Our Beliefs

STATEMENT OF FAITH

This is the Statement of Outward Expressions Art Ministries Inc. It is not exhaustive and does not cover all the points of doctrine that can be established through the study of the Bible. Rather, it focuses on the central issues, i.e., those that are essential to finding and experiencing life with God through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

THE BIBLE

We accept the Bible, as the written Word of God, including 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. The Bible is the only essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind that leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Scriptures, being given by God, are both completely and verbally inspired by God. Therefore, as originally given, the Bible is free of error in all it teaches. Each book is to be interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power. All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and diligently apply them to their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. The Scriptures are totally and completely sufficient and must not be added to, superseded, or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation, or worldly wisdom. Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology must be out to the test of the full counsel of God in Holy Scripture.

THE TRINITY

We believe there is only one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the godhead there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co equal, and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, yet each is truly Deity. One God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is the foundation of Christian faith and life.

GOD, THE FATHER

We believe that God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His Word and for His glory, He freely and supernaturally created the world from nothing. Through the same Word He daily sustains all his creatures. He rules over all and is the only Sovereign. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those who love Him, and in His unfathomable grace gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for mankind’s redemption. He made mankind for fellowship with Himself and intended that all creation should live to the praise of His glory.

GOD, THE SON

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was the eternal Word made flesh, supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He was perfect in nature, teaching, and obedience. He is fully God and fully man. He was always with God and is God. Through him all things came into being and were created. He was before all things, and in Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation, and in Him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having shed His blood and died a vicarious death on Calvary’s cross. By His death in our place, He revealed the divine love and upheld divine justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day He rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness, and for a period of 40 days appeared to more than 500 witnesses, performing many convincing proofs of His resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, at God’s right hand, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all. He is the Head of His body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served, and obeyed by all.

GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person of the Trinity who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the gospel, He persuades mankind  to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord, thus leading a person to trust in divine mercy. As such, He is the Supernatural Agent in accomplishing our regeneration into life with God. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth, and subsequently indwells believers to fill, empower, teach, and seal them until the day of redemption. He also baptizes every believer into the body of Jesus Christ – the Church.

CREATION

We believe man was created to be the image bearer of God, having been uniquely made in the image and likeness of God. The account of origins presented in Genesis is a simple but factual presentation of actual events. The various forms of life, including mankind, were made by direct creative acts of God. From the beginning, God created male (Adam, the first man) and female (Eve, the first woman) in His own image with different but complementary characteristics. It is thus contrary to God’s created order to attempt to adopt a gender other than a person’s biological sex. Ultimately, it is impossible to do so. Scripture teaches that marriage is the lifelong and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and this is the only context for sexual relationships permitted by the Word of God. Marriage was instituted by God at creation, and it signifies the mystical union between Christ and His Church.

FALL

We believe that sin has fractured all things, leaving the world in desperate need for salvation. In Adam’s rebellion and sin, the human race was plunged into sin and became alienated from God. Through the temptation of Satan, humanity transgressed the command of God and fell from their original holiness and righteousness. Now the entire human race inherits a corrupt nature that is opposed to God and His law. Humanity is therefore totally depraved, which means that of ourselves, we are utterly unable to remedy our lost condition. This depravity is radical and pervasive; it extends to the mind, will, body, and affections. Mankind’s ultimate end in this lost state is subjection to divine wrath, condemnation, and eternal separation from God. Unregenerate humanity lives under the dominion of sin and satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward, and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Jesus Christ.

REDEMPTION

We believe that God, in Jesus Christ, is redeeming a people back to Himself. This good news is revealed in Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Christ’s crucifixion is the heart of the gospel, His resurrection is the power of the gospel, and His ascension is the glory of the gospel. Christ’s death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates His mysterious love and reveals His amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. There is no other name by which mankind can be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine is the cross of Jesus Christ and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have of glorifying God because of what He has accomplished.

Therefore, salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone turning from sin in repentance and looking to Christ and his substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared righteous by God. The righteousness of Christ is imputed and imparted to him. He is justified and fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement for sin, an individual is reconciled to God as Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of their sin and, via the miracle of regeneration, liberated from the law of sin and death into the freedom of God’s Spirit.

RESTORATION

We believe that God, in Jesus Christ, is making all things new. By placing our faith in Jesus, we are united with Him in His death, burial, resurrection, and enthronement. God, in His grace, provided for the death of the old man through the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, believers are raised with Jesus Christ as brand new creations. For this to become an experiential reality, the believer must choose to walk by faith in dependence on the Holy Spirit, thereby subduing the flesh against which he now struggles and defeating the power of sin. Sanctification, the ongoing work of restoration in our lives, is Jesus Christ living His life through the believer as the Holy Spirit serves as the active agent in our maturation, producing His fruit in us as our minds are renewed and we are conformed to the image of Christ. The believer’s ultimate confidence to persevere is based in the sure promise of God to preserve His people until the end, which is most certain.

The consummation of all things includes the visible, personal, and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the judgment of the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth. In the consummation, satan with his hosts and all those outside Christ are finally separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign with Him forever. Married to Christ as His Bride, the Church will be in the presence of God forever, serving Him and giving Him unending praise and glory. Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled, and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.