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The
following is our statement of faith. Campus Crusade for Christ, along
with its Buffalo area chapter, follows these set statements of biblical
Christianity:
1. The sole basis of our beliefs is the
Bible, God's infallible written Word, the 66 books 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 on which it speaks.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. He rose from the dead in the same body,
though glorified, in which He lived and died.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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 justifies them in His sight.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church,
His Body, which is composed of all men and women, living and dead, who
have been joined to Him through saving faith.
15. God admonishes His people to assemble
together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for
edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Jesus Christ will come again to the
earth--personally, visibly and bodily--to consummate history and the
eternal plan of God.
19. 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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