"We Believe"
Real Life Revised is a ministry of D. L. Martin Ministires, Inc.
We believe the Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In faith, we hold the Bible to be inerrant in the original writings, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). While still using the individual writing styles of the human authors, the Holy Spirit perfectly guided them to ensure they wrote precisely what He wanted to be written, without error or omission (2 Peter 1:21).
We believe in one God, who is Creator of all (Deuteronomy 6:4; Colossians 1:16), who has revealed Himself in three distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), yet who is one in being, essence, and glory (John 10:30).
God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), and sovereign (Psalm 93:1). God is omniscient (Psalm 139:1-6), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-13), omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and righteous (Exodus 9:27). God is love (1 John 4:8), gracious (Ephesians 2:8), merciful (1 Peter 1:3), and good (Romans 8:28).
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is God incarnate, God in human form, the expressed image of the Father, who, without ceasing to be God, became man in order that He might demonstrate who God is and provide the means of salvation for humanity (Matthew1:21; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15).
We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23); that He is truly fully God and truly fully man (John 1:1,14); that He lived a perfect, sinless life (1 John 3:5); that all His teachings are true (John 14:6).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all humanity (1 John 2:2) as a substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:5-6).
We hold that His death is sufficient to provide salvation for all who receive Him as Savior (John 1:12; Acts 16:31); that our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7); and that it is attested by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; 1 Peter 1:3).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven in His glorified body (Acts 1:9-10) and is now seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest and Advocate (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).
We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).
He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Romans 8:9).
He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (1Corinthians 12:12-14).
He is the seal by whom the Father guarantees the salvation of believers unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14).
He is the Divine Teacher who illumines believers' hearts and minds as they study the Word of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-12).
We believe that the Holy Spirit is ultimately sovereign in the distribution of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11).
We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues Acts 2,
We believe according to God's word that Angels and demons are not a myth or story they are real entities.
ANGELS
The word angel whether taken from the Hebrew of the Old Testament or the Greek of the New Testament means messenger. Angles seek to promote the purposes of God.
- They are spirit (Psalm 104:4, Hebrews 1:14, Luke 24:37-39)
- They are not to be worshipped (Romans 1:25, Colossians 2:18, Revelation 19:10, revelation 22:8-9)
- They can and have assumed the form of human bodies (Hebrews 13;2, Genesis 19:1, Luke 1:26,27, John 20:12, Acts 8:26).
- There are many angels (Hebrews 12:22, Matthew 26:53, Revelation 5;11)
DEMONS
There are a few differences of opinion as to where demons come from. The essential is that they do exist. They are the opposite of the holy angels, they seek to hinder the purposes of God, and to extend the power of Satan.
- Jesus recognized their reality (Matthew 12:27, 28 Matthew 10:8, Mark 16:17, Luke 10:17)
- Apostle Paul recognized their reality (1 Corinthians 10:20 1 Timothy 4:1
The most widely accepted theory is that Demons are fallen angels. However, there are other theories as well I know of two others. My position is that we know they exist and we know of their power, limits, and mission.
- Evil angels or spirits (Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4, Psalm 78;49 Matthew 25:41
We believe that humanity came into existence by direct creation of God and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27).
We believe that all humanity, because of Adam's fall, has inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings choose to sin (Romans 3:23), and that all sin is exceedingly offensive to God (Romans 6:23).
Humanity is utterly unable to remedy their own fallen state (Ephesians 2:1-5,12).
We believe that salvation is a gift of God's grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Christ's death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin.
Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24).
On the third day after His death, Jesus physically rose again, demonstrating His victory over sin and death (Romans 14:9).
We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Good works and obedience are results of salvation, not requirements for salvation.
We believe in the ordinances of believer's water baptism by immersion as a testimony to Christ and identification with Him.
We believe in the Lord's Supper as a remembrance of Christ's death and shed blood (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the Ekklesia (His body, His Church).
It is the obligation of all believers to witness, by word and life, to the truths of God's Word. The gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to all the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
We believe in the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), the personal and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
We believe in the visible and bodily return of Christ to the earth with His saints to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6).
We believe in the physical resurrection of all human beings—the saints to everlasting joy and bliss on the New Earth, and the wicked to eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).
We believe that the souls of believers are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where they await their resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until their resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).