Forgiveness Ministries Statement of Faith

• We believe that there is only one God.  He had no beginning and has no end.  He is outside of time as we experience it.  He is behind all, above all, and beyond all that we can see or imagine.   
  

• We believe that God is revealing Himself through Creation, uniquely through the Bible, through His people and perfectly through His Son, Jesus Christ.
  

• We believe that this one God exists as one being, but three distinct persons; the Father; the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.  Each of these three persons is distinct and real, with different ministries.  However, together, they are one entity, one being, one God.  For this reason, God is never alone – He has three relationships within Himself.
  

• We believe that God is love, that He is always willing to sacrifice Himself for the well-being of others.  We believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have perfectly loving relationships with each other.  We also believe that God wants to share His experiences of loving relationships with others.
  

• We believe that God is responsible for creating all things, both the things we can see and the things we cannot see.  We also believe that God created human beings according to His own image and likeness.  We have the capacity to think, choose, and feel like God does.  We also have the capacity for loving relationships both with God and with other people.  For these reasons, people are incredibly valuable!
  

• We believe that the world as we know it is not the world God created.  God’s world has been damaged and devastated by sin (man’s choice to love himself rather than God).  Everyone has been contaminated by sin and is selfish by nature.  We believe that all people are broken and are suffering terribly under the consequences of sin.
  

• We believe that human beings cannot solve the problem of sin.
  

• We believe that God solves the problem of sin through Jesus Christ and only through Jesus Christ.  We believe that because of God’s love, God the Son became a human being, and volunteered to pay the penalty for the world’s sin by allowing Himself to be executed. 
  

• We believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and now lives to impart His perfect, good, and loving nature to those who believe in Him and want to stop sinning.  Jesus fixes broken people.  We believe that through Jesus Christ we will become people who love God and love people the way Jesus does
  

• We believe that the Holy Spirit lives within every true believer to transform him or her into the character likeness of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit heals, teaches guides, empowers, encourages, protects and comforts God’s people.  The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to be like Jesus.
  

• We believe that God will bring an end to sin and to this broken world on a final “Judgment Day.”  On that day God will restore His original design.  Those who have believed in Jesus will receive new bodies and live on a newly created earth where love replaces sin and everyone lives in peace and joy.  Those who would rather continue in sin and have rejected Jesus and His life transforming salvation will exist in another place where the terrible consequences of sins continue.