The Purpose of God

We affirm our belief in the one eternal God, Creator and Lord of the world, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who governs all things according to the purpose of His will. He has called out from the world a people for Himself, sending them back into the world as His servants and witnesses, to extend His Kingdom, to build up the body of Christ, and also for the glory of His name.

We confess with shame that we have often denied our calling and failed in our mission, either by conforming ourselves to the world or by isolating ourselves too much from it. Nevertheless, we rejoice in the fact that, even though it is carried in jars of clay, the Gospel remains a precious treasure. To the task of making this treasure known, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we desire to dedicate ourselves once again.

(Isa. 40:28; Matt. 28:19; Eph. 1:11; Acts 15:14; John 17:6, 18; Eph. 4:12; 1 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 4:7)

The Uniqueness and Universality of Christ

We affirm that there is only one Savior and only one Gospel, although there is a wide variety of ways to carry out the work of evangelization. We recognize that all people have some knowledge of God through God’s general revelation in nature. But we deny that such knowledge can save, because people, in their unrighteousness, suppress the truth.

We also reject, as diminishing Christ and the Gospel, every form of syncretism or dialogue whose assumption is that Christ speaks equally through all religions and ideologies. Jesus Christ, being Himself the only God-man, who offered Himself as the only ransom for sinners, is the only mediator between God and humanity. There is no other name by which we must be saved.

All people are perishing because of sin, but God loves all people, desiring that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. However, those who reject Christ refuse the joy of salvation and condemn themselves to eternal separation from God.

To proclaim Jesus as “the Savior of the world” is not to affirm that all people, automatically or ultimately, will be saved; nor is it to say that all religions offer salvation in Christ. Rather, it is to proclaim God’s love for a world of sinners and to invite all people to surrender to Him as Savior and Lord in sincere personal commitment of repentance and faith.

Jesus Christ has been exalted above every name. We long for the day when every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess Him as Lord.

(Gal. 1:6–9; Rom. 1:18–32; 1 Tim. 2:5–6; Acts 4:12; John 3:16–19; 2 Pet. 3:9; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; John 4:42; Matt. 11:28; Eph. 1:20–21; Phil. 2:9–11)