Posted on Thursday, July 05, 2007 - 8:48 pm:

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We Believe . . .

- In a personal and supreme God Who is intensely interested in each person.

- In Jesus Christ, also called the Word, Who is God manifest in human flesh.

- In the Holy Spirit by whom God works in the hearts of men.

- In the Bible as the inspired revelation of God's will for man, and as an inspired history of the origin of man and God's dealings with him.

- That through Jesus Christ all creation has been created and is sustained. Man is the crowning development of God's creative work.

- That Jesus Christ, by taking upon His divine nature the nature of fallen man and experiencing temptation such as man experiences it, qualified Himself to be a High Priest and Mediator for man, whereby He is able to minister grace for cleansing man from sin.

- That through His sacrificial atonement at Calvary Christ made forgiveness of sins and salvation possible for all who through repentance, faith, and obedience believe on Him and accept Him.

- In the ministry of holy angels to guard and guide people in accordance with God's desires for their salvation.

- In the existence of Satan, the arch-enemy of God, who at one time was the highest created being, but who rebelled against God and has continued his rebellion through evil angels and men here on earth.

- In baptism by immersion as a symbol of the new birth experience, and as a memorial of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

- That the dead know not anything, and that both righteous and wicked dead are quietly resting in their graves until the time of their resurrection.

- In the ordinances of footwashing and the Lord's supper in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, to be observed till He comes.

- That the papacy has thought to change times and laws, substituting Sunday observance for Sabbath observance in which most of the religious world has followed, and introducing many other errors.

- That God has given the 7th day Sabbath as a special time of communion with Him,-a time to lay aside temporal cares and labor, and seek the companionship of God. The Sabbath is to be a sign of sanctification.

- That in fulfillment of Bible prophesy a great religious awakening swept the world in the early 1800's and resulted in the expectation of the judgment and Christ's second coming to take place about 1844. The judgment did in fact begin, but Christ's second coming did not then take place. Following the disappointment of their expectation those who did not give up their hope recognized the fulfillment of prophecy in their experience and saw another message to be proclaimed to the world,-that of Revelation 14:9-12. This movement and proclamation developed into what became the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

- That God has raised up the Seventh-day Adventist church to develop and proclaim the message of Sabbath reform and preparation for Christ's second coming and that this work is symbolized by the three angels of Revelation 14.

- In a heavenly sanctuary not built with human hands, after which the earthly tabernacle built by Moses was patterned.

- That in 1844 Christ entered into the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary and began the work of investigative judgment and final atonement which close probationary time. This is represented by the Day of Atonement in the sanctuary system anciently.

- That our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that the followers of Christ should be a peculiar people carefully controlling their appetites and passions so as to glorify God in their bodies. This means that they will not use alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee, and other articles that injure health of mind and body. They should dress modestly, read and speak that which will minister grace and edification.

- That the genuine manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit are needed in God's church to bring it to perfection.

- That the gift of prophetic inspiration has been manifested in the Seventh-day Adventist church through the ministry and writings of Ellen White.

- That we are living in the end of time referred to in the Bible, and that Jesus will soon appear the second time visibly to take those who are faithful among the living and the resurrected dead to spend 1000 years in heaven with Him after which the earth will be recreated and all the redeemed will inhabit it.

- That for a brief period of time following the close of human probation, but before the visible second coming of Christ, there will be a time of trouble in which the terrible plagues described in Revelation will take place. During this time there will be no intercessor between God and man; there will be no more opportunity for salvation.

- In the final destruction of Satan, his evil angels, sin and sinners at the end of the 1000 years. The redeemed will enjoy the companionship of God, of angels, of one another, and have unlimited time and opportunity to develop every useful capability and ambition through eternity.

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