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Faith :

"..the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen." Heb 11

Salvation testimony

I am trusting in Christ's sacrifice and His resurrection as revealed to me in the Holy Bible for my personal immortality.

In the early 60's, my family began attending an independent Baptist Church; in the years prior, they were nominal Christians; my Dad has mentioned that JFK's assassination shook him out of his complaicency, and got him to investigate spiritual things. He went forward during an invitation one Sunday, and at age 8, I followed him.

I don't really remember much about that day (after all, it was almost half a century ago) but I do remember being a skeptic, even then: it was a Baptist Church, during the 60's, after all; they must have used the 4 Spiritual Laws, and asked me to commit my life to God, to believe in Him. I remember wishing they could prove this Christianity stuff to be true. But I must have made a decision, because God has witnessed with my spirit ever since, that I am one of His.

I was baptized shortly thereafter as an affirmation of that belief. Over the years since, despite the efforts of teachers in the public school system, humanistic philosophy, the media and the bad examples of many professing Christians, I know that God is faithful, and powerful enough to preserve me and to preserve His Word in order that I may know what I need to know about Him.

"Unfortunately", I can't point to a dramatic test of my faith; I have had various ups and down in my life, but the bad stuff, to be honest, is pretty much my own fault. Unpleasant things have happened to me: I have lost jobs, even lost a child, but I can't really even call that a tragedy: I know that I shall meet her again one day. I know my own weakness, and I also know that it is God's hand that each day, makes me able to remain faithful to Him.

Creation belief statement:

I believe that God's word, the Holy Scriptures, are inspired and inerrant in their original autographs. I believe that they are authoritative when they speak on a given subject, and that the chapters of Genesis are accurate as to the creation of the earth. God created the world in 6 literal days, and rested on the seventh. There was a Fall, which cursed the cosmos, which "groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."

There was a literal, world-wide flood, which eliminated all human life except the family of Noah, and is responsible for the present appearance of the earth. The Bible does not identify exactly how this was accomplished, since it is a book about our salvation, not a physics or geology text. But my understanding of virtually everything else in life is colored by my presuppositions about God and his relationship to nature (and to me).

Here are some graphics I created for a Genesis talk I did in a church we attended:Flashes From Genesis

Confirmation of my agreement with your Statement of Faith

I do.

 

Statement of Faith : Richard S. Kolseth

Commenting on the statement of faith published by answersingenesis.org . Their position points are on the left column.

Overarching all the various points and subjects are a respect for the content of the Bible above any specific denomination. My basic belief: God exists, He has a message for me, and He is big enough to make sure that I'm able to get that message.

(A) PRIORITIES

The scientific aspects of creation are important, but are secondary in importance to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as Sovereign, Creator, Redeemer and Judge.

Check: the Great Commission was to preach the gospel. Mark 16:15 states: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

The doctrines of Creator and Creation cannot ultimately be divorced from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Check: How we look at Genesis affects how we understand Christ's words, spoken thousands of years after Moses' writings. Christ admitted to accepting Moses words on a literal basis; was he mistaken? No.

(B) BASICS

1. The 66 books of the Bible are the written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant throughout. Its assertions are factually true in all the original autographs. It is the supreme authority, not only in all matters of faith and conduct, but in everything it teaches. Its authority is not limited to spiritual, religious or redemptive themes but includes its assertions in such fields as history and science.

No argument here. This position is not just generated out of thin air by the church, but it is stated and implied by the Biblical documents themselves.

2. The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself.

I view the Bible as a self-correcting engine. Proof texting leads to all manner of error, but studying the whole message of scripture keeps us from moving too far in any one direction.

3. The account of origins presented in Genesis is a simple but factual presentation of actual events and therefore provides a reliable framework for scientific research into the question of the origin and history of life, mankind, the Earth and the universe.

Genesis, taken literally, does no violence to logical thought or real observable science.

4. The various original life forms (kinds), including mankind, were made by direct creative acts of God. The living descendants of any of the original kinds (apart from man) may represent more than one species today, reflecting the genetic potential within the original kind. Only limited biological changes (including mutational deterioration) have occurred naturally within each kind since Creation.

Agree

5. The great Flood of Genesis was an actual historic event, worldwide (global) in its extent and effect.

Agree

6. The special creation of Adam (the first man) and Eve (the first woman), and their subsequent fall into sin, is the basis for the necessity of salvation for mankind.

Certainly

7. Death (both physical and spiritual) and bloodshed entered into this world subsequent to, and as a direct consequence of, man’s sin.

That's what is said in The Book.

(C) THEOLOGY

1. The Godhead is triune: one God, three Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Sounds similar...

Apostles' Creed

1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:

3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:

4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:

5. The third day he rose again from the dead:

6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:

7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:

8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:

9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:

10. The forgiveness of sins:

1l. The resurrection of the body:

12. And the life everlasting. Amen.

2. All mankind are sinners, inherently from Adam and individually (by choice) and are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.

3. Freedom from the penalty and power of sin is available to man only through the sacrificial death and shed blood of Jesus Christ, and His complete and bodily Resurrection from the dead.

4. The Holy Spirit enables the sinner to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

5. The Holy Spirit lives and works in each believer to produce the fruits of righteousness.

6. Salvation is a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone and expressed in the individual’s repentance, recognition of the death of Christ as full payment for sin, and acceptance of the risen Christ as Saviour, Lord and God.

7. All things necessary for our salvation are set down in Scripture.

8. Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

9. Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, ascended to Heaven, is currently seated at the right hand of God the Father, and shall return in like manner to this Earth as Judge of the living and the dead.

10. Satan is the personal spiritual adversary of both God and man.

Christianity quite neatly avoids the philosphical problems of both dualism and monism ... clever of us!

11. Those who do not believe in Christ are subject to everlasting conscious punishment, but believers enjoy eternal life with God.

It would be easier to ignore or minimize the uncomfortable bit in the last point, but I must believe it since I find it in Scripture, and trust God to be just.

(D) GENERAL

The following are held by members of the Board of Answers in Genesis to be either consistent with Scripture or implied by Scripture:

1. Scripture teaches a recent origin for man and the whole creation.

Yes, I believe it does, also.

2. The days in Genesis do not correspond to geologic ages, but are six [6] consecutive twenty-four [24] hour days of Creation.

While not a Greek or Hebrew scholar, this does seem consistent with what I undertand of the structure of the passages.

3. The Noachian Flood was a significant geological event and much (but not all) fossiliferous sediment originated at that time.

This model certainly explains the evidence better.

4. The ‘gap’ theory has no basis in Scripture.

Mere accomodation to the 'god' of science.

5. The view, commonly used to evade the implications or the authority of Biblical teaching, that knowledge and/or truth may be divided into ‘secular’ and ‘religious’, is rejected.

"Spiritualizing" inconvenient passages seems, to me, to be intellectual laziness.

6. By definition, no apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record. Of primary importance is the fact that evidence is always subject to interpretation by fallible people who do not possess all information.

We are called to think God's thoughts after Him. A 'god' that could (or would) not preserve His truth so that His creatures could properly serve him would be not be a 'god' worthy of the title. We admit our presuppositions; most non-believing scientists seem to ignore theirs.

In conclusion:

I'm glad to find an organization so up-front about its position on this subject. It would be a pleasure to work for such an enitiy.

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