Statement
of Faith
The Light of the World International Ministry has been formed as a
mission organization to equip and support missionaries and their works.
We are not a denominational organization, nor are we opposed to denominations
as such. The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, God’s infallible
written Word, the 66books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe
that it was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit
and that it was written without error (inerrant) in the original manuscripts.
It is the supreme and final authority in all matters of which it speaks.
We accept those areas of doctrinal
teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement
among all true Christians. Because of the specialized calling
of our movement, we desire to allow for freedom of conviction
on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation
is based upon the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation
shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God
has called us.
1. There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons
– Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-each of whom possesses
equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics
of personality. |
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2. Jesus Christ is God, the living
Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the
Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and
true humanity united in one person forever.
3. He lived a sinless life and voluntarily
atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute,
thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all
who trust in Him alone.
4. He rose from the dead in the same
body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.
5. He ascended bodily into heaven
and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the
only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession
for His own.
6. Man was originally created in the
image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated
from his Creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine
condemnation.
7. Man’s nature is corrupted,
and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need
of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
8. The salvation of man is wholly
a work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or
in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes
His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for
their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.
9. It is the privilege of all who
are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from
the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This
assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced
by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer
the testimony of God in His written word.
10. The Holy Spirit has come into
the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work
of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts
new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual
birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness,
power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life
by faith.
11. Every believer is called to live
so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill
the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.
12. Jesus Christ is the Head of the
Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead,
who have been joined to Him through saving faith.
13. God admonishes His people to assemble
together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances,
for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.
14. At physical death the believer
enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord
and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and
blessing.
15. At physical death the unbeliever
enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord
and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment
and condemnation.
16. Jesus Christ will come again to
the earth – personally, visibly and bodily – to consummate
history and the eternal plan of God.
17. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded
all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to
disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission
requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated
to a total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us.”
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