Gospel of God’s Doctrinal views

 

 God

The Triune God

We believe there is but one living and true God, who is the maker, sustainer, and ultimate authority over all his creation. We believe He eternally exists as the Triune God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons contain the very nature of God and are equal in every divine perfection. They each execute distinct but harmonious roles in the work of creation, providence, and redemption. The Triune God is self–existent and self–sufficient, perfect and immutable, infinite and all–knowing, purposeful and all–powerful, sovereign and steadfast in love. God is worthy of our praise, loyalty, and love. GGM believes all born again believers will worship the Triune God and will model our lives per God’s grace and goodness. (Genesis 1:1, 26; Exodus 34:6–7; Deuteronomy 32:3–4; Psalm 48:10; Isaiah 43:10–13; Malachi 3:6; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1–3; John 4:24; Romans 1:19–20; Ephesians 4:5–6)

 

The Bible

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the Bible is The Holy Scriptures, The Word of God contained in the Old and New Testament scriptures. The entire Bible is given to humanity as a gracious gift of God’s special and authoritative self–revelation. All the Bible’s original manuscripts were divinely inspired, having been written by individuals as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Because God is the ultimate author of the Bible, its contents are free from error and are totally true and trustworthy. The central theme of the Bible is to reveal God’s saving purposes in Jesus Christ. God’s Word has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. The Bible alone is the infallible rule of faith for the church. For a local church to stray from the Bible in faith or practice is to be disloyal to Jesus to whom the church belongs. We believe the entire Bible should be taught in the local church so that its members will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Psalm 19:7; Psalm 119:105–106; Matthew 4:4; Mark 13:31; John 8:31–32; John 17:17; Acts 20:32; Romans 10:16–17; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20–21; 3:18)

 

Sin

The origin and original sin

  1. Original Creation

We believe that “In the beginning,” God created all things “good,” with his special creation, man and woman, being called “Very Good.” We see that humanity was “made in His image” for His Glory, so that we might enjoy God, take delight in Him, and worship Him (Gen. 1-2). Humans are unique in God’s creation by having both a material body and an immaterial soul/spirit. Each person has an intellect and a will. Each person exists as a moral creature and is accountable before God. Humanity has been tasked by God with responsible stewardship of the earth’s physical resources. Humanity was created to be relational and to commune with each other as families and as friends.  In His original creation, all things existed without the corruption of sin. So what happened?

  1. Origin and Nature of Sin

As Genesis 1-2 reveals, the first man and woman were created innocent of sin, but rebelled against God and thus introduced sin into humanity. We believe that through the first Man, Adam, and through the first woman, Eve, sin entered the world and corrupted all of creation. In this process, Eve chose to sin and tempted her husband to sin. From this, Adam sinned and, being the father of the whole human race, his sin is imputed to us all. As Romans 5:12-21 explains, it was from this point forward that everyone born on earth is born a sinner and an enemy of God.  (See also Ephesians 2:1-10.) Ever since, people are born with a sinful nature.

However, what is sin? From a biblical perspective, “sin is not only an act of wrongdoing, but a state of alienation from God…it signifies the rupture of a personal relationship with God, a betrayal of trust he places in us. We become most aware of our sinfulness in the presence of the holy God (cf. Ps 51:1-9; Isa. 6;5; Luke 5:8). Sinful acts have their origin in a corrupt heart (Gen. 6:5; Isa. 9:13; Jer. 17:9).”[1]

[1] Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed. “Sin. The biblical understanding of Sin.” Pg. 1103.

The Depravity and universality of sin

In a sense, because of our imputed human nature, our hearts at the core are “deceitful” and there is “none is righteous, no, not one (Jer. 17:9; Eccles. 7.20; Rom. 3:10). The evidence that sin is universal is found in every human heart, for from the heart flows lies, murder, stealing, killing, and idol worship and the Lord through his omniscience knows every human heart (Genesis 6:5; Rom. 1).  If one examines oneself honestly, he or she would evaluate themselves and see evidence of these sins in their lives.

It is not that we are a little sinful, but that every area of our person is corrupted: the mind, the will, and the emotion (Rom. 3:23). Because God has given all people a conscience, most people do not engage in every form of sin and are not as bad as they could be. Yet, because of our sinful state, we are still corrupted in every part of our being (Rom. 1; 5:12-21). This means that man is in a hopeless condition and unable to save himself unless acted upon by one of the persons of the triune Godhead, the Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:23; Ephesians 2:3).

The nature of sin

One cause of sin is an active, ignorant heart that is hard and causes a person to be unable to respond to God on his own, which then impairs the person’s judgment. Some characteristics of this is an unwillingness to obey God’s moral law and this is seen through rebellion, perversion and abominations.

The results of sin

Therefore, the result of our sin is that we have “sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God,” deserving an eternal death separated from Him (Rom. 3:23; 6:23; I John 5:16; cf. Heb. 6:4-6). The results of sin are devastating. The God of all creation looks upon us with divine disfavor due to the hate that He has toward sin (Proverbs 6:16-19).  The result is, we are guilty of punishment that we brought upon ourselves due to our sins that have been committed against this Holy God. The only thing we have to look forward to apart from the grace of Christ is punishment and death physically, spiritually and eternally in hell.

 

Salvation

Salvation address the problem of man

  1. Salvation: God’s Glorious Redemptive Plan and Solution For Sin

When reading the Bible and looking around at the world, anyone can see there is a major problem. We look around and see killing and suffering and something inside says it should not be that way. The problem is our sinfulness. Everyone is affected by it (Psalms 51:5).  In sin, we are delivered from the womb. There is nothing good in us.  But our solution is found in Jesus, for He dealt with the problem (1 Peter 3:18).  It is only through Him that we can be made righteous. It is through His sacrifice that He conquers humanity’s greatest problem, sin. Therefore, only in Christ is there hope.

Salvation explains the plan of God

In the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, man rebelled. Afterwards God put a plan in action to redeem His people from their rebellion. The theme through the whole bible is the theme of deliverance, from God delivering the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, to the deliverance of the whole human race (John 3:16-17).

God’s Salvation Plan.

In I Corinthians 15:1-8, the apostle Paul lays out clearly what the Gospel of Salvation is:

“Now I would remind you, brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day pin accordance with the Scriptures,  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (ESV).”

Therefore, at GGM, we believe salvation is offered to all people and comes as a gift of God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It entails justification through divine election, calling, regeneration, and spiritual adoption. Salvation continues in sanctification and will culminate in the perseverance and glorification of all saints when Christ returns. Since human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice, they naturally face the condemnation of God. Salvation comes only to those who repent of their sin and place faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation cannot be gained in any other way. In following our Protestant tradition, we believe that salvation comes by faith alone, in Christ alone, by God’s grace alone, per the holy scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone. There is no mixture of faith and works in reference to salvation. Those God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Ecclesiastes. 2:11; John 1:12,13; 5:30; 8:12; Ephesians 2:4–10; Romans 3:23–24; Romans 8:28–39; 2 Corinthians 5:17–20; 1 John 3:2)

Salvation starts in a point in time

There is a specific time that salvation comes into a believer’s life.  I believe it is a simultaneous act of repentance and faith.

  1. Repentance – A brokenness over one’s rebellion against God; a person sees at the time of repentance that they have done nothing but sin against God their whole life and are grieved by this fact. In this broken state they turn from sin to God. After true repentance there will be in one’s life the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8).

  2. Faith – In order to receive the gift of salvation one must come to Christ with faith, so there is no boasting on what a person has done, but instead the believer looks humbly to the work of Christ on the Cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Looking on this daily takes faith every morning when a believer wakes up and only God through His Holy Spirit can give this faith; yet at the same time, the person must believe in the Gospel with faith. “Faith is marked by whole hearted trust/commitment, and evidenced by obedience/good works.” – Pete Schemm

Salvation confirms and perfects

Once a person is saved to Christ, they are continually and on a daily bases being transformed into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18).  This brings liberty to walk in the power of the Spirit instead of the sinful nature. And every believer one day will be perfected in Christ because of the power of Him who made us. The work was started by Him and it will be completed by Him on the day of His return (Philippians 1:6).

Our Response

Therefore, we must acknowledge, accept, and trust in two very important truth. In simple terms, “I am not God, and I need help from my sinfulness.”

Believe and accept

First, we must believe and accept what God Says about each and everyone of us. In His Word, God says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). This means we believe that we have rebelled against a holy, set apart God, having done nothing but sinned against Him their entire life. Furthermore, because of that sin, one believes that “the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23a).” This means, because of our sinfulness, we deserve an eternity separated from God call Hell. This is bad news.

Repent, Trust, and Obey

However, the loving God has given us hope, the good news. God have given us hope, in that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8, ESV).” Once we have come to the knowledge of our sinfulness, we must first repent. Repentance means, one must change their mind about whatever is keeping him or her from trusting Christ and trust Him to save him or her.

 Then, we must fully trust that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. The writer of Ephesians states it this way, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9, ESV).” We must trust that is it is only by Faith in the work of Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection, that one can truly experience God’s gift of salvation.  

Finally, because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior, we obey His commandments called the Bible (Rom. 10:9-10, Eph. 2:10ff).  This means that we seek to understand God more. We do this through communion with His Word and His Local church. It is only here that one can “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (II Peter 3:18).”

The Lord’s Supper

THE Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another; but rather is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ’s death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.

Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Scripture; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, misrepresents the nature of a Sacrament, and gives raise to many superstitions.

The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith.

The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped.

The One Oblation of Christ Finished Upon the Cross

The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the elect, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. Christ died for all sufficiently, but for the elect efficiently. Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.

Statements of Faith

From these core, Doctrinal Views, GGM professes these statements of faith. We believe that all matters of faith and conduct must be evaluated on the basis of Holy Scripture, which is our inspired, inerrant, and infallible guide (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Since the Holy Scriptures speak to the nature of creation, human life, and sexuality, it is imperative that we correctly understand and articulate what the Bible teaches on these matters.

We are committed to the home and family as set forth in Holy Scripture. We believe God has ordained and created marriage to exist between one man and one woman, with absolute marital fidelity. The Bible sets forth specific home and family values, which include the distinct roles of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers and children. It is our firm conviction that we uphold the dignity of each individual as we embrace the unchanging and longstanding principles of scriptural truth.”

Based on Holy Scripture and the constant moral teaching of the universal Church we believe the following:

  1. Complementarian

We affirm that men and women have different but complementary roles and responsibilities with regards to marriage, family life, and church polity.  We believe God established righteous, godly men to lead His church and their families (I Timothy 3; Titus 1).  In the beginning, we believe that God provided a “helper,” i.e. woman, to be a partner with man (Gen.1-2, Eph.5:21-33). Therefore, we see women’s primary ministry is to other women (I Timothy 3:1-13; I Peter 3:7; Titus 2).

  1. Marriage

In accordance with the biblical narrative, we affirm that God has ordained marriage as the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal “one flesh” union of one man and one woman, intrinsically ordered for procreation and biological family. We believe that this biblical union holds the foundation to moral, spiritual, and public good of any society and culture. God has rightly ordained marriage as a covenant relationship. Therefore, we, GGM staff and evangelists, shall only recognize and participate in Biblical unions between one man and one woman. We believe it is a gift from God (Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 2:18-24, Matthew 19:4-9, Mark 10:5-9, I Cor. 7; Ephesians 5:21-33).

  1. Singleness

We believe that Holy Scripture grants two life-enhancing options for human sexual behavior: (1) the conjugal “one flesh” marital union of one man and one woman, and (2) singleness. Either is a gift from God, given as He wills for His glory and the good of those who receive and rejoice in His gift to them. Faithful singleness is to be celebrated and affirmed within GGM. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:18, 21-24; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:5-8; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 7:1-8; Matthew 19:12; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Romans 12:10; 1 Timothy 5:1-2).

  1. Divorce

We believe divorce is prohibited by our God except in the case of adultery and when an unbelieving spouse desires to leave a believing spouse. (Matthew 5:32; I Corinthians 7:10-16). If someone is married and divorced prior to faith in Jesus Christ they are considered to be forgiven of their sins and are able to participate with GGM.

  1. Remarriage

We believe remarriage for Christians apart from divorce because of adultery or death of a spouse is prohibited. (Luke 16:18). If someone is divorced and remarried prior to salvation they are considered to have been forgiven of their sins and are able to participate with GGM.

  1. Sextual Immorality

Biblically, we affirm that sexual immorality is a perversion of divine standards and homosexuality is a violation of nature and natural affections. (Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 18:7-23, Leviticus 20:10-21, Deuteronomy 5:18, Matthew 15:19, Matthew 5:27-28, Matthew 15:19, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 4:17-19, Colossians 3:5).

Also, we believe that sexual acts outside of conjugal marriage are prohibited as sinful. Consequently, GGM evangelists and volunteers must resist and refrain from any and all sexual acts outside marriage — including but not limited to adultery, fornication, incest, zoophilia, pornography, prostitution, masturbation, voyeurism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, sodomy, polygamy, polyamory, sologamy, or same-sex sexual acts.

  1. Sexual Identity

We believe that God created mankind in His image: male (man) and female (woman), sexually different but with equal personal dignity. Consequently, GGM evangelists and volunteers must affirm their biological sex and refrain from any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their predominant biological sex —including but not limited to elective sex-reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or nonbinary “genderqueer” acts or conduct. (Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 1:26-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

  1. Sexual Orientation

We believe that God created and ordered human sexuality to the permanent, exclusive, comprehensive, and conjugal “one flesh” union of man and woman, intrinsically ordered to procreation and biological family, and in furtherance of the moral, spiritual, and public good of binding father, mother, and child. Consequently, GGM evangelists and volunteers must affirm the sexual complementarity of man and woman and resist any and all same-sex sexual attractions and refrain from any and all same-sex sexual acts or conduct, which are intrinsically disordered. (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:5-9, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19:7-9, Revelation 21:2).

  1. Sexual Redemption

With great humility, we believe that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and should seek redemption through confession, repentance, baptism, and faith in Jesus Christ. Consequently, GGM evangelists and Evangelist must welcome and treat with respect, compassion, and sensitivity all who experience same-sex attractions or confess sexually immoral acts but are committed to resisting sexual temptation, refraining from sexual immorality, and conforming their behavior to our Statement of Faith. While God loves the sexually immoral and offers salvation, those who continue in an unbiblical lifestyle stand in violation of our Statement of Faith. (Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-10, I Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16).

  1. Abortion and Human life

In accordance with the biblical narrative, we believe that God has created mankind in His image (Imago Dei) and that human life begins at fertilization (Gen. 1-3; Deut. 32:6; Ps.139:1-24; Job 10:8-10; Eccl. 11:5). God, in his infinite sovereignty, uniquely formed human beings and gave them a special dignity, personal freedom, and individual accountability among all the works of creation. Human beings have been made for relationship with God and to be good and faithful stewards of creation (Gen. 2). God created each person’s inmost being, knitting each person together in his mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13). As God’s individualized and personal creation, each person is fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14). God has ordained all the days of each person’s life and written them in His book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16).

Since all human persons contain the image of God, we must promote the dignity and sanctity of all human life. Therefore, every person from conception to the elderly, regardless of their abilities and resources, possesses dignity and is worthy of respect, love, and mercy. Therefore, in light of the Holy Scriptures and the constant moral teaching of the universal church, GGM believes:

  • From the moment of fertilization until natural death, every human life is sacred because every human life has been created by God, in His image and likeness.

  • From the moment of fertilization, every human life must be recognized, respected, and protected as having the rights of a person and the inviolable right to life.

  • The right to life and physical integrity of every unborn human life is inviolable — it is not a concession made by society or the state, but is instead inherent to the unborn human life by virtue of its creation in the image of God.

  • Because human life begins at the moment of fertilization, it is against our religious and moral conviction to formally or materially cooperate in the termination of unborn human life.

  • We are strongly committed to the preservation and defense of unborn human life, which compels our religious, moral, and ethical duty to defend unborn human life from destruction, whether by surgical abortion or use of drugs, devices, or services that have the intent, design, effect, or risk of terminating unborn human life or preventing its implantation and growth post-fertilization.

  • The Church and all her ministers and ministries should publicly witness to society and to the state regarding the intrinsic, inherent, and inviolable dignity of all human life, from fertilization to natural death.

With respect to Abortion, GGM incorporates by reference the following Holy Scriptures (ESV), which are cited in the statements, resolutions, commentaries, or doctrines of Christian denominations that are expressly and vocally opposed to abortion: Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, Roman Catholic Church, and Southern Baptist Convention:

  • Genesis 1:26-28- “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

  • Genesis 25:21-22- “And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?””

  • Exodus 20:13- ““You shall not murder”

  • Psalm 22:9-10- “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”

  • Psalm 139:13-16- “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

  • Isaiah 49:5- “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—”

  • Job 10:8-12- “Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.”

  • Jeremiah 1:4-5- “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.””

  • Luke 1:39-45- “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.””

  • Luke 18:15-17- “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.””

[1] David Paul Washer Heart Cry Missions