The Faith Once Delivered

The Faith Once Delivered

Jude 1:3 World English
Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

We believe that God used His holy spirit to reveal His truths through the prophets in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we believe that God has revealed His truths by means of His holy spirit through Jesus and his apostles. -- Mark 12:36; Luke 4:11; 10:21; 24:27,44; Acts 1:16; 2:33; 10:38; 28:25; Hebrews 1:1,2; 3:7; 1 Peter 3:10-12; 2 Peter 1:21.

We believe that Jesus revealed that his apostles would be led into all truths concerning the Messiah and what he said. -- John 14:26; 16:4-13; Acts 1:2; Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:2.

We believe that truths revealed in the first century by means of Jesus and his in the apostles as well as through the prophets of old, as recorded in the Bible, constitute the "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." -- Jude 1:3.

We believe that Jesus was the only "prophet" assigned in these latter days to directly speak the words of God as the foretold prophet of Jehovah, and he speaks, by means of God's holy spirit, through his apostles.-- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 1:2; 3:13-26; Hebrews 1:1,2.

We believe that the truths revealed to the apostles and made available to us are recorded in the Bible (the commonly accepted 66 books) itself. (Ephesians 3:3-12; Colossians 1:25,26; 1 John 4:6) Of course, without the holy spirit, these things that are recorded will still be a mystery to us. -- Mark 4:11; 1 Corinthians 2:7-10.

We believe that God, by means of his holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that man was created sinless, in God's character image, and that he was given a dominion, and that through sin mankind came to be under the penalty of death and destruction, by which mankind came to be by nature children of wrath, made subject to vanity and futility under a bondage of corruption, all being under condemnation through Adam, and through which mankind is undergoing exposure to futility and various evils, permitted by God to teach him by experience the evil nature and effects of sin and the desirability of hating and forsaking it. (Genesis 1:26-28,31; 2:17; Psalm 8:5-8) Mankind does not now have this dominion -- Hebrews 2:6-8); Ecclesiastes 1:2-15; Romans 5:12-19; 6:23; 8:20-23; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; Ephesians 2:3; Psalm 90:15.

We believe that God, by means of his holy spirit, reveals that the basis of hope for everlasting life for the elect and the non-elect is in the fact that God "is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe"; that God sent His Son, Jesus, who by the grace of God tasted death for every man," "a ransom for all"; that God "desires to have all men to be saved, and come to full knowledge of the truth," and that Jesus is "true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world", "the testimony in its own times (in due time - KJV)". -- 1 Timothy 4:10; 2:3-6; Hebrews 2:9; John 1:9 (New King James Version).

We believe that God, by means of his holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that the Gospel (Good News, Glad Tidings) was preached to Abraham, saying, "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed"; "all the nations [the heathen] of the earth shall be blessed"; that Jesus, along with all the sons of God of this age, make up the great "seed of Abraham", through whom "all the families of the earth shall be blessed". We believe that this blessing of salvation and enlightenment for the heathen will come during Jesus' second advent, in "the times of restitution of all things," when God's kingdom will fill the whole earth, and that then the heathen will not be under the deceptions of the great Adversary. -- Genesis 12:1-3; 22:18; 26:4; Daniel 2:34,35,44,45; Galatians 3:7-9; Matthew 6:10; Acts 3:19-23; Revelaton 20:1-3.

We believe that God, by means of his holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that the Gospel Age has been the Church's judgment day through a trial of faith (2 Thessalonians 1:4,5; 1 Peter 4:17), but God "has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world [the non-believers of this age] in righteousness" -- "the day of judgment and perdition [destruction] of ungodly men; but . . . do not be ignorant of this one thing, that one day with Jehovah is as a thousand years."  Thus, Jesus said of the unbeliever in this age: "If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn't believe, I don't judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me, and doesn't receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day." the individual judgment of the world is reversed for the world's coming day of judgment. -- John 12:47,48; Acts 17:31; 2 Peter 3:7,8; Psalm 90:4; Revelation 20:12-15.

We believe that the scriptures show that the man, Christ Jesus, by offering his body with its blood to his God, is the satisfaction -- the propitiation -- for the sins of the Church and the world, and thus that the world's new judgment day through Jesus will be "in righteousness." We believe that at that time Satan is to be abyssed so that he will not be able to deceive the nations [heathen]. We believe that mankind lost his first chance of life because of Adam's sin, and thus "the ransom for all" will give each of them one full, free, fair opportunity to gain eternal life through Christ, either in this life or after being awakened from the dead in the new day of judgment. We believe that in this new judgment day there will be no blinding influences of Satan, and all the nations [the unbelieving heathen of this age, as well as the unbelieving Jew of this age] will learn the ways of Jehovah, for then the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the only true God, Jehovah. -- Psalm 9:8; 96:13; 98:9; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:4,5,9; 25:7-9; 29:18,24; Jeremiah 31:34; John 5:28,29; 1 John 2:2; Acts 17:31; 24:15; Revelation 20:1-3,7,12,13; Acts 24:15.
For studies related to the "Ransom for All"

We believe the Scriptures to teach that Jesus was made flesh so that he could sacrfice that flesh with its blood for our sins. (John 6:51; Luke 22:19,20; 1 Timothy 2:5,6; Hebrews 9:12,1410:10; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; Revelation 1:5) Having sacrificed his flesh for our sins, Christ is no longer with the terrestrial, earthly, of the dust, bodily glory of flesh, having the glory of a man that is a little lower than the angels. (Psam 8:5; Heberws 2:7,9) His God has exalted him to the highest position in the universe, with a celestial bodily, spiritual, bodily glory that far above the angels, next to the only Most High.-- Acts 2:33,36; 5:31; Philippians 2:9; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; 1 Corinthians 15:27,31-39; Hebrews 1:4,6; 1 Peter 3:22. See our studies: Is Jesus Now Flesh?

We believe that Jehovah's holy spirit reveals through the scriptures that the hope of God's true people now being developed is that they will have an abundant entrance into God's everlasting Kingdom; that their present mission is to develop and perfect themselves and others in Christ-likeness, to preach and teach others the Gospel, the Good News of God's Kingdom through Jesus to the world as did Jesus, and, as the seed of Abraham, and to prepare for the work of blessing all the families of the earth in the coming Kingdom on earth. -- Genesis 12:3; 22:16-18; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:9; Daniel 2:44; 7:22,27; Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 10:7; 24:14; 28:19,20; Mark 16:15; Luke 8:1; 9:6; 24:47; John 13:15; Acts 3:19-25; 5:42; 8:4; 10:42; 20:25,35; 28:31; Romans 15:3,5; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 6:2; 11:1; Galatians 3:7-9,16,29; Ephesians 5:2; 6:10-18; Philippians 2:5: 2 Timothy 4:1,2; Hebrews 5:12; 6:13-20; 1 Peter 2:21; 4:1; 1 John 2:6.

We believe that God's holy spirit reveals through the scriptures that Jehovah (Yahweh) is the only true God, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus; only the God and Father of Jesus is the source of all. Jesus has one who is the Supreme Being over him; Jesus is not his Supreme Being whom he worships, prays to, and who sent him, and whose will he carried out in willful obedience. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Matthew 4:4 (Deuteronomy 8:3; Luke 4:4); Matthew 4:7 (Deuteronomy 6:16); Matthew 4:10 (Exodus 20:3-5; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:13,14; 10:20; Luke 4:8); Matthew 22:29-40; Matthew 26:42; Matthew 27:46; Mark 10:6 (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7,20-23); Mark 14:36; 15:34; Luke 22:42; John 4:3; 5:30; 6:38; 17:1,3; 20:17; Romans 15:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3,17; Hebrews 1:9; 10:7; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 2:7; 3:2,12.

Click Here for the study: Jesus is not Jehovah

We believe that God's holy spirit reveals through the scriptures that Jesus is the firstborn creature, existing with his God and Father before the world of mankind began; that through [Greek, dia], or by means of [Greek, en], his firstborn creature, all [Greek, panta] dominions, thrones, principalities and powers in heaven (invisible spirit beings) and on earth (the visible dominion given to man -- Genesis 1:26,28; Psalm 8:4-8) came into existence, with the evident exception of the firstborn himself and his God (see 1 Corinthians 15:27 for a direct example of evident exception related to "the all" being spoken of). -- John 1:1; 6:62; 17:5; Colossians 1:15-18; Revelation 3:14.
Click Here for the study: In the Beginning
Click Here for the study: Did Jesus Have a Beginning?\

We believe that the scriptures show that Jehovah is the only Most High, Jehovah is the God and Father of Jesus, and that Jesus is the Son of the Most High. -- Genesis 14:22; Psalm 7:17; 83:18; 92:1; Isaiah 61:1,2; Micah 5:4; Luke 1:32; Ephesians 1:3;

We believe that God, by means of His holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that Jesus is divine; that He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive -- not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, and thus became a life-giving spirit, highly exalted by his God and Father, and given by his God a name [a position of glory] which is above every name. --  Peter 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Philippians 2:9-11. 

We believe God, by means of His holy spirit, reveals through the scriptures that the holy spirit itself proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is manifested in all true Christians. -- 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 2 Timothy 1:7.
Click Here for the study: Jesus Died a Human Being – Raised a Spirit Being

We believe most associated with the Bible Students movement are in general agreement with the above statements.