Twelve Foundation Stones for Christian Life
Core Beliefs of Christview Ministries
Across all the diversity and divisions of Christ’s Church, we affirm these twelve foundation stones of full Christian life:
(1) One God, Father of all, Creator and Sovereign, eternally one with the Son and the Spirit, holy and loving, from whom, through whom, and to whom are all things;
(2) One Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, Word of God incarnate, eternally one with the Father and the Spirit, fully human, fully divine, crucified Savior, risen regent, faithful advocate and only mediator, righteous judge, first-born of the new creation, designated by the Father to reign until all enemies are under his feet;
(3) One Spirit, the Holy Spirit, Advocate of the faithful, eternally one with the Father and the Son, sent by Jesus Christ from the Father to impart to his Church the first-fruits of the new creation, gifts of enlightenment, assurance, guidance, empowerment, and sanctification;
(4) One Faith, committed trust in the good news of God’s redeeming, reconciling, and reigning love in Jesus Christ;
(5) One Hope, the triumph of God’s holiness in the destruction of all that is truly evil, in the fulfillment of all that is truly good, in our deliverance from guilt, sin, evil, death, and hell, in our renewal as God’s children in God’s image, and in our restoration to the dominion for which God created us;
(6) One Baptism, into union with Jesus Christ in his life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and eternal reign, and into union with his Church, a union that begins as we die with Christ to sin and are raised to walk in newness of life;
(7) One Body, the Church of Jesus Christ, a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit, a community of faith, drawn from all conditions and varieties of humanity, reconciled to God and to one another through Jesus Christ, entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and joined for mutual guidance, support, and encouragement;
(8) One Bread and One Cup, the body and blood of Jesus, the Lord’s Supper, representing our redemption, anticipating our inheritance, renewing us for service, and expressing our gratitude for being made one with the whole body of Christ;
(9) One Book above all other books, the Bible, inspired by God, and when faithfully interpreted through Jesus Christ by persons with the help of the Holy Spirit, the authoritative Word of God for the faith and practice of the Church;
(10) One Plan of Salvation, our deliverance out of sin and death into eternal life by God’s grace, received through faith and repentance, manifested through baptism, and sealed through forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, a deliverance that begins with our being covered by Jesus’ righteousness while we by degrees grow into it;
(11) One Law, from which all moral rules and disciplines are derived and through which all moral rules and disciplines are to be applied, the commandment to love as we have been loved by God through Jesus Christ, loving God above all else, loving ourselves as God’s children, and loving other human beings including our enemies as ourselves, the commandment aimed at our moral and spiritual transformation into children in the image of God;
(12) One Mission, to share with all humanity the good news of Jesus Christ in words and deeds as we are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
United on these foundation stones, we as living stones ourselves are being built into the church, the living temple for the Holy Spirit, for the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.