Chapter 13

Other Biblical
Doctrines & Beliefs

We believe it is not the Pastoral Staff’s responsibility to dominate or lord it over the sheep, but I do believe it is the responsibility of the Pastoral Staff to take initiative to leave their offices and go seek out the scattered and the lost and bring them back, not wait for them to come to them. As a Pastor it would be my goal to knock on the door of every home in the community at least once a year.

We believe that Jesus’ will and way for the Pastor to fully do this work according to Ephesians 4:11-13 is through properly training Laymen to do the work of ministry so they themselves can seek out and bring back the scattered and the lost.

Finally, We believe that the call of the Pastoral Staff is not to hinder Jesus’ will and call for the individual sheep but to teach Laymen principles of discernment so they can first discern Jesus’ will in their lives. Second, help them discover and discern what the obstacles to Jesus’ will in their lives are that are keeping it from being fulfilled. Third, then do whatever is necessary to see those obstacles removed so that Jesus’ will in their lives can be realized.

Concerning MONEY MATTERS, it is our conviction that since the Pastor’s job is to study and preach the Word and to represent Jesus and the Church that he should not involve himself in anything which would provide opportunity for slander against the church whether true or false. The Bible teaches to abstain even from the appearance of evil. Where ever money matters are involved, evil always follows. His job should not be to worry about paying the bills and raising money, but ministering God’s word to His people. When his job is collecting money and paying the bills of the church, instead of spending all his free time studing the Word, he is spending all his free time trying to raise money to pay the bills of the Church. Also, instead of preaching in the pulpit what the Holy Spirit wants him to preach and teach, the pulpit becomes dominated with his preaching about money matters to pay the bills. His job is to preach the Word of God without compromise as the Holy Spirit leads and instructs him. Money matters put pressure to not preach the whole counsel of God for fear of not being able to bring in the money needed for Church projects. No Pastor should have this kind of pressure or temptation put upon him.

Money matters are the responsibility of the congregation. The Biblical pattern that we believe God desires is set out in Acts Chapter 6. In this Chapter the Apostles appointed spirit filled laymen to deal with money matters and needs within the congregation so that the Apostles could be free to "Devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). The Church belongs to the membership. Therefore money matters are their burden and concern.

There should be a Church membership elected Laymen Board which handles these matters and brings these matters before the congregation. The Pastor can bring his concerns before this board about what he thinks is needed in the church, but he should be kept out of the process of raising and building or whatever the need may be in any form to avoid bringing a reproach against the ministry. The Pastor’s job is to teach and preach the word and train the congregation for ministry. It is the congregations responsibility, however, to raise whatever is needed to carry out this ministry work.

An example of this would be making issue out of dress in order to draw attention a richer segment of society. The Scripture clearly condemns this (James 2:9). We believe the call of the Church is to in a the Holy Spirit of love and Jesus’ presence uphold the absolutes of the Word of God by demonstrating what is good, acceptable and perfect.

How do we do this? I think it is important that we note something else in this passage of Ezekiel I mentioned in number 4 above. The first thing God says is, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock" (Ezek 34:2-3). God is talking here about the focus of the shepherds of Israel which is not the needs of the sheep but their attire and income. In modern terms the focus of the modern Churches of America is middle and upper class, large building projects, and dress. Not that the middle and upper classes are less important than the poor, or that there isn’t a true need at times to build Church buildings? I am talking here about an attitude. You are not spiritual unless you have a certain income, drive a certain kind of car, and wear a beautiful suit to Church. The late Francis A. Schaeffer calls this making absolutes out of something the Bible never declares is an absolute. We spend millions of dollars on buildings and hundreds of dollars on suits while our brethren are inadequately clothed and are not eating properly and are not being fed spiritually. Francis A. Schaeffer in his book, 2 Contents, 2 Realities states,

"The obvious illustration is how the Church treats the hippie or a person dressed in this different way. Young people come to us at L’Abri from the ends of the earth, become Christians, and go home and then try to find a Bible-believing Church that will accept them without all the change of lifestyle. I do not mean they try to retain a drug life or a promiscuous sex life which would be against the Word of God. I mean, for example, the way they dress or talk. It is one of my greatest sorrows. The evangelical Church often will not accept the person with his lifestyle unless it fits into the middle class norm in that particular geographical location. And unhappily, we often do not realize what we have done when we do this. It is not only a lack of love. We have destroyed the absolutes of the Word of God by making something else equal to God’s absolutes."^452/11

What Francis A. Schaeffer means by "destroying the absolutes of the Word of God" is that men and women in society are turned away from the Gospel and Jesus because they see things paraded in the Church as absolutes that are not absolutes but are in fact evil and destructive. Pastor Goodell who wrote, Pastoral and Personal Evangelism in 1907 prophesied of our day, He wrote,

"There is a great cry coming up from the Churches. We are not keeping pace with the growth of our land. May it not be true the one reason is to be found in the fact that increased wealth has made the Church less careful for the spiritual needs of others and less ready to meet the self-denial which the fathers welcomed."^453/22

The Church will never bring revival in America or retain its Membership as long as it parades the symbols of a degenerate materialistic society. Many people who are not well to do will not step foot into a Church because they are intimidated by their lack of expensive dress. No pastor or Christian minister who has any concern for reaching the lost in our society with the Gospel can say he has true compassion and at the same time wear expensive suits in the pulpit. The minister who does is not concerned about the Gospel but in attracting a certain segment of society that will bring wealth and riches into his collection plate.

If we are to reach the lost in our society two things in the Church are going to have to be changed: first, the Church must do away with false absolutes. Primarily here we are talking about dress and focus. We do not win the world by imitating their materialistic ways. We do it first by demonstrating what the will of God is. Paul stated in Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and happily-pleasing and perfect." The Church is commanded to not conform itself to the world’s ways, but to in fact stand apart from the world and to demonstrate God’s true absolutes: "That which is good and happily-pleasing and perfect."

To reach the lost the Church must first provide an atmosphere in which any man, woman, or child would feel comfortable without intimidating his or her inadequacies. Dress is not an issue of salvation or even sanctification necessarily in this context, but any Christian Layman who cares about reaching the lost will support his Pastor’s concern in this way by not using the Church as a basis for flaunting his wears either.

As a Pastor I would do nothing to drive anyone away because of their material inadequacies. At the same time we are as committed to loving and reaching out to the needs of the rich as well as the poor for Christ but in an atmosphere of love that upholds and does not add to God’s absolutes clearly taught in the Scripture. Favoritism is absolutely and clearly condemned in the scripture. For this reason we are committed to strive toward an atmosphere of non-partiality in love (James 2:1-9).

"Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the Church. He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the Church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." (Eph 5:22-24, Col 3:18)

The Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11:2 that in the family relationship that Jesus is direct authority over the man concerning his home and that the man is in direct authority over the wife. The wife’s submission to her husband, Paul tells us in Ephesians, is to be exactly the same as the man's submission to Christ. Exactly! "As the Church is subject to Christ so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." Jesus does not hold the wife responsible for her husband's management of the home, but he does hold her responsible for how well she walks in obedience to her husband whether she agrees with his management or not.

Many Churches and denominations today try to explain away this Biblical teaching concerning the husband wife relationship by saying that Paul was teaching what was fitting for the culture of his day. But what does Paul say about the commands in his writings? He gives us his answer in 1 Corinthians 14:37-38,

"If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are Adonai’s commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized."

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Jesus' commands of yesterday are just as relevant today and will be forever. They do not change. "For I, Yehovah, do not change" (Mal 3:6). The Apostle Paul further teaches us that the woman was created for man's sake, to be his helper (1 Cor 11:9). Paul further explains that the man is the glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man (1 cor 11:7). What does this mean that the woman is the glory of man? This can be answered by explaining how man is the glory of God.

Jesus, in talking about Himself in John 17:1 states, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You." How does Jesus glorify the Father? He gives us the answer in John 17:4, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given Me to do." Jesus glorified the Father by obeying and fulfilling the Father’s plan for His life. The individual man glorifies the Father by first finding out what his will for his life is according to Ephesians 5:15-17 and then by obeying and fulfilling what the Father has called him to do with his life.

In light of this, how does the woman glorify her husband? By seeking Jesus according to Ephesians 5:15-17 as to how she can best develop and use her talents and abilities to help her husband fulfill Jesus’ calling in his life and by obeying her husband in all things concerning their life together. When she does this, she is not only glorifying her husband but Jesus as well. When a woman seeks to please and compliment her husband in his calling and work in life she is pleasing Jesus with her life.

What does the Bible teach about the husband as the leader of the home? Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her." The Bible teaches that the husband is to love his wife and family as Jesus loved and is loving the Church. How does he do this? To answer this question we need to answer the question, How did and does Jesus love the Church? First, Jesus loved us by dying for us that we may live. The husband is to if necessary give his life for his wife and family that they may live. Second, Jesus said about himself in Matthew 20:28, "The son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Jesus said he came to serve us. He did this first by dying on the cross for our sins. He does this now by first revealing to us what his will for our lives are and then doing what he can to help us fulfill his will for our lives. The husband is to love his wife by telling her how she can best help him as his partner in life and calling and then giving her whatever is necessary in material and Educational training to make that possible. Concerning his children, he serves them by seeking Jesus for each of them individually as to His will and plan for their lives according to Ephesians 5:15-17 and then doing whatever he can materially and financially and Educationally to see that Jesus’ will in their lives is established and fulfilled. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:14 "For children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children".

Pastors and marriage counselors have no authority over a man’s authority in the home except in violation of moral issues clearly taught in black and white in the Bible. Other than that, the only authority a Pastor or marriage counselor has in a marriage situation is solely on an advisory level and that based on Scripture. They have no authority to dictate to the man how his house is to be run.

In-laws also have no authority in the home except on an advisory level. Moses wrote in Genesis and Jesus quoted Moses as saying, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (Gen 2:24, Matt 5:19). When a man and woman come together in marriage, they leave their parents’ homes and start their own home and the authority of the parents in their lives ends. Whether the in-laws agree with the husbands management of the home or not, Jesus holds the woman responsible for whether she submits to her husband or not, not her or his parents. In-laws which encourage a woman to rebel against her husband are not fighting the husband’s authority in the situation, but Jesus’ authority in the situation. When they do they are committing sin not only against the authority of the husband in his home but against Jesus himself. Pastors and marriage counselors which encourage wives to disobey the leadership of their husbands in their relationship and home are not fighting the authority of the husband in his home, but Jesus’ authority in that home and are sinning against Jesus and that home as a result. Any teaching contrary to this is straight from the pit of hell, not from God.

What if the man and woman already have separate careers and they want to get married? The husband is the head of the home. If your fiancé (man) agrees to allow you to have a separate career in your marriage then you are in submission to your husband and to Christ. But you better be sure before you are married that your fiancé is truly agreeable before you get married, because if after you are married your husband asks you to drop your carrier, if you want to continue under the Lordship of Christ you will have to honor your husband’s request. This is true after marriage as well. If your husband agrees to allow you to pursue a separate career then you are still under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The important issue here to the woman considering marriage or already married is that your husband’s decision whether you agree with it or not is Jesus’ decision and Lordship over your life at any time in your marriage.

"I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of fornication,⁴⁵⁴ makes her commit adultery;³⁴¹ and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (Matt 5:32)

"Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh’? Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. . . . I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another woman commits adultery." (Matt 19:4-6, 9).

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 that Jesus instructed concerning two mates that are believers:

• The wife is not to leave her husband. If she does she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.

• The husband is not to leave his wife. If he does he must remain unmarried or be reconciled to his wife.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 about believers with unbelieving mates:

• If the unbelieving wife consents to stay, do not send her away.

• If the unbelieving husband consents to stay, do not send him away.

• The unbelieving husband and wife are Sanctified through their believing spouses; as a result, also the children are clean and holy.

• But if the unbeliever leaves, let them go. You are not under bondage in such cases, for God has called us to peace.

• We cannot save our spouses (Ps 49:7-9, John 6:44). This is why we are to let them go. If they can be saved, Jesus will save them and bring them back.

The only other basis for freedom to consider remarriage is if the divorced mate remarries. In this case he or she has committed adultery. In the Old Testament adultery was punished by stoning the two parties to death. When one spouse or the other remarries the original relationship becomes forever irreconcilable.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:12, "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." For this is the law and the prophets. Do you want to drink polluted water? Of course not! Then do not pollute others water. Do you want someone else to remove grass and foliage from your land so the rain will wash the top soil away and be unable to grow crops for food? Of course not! Do you want to breath polluted air? No one does. To love your neighbor is to act responsively toward your environment since all men benefit from it. To love your neighbor is to take all of humanity and future generations into consideration before moving ahead with a project that would endanger the environment.

Loving your neighbor is to always take your neighbor into consideration in any decision you make. To do other wise is selfish and therefore sin. Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."

John the Baptist said, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise" (Luke 3:11). It does not glorify God to live in dire poverty. He promises in his word to meet all our needs (Phil 4:19). It is okay and righteous to meet your and your family’s needs materially. What is wrong is to hoard and accumulate things you do not need. This puts an unnecessary strain on the already strained delicate ecology of our planet. Paul the Apostle wrote in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 "But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content."

Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." Jesus says we are not to seek the world and things. He says we are to seek to bring His kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven and His righteousness. Bringing Jesus’ kingdom on the earth means walking truthfully and honestly and doing justice to all. It means giving to him who does not have. It means not polluting someone else’s water because you want to drink clean water. It means acting responsively toward our environment for everyone’s benefit when doing anything that involves the environment.

The problem is not our needs which we justify as a reason for exploiting our environment, but our unwillingness to trust in God’s faithfulness to show us how to meet our power and material needs without exploiting or polluting our environment through prayer and our making a commitment to not move forward until He gives us that answer. He promises generous wisdom to all who ask him (James 1:5). He created it all. He knows better than anyone how best to manage it. When will we put our pride aside and give Him the chance to prove that to us.

11. Concerning ABORTION we read the following story about Mary’s, the mother of Jesus, visit to Elizabeth, the mother of John;

"Now at this time Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it came about when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, ‘Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.’" (Lk 1:39-44)

If the baby in the womb is not a human being, then how can it leap for joy at the presence of another human being in the womb. Abortion is just as much murder of a human being as shooting an innocent five year old child. I do not support abortion or any other form of unjustified man slaughter except where both the mother and the child would surely die without it due to physiological and medical reasons. It is never justified for psychological reasons any more than a mother drowning her five year old child is justified for psychologicial reasons. As a Pastor, with the support of the Church, I would offer whatever aid and support I can to help the individual through child birth and adoption if necessary, but murder is never justified or supportable.

If they are not ready to have or raise the child, the child can be put up for adoption. Putting your child up for adoption can be a very loving act if you are not ready to raise a child. There is no reason for condemnation in it, and we are not here to condemn anyone. Jesus loves you. So do we. But manslaughter is never sanctioned by Scripture.

"And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed, and if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gather."

What do we do when we know a brother or sister is living in sin? The first step is for us individually to go to that person ourselves in private and in love (Eph 4:15) without anyone else’s knowledge and point out to him or her the error of their way(s). If this does not bring about repentance, the Bible tells us that the next step is to then go and get one or two others to go with us to confirm through two or three witnesses that what we individually have said in private is true and Biblical. If this fails, only then do you bring it to the attention of the leadership of the Church, again in private, and turn it over to them to take it from there.

Why does Jesus give this kind of formula for Church discipline? Because this is the way of love. Our goal is not to destroy the reputation of the individual before the body and the world, but if possible to bring that person to repentance without it becoming public knowledge. This is not man’s idea, but Jesus’. Jesus loves each of us individually and has no desire to destroy us publicly. The person who does this without going through the above procedure is called a reviler in Scripture, and thus a sinner. 1 Corinthians 5:11 states that we are to avoid such men as these. A person’s moral problem is only to be brought to the attention of the leadership of the Church as a last resort because the first two steps failed. This last step, turnign it over to the Church Leadership, should only be taken after you have given that individual sufficient time to deal with what you have said. We suggest committing it to prayer and only taking this step if you are convinced that the Lord is telling you to go ahead and take this step after a reasonable period of time. A week is reasonable. Check with the person to see if he had made a decision to repent. If he has not, then take it to the Church. If you do not obey the Lord in this, there are spiritual and demonic ramifications upon the church body that will happen because of the individuals ongoing sin. I explain why thoroughly in my book The Nature of Spiritual Warfare.

Traditionally there are four theological views concerning communion:

Transubstantiation: This is the Catholic view. This teaches that when the priest consecrates the elements of wine and bread that Jesus’ presence enters the elements and they literally are changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Consubstantiation: This is the Lutheran view: When the bread is consecrated by faith Jesus’ body and blood become present in the elements, but the elements remain bread and wine.

Reformed: This is the Calvinist view: The elements are just bread and wine. Jesus’ presence becomes supernaturally present in them, but not his literal body and blood.

Memorialist: This view teaches that the presence of Jesus is already in the hearts of the believers by Faith through accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord. The taking of the bread and wine is symbolic only. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

Our conviction and belief about communion is the following: The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26,

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Adonai-Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes."

What is the purpose of communion? Jesus in Matthew 26 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 tell us it is our constantly reminding ourselves and our publicly witnessing to the world the death of Jesus Christ for our sins until He returns. Therefore I believe that it is a symbolic reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross and our witness to the world of what he did for us and for them until He returns.

What about Jesus’ presence in communion? Jesus said in John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him." Jesus promises us that when we obey his commands to us that he will reveal Himself to us. We believe therefore that when we obey Jesus’ command to partake of communion that according to His promise in John 14:21 that He will manifest and reveal his presence and person to us and His will for our lives as it relates to each of us individually. We do not believe however that His presence is in the Elements themselves. We do not believe that Jesus’ promise in John 14:21 is limited to communion only. We believe that Jesus will manifest Himself to us when we obey any of His commands given to us in His Word or through His Holy Spirit not in contradiction to the Bible.

Baptism into the Body of Christ

Baptism in Water

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

In Water Baptism we witness to the world that when we received Jesus into our hearts as Savior and Lord that we were made one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17) and as a result we died and were buried with Him in death, we go under the water, and then are raised to newness of life in the Holy Spirit, we come up out of the water. This also symbolizes that as Jesus was raised to physical life immortal so we to will be raised to life immortal to be with the Lord forever in heaven.

Water Baptism does not save us. We are saved when we believe in our heart the Gospel and confess Jesus as Lord:

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

When we believe on the Gospel God automatically gives us His Holy Spirit as a result:

Ephesians 1:13-14 "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory."

Water Baptism is equivalent to circumcision in the Old Testament. Like us, Abraham was not saved through circumcision, but by believing on the promises of God. Genesis 15:6 states "Then he believed in Yehovah ; and He credited it to him as righteousness."

Paul tells us in Romans 4:9-11 that circumcision did not save Abraham but was the seal or evidence of the salvation he already had. In the same way we are not saved by being baptized in water, but when we believe on the promise of God through the Gospel. Peter stated in Acts 10:43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

As we have already stated, Water Baptism is our testimony to the world of the salvation we already have, that we were bornagain which came when we received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; and that when we did we died with Him on the cross, we were then buried with Him, going under the water, and then were raised with Him to newness of life and will be also physically in the resurrection of the body in the same glorified body that He has that will live forever with Him in Heaven (Rom 6:3-5, Col 2:11-12).

Abraham was saved because he believed God’s promise to him that through his descendants he would become heir to the world. As a result of this God declared Abraham righteous (Rom 4:3). Later Abraham sealed his faith with Circumcision (Rom 4:11), but not as the means of his salvation, but as proof of the salvation he already had. Circumcision is part of the law, but it was while Abraham was uncircumcised and without the law that God declared him righteous. His faith in God’s promise to him is what saved him, not circumcision, which came later under the law (Rom 4:11-13).

In the same way we are not saved through water baptism, but by believing on God’s promises concerning His Son Jesus Christ. Paul tells us in Romans 5:9 that we are justified by believing God’s promise that His son’s blood and that alone saves us from out sins, not any works of our own. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith" (Rom 3:27). God proved to us that He did accept the offering of Jesus’ blood and that alone for our sins by bringing Jesus back from the dead (Rom 4:25), thus part of the significance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ: God’s assurance to us that we are saved if we put our trust in Jesus’ shed blood for our sins on the cross, not by any works of our own (Rom 5:9). Water Baptism does not Save us, only Jesus blood does. Like Abraham, water baptism is our witness to the world concerning the faith and salvation we already have before we received water baptism. Water baptism is our visible witness to the world concerning the faith and salvation we already have (Rom 6).

Baptism in the Holy Spirit

When a person is Baptized by Jesus in the Holy Spirit it is always accompanied with speaking in tongues and the person is then able by the Holy Spirit’s discretion when needed to manifest the twelve manifestations of the Holy Spirit outlined in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. The purpose of speaking in tongues and these twelve manifestations of the Holy Spirit is for getting to the root of a problem a person has quickly and and then how they need to pray for the person’s healing in spirit, soul or body. This is explained in great detail with many on the field examples in the Advanced Evangelism Textbook titled Relationship With Jesus the Key to Effective Ministry.⁴⁴⁶

Other Doctrines and Beliefs about the church are explained in The Layman’s Evangelistic Church Manual⁴⁸² and on this website.

16. EVANGELISM? Or PREDESTINATION?  This is a complicated topic and is covered in Section 5 Chapter 5 in the Basic Evangelism Training Textbook.