Statement of Faith

Preparation Ministries, Inc.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

1. We believe that the Bible, as originally given, is inspired by God, and that the revelation of that Word of God is through the Holy Spirit of God who guides us into all truth. (2 Tim 3:15; John 16:13)

2. We believe that Man was created good and upright, but that man sinned, and therefore must suffer the penalty of death. However, we believe that God himself has provided man with his only hope of salvation and redemption, and this redemption is only through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, who IS the Word of God. (Gen 1:26-31; Eccl 7:29; John 1:1,14; Rom 3:23; Rom 5:18; Rom 6:23)

3. We believe in one God, revealed in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that these three persons of the Godhead are without individual variance in will, but who can be recognized individually as to their relationship to one another. We believe the Father is the authority part of the Godhead, and that Jesus Christ is also God in that he is recognized as the earthly manifestation of the Father. We believe that the Holy Spirit is also God, being recognized as the liaison between the Father, who is not seen, and his body, which is seen, in order to reveal God’s power and will to his earthly creation. (Deut 6:4; John 6:38; 1 John 5:7)

4. We believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, that the Holy Spirit of God came upon her, overshadowing her, and thus she conceived. We believe Jesus was therefore born flesh and blood, but that he is also God, in that he is the third part of the Godhead, the body of God, for the purpose of revealing God to humans. We believe that Jesus was born flesh and blood, and therefore subject to the sin nature as all men are subject to the sin nature. Yet, he was without sin, living a perfect life, and through this perfection the way was created for all men to be saved. (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:11; John 1:1,14; John 10:30; Rom 6:23; 1 Tim 3:16; Rev 1:8)

5. We believe in the personal salvation of believers through repentance (turning away) from sin, and in the confession of Jesus Christ as both Savior and as Lord. We believe that salvation should be followed by water baptism in order to demonstrate a true intent to put away the old life and to live life as a new creature, striving against sin, and that the water of baptism symbolizes the burial in death, and a rising up again into new life. We believe salvation is absolutely assured by Jesus Christ, but only as we continue in a state of repentance and sorrow for sin, and which is accompanied by a continued trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. (Matt 7:17-21; Matt 24:13; Matt 28:19; Mk 16:16; Rom 10:9-10; Col 1:21-23; 1 John 1:9; Rev 3:5)

6. We believe that when a person is truly born again in Jesus Christ that they will demonstrate a true effort to testify of God in three ways: by confessing the Father’s word as He spoke it, by living the Father’s word as Jesus lived it, and by walking in the power of the Father’s word as the Holy Spirit demonstrated it. We believe that this threefold testimony will prove that the confession is truly from the heart and not just from the lips. We believe that when this truly happens, the Holy Spirit of God will come into that person and abide there and will both guide the person into the truth of God’s word as well as give outward testimony to this word. (Deut 17:6; John 4:23-24; John 5:36-37; John 10:25; Rom 8:16; James 1:26; James 2:14-26; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:18)

7. We believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit himself is given to all new believers as comforter and guide, and that the Holy Spirit then gives gifts to men according to as he wills, and not as man wills. We believe that although the gift of tongues is a desirable gift, it is not necessary for salvation, nor is it necessarily a precursor to the other gifts. (Acts 2; 1 Cor 12; 1 Cor 14)

8. We believe that all those not found in the Book of Life will be cast out of the presence of God and into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, and that their torment will continue for ever and ever. (2 Thess 1:6-10; Rev 14:9-11; Rev 20;12-15)

9. We believe in Jesus’ physical return to earth in the clouds of heaven, at which time the righteous dead will be resurrected, and they and the righteous who are still living will together rise to meet Jesus in the air. We believe that the millennial reign of Jesus Christ will immediately follow this event, and that we will live and reign with Christ for 1000 years. (Matt 24:29-31; Rom 10:8-10; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Rev 20:1-6)

10. We believe that we all have a responsibility, as God enables us, to minister the Word of God to all those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts to receive, and tongues to confess (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 3:2,6; 2 Timothy 4:1-2; 1 Pet 3:15)