By Dr. Don Dunlap
Pastoral Counselor
Listed below is a summary of the major truths we consider essential in counseling.
Family Counseling Ministries - Theological Statement
The only complete statement of faith is
contained in the whole of Scripture. Listed below is a summary of the major
truths we consider vital to the work of Biblical Counseling Ministries.
1. We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the Word
of God in its totality and that it is the only inerrant, infallible rule of
faith and practice for every believer.
2. We believe that there is but one God, who is
the Maker, preserver, and Ruler of all things, infinitely perfect in all ways,
and fully worthy of our highest love, reverence, and obedience.
3. We believe that God is personal, and He
reveals Himself as the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the
witness of the Scriptures, confirmed in Christian experience, that the God Who
creates and sustains us is the God Who redeems us in Christ, and the God Who
works in our hearts as the Holy Spirit; and we believe that this threefold
revelation manifests the true nature of God.
4. We believe that God, from eternity, decrees
or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and
governs all creatures, and all events; yet so as not in any way to be the
author or approver of sin, nor to destroy the responsibility of man.
5. Election is God's eternal choice of some
persons into everlasting life with Him- not because of their own merit, but of
Christ's mercy for them - by which choice they are called, justified, and
glorified.
6. We believe that every man is a sinner and
condemned in the sight of God and deserves eternal hell.
7. We believe in the substitutionary atonement
of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God Who was crucified for our sins and
buried and rose again for our justification; we believe He ascended bodily into
heaven and is coming again. He is: the only mediator between fallen man
and God; the Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church; and Sovereign Lord of the
universe.
8. Regeneration is a work of God's free and
special grace in which the Holy Spirit changes the hearts of those who have
been forgiven of their sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly
so that they may understand the Word of God, and practice His will in love and
holiness as a new creation.
9. We believe that repentance is an evangelical
grace wherein a person, being by the Holy Spirit made aware of the manifold
evil of his sin, humbles himself for it with Godly sorrow, detestation of it,
and self-abhorrence, and with a purpose and endeavor to walk with God, so as to
please Him in all things.
10. We believe
that saving faith is the belief, on God's authority, of whatsoever is revealed
in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for
justification, sanctification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by
the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a
life of holiness.
11. Justification
is an act of God's grace, by which He fully acquits us from all sin- not by any
merit of our own works- but by faith in Jesus Christ, who has satisfied the
just penalty for sin.
12. Those who
have been regenerated are also sanctified, by God's word and Spirit dwelling in
them. By supplying His grace and strength, those who have come to saving
faith in Jesus Christ are conformed into the character and likeness of Christ,
seeking to live a holy and heavenly life, and fully enabled to live in
obedience to His will.
13. Those whom
God has accepted through His Son Jesus, and sanctified through the Holy Spirit,
will never totally or finally fall away from salvation, but will persevere to
the end through his abiding and unchanging grace.
14. We believe
Jesus to be the head of the Church, which is made up of all born-again
believers in Him throughout the ages. As the body of Christ, the Church as led
by the Holy Spirit, is the instrument through which God continues to proclaim
and apply the benefits of His redemptive work and to establish His Kingdom.
15. We believe
that baptism in water and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus which is obligatory for every
believer. This water baptism is a sign of his fellowship with the death
and resurrection of Christ, of the remission of sins and of his giving himself
up to God to live and walk in a newness of life. This ordinance shall be a
prerequisite to church membership.
16. The Lords
Supper is an ordinance commanded by Jesus Christ in which we eat unleavened
bread and wine in remembrance of Him. Such observance shall continue among His
Church until the end of the World. This is in no sense a sacrifice but designed
to commemorate His death with the intent of confirming the faith as a bond,
pledge and renewal of the believers communion with him and of their church
fellowship.
17. The Lord's
day , or Sabbath, the first day of the week, in which Christians are to
commemorate the Lord's Resurrection by keeping the day holy with public
worship, private devotion, and rest.
18. We believe
in liberty of conscience in which God alone is Lord of the conscience; and he
has left us free from the doctrines or commandments of men, which are in any
way contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates ordained by
God are subject to all lawful things commanded by man and man is to yield to
such commandments in the Lord, not in wrath, but for conscience sake.
19. After death
the bodies of men return to dust; the spirits of righteous men return
immediately to God to rest with Him. The wicked man shall be reserved under
darkness to the judgment. At the last day the bodies of all the dead, both just
and unjust, will be raised.
20. God has
appointed a day wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ and when
everyone shall receive glory according to their deeds. The wicked shall go away
into everlasting punishment. The righteous shall enter into everlasting life.