Election – God has a purpose, plan, people, and presence in the world. God’s grace made salvation possible. When we exercised our freedom to sin, it was God’s grace that elected to provide forgiveness for those sins. Election does not cause us to choose or reject God’s plan for us, election caused God to make salvation available for us. He elected to provide us with salvation. As believers, we seek to persevere in faith and depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to preserve us.
Salvation – Salvation is the work of God to provide people freedom from bondage to sin. Salvation restores our broken relationship with God. Salvation is Christ paying the penalty for our sins Himself. God chooses to save, but we choose to be saved.
Discipleship – Discipleship is faithful obedience to Christ. It is voluntary, as all of salvation is, but it is not optional. We have the responsibility to learn, and we can do so directly through Christ. To be a disciple is to do what Jesus commands for God’s glory. At its base, a disciple is a believer in action for God.
Christian Ethics – Society is part of God’s created order. He intends for each of us to live in society reflecting His character. We are not saved simply to sit around and “be” saved. Neither are we saved to focus solely on personal issues. As a part of society, our faith should make a positive impact on that society.
Stewardship – House manager. Acting honest, respectively, and responsibly with the property of another. In this case our behavior with what belongs to God. Seems to sum it up pretty well. Notice I didn’t mention money. But if you insist, tithing: do we or don’t we? Old Testament Law required a tithe, or 10% of income, as a minimum. Taken together, all the required Old Testament taxes and offerings totaled around 23%. In the New Testament the only real mention of tithing is Jesus commending the Pharisees for doing it – on everything! Other references to giving do not specify an amount, but seem to suggest a more generous way. And keep in mind that all New Testament writers were Jewish, and they did not think they were beginning a new religion. They believed they were practicing post-Messianic Judaism. So if you don’t believe in tithing, I have no problem with that. 10% is a bare minimum anyway. Give as much over that as you feel led.
Last Things – The final stage of God’s redemptive plan. The central event of eschatology (Doctrine of Last Things) is the return of Christ. His return will complete the work began at His birth: personal salvation and the overthrow of evil. Whether you are “pre-trib”, “mid-trib”, or “post-trib”; premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial is irrelevant so I will not even define or discuss it here. What matters is that Christ will return, and following His return all humanity will be judged.
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