Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary
Statement of Faith
Preamble
This statement represents the common faith of the Arab Evangelical churches and which includes the essentials of Christian doctrine as taught in the Bible. Therefore, all the faculty of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary must be in agreement with this Statement of Faith as a primary requirement for working in a teaching capacity. This in turn contributes to preserving the purity of the faith, its propagation, and its transmission from generation to generation. We also realize that there are other doctrines that do not appear in this Statement of Faith, and which may not be common among our churches. So one of our churches may hold to doctrines that it considers special and important, while other churches of ours may not. But, for the sake of preserving the unity of the body of Christ, Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, which faithfully seeks to represent the unity of our Arab Evangelical churches, is committed to respect the freedom of each church in expressing its faith in areas that do not appear in this statement. This same commitment extends to the faculty and students of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, which cares that they respect and learn from one another as an expression of our Christian unity, and as a testimony to the world that we are Christ’s disciples. We also believe that our commitment to our unity and to working together, in spite of our diverse beliefs in uncommon doctrines, enriches the spiritual and academic standards of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary. As an application to this diversity in unity, each faculty member of Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary has the right to express his faith in the uncommon matters, but at the same time he is responsible to fairly teach the other doctrines that do not agree with his own, and to evaluate his students on the basis of the defense and support of their opinions and not on the basis of their agreement with his position. We are thus committed to the principle: in the essentials unity, in the nonessentials freedom, but in everything love.
The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the book that is inspired by God, in the sense that “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God,” so that the words of the Bible are verbally inspired. This divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts: historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical. The Bible is therefore inerrant in the original manuscripts. These manuscripts were transmitted to our present day with high and unique accuracy and reliability to form the Bible (which is the complete written Word of God) with final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
The Trinity
We believe in God the creator and sustainer of the universe whose eternal power and divine nature are evident in creation, and whose common grace extends to all His creatures. We believe in one God existing eternally in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are equal in essence, possess the same nature, attributes, and perfections, are worthy of the same worship, confidence, and obedience, and are distinct in the Persons. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and they are one God. We also believe that God’s attributes are eternally an expression of the perfection and immutability of His nature. He therefore can be fully trusted and known in a personal way.
God the Father
We believe that God in His three Persons has the attribute of fatherhood to all of creation. For, as creator, every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, and from Him, through Him and for Him are all things. However, the attribute of fatherhood applies in a special way to the first person of the holy Trinity, God the Father. As to the expression “Father,” it is applied specifically to the first Person of the Trinity in His eternal and unchanging relationship to the second Person of the Trinity, since the Son is equal to the Father in essence.
We believe that God the Father is the creator and source of all existence. He loved the world so that He gave His only Son who was in His bosom from eternity. He is also the one that gives the right to all who receive Him to become children of God. The Son has also taught us to pray to the Father, calling Him “our Father,” and asking for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and for His kingdom to come to the heart of all who call upon Him and come to Him. For to Him is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.
The Incarnation and the
Redemption of the Son of God
We believe that, in accordance with the purposes of God and as
declared in the Scriptures, the eternal Word of God, God the Son, the Second
Person of the holy Trinity, through Whom the world was created, came into the
world to reveal God to men, to fulfill prophecy, and to become the Redeemer of
the lost human race. As a result of the unique miracle involving His
conception by the Holy Spirit and birth of a virgin, He received a human body of
absolute holiness unable to sin.
We believe that Christ was fully man and fully God so that His deity was not lessened by His humanity, nor His humanity by His deity. We believe that He voluntarily accepted His Father’s will by emptying Himself and taking the form of a slave in order to take away the sin of the world, bearing the divine and holy judgments against sin by death on the cross. His death was therefore substitutionary, the just for the unjust, and by His death He became the Savior of the lost. We believe that, according to the Scriptures, He rose from the dead in the same body in which He had lived and died, but in a glorified body, which is the pattern of the body that ultimately will be given to all believers. By His resurrection, He conquered sin and death along with Satan and the powers of evil. We believe that Christ ascended to the Father’s right hand and became the head of His body the church, and in this ministry He continues to intercede for the saved.
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Third Person of the holy Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, convicts the world with regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment, regenerates those who place their trust in Christ, and indwells them. After the Lord Jesus received the promise of the Father in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament church was born when the Holy Spirit came upon it on the Day of Pentecost. Subsequent to this unique historical event, each believer receives the Holy Spirit and is baptized into the body of Christ at the moment of the new birth. We believe that each believer should be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. This filling is available to all who yield themselves to Him and to His Word. As a result, each believer’s fellowship with the Lord is strengthened so that he or she is fortified to live in harmony with others, and is empowered for service. We believe that the Spirit of God gives divine enabling gifts to all believers according to God’s will. These gifts are to be exercised for the edification of the church, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, and for the glory of the Lord.
Angels Fallen and Unfallen
We believe that God created numerous sinless spiritual beings,
called angels. One of them sinned through his pride, thereby becoming
Satan, or the devil. A great company of angels followed him in the same
fall, and became evil spirits that work as agents and associates of
Satan. We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate
and are before the throne of God from whence they are sent forth as ministering
spirits to those who shall be heirs of salvation. We believe that Satan
is the enemy of God, and who entices towards sin. He deceived Adam and
Eve into transgression, thereby accomplishing their spiritual fall and
subjecting them and their posterity to his power. We believe that Satan
was judged at the cross, and that he will in the end be cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone where he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Man and his Condition
We believe that man was originally created in the image of God as a perfect creature appointed to rule over the earth. But he subsequently fell into sin, and therefore lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, separated from God, and subject to the power of the devil. Though God’s image in man was defaced, it was not obliterated. So, we believe that, from the divine perspective, sin has affected every aspect of man’s nature. This spiritual death has been transmitted to the entire human race, the Man Christ Jesus alone being excepted. Thus, every person born in this world is incapable of remedying his lost and depraved condition apart from divine grace.
Salvation
We believe that any person has the privilege of entering the kingdom of God and obtaining eternal life through the new birth by placing his or her faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning death. We believe that salvation is only by grace through faith, apart from works or personal merit. No degree of personal efforts, attainments in morality, or submission to rules, regulations, or religious ordinances could achieve this salvation. This salvation is freely bestowed on all who put their trust in the redemption that has been accomplished solely by Christ’s shed blood on the cross. On this basis, all who so trust the Savior pass from death unto life, are forgiven of their sins, and become God’s children by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. It is thus the privilege of all who have the Son to have assurance of their salvation.
The Church
We believe that all who have placed their faith in Christ are God’s people and members of the church, which is the body of Christ. The church was born on the day of Pentecost for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission in witnessing to the Person and Work of Christ and in the edification of believers. We believe that by the Holy Spirit all believers in this age are baptized into, and thus become, one spiritual body that is Christ’s, without regard to their affiliations or origins. We believe that the members of this one body are directed to associate themselves together in meetings of local churches for the purpose of instruction, worship, prayer, fellowship, service, and the administration of the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that, in order to ensure individual and corporate growth, the proper exercise of spiritual gifts demands that each member of the body of Christ be faithfully committed to attend and participate spiritually and financially in and through the ministry of his local church. We believe that each local church in a given geographical location represents the universal church worldwide, and that the level of faithfulness to the local church reflects the level of faithfulness to the universal church. We also believe that the members of the body of Christ are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all divisions and schisms, and loving one another fervently with a pure heart.
The Second Coming of
Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will return again, and that His coming will include both the rapture of His church as well as His visible and bodily appearance on earth. At the culmination of the Great Tribulation -- the time of the righteous judgment of God on the whole earth -- the Lord Jesus will come triumphantly in power and with great glory. After the defeat of Satan's agents in the world, the Lord Jesus will be given "dominion, glory, and a kingdom.” Thus, the Lord Jesus will usher in the predicted time of universal peace and righteousness. As a result, the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ.
The Eternal State
We believe that, at death, the spirits of those who have trusted
in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and
there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection at the coming of
Christ. Thereupon, the bodies will be resurrected in a glorified state
forever with Christ in glory. The spirits and souls of the unbelieving,
however, remain after death in real torment until the final judgment of the
great white throne. Thereupon, they shall be raised for judgment and
shall be cast into the lake of fire to be punished with eternal torment and to
be eternally cut off from the Lord.