The following truths from Scripture form the basis of my teaching and are supported and explained in the studies available on this website.
- In our natural condition, everyone sins and is separated from God. Our deserved outcome is spiritual death and eternity in hell.
- The Almighty God provided the one and only way to Himself by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
- The gospel (good news) of salvation from the eternal consequences of our sins is that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. When we believe that Christ did this for us, we are justified and counted as righteous by God. Additionally, at the moment of belief we are considered by God to be in Christ and Christ is in us.
- After His resurrection and ascension into heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to and saved a man named Saul who was His chief enemy. Saul was energetically trying to eradicate the followers of Christ and was doing it in the name of God. Christ began revealing to this man, soon to be known as the Apostle Paul, God’s eternal plan that He had kept secret in Himself since before the world began. In his letters (epistles), Paul referred to this secret plan as the mystery.
- The mystery is centered on the full ramifications of Christ’s work at the cross, and it was first revealed to Paul and subsequently to us through his ministry and letters.
- A major component of the mystery is the gospel of the grace of God—Paul referred to this time as the dispensation of grace. This gospel of grace applies to Jews and Gentiles without distinction. All who believe the gospel of salvation are saved by the grace of God apart from any works of righteousness on our part. Furthermore, all who are saved are one in Christ—we are members of His body.
- God considers us to be citizens of heaven because we are in Christ who is at the right hand of God. Therefore, all brethren are considered by God to be ambassadors of Christ—we are His representatives on earth.
- Believers saved in this dispensation of grace have a heavenly hope. We have the sure hope of eternal life and are looking forward to being resurrected or caught up to meet our Lord in the air (commonly referred to as the rapture) at which time our bodies will be changed from physical bodies to spiritual bodies.
- God is not dealing with us through His law (the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments) but through His grace. Furthermore, believers today are not spiritual Israel and cannot claim the promises God made to the people and nation of Israel.
- We are exhorted to walk worthy of (as befitting) our calling, which is our salvation in Christ. How we live each day and how we interact with those around us is important to God and should reflect His love for us.
- The Bible provides everything we need to know about what God has done and is doing for us, and how God expects us to live each day. We are not left to our own devices or imagination to figure out the will of God for us because His word tells us His will for us. However, we must be careful to rightly divide (accurately handle) Scripture to understand what applies to us as members of the body of Christ.