CTS DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
BIBLIOLOGY (The Study of the Word of God)
♦ Revelation. The written content of the Bible was revealed by God in order to unveil Himself and His eternal plan to mankind.
♦ Inspiration. Through inspiration, God moving holy men to write, the Lord made certain that His revelation about Himself was recorded without error in the original documents. Every facet of Scripture (including statements that regard science, history, and geography) is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
♦ Illumination. Illumination is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to believers, teaching them all things from the closed canon of Scripture, through their study and meditation for the purpose of glorifying Christ. The Spirit also uses those who have the gift of teaching, as well as the written works of those now dead, to carry out this ministry (Psalm 119:99; John 16:12-15; Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 3:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 John 2:27).
♦ Authority. Since the Bible’s ultimate Author is God, it is without error and is our authoritative guide in all matters of faith and practice (John 16:12-15).
♦ Canonicity. The canon of Scripture is a closed collection of all writings and only those writings inspired by God. The 39 books of the Hebrew Old Testament and the 27 books of the Greek New Testament comprise the whole canon of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16; Jude 1:3; Revelation 22:18-22). Because Scripture is God’s only written revelation to men, it is our sole source of infallible guidance for faith and practice. We do not accept the apocryphal books as canonical (Matthew 5:17-18; cf. Revelation 22:18-19; Jude 1:3).
♦ Interpretation of Scripture. We believe in a normal (literal), grammatical and historical interpretation of Scripture that affirms, for example, the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in seven literal, 24-hour days (Genesis 1:31; Exodus 31:17).
♦ Sufficiency. Scripture states that it is able to equip us for every good work. In addition, the Lord states that He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the body of knowledge wherein His great and precious promises are recorded. Therefore, we believe that the Bible alone, as believers apply it to their lives, is a sufficient resource to prepare them to handle all the problems and exigencies of life and ministry (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3-11).
THEOLOGY PROPER (The Study of God, Including
Paterology)
The Bible reveals One, triune God existing in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; John 4:34; 16:8-13; Ephesians 1:11; 3:11; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Hebrews 10:7).
CHRISTOLOGY (The Study of Jesus Christ)
♦ The Incarnation. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:1-2, 14).
♦ The Virgin Birth. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35).
♦ His Substitutionary Death. He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for all men (1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
♦ His Resurrection. His literal bodily resurrection from the dead guarantees redemption forever (Luke 24:39; Hebrews 10:9-14; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
♦ His Present Session. 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 high priestly ministries of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate for His people (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2).
PNEUMATOLOGY (The Study of the Holy Spirit)
♦ His Salvation Work. We believe the Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that at the moment of salvation He regenerates and indwells all believers during this present age, baptizes them into the body of Christ, seals them unto the day of redemption, and imparts to them at least one spiritual gift for good of all mankind (John 16:8-11; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:7, 12-14; Ephesians 1:13-14).
♦ His Post-salvation Work. The Spirit continues to minister to believers throughout their lives by comforting, convicting, enabling, interceding on behalf of, leading, producing fruit in, sanctifying, teaching, and witnessing to one’s human spirit. Each believer is commanded to walk by means of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit is grieved or quenched by acts of personal sin (John 16:12-15; Acts 9:31; Romans 8:14, 16, 26; 9:1; Galatians 5:16-18, 22-23; Ephesians 3:16-20; 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ).
♦ Spiritual Gifts. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer. These gifts are God-given abilities that Christians should employ to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God used some spiritual gifts (such as apostleship, miracles, tongues, healings, and prophecy) that were temporary in nature as signs to unbelieving Jews and as a validation of the New Testament message and its messengers. The sign gifts legitimately functioned until the completion of the canon of Scripture, ceasing by the end of the first century (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 28-30; 13:8-10; 14:21-22; Ephesians 2:20; 4:11; Hebrews 2:3-4; 1 Peter 4:10).
ANGELOLOGY (The Study of Angels)
♦ Existence. We believe in the existence of a superior creation called angels now divided into two categories: elect and fallen. Fallen angels (demons) are enemies of God and all people; they further divide into two classes: imprisoned and free (Mark 8:38; 1 Timothy 4:1; 5:21; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
♦ Angelic Conflict. The Bible reveals a conflict between Satan and his forces (the fallen angels) and Michael, an archangel, and the elect angelic forces. This conflict has real impact on Christians, and thus, they are to prepare themselves for effective spiritual warfare. Through observing man, angels learn the wisdom of God (Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 3:10; 6:10-18; cf. Revelation 12:7-9).
♦ Satan. God’s Word reveals the personality, fall, and program of Satan, the leader of the fallen angels. His future confinement is in the Lake of Fire with all fallen angels and unbelieving humans. There they will experience everlasting conscious torment (Ezekiel 28:12-17; Job 1:6-7; Revelation 12:7-9; 20:10).
ANTHROPOLOGY (The Study of Man)
♦ Creation. We accept the Genesis account of creation and believe that God created the universe by His spoken word in the seven consecutive, and literal days there recorded (Genesis 1; Psalm 33:6, 9).
♦ The Fall. We believe mankind was created in the image and likeness of God and that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 2:12).
♦ Total Depravity. We believe mankind is neither inherently good nor able to merit eternal salvation. There is nothing in Adam’s fallen descendants with which God can be pleased. Mankind is, therefore, completely dependent upon God’s grace for eternal salvation from Hell (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-18; 6:23; 7:18).
♦ Evidence of Man's Depraved Condition. We believe that Romans 1-3 gives an excellent summary of what mankind is like before regeneration. Every human being has sinned and falls short of the glory of God. Mankind’s sinfulness—upon which the wrath of God is presently being revealed—is characterized by lesbianism, homosexuality, covetousness, maliciousness, murder, deceit, gossip, violence, disobedience to parents, and unmerciful attitudes and actions (Romans 1:18, 24-32; 3:23).
HAMARTIOLOGY (The Study of Sin)
We believe the Scripture reveals three categories of sin: Imputed Sin,
Inherent Sin, and Personal Sin:
♦ Imputed Sin. At conception God credits to every member of the human race the responsibility and penalty for Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12; 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22).
♦ Inherent Sin (Sin Nature). Every person inherits a sinful capacity that causes and leads him to commit personal acts of sin (Romans 6:6; 7:17-18; Ephesians 4:22).
♦ Personal Sin. Any lack of conformity to the will of God in word, thought, or deed is an act of personal sin against the Lord (Mark 7:20-23; Romans 6:12-13; 2 Corinthians 10:5; James 3:5-6).
SOTERIOLOGY (The Study of Salvation)
♦ Genuine Offer of Salvation. Since it is impossible for God to be unfair to any person, and since He loves all men equally, desires all men to be saved, is not willing that any should perish, and invites all men to be saved, He freely and graciously offers salvation to all men. The drawing ministries of the Father and the Son and the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit make it genuinely possible for any member of the human race to receive the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 45:21; John 3:16; 6:44; 12:32; 16:7-11; Acts 10:34-35; 16:31; Romans 5:8; 8:32; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2).
♦ Election. We believe Scripture reveals two clear and indisputable lines of evidence. One line shows God sovereignly choosing His own in Christ; the other shows man possessing the function of volition, able to receive or reject God’s uniquely born Son (regarding sovereignty, see Job 42:2; Psalm 135:6; Isaiah 46:9-10; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 24:22, 24, 31; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:29-33; Galatians 1:15; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2; regarding human volition, see John 1:9-13; 3:16, 36; 6:47; 20:30-31; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 10:11-13; 1 John 5:9-13, as well as every command in the epistles).
♦ Means of Salvation. We believe salvation
is the gift of God brought to mankind by grace and received by personal faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed for the forgiveness of
our sins. God neither overrules nor implants mankind’s volition in
accepting or rejecting His provision of salvation. A human being
appropriates salvation by the sole means of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone,
whose death and resurrection are the ground of man’s salvation. The means
of salvation is to be properly correlated with and distinguished from issues
related to discipleship (Acts 16:31; 4:12; John 1:12; 3:16, 18; 20:31;
Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 5:11-12).
No act of obedience (other than faith in Christ), whether preceding or
following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as commitment or willingness to
obey, sorrow for sin, turning from sin, baptism, or submission to the
Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered a part of, faith as a
condition for receiving eternal salvation. The saving transaction between
God and the sinner consists simply of the giving and receiving of a free gift
that is without cost to the believer (John 4:10; Romans 4:5; Galatians 2:16;
Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Revelation 22:17).
♦ Eternal Security. A Christian, having believed in Christ as Savior at one moment in time, God forever keeps secure. However, God does discipline an erring son as a beloved child when necessary. Salvation once possessed cannot be lost. This belief in God’s merciful and secure salvation is not a license for careless living but, on the contrary, a powerful incentive for godly living (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:38-39; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; 12:12; Hebrews 10:14; 12:6-13; 1