DESIGNING YOUR STATEMENT OF FAITH

Before designing our statement of faith, let's first define what faith is. Faith is not merely believing that Jesus is our Savior as one would believe that George Washington was the first President. The Bible always speaks of the heart, not just the mind, when it comes to faith [See Hebrews 11:1; Romans 10:10; Proverbs 4:23]. For this reason, if your co-op really wants to enjoy the fellowship of kindred hearts, your statement of faith should require that the parent provide a testimony of salvation in addition to agreeing to several theological statements. We can believe that all the points of Christianity are true and still end up in hell because we never actually asked the Lord Jesus into our heart and committed it to Him.

Next we will want to determine what theological truths we want included in our statement of faith:

1) If you want to exclude Non-Christian faiths and the cults, include this:
We believe in one God. We believe that there was no God before Him, nor shall there be any other God after Him. We believe He has eternally existed in three persons: The Father, The Son/Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. All three are co-equal, co-eternal, and fully God.

2) If you want to exclude liberal theology, and those who "twist the Scriptures" [2 Peter 3:16]
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inerrant, inspired, infallible Word of God. We believe that the Scriptures hold supreme and final authority in all matters pertaining to not only faith and salvation, but also upon other areas as may the Scriptures touch upon.

3) If you want your group to be made up of those who believe in a Biblical literal 6-day creation:
We believe that our Triune God made all things ex nihilo, or "out of nothing". We believe that God did not use evolutionary processes, but that He made all things as outlined in Genesis 1 and 2. He completed His creative work in 6 literal 24-hour consecutive periods of time, and then rested on the 7th day.

4)If you want your group to believe in original sin, and that man cannot reach a state in this life where he is sinless
We believe that all human beings are created in the image of God, but that with the entrance of sin into the world, we are born, and even conceived as sinners. We believe that no one has ever lived, except for the Lord Jesus, who has been sinless[Romans 3:23]. We believe that anyone who claims to be without sin at any point in life is deceiving him/herself [I John 1:8]

5) If you want to exclude preterists [those who believe the Lord Jesus has already returned]
We believe that Jesus Christ is coming back again in the same manner that he left and that every eye will see Him, and no one will have to be told that He has returned.[Matthew 24:26]

***I would recommend NOT including a statement about the timing of the rapture, nor the "imminence" of Christ's return, [imminence is another way of saying that there will be a pre-tribulational rapture]. Belief in a certain timing of the rapture is not essential to salvation, and therefore should not be included in our statement.

6) If you would like to exclude other errant beliefs about the gospel
We believe that Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah. We believe that He died on the cross at Calvary to take the punishment from God the Father as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. We believe that He died, was buried, and rose on the third day. We believe that Jesus Christ is 100% man and 100% God. He was born to the virgin Mary and after he died, He was resurrected in a bodily state, albeit a glorified body. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father interceding on behalf of the saints.

7) If you would like to exclude those who hold to certain non-evangelical doctrines
We believe that there is one and only one mediator between God and man. That mediator is Jesus. Other than the Holy Spirit, no one else intercedes for us. There is no other mediator between man and heaven. We do not believe that it is proper for a Christian to pray to anyone but God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Neither Mary, nor departed humans mediate for us and so it is improper to attempt to communicate with them.

8) If you would like everyone in your group to believe in the truth about hell
We believe that those who are not born-again and become a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus have a grim future that is beyond description. We believe that these persons will experience an eternity of conscious punishment in hell without end. We do not believe that God will annihilate anyone, nor will the punishment be upon those in an unconscious state. We also do not believe in "soul sleep". We believe that at the moment of death, our soul enters either eternal bliss, or eternal punishment dependent upon one thing: Did we truly believe in Jesus and receive His Spirit? We do not believe in purgatory.

9) To exclude those who do not believe in the re-birth of the believer
We believe that it is essential unto salvation for a person to be born again. Without this, there is no hope for him/her. To be born again means that we have received the Spirit of God because of our conscious declaration of faith in Christ Jesus. This rebirth does not happen to someone apart from their knowledge, nor does it occur to infants since it requires the pledge of a clean conscience towards God.[I Peter 3:21] We believe that the born-again believer should be baptized and enter the fellowship of a Bible-believing church.

10) To avoid potential problems regarding the gifts of the Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit has certainly given miraculous, supernatural gifts in times of old, as is outlined in the Holy Bible. We also recognize that true born-again Christians can disagree about the current state of the Holy Spirit's outpouring of these gifts. We do NOT believe that any or all of these special gifts must be exercised to demonstrate salvation [i.e. speaking in tongues, handling snakes, healing, etc]. To avoid potential problems, we ask that those who exercise these gifts restrain from doing so during our meeting times. ["The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets" I Cor 14:32]

11) To promote unity amongst your group
We believe that God has called His people to unity in the midst of diversity. We believe that there are certain essentials of the faith that one must believe to be saved. We also believe that there are other issues which are considered to be peripheral, rather than central, to faith in Jesus. In these matters, we shall not pass judgment on one another [Romans 14:13], and we will strive also to not unduly offend our brother or sister [Romans 14:15]. These peripheral matters include, but are not limited to: Music styles, clothing, hair styles, games, entertainment, food, wine and other alcoholic beverages, end-times prophecy beliefs, Calvinism and Non-Calvinism doctrines, money, debt, and Bible translation preferences.

12) Finally, don't forget to include an area for the parent to give a testimony of how they were born again.