Statement of Faith
Ray Ciervo Ministries Statement of Faith
God
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Father: We believe that the Father is eternal, all knowing, present everywhere, and all-powerful. God is holy, righteous, and just. His love, grace, mercy, and justice were manifested in the sacrificial death of his only begotten son, giving salvation to all who believe.
Son: We believe in the absolute deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the absolute humanity of our Lord through his virgin birth. We believe in the sinless life of our Lord, though he was tempted at all points in his humanity. We believe that he suffered in our place and died to satisfy God's justice; we believe in his bodily resurrection, his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and his personal bodily return in glory and power.
Holy Spirit: We believe the Holy Spirit is the Lord, who convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates the lost. He is the gift of the Father and of Christ to the church, indwelling all believers, sealing them in the body of Christ unto the day of redemption. He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth. He imparts the spiritual gifts as found in scripture, and we believe that all believers should exercise the biblical gifts of the Holy Spirit as found in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and Ephesians 4.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be verbally inspired of God and to be the special revelation of God to man, inerrant and infallible in their original writing. They are the supreme and final authority for faith and practice.
Man
We believe that man is originally created in the image of God, but the entire race of man was separated from God through the sin of one man, Adam. We believe no man can reconcile himself with God. Therefore man remains separated from God until the Holy Spirit regenerates him through faith in Jesus Christ.
Satan
We believe that Satan is the author of sin. He has been defeated by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ; he and his angels shall be punished eternally at the coming of Christ.
Sin
We believe sin is every lack of conformity to the will of God or transgression of the law of God. Sin is manifest in the selfishness, rebellion, and total depravity of man's heart, conscience and conduct before God and man.
Salvation
We believe in the absolute necessity of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. People are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, His blood shed for our sins, and His resurrection. Only by God's grace and through faith alone are they saved.
Sanctification
Sanctification is realized in believers by recognizing their identification with Christ in his death and resurrection, and by the faith that depends daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.
Kingdom of God
We believe that God is the Eternal King and that his kingdom is everlasting. God's rule has always been, is now and forever will be; it was spoken of in the law and prophets and came to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working towards the consummation of the kingdom at the end of the age, which will come about when Jesus Christ comes visibly, in glory and triumph.
Heaven and Hell
We believe that heaven is a literal place of eternal righteousness and fellowship with God. We also believe that hell is a literal place of eternal punishment and separation from the mercies of God. We believe in the literal resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved are saved to the resurrection of eternal life, and they that are lost are lost to the resurrection of eternal death.
Unity of Believers
We believe that there is one universal church consisting of all those possessing the same faith as Abraham and profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
