What
We Believe...
In
elaboration of the historical Creeds (which do not mention
an eternal hell) …
*We
believe that the Bible reveals the character of God
and His Story. We find His Story to be one of "creation,
fall (exile), redemption and restoration". Through the
Story of God we are made aware of His plan, His purpose, His
power, and His pleasure.
His
plan:
15 "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all
things have been created through him and for him. 17 He
is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the
beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that
in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was
pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on
earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross." (Col. 1:15-20)
His purpose:
"With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known
to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure,
which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when
the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to
all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." (Eph.
1:10)
"For
God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may
have mercy on them all.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge
of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
'Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor'
'Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?'
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Rom. 11:32-36)
His
Power:
9 "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives
in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to
fullness. He is the head over every power and authority...He
forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of
our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned
us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And
having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
(Col. 2:9-15)
His Pleasure:
"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor
and power: for you have created all things, and for your
pleasure they are and were created." (Rev. 4:11)
*We
believe the word of God is only "alive
and active" in connection with the Word of God Himself,
Jesus Christ (John 1) and cannot be intellectually separated
from Christ and His Spirit or we will end up with dead orthodoxy
and not the life of Christ Himself within us.
"To
them God has chosen to make known among the world the glorious
riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory." (Col. 1:27)
*We
believe in One God, the Creator of
the universe. How God brought this about is irrelevant as
a point to argue since either a literal 6-day creation or
an evolutionary process are both astounding miracles. Science
will not contradict the Bible. God is Lord over, and therefore
in league with, true science or else He is not God.
*We
believe there is fellowship within God, some
call a "trinity", meaning One in three. This is
not a dogma but part of a beautiful drama of love between
the Godhead unified in their plan, purpose, power, and pleasure
which we believe includes the restoration of the fallen universe
including every person who ever lived. There has never been
any tension within the Godhead, but all together planned and
purposed to redeem mankind. As Michael Williams put it, “The
triune God acts covenantally in history: the Father creates,
the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit recreates”. (Far
As the Curse is Found, pg xi)
*We
believe there has been a "fall" from
the creation’s original glory and that things are "not
the way they are supposed to be". The fall was depicted
repeatedly in the Story of God as “exile” which
describes each of us before we are aware of (and have embraced)
our redemption. We believe that death is not natural and is
a direct result of our rebellion against God and not a part
of creation's original design.
*We believe that "the wages
of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 3:23). Therefore the second
Adam (Christ) came to undo the doing of the first Adam, to
reverse the curse, to destroy death, sin and evil, and to
restore all things unto Himself. (Col. 1:20, Eph. 1:10)
"There
is no greater love than this that a man lay down his life
for his friends." (John 15:13)
"God
was is Christ reconciling the world to Himself." (2
Cor. 5:19)
"For
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not for ours
only but for the sins of the whole world." (I John2:2)
*We
believe the atonement has many facets and that it
cannot be limited by any one theological camp. As it has been
pointed out it is, together, like:
a
defendant going free,
a relationship being reconciled,
something lost being redeemed,
a battle being won,
a final sacrifice being offered,
an enemy being loved,
*We
believe that if the atonement does not make
us into "atoners" (world-changers) then we have
not been inhabited by its living truth. We recommend Scott
McKnight's book on this subject, "A Community Called
Atonement":
"Atonement
theology, McKnight insists, cannot operate with only one
theory; it needs all of the Biblical metaphors and each
of the atonement models. They all come together... More
than just being gutsy, orthodox, creative, as well as scholarly
in character, this book actually atones; it models what
it sets out to demonstrate, namely, that the church is summoned
to work with God in His atoning work."
Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Historical and Systematic
Theology, Regent College
*We
believe that there is judgment. Contrary
to the accusations, we believe more seriously in God's holiness
and therefore judgment. The difference is the nature of that
judgment. We believe all judgment is remedial even when it
is said to "destroy" the sinner. While our salvation
is said to be all of grace we are told in no uncertain terms
that we must have the fruit in alignment with a changed heart.
If not, we are inauthentic and have not truly heard the message
of God's love and forgiveness and we will be held accountable.
Whatever we have held out against God, (the Grain of the Universe),
will be refined out, “as though one going through the
fire.” (I Cor 3:15)
Most
Christians shrug off Scriptures that talk about being accountable
for their actions and insulate themselves with verses about
grace. This is because whenever they encounter a verse speaking
about judgment they feel threatened with eternal hell. But
if we know that all God's judgments are right and good we
will have the courage to look at these passages and maybe
they will finally strike some healthy fear and bring about
some changes:
“In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured,
until he should pay back all he owed. ‘This is how
my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive
your brother from your heart.’” (Matt. 18:34)
“Do
not judge for you shall all stand before the judgment seat
of Christ.” (Rom. 14:10)
“Do
good for you will receive according to what you have done
whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)
“The
Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb.
10:31)
“Do
not grumble against each other brothers
or you will be judged; the Judge is standing at the door.”
(James 5:9)
*We believe in the final restoration
and consummation of all things in Christ, a desire and plan
that cannot be thwarted. Job 42:2 says, “I know that
you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be
thwarted.”
“The message of the empty tomb is that God’s
triumph over sin and death is total, that history is moving
toward nothing less than a fully restored and glorified
universe. All that went into the tomb under the curse came
out raised to newness of life. The restoration of all things,
signified and promised in the resurrection of Christ, is
the direction in which redeemed creation is traveling. This
is both the believer’s hope and the horizon in which
we must understand all reality.”
..................................................................Michael
Williams, Far As the Curse is Found, pg 291
*Finally,
we believe that anything we say we
believe is negated by a life inconsistent with that
belief system. Orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy... always. There
is no true orthodoxy without orthopraxy. To have a belief
system divorced from a lifestyle of love was a thought foreign
to Jesus and the Biblical writers. So the above beliefs mean
absolutely nothing if not accompanied by a life reflecting
God's own heart for the world...love, justice, redemption,
and restoration.
Also, from the “Evangelical
Universalist” site:
Minimal Statement of Faith for Evangelical Universalists
1)
We believe in the divine inspiration of the Old and New
Testaments (the Bible) and consider them authoritative for
Christian faith and practice
2) We believe in the faith of the Church as contained in
the Nicene Creed
3) We believe the Bible teaches the hope that God will eventually
redeem all humanity through Christ
