxxxv] and reckoning them as righteous and acceptable in His presence. Faith is thus the sole instrument [lxxxvi] by which we, as sinners, are united to Christ, whose perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sins is alone the ground of our acceptance with God. [lxxxvii] This acceptance happens fully and permanently at the first instant of justification.[lxxxviii]

Living God’s Word by Meditation and Prayer

We believe that faith is awakened and sustained by God’s Spirit through His Word [lxxxix] and prayer. [xc] The good fight of faith is fought mainly by meditating on the Scriptures [xci] and praying [xcii] that God would apply them to our souls.

We believe that God has ordained to bless [xciii] and use [xciv] His people for His glory through the means of prayer, offered in Jesus’ [xcv] name by faith. [xcvi] All prayer should seek ultimately that God’s name be hallowed, and that His kingdom come, and that His will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. [xcvii] God’s sovereignty over all things is not a hindrance to prayer, but a reason for hope that our prayers will succeed. [xcviii]

Christ’s Church and Her Ordinances

We believe in the one universal Church, composed of all those, in every time and place, who are chosen in Christ and united to Him through faith by the Spirit in one Body, with Christ Himself as the all-supplying, all-sustaining, all-supreme, and all-authoritative Head. [xcix] We believe that the ultimate purpose of the Church is to glorify God [c] in the everlasting and ever-increasing gladness of worship. [ci]

We believe it is God’s will that the universal Church find expression in local churches [cii] in which believers agree together to hear the Word of God proclaimed, [ciii] to engage in corporate worship, [civ] to practice the ordinances of baptism [cv] and the Lord’s Supper, [cvi] to build each other’s faith through the manifold ministries of love, [cvii] to hold each other accountable in the obedience of faith through Biblical discipline, [cviii] and to engage in local and world evangelization.[cix]

We believe that baptism is an ordinance of the Lord by which those who have repented and come to faith [cx] express their union with Christ [cxi] in His death and resurrection,[cxii] by being immersed in water [cxiii] in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. [cxiv] It is a sign of belonging to the new people of God, the true Israel, [cxv] and an emblem of burial and cleansing, [cxvi] signifying death to the old life of unbelief, and purification from the pollution of sin.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the Lord in which gathered believers [cxvii] eat bread, signifying Christ’s body given for His people, and drink the cup of the Lord, signifying the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. We do this in remembrance of the Lord, and thus proclaim His death until He comes.

Christ’s Commission to Make Disciples of All Nations

We believe that the commission given by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations is binding on His Church to the end of the age. This task is to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe and tongue and people and nation, [cxviii]baptizing them, teaching them the words and ways of the Lord, and gathering them into churches [cxix] able to fulfill their Christian calling among their own people. The ultimate aim of world missions is that God would create, by His Word, worshippers who glorify His name through glad-hearted faith and obedience. [cxx] Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship, therefore, is the fuel and the goal of missions.

Death, Resurrection, and the Coming of the Lord

We believe that when Christians die they are made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, [cxxi] and are taken consciously into the presence of Christ, which is more glorious and more satisfying than any experience on earth. [cxxii]

We believe in the blessed hope [cxxiii] that at the end of the age Jesus Christ will return to this earth personally,[cxxiv] visibly, [cxxv] physically, [cxxvi] and suddenly [cxxvii] in power and great glory; [cxxviii] and that He will gather His elect, [cxxix] raise the dead, [cxxx] judge the nations, and establish His kingdom. [cxxxi] We believe that the righteous will enter into the everlasting joy of their Master, [cxxxii] and those who suppressed the truth in unrighteousness [cxxxiii] will be consigned to everlasting conscious misery in hell. [cxxxiv]

We do not believe that all things in this affirmation of faith are of equal weight, some being more essential, some less. We do not believe that every part of this affirmation must be believed in order for one to be saved.

The above is an adaptation of the Desiring God Affirmation of Faith apart from the visuals www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/affirmation_of_faith.pdf

[i] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). There are some things in [Paul's epistles] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures (2 Peter 3:16).
[ii] Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him (Proverbs 30:5). God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it (Numbers 23:19)? The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times (Psalm 12:6). …so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18).
[iii] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16; see also 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 3:12; Revelation 7:2).
[iv] I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2). Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases (Psalm 115:3).
[v] And they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD (Psalm 138:5).
[vi]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 (Matthew 28:19). The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).
[vii] No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:18). This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18).
[viii] There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist (1 Corinthians 8:6).
[ix] These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31).
[x] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of [=over] all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him (Colossians 1:15-16).
[xi] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).
[xii] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9).
[xiii] But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit… You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:3-4). Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16)?
[xiv] But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you (John 14:26).
[xv] Though [Jacob and Esau] were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad-in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call-she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills (Romans 9:11-18).
[xvi] So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day” (Romans 11:5-8).
[xvii] [God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began (2 Timothy 1:9). He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (Ephesians 1:4).
[xviii] But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed (Romans 6:17). For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
[xix] And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:24-25). When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).
[xx] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:44). And [Jesus] said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65).
[xxi] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
[xxii] The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers (Psalm 24:1-2).
[xxiii] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3). But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (Hebrews 1:2). In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:1-3).
[xxiv]Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:13- 14). I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me (Psalm 50:9-15). [God is not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).
[xxv] …everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made (Isaiah 43:7). 50 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:10). His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).
[xxvi] And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9-10)!
[xxvii] Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (Genesis 2:7). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man (Genesis 2:21-22). For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:14).
[xxviii] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image (Genesis 9:6). With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God (James 3:9).
[xxix] And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (Genesis 1:31).
[xxx] Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband (Ephesians 5:22-33) Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18).
[xxxi] See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’” (Genesis 3:1)? Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).
[xxxii] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Genesis 2:17). So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6).
[xxxiii] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:7-8). Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12). For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21).
[xxxiv] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned- for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:12-19).
[xxxv] In [sin] you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:2-3).
[xxxvi] Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? …When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness (Romans 6:16, 20).
[xxxvii] The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8). But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear (Deuteronomy 29:4).
[xxxviii] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).
[xxxix] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17). Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
[xl] And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).
[xli] Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:23; see also Luke 1:34-35).
[xlii] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
[xliii] Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14).
[xliv] Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-8;)
[xlv] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
[xlvi] The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man” (John 7:46)! And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mark 1:27).
[xlvii] “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:18).
[xlviii] This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23).
[xlix] For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place (Acts 4:27-28).
[l] When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30). For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
[li] So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid (John 19:40-41). He was buried (1 Corinthians 15:4).
[lii] He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4). He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay (Matthew 28:6).
[liii] [He] who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification… (Romans 4:25).
[liv] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). [God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31).
[lv] To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
[lvi] And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).
[lvii] But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God (Luke 22:69). Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing (Acts 2:33).
[lviii] Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:18-19).
[lix] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3). He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).
[lx] The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!
[lxi] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7). In [Him] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14). Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you (Acts 13:38).
[lxii] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
[lxiii] For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). …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. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).
[lxiv] [He is] the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26). For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28). We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).
[lxv] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:1, 3). Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
[lxvi] Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:3-6). [We] wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
[lxvii] …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. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).
[lxviii] 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, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14). Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
[lxix] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)
[lxx] And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17, KJV). Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever (John 4:14).
[lxxi] Whoever comes to me I will never cast out (John 6:37).
[lxxii] When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground (Psalm 104:30). 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 (Gen. 1:2).
[lxxiii] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him (Romans 8:7-9).
[lxxiv] Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat (Judges 14:6).
[lxxv] The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim (Judges 3:10).
[lxxvi] Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man (1 Samuel 10:6).
[lxxvii] For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord…” (Matthew 22:43, referring to Psalm 110:1).
[lxxviii] And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing (Acts 2:33).
[lxxix] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6).
[lxxx] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8).
[lxxxi] The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Mark 4:19).
[lxxxii] But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed (Romans 6:17). For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him (Romans 8:7-9).
[lxxxiii] In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).
[lxxxiv] He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7).
[lxxxv] Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Romans 4:6-8).
[lxxxvi] For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28). Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:4-5).
[lxxxvii] Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:18-19).
[lxxxviii] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).
[lxxxix] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
[xc] Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24)! Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31-32).
[xci] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:17-18). For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
[xcii] Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain (Psalm 119:36)! Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of your law (Psalm 119:18). Teach me your way, O LORD; that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name (Psalm 86:11).
[xciii] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him (Matthew 7:7-11).
[xciv] I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints (Romans 15:30-31). Pray also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19). Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:38).
[xcv] “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13; see also 15:16; 16:23-24, 26).
[xcvi] If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:5-8).
[xcvii] Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).
[xcviii] Thus says the Lord GOD: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock. Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD (Ezekiel 36:37-38).
[xcix] He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (Colossians 1:18).
[c] Through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10).
[ci] And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! (Revelation 5:9-12)!
[cii] And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:19).
[ciii] And he gave… pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:1-2).
[civ] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:18-20). Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:15-16).
[cv] 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 (Matthew 28:19).
[cvi] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
[cvii] Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).
[cviii] Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted (Galatians 6:1).
[cix] Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person (Colossians 4:5-6).
[cx] [You Have] been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead (Colossians 2:12).
[cxi] For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13).
[cxii] Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4).
[cxiii] As they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:36-39). John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there (John 3:23). We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death (Romans 6:4)
[cxiv] 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 (Matthew 28:19).
[cxv] For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God (Romans 2:28-29).
[cxvi] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:22).
[cxvii] But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part….When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God (1 Corinthians 11:17-20, 22)?
[cxviii] And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
[cxix] When they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed (Acts 14:23).
[cxx] We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations (Romans 1:5). But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him (John 4:23). For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him” (Romans 15:8-11). 275 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect (Hebrews 12:22-23).
[cxxi] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).
[cxxii] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better (Philippians 1:23; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-9; Revelation 6:9-11. On the issue of whether Paul conceives of the body and soul as separable, see 2 Corinthians 12:2-3).
[cxxiii] [We are] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).
[cxxiv] And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11).
[cxxv] But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62).
[cxxvi] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Philippians 3:20-21). See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them (Luke 24:39-43).
[cxxvii] For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3).
[cxxviii] And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:27).
[cxxix] He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:31).
[cxxx] For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).
[cxxxi] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power (1 Corinthians 15:22-24). I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom (2 Timothy 4:1). You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:28-30).
[cxxxii] You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:23). These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:46). And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29).
[cxxxiii] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Romans 1:18).
[cxxxiv] of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2). His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12; see also 18:8; 10:28; 12:32; 25:41, 46; 26:24; Mark 3:29; 9:43-48; Luke 16:26; Jude 12-13). They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:9). And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name (Revelation 14:11; see also 19:3; 20:10).