FORTE REACH MINISTRIES

FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS

The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. Forte Reach Ministries Fundamental Truths are a basis of fellowship in this body of believers and are given to promote unity in what we believe and practice. The scripture shared here is essential for full-gospel ministry. Forte Reach Ministries Fundamental Truths covers our need for fundamental doctrines and no claim is made that it contains all biblical truth.

1. The Scriptures Inspired

The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

(2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21).

2. The One True God

The one true God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent “I AM,” the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10,11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22)

THE ADORABLE GODHEAD

(a) Definition of Adorable Godhead

The terms trinity and persons, relating to the godhead, are not found in the Scriptures, yet

are in harmony with Scripture. The word godhead is used to simply convey to others our

understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. It is used to define God as one Being of three

persons.

(Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16,17).

(b) Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead

Christ taught a distinction of persons in the godhead which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit during his earthly ministry.

(Luke 1:35; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Matthew 11:25-27; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 1:3, 4).

(c) Unity of One Being of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Each person of the godhead is distinct in their personality and roles played in all aspects of His existence. The Father is the Begetter; the Son is the Begotten; and the Holy Spirit is the One proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three persons in the godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one.

(John 1:18; 15:26; 17:11, 21; Zechariah 14:9)

(d) Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead

The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are never identical as to person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the godhead; nor opposed as to cooperation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as to relationship. The Son is with the Father is with the Son as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son proceeding, at to nature, relationship, cooperation, and authority. Because of this, no person in the godhead either exists or works separately or independently of the others. (John 5:17-30, 32, 37; 8:17, 18).

(e) The Title, Lord Jesus Christ

Lord Jesus Christ is a proper name. It is never applied in the New Testament either to the Father or to the Holy Spirit. It belongs exclusively to the Son of God. (Rom. 1:1-3, 7; 2 John 3)

(f) The Lord Jesus Christ, God With Us.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine nature, is the proper and only Begotten of the Father, but as to His human nature, He is the proper Son of Man. He is, therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who because He is God and man, is “Immanuel,” God with us.

(Matthew 1:23; 1 John 4:2, 10, 14; Revelation 1: 13, 17).

(g) The Title, Son of God

Since the name Immanuel embraces both God and man, in the one person, Our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title Son of God describes His proper deity, and the title Son of Man, His proper humanity. Therefore, the title Son of God belongs to the order of eternity, and the title Son of Man to the order of time.

(Matthew 1:21; 2 John 3; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 7:3; 1:1-13).

(h) Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ

It is a transgression of the doctrine of Christ to say that Jesus Christ derived the title Son of God solely from the fact of the Incarnation and the roles he fulfilled concerning the Redemption of fallen man. To deny that the Father is real and eternal Father, and that the Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and relationship in the Being of God; a denial of the Father and the Son; and a displacement of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

(2 John 9; John 1:1, 2,14,18,29, 49; 1 John 2:22, 23; 4:1-; Hebrews 12:2)

(i) Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord

The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, angels, and principalities and powers having been made subject unto Him. And having been made both Lord and Christ, He sent the Holy Spirit that we, in the name of Jesus, might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father until the end, when the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may be all in all. (Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 3:22; Acts 2:32-36; Rom. 14:11; 1 Cor. 15:24-28).

(j) Equal Honor to the Father and to the Son

Since the Father has delivered all judgment unto the Son, it is not only the express duty of all in heaven and on earth to bow the knee, but it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Spirit to ascribe unto the Son all the attributes of deity, and to give Him all the honor and glory contained in all the names and titles of the godhead except those which express relationship and thus honor the Son even as we honor the Father.

(John 5:22, 23; I Peter 1:8; Revelation 5:6-14; Philippians 2:8,9; Revelation 7: 9, 1o; 4:8-11).

3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ is ther eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:

a. His virgin birth (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31, 35).

b. His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22).

c. His miracles (Acts 2: 22; Acts 10: 38).

d. His substitutionary work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

e. His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4).

f. His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9,11; 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Heb. 1:3).

4. The Fall of Man

Man was created good and upright; for God said, “Let us make man in our image, after out likeness.” However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.

(Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12-19).

5. The Salvation of Man

Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

(a) Conditions to Salvation

Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life.

(Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 10: 13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11; 3:5-7).

(b) The Evidences of Salvation

The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16).

The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.

(Ephesians 4:24; Titus 2:12). * (See Addendum for extra information)

6. The Ordinances of the Church

(a) Baptism in Water

The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded in the Scriptures. All who repent and believe on Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. In doing so they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47, 48; Romans 6:4).

(b) Holy Communion

The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements—bread and the fruit of the vine—is the symbol of expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4); a memorial of His suffering and death and a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26); and is to be practiced by all believers “till He come!”

7. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry. (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4,8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.

(Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-46; 11: 14-16; 15:7-9). With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as an overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8), a deepened reverence for God (Acts 2:43; Hebrews 12:28), an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work (Acts 2:42), and a more active love for Christ, for His Word, and for the lost (Mark 16:20).

8. The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking

with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4). The speaking in

tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:4-

10,28), but different in purpose and use.

9. Sanctification

Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God

(Romans 12:1,2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12). Scriptures teach a life of “holiness

without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). By the power of the Holy Spirit

we are able to obey the command: “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (I Peter 1:15,16).

Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His

death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by

offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 6:1-11,13;

8:1,2,13; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter 1:5).

10. The Church and Its Mission

The Church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine

appointments for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit,

is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in

heaven (Ephesians 1:22,23; 2:22: Hebrews 12:23).

Since God’s purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshiped

by man, to build a body of believers in the image of His Son, and to demonstrate His love and

compassion for all the world, the priority reason-for-being of Forte Reach Ministries is:

(a) To be an agency of God for evangelizing the world (Acts 1:8; Matthew 29:19,20; Mark

16:15,16).

(b) To be a corporate body in which man may worship God (1 Corinthians 12:13).

(c) To be a channel of God’s purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of

His Son (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 14:12).

(d) To be a people who demonstrate God’s love and compassion for all the world (Psalms 112:9;

Galatians 2:10; 6:10; James 1:27).

Forte Reach Ministries exists expressly for the full working of the Holy Spirit in expression of fruit and gifts and ministries as in New Testament times for the edifying of the body of Christ

and care for the poor and needy of the world. (Galatians 5:22-26; Matthew 25:37-40; Galatians

6:10; 1 Corinthians 14:12; Ephesians 4:11,12; 1 Corinthians 1:29; Galatians 5:22-26).

11. The Ministry

A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the fourfold purpose of the leading the Church in: (1) evangelization of the world (Mark 16:15-20),

(2) worship of God (John 4:23,24), (3) building a Body of saints being perfected in the image of

His Son (Ephesians 4:11,16), and (4) Meeting human need with ministries of love and compassion (Psalms 112:9; Galatians 2:10; 6:10; James 1:27).

12. Divine Healing

Divine Healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers. (Isaiah 53:4,5; Matthew 8:16,17; James 5:14-16)

13. The Blessed Hope

The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the blessed hope of the Church.

(1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51,52).

(See position paper on Pre-,Mid-, and Post-Tribulational Views).

(We will not be argumentative about the timing of the Lord Jesus Christ’s 2nd Coming but

will be open to discussion and will allow for different viewpoints with the understanding

that “No man knoweth the day nor the hour of His return.” (Matthew 24:36)

14. The Millennial Reign of Christ.

Following the second coming of Christ which is our blessed hope, Christ with His saints will reign for one thousand years (Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27,30; Revelation 1:7; 19:11-14; 20:1-6). The millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel (Ezekiel 37:21,22;

Zephaniah 3: 19,20; Romans 11:26,27) and the establishment of universal peace. (Isaiah

11:6-9; Psalm 72:2-8; Micah 4:3,4).

15. The Final Judgment

There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Matthew 25:46; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 19:20; 20:11-15; 21:8).

16. The New Heavens and the New Earth

“We, according to His promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth

righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21, 22).

• Addendum to 5. The Salvation of Man.

(Since scriptural support can be found to support both Conditional and Unconditional Eternal Security; We will be open to discussion but will not argue over these two stances. Our ministers are expected to acknowledge both positions as valid and to promote harmony in body by avoiding contention concerning this personal matter).