BBB:Bible Bulletin Board statement of Beliefs  by Tony Capoccia

   BIBLE BULLETIN BOARD STATEMENT OF BELIEFS

   Bible Bulletin Board (BBB) is a Christian ministry utilizing
computers as a vehicle for the proclamation of the Word of God. Dialog
about the Bible and Christianity is available to all who call BBB, and
computer text files are available for download, covering various
Biblical subjects.

   The purpose of Bible Bulletin Board is to reveal the Glory of God to
all men, thereby bringing ultimate glory to God. This specific purpose
will be realized by the achievement of the following goals:

   1. Proclaiming the whole will of God by the systematic preaching and
teaching of the Word of God through the primary media of electronic
communications using computers.

   2. Seeking the salvation of the lost through diligent prayer, holy
living and the presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

   3. Exhorting each Christian user of Bible Bulletin Board to utilize
their own Spiritual Gift(s) in the service of an established church in
their community.

   4. Cultivating an awareness, interest, and involvement in the work
of missions in America and abroad consistent with the doctrinal
statement of Bible Bulletin Board.

   5. Exhorting each Christian user of Bible Bulletin Board to, "live
by faith." Demonstrating to each other and to their community that God
will provide for our every need if we will but put our trust in Him.

   STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE

   1. The Holy Scriptures

   The Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New
Testaments, is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the
original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
and it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

   2. The Trinity

   There is one God, eternally existing and manifesting Himself to man
in three Persons--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--each equally deserving
of the same worship and obedience, and they execute distinct but
harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.

   3. God the Father

   God the Father is an infinite, personal, moral, eternal spirit,
perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, justice, and love. His Fatherhood
denotes a spiritual relationship, first of all, within the Trinity; and
secondly, within mankind: creatively in relation to all men, but
spiritually only in relation to believers. He hears and answers prayer
and He saves from sin and eternal judgment all who come to Him through
Jesus Christ.

   4. God the Son

   The Son, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, is equal
with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, possessing exactly the
same eternal nature and divine attributes as they. Before His
incarnation He existed in the form of God, was with God, and was God.
For the purposes of the redemption of men He humbled Himself and of His
own choice laid aside His divine glory to take upon Himself the form of
a servant and the likeness of a man. He is both fully God and fully man.

   As a man He was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy
Spirit and was born of a virgin. He lived a sinless life on earth and
performed mighty works and miracles exactly as recorded in the four
Gospels. He died, was bodily raised from the dead, ascended into
Heaven, and there perpetually intercedes for true believers, and will
personally and visibly return to earth to rule and reign forever.

   His death on the cross provides the perfect atonement for sin by
which the wrath of God against sinners may be appeased and furnishes
the only ground upon which God can deal in mercy with sinners.

   5. God the Holy Spirit

   God the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and God the Son and
possesses the same eternal nature, and attributes. In His relation to
the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God's purpose is
fulfilled, and also convicts of sin, or righteousness and of judgment.
He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony.
The Holy Spirit is the agent in the new birth in that He seals, and
indwells every believer in Christ at the moment of salvation. He also
guides, teaches, comforts, sanctifies and helps the believer.

   6. Man

   Man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and
likeness. He was created free of sin with a rational nature,
intelligence, free will, self-determination, and moral responsibility
to God. The purpose of man's creation was to glorify God, enjoy His
fellowship, and live his life in the Will of God. As a result of Adam's
sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his
innocence; incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death; became
subject to the wrath of God; became inherently corrupt, and became
utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God,
apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to
recover himself, man is hopelessly lost, apart from the salvation which
is in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   All men were in the loins of Adam, and the consequence of that sin
has been transmitted (imputed) to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ
being the exception. All men [thus] are sinners by divine declaration,
by nature, and by choice.

   7. Salvation

   Salvation is wholly the work of God by grace, through the redemption
of Jesus Christ, by the merit of His shed blood; not on the basis of
human merit, or works.

   8. Regeneration

   Regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the
divine nature and divine life are communicated. It is instantaneous and
is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the
instrumentality of the Word of God, so as to secure voluntary obedience
to the Gospel. Regeneration will be manifested by repentance, faith,
and righteous living. Good works are its proper evidence and fruit, and
will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the
control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to
the Word of God. This obedience causes the believer to be increasingly
conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus. Such a conformity is climaxed
in the believer's glorification at Christ's coming.

   9. Election

   We believe that election is the act of God by which, before the
creation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously
regenerates, saves, and sanctifies. God exercised this sovereignty in
harmony with His other attributes, especially His omniscience, justice,
holiness, and wisdom.

   10. Justification

   Justification before God is an act of God by which He declares
righteous those who believe in Christ. This righteousness is apart from
any virtue or work of man, and involves the imputation of our sins to
Christ, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us.

   11. Sanctification

   Every believer is "set apart" (sanctified) unto God by the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is therefore declared to be holy
and identified as a saint. This is not a progressive sanctification.
This sanctification has to do with the believer's standing, not his
present state.

   There is, by the work of the Holy Spirit, an experiential
sanctification, by which the state of the believer is progressively
brought closer to the standing the believer enjoys through
justification. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering
of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing
holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like
the Lord Jesus Christ.

   12. Security

   The redeemed once saved are kept by God's power and are thus secure
in Christ forever. It is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the
assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word which,
however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion
for sinful living and carnality. There is no sin or action by a
Christian that can ever result in the loss of salvation.

   13. Separation

   The doctrine of separation from sin is clearly evident throughout
the Old and New Testaments, and the Scriptures clearly indicate that in
the last days apostasy and worldliness shall increase. Therefore, all
the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon
their Savior and Lord and to maintain separation from all religious
apostasy, and worldly and sinful practices, as commanded of God.

   14. The Church Universal

   All who repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ
are immediately baptized into one united spiritual Body--the Church, of
which Christ is the Head, and which is His espoused Bride.

   The formation of this Body began on the Day of Pentecost and will be
completed at the coming of Christ for His own in the Rapture. The
Church, then, is a unique spiritual organism made up of all born again
believers in this present age. The Church is distinct from Israel.

   15. The Local Church

   The establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught
and defined in the New Testament Scriptures, and the members of this
one spiritual Body are directed to associate themselves together in
local assemblies.

   The one supreme authority for the Church is Christ, and the order,
discipline, and worship are appointed through His sovereignty. The
biblically designated officers serving under Christ and over the
assembly are elders, also called bishops, pastors and pastor-teachers,
and deacons who must fit biblical qualifications.

   These leaders lead or rule in the place of Christ and have His
authority in directing the Church. The congregation is to submit to
their leadership. Also, they are responsible for the disciplining of
sinning members of the congregation as in accord with the standards of
Scripture.

   The local church is autonomous, free from any external authority or
control, with the right of self-government and freedom from the
interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. It is
Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the
presentation and propagation of the faith. However, each local church
through its elders and their interpretation and application of
Scriptures is the sole judge of the measure and method of its
cooperation as well as on all matters of membership, policy,
discipline, benevolence, and government.

   16. Spiritual Gifts

   All saints (believers) are called to the work of the ministry. The
church's ministry is to accomplish God's purpose in the world. For the
accomplishment of that purpose, God has given the Church spiritual
gifts. First, He gave gifted men for the purpose of equipping the
saints for the work of the ministry, and He also gives unique and
special spiritual abilities to each member of the Body of Christ. At
the moment of spiritual birth every believer receives such a gift or
gifts. These gifts are sovereignly bestowed. It is essential that every
believer discovers, develops, and employs his spiritual gift or gifts
for the edification of the Body and the accomplishment of the work of
Christ in the world.

   There were two kinds of gifts: temporary confirming gifts and
permanent edifying gifts. With the New Testament revelation at last
complete the confirming gifts are no longer a necessary criteria for
evaluating the validity of a man and his message, since they can be
counterfeited by Satan so as to deceive even believers.

   The temporary confirming gifts--healing, speaking in tongues
(unlearned languages), interpretation, and the working of sign
miracles--gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were
completed and their authority became established.

   17. Healings

   No one possesses the gift of healing today, but God commands the
sick person to call for the elders of the church to pray over him and
anoint him with oil in the Name of the Lord. In response to this act of
faith by the sick person and the Church, God will answer in accordance
with His own perfect will. It is also true that God hears and answers
the prayer of faith on the part of every believer, and will answer in
accordance with His own perfect will, for the sick, suffering, and
afflicted.

   18. Ordinances

   Two ordinances have been committed to the local church: Baptism and
the Lord's Supper.

   19. Baptism

   Christian baptism (by immersion) is an act of obedience to the
command of Scripture to be baptized. The act of baptism is a testimony
of a believer, showing forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem of faith
in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and of our union with Him
in death to sin, and resurrection to a new life. It is also a sign of
fellowship, an identification with the visible Body of Christ.

   20. Lord's Supper

   The Lord's Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death
until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn
self-examination. While Christ's flesh and blood is not actually
present, the Lord's Supper is an actual communion with the risen Christ
who is present in an unique way, fellowshipping with His people.

   21. Holy Angels

   Angels are created beings and are not to be worshipped, although
they are a higher order of creation than man. They were created to
serve God and to worship Him.

   22. Fallen Angels

   Satan is a created angel and the author of sin. He incurred the
judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator, by involving numerous
angels in his fall, and by introducing sin into the human race by his
temptation of Eve.

   Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man, and is the
prince of this world who was defeated, through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. He shall be eternally punished in the
lake of fire.

   23. Death

   Physical death involves no loss of consciousness. The soul of the
redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ; however, the
soul of the unbeliever is cast immediately into torment and suffering
awaiting final judgment. There is a separation of soul and body, and
that separation will continue for the believer until the first
resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body will be reunited to be
glorified forever with the Lord. Until that time, the souls of the
redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. For the unbeliever this separation will continue until the
second resurrection when the body, soul, and spirit of the unbeliever
will be reunited to be subject to judgment and eternal punishment in
the Second Death of the Lake of Fire.

   24. Resurrection

   There will be a bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal
life (Heaven), and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment
(Lake of Fire).

   The souls of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades,
where they are kept under punishment until the second resurrection,
when the soul and a resurrection body are united. They shall then
appear at the Great White Throne judgment and will be cast into the
Lake of Fire, apart from the life of God forever.

   25. The Rapture of the Church

   There will be a personal bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to
translate His Church from this earth, and to reward them according to
their works, with sufficient time elapsing between this event and His
glorious return with His Church to allow for the judgment of believer's
works, and this period includes the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy.

   26. The Tribulation Period

   Immediately following the removal of the Church from the earth, the
righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving
world. These judgments will be climaxed by the return of Christ in
glory to the earth, at which time the Old Testament and Tribulation
Saints will be raised and the living will be judged.

   27. The Second Coming and the Millennial Reign

   After the tribulation period, Christ will come to occupy the throne
of David and establish His Messianic kingdom for a thousand years on
the earth. During this time the resurrection saints will reign with Him
over Israel and all nations of the earth. This reign will be preceded
by the overthrow of the antichrist and the false prophet, and by the
removal of Satan from the world.

   The kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God's promise to
Israel, to restore them to the land which they forfeited through
disobedience, with the result that Israel was temporarily set aside,
and they will be awakened through repentance to enter into the land of
blessing.

   This time of our Lord's reign will be characterized by harmony,
justice, peace, righteousness, and long life, and will be brought to an
end with the release of Satan.

   28. The Judgment of the Lost

   Following the release of Satan after the thousand year reign, Satan
will deceive the nations of the earth and gather them to battle against
the saints and the beloved city of Jerusalem, at which time Satan and
his army will be devoured by fire from Heaven. Following this, Satan
will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, whereupon Christ,
who is the judge of all men, will resurrect and judge the wicked, great
and small, at the Great White Throne judgment.

   This resurrection of the unsaved dead will be a physical
resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment, they will be
committed to an eternal conscious punishment.

   29. Eternity

   After the closing of the Millennium, the temporary release of Satan,
and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state
of glory with God. The elements of the earth are to be replaced with a
new earth wherein only righteousness dwells, and the heavenly city that
comes down out of Heaven is to be the dwelling place of the saints,
where they will enjoy forever fellowship with God and one another. The
Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then
deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, so that in all spheres the
triune God may reign forever and ever.

   Tony Capoccia Bible Bulletin Board Box 115 Galveston, IN 46932 Modem
(317) 452-1535 June 12, 1986
