Our Doctrinal Statement

2.1  INTRODUCTION


In doctrine  and in practice we are  conservative evangelicals of Arminian-Wesleyan persuasion.  The following  paragraphs summarize the major points of our doctrinal position.

2.2  GOD
There is but one living and  true God (Deut. 4:35; I Cor. 8:4; II Sam.  7:22; I Kings 8:23, 60; Isa. 43:10,  11; Mark 12:32; John 17:3; Eph. 4:6; I Tim.  2:5); everlasting (Gen. 21:33; Rom.  16:26;) without body parts (John 4:24); of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness  (Gen.  17:1; Matt. 19:26 Psa. 147:5; 34:8); the maker and preserver of all  things visible  and invisible (Psa. 19:1; John 1:3; Cot 1:16). In this Godhead  there are three  persons of one substance power and eternity - the Father, the  Son and the Holy  Ghost (I John 5:7; I Tim. 1:17; 3:16; Matt. 3:16; 17;  28:19).

2.3  JESUS CHRIST

 The Son Who is the  Word of the Father (John 1:1-3), is the  very eternal God, of one substance with  the Father, who took man's nature (John  1:14; 3:31; Heb. 2:14), in the womb of  the Virgin, so that two whole and perfect  natures, that is to say, the Godhead  and manhood, were joined together in one  person never to be divided, whereof is  One Christ, very God and very man. He truly  suffered, was crucified, died, and  was buried. (I Cor. 15:3-6), to reconcile His  Father to us, and to be a  sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for  the actual sins of man  (Heb.13:12; 2:9; II Cor. 5:18) Christ did truly rise again  from the dead and  took again his body (Matt. 28.6, 7; Acts 1:3 Luke 24:39-43),  with all things  pertaining to the perfection of man's nature (Eph. 4:11-13; I  John 3:2. 3),  wherewith He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9; Eph. 1:20; 4:8; I Tim.  3:16).

2.4 THE HOLY  GHOST 

The Holy Ghost,  proceeding from the Father and the Son (John 15:26  Acts 2:33; John 16:7), is of  one substance, majesty and glory with the Father  and the Son, very and eternal
God (I John 5:7; Matt. 3:16; Acts 5:3, 4)

2.5 SUFFICIENCY AND
INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE

 The Holy Scripture (that  is, the 66 books of the  Protestant Canon of the Bible) are the only written word  of God. Every part of  the Bible, as originally written, was inspired by God and  was and is without  error. The Bible contains all things necessary to salvation  and is the only
totally authoritative and infallible rule of faith and conduct  (John 15:3 20:  31; II Tim. 3:15-17). Therefore, whatever is not written therein  nor may be  proved thereby is not to be accepted as article of faith nor be thought  as  essential to salvation (Eph. 5:6, I Tim. 6:3, 4).

2.6  NATIVE DEPRAVITY

The original sin of Adam caused his alienation toward  God. The deprivation of  the Spirit brought about an attendant depravation. This  resulted in the  depravity of all his offspring (Romans 5:12). This depravity is  total  extensively, and man is said to be "dead in sins" (Eph. 2:1),  without  righteousness (Romans 6:20), without hope (Eph. 2:12). It is not total   Intensively, as wicked men and seducers shall wax worse and worse (II Tim.  3:13).  This is sometimes referred to as Original Sin, Birth Sin, or Native  Depravity.


2.7  FREE MORAL AGENCY

The condition of men since the fall of Adam is such  that he cannot turn and  prepare himself by his own natural strength and works  to faith and calling upon  God (Gen. 6:5; Luke 16:15; Heb. 11:16). For this reason  he has no power to do  good works (Isa. 64:6) pleasant and acceptable to God (Titus  3:5) without the  grace of God by Christ, assisting him (I Tim. 2.5; John 15:15).  That this grace  is freely given to all men (I Tim. 4:10) making it possible for  every man to  turn and be saved is clearly taught in both Testaments (Joshua 24:15  Deut.
30:19; John 7:17; Rev. 22:17; I Kings 20:40).


2.8  REDEMPTION

Redemption implies someone doing for another, what that person  cannot do for  himself. Scripturally, it includes both man and the universe in  which he dwells  or of which he is a part. It will not be- completed until there  is "a new  heaven and a new earth" (II Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:l). As it  pertains to man, it  is accomplished by grace through faith, (Eph 2:8). God provides  the atonement  by setting forth His own Son to be a propitiation, (ROM 3:25), that  man might  be redeemed by faith in His blood. (ROM 3:25; Eph. 1:7; CoI. 1:14; I  Pet.  1:18,19). It is a covenant redemption set forth by a sovereign God and is  to be  accepted and subscribed to or rejected by man, (Deut.7:9; Heb. 8:8-10; Luke   1:68-79; Gal. 3:17; Heb.12:24, 25). This atonement is the only grounds of  salvation.  (John 14:6; Acts 4:12); and it as sufficient for every individual  (John 3:16;  Heb. 2:9). The atonement is graciously efficacious to the salvation  of the irresponsible  from birth or the righteous who have become irresponsible,  and to the children  in innocency, but is efficacious to the salvation of those  who reach the age of  responsibility only when they repent and believe. (Luke  24:46, 47; Acts 17:30;  ROM 5:18, 19; I Cor. 15:22). Redemption includes  justification, which changes  man's legal standing; regeneration, which changes  a man's nature; and adoption,  which changes man's relationship to  God.

 2.8.1  Justification.
 As a  sovereign, God is judge and must justify or condemn. To avoid  the necessity of  condemning, He "set forth" His own Son "to be  a propitiation" (ROM 3:25), "that
he might be just and the justifier  of him that believeth in Jesus" (ROM 3:26).  We are accounted righteous before  God only by the merit of our Lord and Saviour  Jesus Christ (ROM 3:24-26; 4:25),  by faith (Gen. 15:6; ROM 3:28 4:5 5:1), and  not for our own works or deserving  (ROM 4:6; 5:11, 16; Acts 13:39). Wherefore,  that we are justified by faith only  is a most wholesome doctrine and very full  of comfort (ROM 1:16, 17; 5:1).


  2.8.2 Regeneration.
Concomitant  with justification is the impartation of life  "in His Son" (I John 5:11; ROM  8:32; Eph. 2:1). This New Birth is the  result of receiving Christ (John 1:12),
manifesting itself in a changed deportment  (II Cor. 5:17); without which man  cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God  (John 3:3, 5; I Cor. 2:14).


2.8.3 Adoption.
Also concomitant with justification  and regeneration is adoption by which man's relationship to God Is changed (ROM  8:15; Gal. 4:4, 5).  From being "children  of wrath" (Eph. 2:3); "children of the wicked one" (Mat. 13:38),  "children of this world"  (Luke 16:8); man becomes a child of God (ROM  8:15-17; Gal. 3:26; II Cor. 6:17,  18)


2.9  ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION
As all justified believers are sanctified in Christ  (I  Cor. 1:2; 1:30), so all may be sanctified by Christ (Eph 5:25, 26; Heb. 13:12).   Entire sanctification follows regeneration as circumcision follows birth. It is   to enable us to "Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart" (Deut.  30:6). By  this circumcision " made without hands", the "body of  the sins of the flesh" is  put off (Col. 2:11). Love is made perfect (I John  4:17); Holiness is perfected  (II Cor. 7:1).


2.9.1  Relationship to  Regeneration.
Entire sanctification is subsequent to regeneration  (John 17:9 -17) and is effected by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16.  17: I Pet.  1:2; ROM 15:16). It is for all believers (John 17:20; I Thess. 4:2,  7; 5:23,  24), and is an instantaneous experience, received by faith (Acts 2:1-4;  15:8,  9). It cleanses the heart of the recipient from all sin (I John 1:7, 9;  Acts  15:8, 9), sets him apart and endows him with power for the accomplishment  of  all to which he is called (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8).


2.9.2  Evidence of the Experience.
Those who teach that some special phenomena such as  speaking with unknown tongues constitutes a witness to the Baptism with the Spirit  expose themselves  and their hearers to peril of dangerous fanaticism. Perhaps  no wiser counsel  has been given on this matter then that of John Wesley who wrote  long before  the modern "tongues" movement appeared: "The grounds  of a thousand mistakes is  the not considering, deeply that love is the highest  gift of God - humble,  gentle, patient love - that all visions, revelation, manifestations  whatsoever  are little things compared to love. It were well you should be thoroughly   sensible of this. The heaven of heavens is love. There is nothing higher in  religion;  there is in effect, nothing else. If you look for anything but more  love you are  looking wide of the mark, you are getting out of the royal way.  And when you are  asking others, "Have you received this or that blessing," if  you mean  anything but more love you, you mean wrong; you are leading them out  of the way,  and putting them upon a false scent. Settle it then in your heart,  that from the  moment God has saved you from all sin, you are to aim at nothing  but more of that  love described in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians.  You can go no higher  than this till you are carried into Abraham's  bosom."


2.10  SECURITY OF THE  BELIEVER

 Ours is a covenant keeping God: "There hath  not failed one  word of all his good promises" (I  Kings 8:56) He has made  "a better covenant" by  Christ than the Moses (Heb. 8:6). It is an "everlasting  covenant" (Heb. 13:20).  The blood of the "everlasting covenant"  is incorruptible (I Peter 1:18, 19).  Both the covenant and the blood by which  it was sealed are as enduring as our  need. The incorruptible blood propitiates  God and His law (ROM, 3:25-26), enabling the sovereign God to enter into covenant  with man, to pardon  (Eph.1:6), to fellowship (I John 1:3), and to keep these who  covenant with  Him.

 This  security is adequate and  sure, but there are conditions. "If we walk in the  light" there is cleansing (I  John 1;7); "If we hold the beginning of  our confidence steadfast to the end"
(Heb. 3:14). "If any man draw back  my soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Heb.  10:38). "If a man abide  not in me he is cast forth as a branch" (John  15:6).

 There  are also warnings. II Peter  2:20, 21 warns that if after having "escaped  the pollutions of the world" any  of us "are again entangled therein,  and overcome, the latter end is worse with  them than the beginning" until  "it had been better for them not to have known  the way of righteousness."

 By  keeping ourselves "in the love  of God" (Jude 21) we will be "kept  by the power of God" (I Pet.  1:5).


2.11  SIN AFTER JUSTIFICATION

Not every sin willfully committed after justification  is the sin  against the Holy Spirit and unpardonable (Mat. 12:31,32). Wherefore,  the grant  of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification.   After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall   into sin and by the grace of God rise again and amend our lives. Therefore, they   are to be condemned who say they can no more sin as long as they live here or   deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent (Mal. 3:7; Matt. 18:21;  I  John 1:9; 2:1)


2.12  THE CHURCH
The ecclesia, the church, is composed of the called-out people  who have separated  themselves from the world and have a living faith in Christ  as their personal  Saviour (II Cor. 6:17 18, ROM 12:2; Jas. 4:4; I John 5:19; Heb.  11:6; ROM  10:10). Her mission is the proclamation of the full gospel (Acts 1:8).   salvation from all sin (Heb. 7:25), divine healing (Jas. 5:14-16; Acts 4:10; Luke  9:2; 10:9), and the premillennial coming of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:9-11;  Matt. 25:6;  I Thess. 4:16-18; Rev. 19:7; 20:5, 6). Her field is the world (Mark  16:15).


2.13  SACRAMENTS

Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens  of Christian  profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace and God's  good will  toward us by which He works invisibly in us, and not only quickens,  but also  strengthens and confirms our faith in Him. The sacraments were not ordained  of  Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but to be duly used by  us.


  2.13.1 Baptism.
This is an outward  sign of an inward work wrought by the Holy  Ghost in the soul. As to the mode  let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind,  and no preacher or layman  shall insist on any certain mode (Matt. 28:19; Acts  2:28; Col. 2:12; Acts  8:36-38; 16:33; I Pet. 3:21).



2.13.3 The Lord's Supper.
 This  is an ordinance whereby the body and blood of Christ  are given, taken, and,  eaten, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, and  their benefits accrue  only to those who, with a clear conscience, partake in faith  of the material  elements - wine and bread. But they that receive them unworthily  purchase unto  themselves condemnation, as St. Paul says (I Cor. 11:29). This sacrament   represents our redemption through Christ's blood, our spiritual nourishment  through  His body (I Cor. 11:24-29), and the expectancy of our faith in His  return (Titus  2:13; I Cor. 11:26).


2.14  HEALING

 We embrace  the scriptural doctrine of healing for the body, and believe that it is the privilege  of every child of  God, to be healed in answer to the prayer of faith according  to Jas. 5:14, 15;  yet we are not to sever our fellowship from or pass judgment  upon those who use
other providential means for the restoration of health (Jas.  5:16; Acts 4:10;  Matt. 10:8; Luke 9:2; 10:9; I Cor. 12:9, 28; Acts 4:14; John  9:1-34)


2.15 CHRIST'S  RETURN

 We believe that the coming of our Lord is be personal and premillennial;  also that  it is imminent (Acts 1:9-11; I Thess. 4:14-17; Matt. 24:27; 25:13; 26:29;  Rev.  22.12) We must distinguish between the Rapture - His coming in the air to   receive His saints, which may occur at any moment and the Revelation - His  coming  down to earth with His saints (I Thess. 4:14-17; Matt. 24:27; 25:l3;  26:29; Rev.  20:4), which latter will not occur until after the gathering of  Israel (Exec.  36:24; 37:21), the manifestation of antichrist, and other  prophesied events (II  Thess. 2:2-10; Rev. 19:20).


2.16  RESURRECTION AND  JUDGMENT?

 According to the scriptures, Christ truly did  rise again from the dead (Matt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24) and took again His body  (John 20:27),  wherewith He ascended into heaven, where He intercedes for the truly  penitent  and the blood-washed until He returns again to judge His saints for reward  and  to take His kingdom (Heb. 7:25).


2.16.1  Resurrection.
The Scriptures also teach that there is a resurrection of the dead,  both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15; John 5:28, 29), and that God has  appointed a  day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ  Whom He  has ordained (Acts 17:31).


2.16.2  Judgment and Rewards.
Furthermore, the Word of God indicates that the just shall  be raised in their glorified bodies at Christ's second coming (Luke 20:36; I Cor.  15:35), to  receive their rewards and to reign with Christ on the earth a thousand  years  (Rev. 20:4, 6), and to be forever in the presence of the Lord. The unjust  are  to be raised at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:5), to be judged and go  into  everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46), banished from the presence of
God.


2.16.3  Penance.
Finally, because  of the teaching of the Bible, we do not believe in doing  penance for sin (Acts
13:38, 39; Eph. 2:8, 9; ROM 1:16, 17), nor in a purgatory  for cleansing from  sin (I John 1:7), nor in a chance after death, but in a punitive  judgment for the resurrected unjust (Heb. 9:27).


2.17  DESTINY

 We are all  destined to spend eternity in one of two places, heaven  or hell, according to
our relationship to God when He calls us to give account  (ROM  14:12).

2.17.1 Heaven. 
Everyone who has a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, on departing from  this life goes to  be in felicity with Him, and will share the eternal glories  of His everlasting kingdom, the fuller rewards and the greater glories being reserved  until the  final judgment (Phil. 1:23, 24; II Cor. 5:6, 8,10; John 14:2, 3; Matt.  25:34,  46).


2.17.2 Hell. 
While the saint goes  from the judgment to enjoy eternal bliss, the impenitent  sinner is turned away  into everlasting condemnation, punishment, and misery. As  heaven is described  in the Bible as a place of everlasting happiness, so hell  is described as a  place of endless torment "where their worm dieth not, and  the fire is not  quenched" (Matt. 25:41, 46; Luke 13:3; John 8;21, 23; Mark  9:44-48). 
 
 
DISCIPLINE  
 
First Edition  -  1971
Second Edition - 1975
Third Edition -1990 

  Pilgrim Holiness
Church of New York, Inc.
32 Cadillac Avenue Albany, New  York 12205  
  
Last  modified 12/15/2000