Theology is the study of God or, more generally the study of religious faith, practice, and experience. At New Beginnings we believe that there are three tiers of theological beliefs. It is important to understand that not every disciple agrees which theology belongs in which tier.
First tier theologies are the essentials of the historic Christian faith. The truths espoused in the first tier are critical for faith and cannot be compromised. Each of the truths in the first tier are biblically based and indispensible to the Christian faith. To fail to believe first tier essential truths will jeopardize one’s faith and relationship with God.
Third tier theologies have some importance but fellow members can agree to disagree on third tier issues and continue to worship together with out reservation.
GOD
- God is bigger & better than I can imagine or understand.
Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of
the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all
loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Rom. 8:14-15; 1 Cor. 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Eph. 4:6; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7
JESUS
- Jesus is God showing Himself to us.In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin
Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.
Gen. 18:1 ff.; Psalm 2:7 ff.; 110:1 ff.; Isa. 7:14; 53; Matt. 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16, 27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6, 19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18, 29; 10:30, 38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7- 11; 16:15-16, 28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20, 28; Acts 1:9; 2:22- 24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5, 20; Rom. 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3, 34; 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8, 24-28; 2 Cor. 5:19- 21; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10;
Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thess. 4:14-18; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15, 24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1John 1:7-9,
3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Rev. 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16
HOLY SPIRIT
- God lives in and through me now.The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.
Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Bible
- The Bible is God’s in errant guidebook for life.Biblical inerrancy means that the original biblical text was composed precisely as God inspired it and intended it to be because of God's flawlessness: not just the thought comes from God, but every word with every inflection, every verse and line, and every tense of the verb, every number of the noun, and every little particle are regarded as coming from God. God inspired the authors of the Bible so that they wrote texts that were free of error. Biblical books were free of error in their original autograph copies -- the copies that the authors or authors' scribes themselves wrote down. This allows for minor copying errors to creep into subsequent copies of the original documents by copyist error. However, the errors are minor and never dilute the original intent of the author. Scripture is 'God-breathed,' and God does not breathe falsehood, so the text is faithful and true in all it affirms, including the miracle accounts, the attributed authors, and the historical narratives.
Humanity
- God’s image bearers are fallen due to sin but can be restored by God’s graceHumanity was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by His Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
- God’s grace is the only way to have a relationship with God for now and eternity.
Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.Gen. 3:15; Ex. 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matt. 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Rom. 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3; 5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18, 29-39; 10:9-10, 13; 13:11-14; 1 Cor. 1:18, 30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Cor. 5:17- 20; Gal. 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Phil. 2:12-13; Col. 1:9-22; 3:1; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 2 Tim. 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Heb. 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1 - 12:8, 14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6 to 2:11; Rev. 3:20; 21:1-22:5.
Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.
Sanctification - God’s will is for us to grow in Christlikeness. Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual perfection through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.
Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.
Afterlife
- Death is not the end but the beginning. Heaven and hell are real places.Heaven is the dwelling place of God and for those who go there a place of everlasting bliss. Exact specifics of heaven and hell remain unknown since the exact nature of heaven and hell cannot be known, it is tempting to ascribe some descriptions as allegorical or metaphorical.
Psalm 16:11; John 14:1-3; Philippians 3:20-21; Rev. 21; Matt. 5:20; Matt. 25:34; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; Neh. 9:6; Job 38:7; Psalm 103:20-21; Psalm 148:2-4; Isa. 6:3; Ezek. 3:12; Luke 2:13-14; Luke 15:10; Rev. 1:6; Rev. 4:8-11; Rev. 5:9-14; Rev. 7:9-12; Rev. 11:16-17; Rev. 14:2-3; Rev. 15:3-4; Rev. 19:1-7; Rev. 22:3, 20-27
Hell is the future place of eternal punishment of the damned including the devil and his fallen angels. There are several words in scripture rendered as Hell:
- Hades - A Greek word. It is the place of the dead, the location of the person between death and resurrection.
- Gehenna - A Greek word. It was the place where dead bodies were dumped and burned. Jesus used the greek word “Gehenna” to designate the place of eternal torment.
- Sheol - A Hebrew word. It is the place of the dead, not necessarily the grave, but the place where the dead go. It is used of both the righteous and the wicked. Hell is a place of eternal fire. It was prepared for the devil and his angels and will be the abode of the wicked and the fallen angels.
2 Kings 23:13-14; Psalm 16:10; 30:3; Isaiah 38:10; Num. 16:33; Job. 24:19; Psalm 9:17; Matt. 5:22, 29,30; 10:28; 11:23; 16:18; 25:41; Luke 16:27–31; John 5:27–29; Acts 11:27; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 14:11; 22:8; 2 Pet. 2:4
The Church
- The only true world ‘superpower’ is the church. It will last forever.A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation members are equally responsible. Its
Scriptural officers are pastors/elders and deacons. The New Testament speaks also of the
church as the body of Christ, which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
Matt. 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42, 47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23, 27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11, 21; 5:22-32; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:18; 1 Tim. 3:1-15; 4:14; 1Peter 5:1-4; Rev. 2-3; 21:2-3
Prayer
- Prayer can do anything God can do.
Adoration – Praising God for Who He is, extolling His perfect character, nature, and virtues.Phil. 4:6-7; Romans 12:12; Matthew 6:5-8; Matthew 6:9-15; 1John 1:9; 1John 5:14-15; John 16:24; John 15:5
Thanksgiving – Praising God for what He has done. Jesus showed us how to utilize prayer to express God’s will purposes.
Supplication - We ask God to supply our needs. We pray for God’s will to be done in our personal lives, in our family, in our church, in our ministry, in our jobs, in our country. Jesus utilized prayer to ask God to provide for our needs. Rick Warren remind us that we should focus on our “needs” and not on our “greeds,” Jesus showed us how to ask for spiritual protection.
Confession - Jesus showed us how we should ask God to forgive us so we can remain in fellowship with Him. When we confess our sin and ask God for forgiveness: We must ask the Holy Spirit to reveal every sin. We must confess each sin specifically. We must make restitution to others when necessary. We must, by faith, accept God’s forgiveness. He pattern prayers of Intersession. Jesus showed us how to prayer for others. We must pray for and offer forgiveness for anyone who has wronged us. We also must pray on the behalf of others: our leaders, our neighbors, our friends, and our enemies.
Second Coming
- Jesus is coming again to judge the world and gather His children.
The views among individual Christians regarding the end times are broad. There are a number of things the bible teaches about the Second Coming of Christ:
- Jesus is coming again. The first coming of Christ was His incarnation when He was born. At the Second Coming of Christ every eye will see Him as He descends from heavens in the
clouds. - No one knows when the Second Coming of Christ will happen. Because this event is so sensational, Christianity plagued by many false teachings. Prediction books have even been written picking the exact day of Jesus' return. These books may sell many copies, but they mislead their readers. There's one guarantee: As soon as someone predicts the day or time of Jesus Christ's second coming, that prediction is wrong. Why? Simply, only God the Father knows when it will be -- Jesus doesn't even know. Jesus told His disciples:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) - Jesus Second Coming will be instant. Jesus wants us to "keep watch." No one but the Father knows when. However, we do know it will take place "as lightning." (Matthew 24:27) Jesus will physically come again for all His believers and for His final judgment. The Bible declares that Jesus will be the final judge of the world. As we get closer and closer to the Second Coming of Christ, there will be increasing and widespread doubt about whether Jesus even existed. People will also start wondering if God really exists and believers will leave the Christian . These are signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
