Joshua's Way--Detailed Statement of Faith
                   What we believe

     A. Our Authority: The 66 canonical books of the Bible, as originally
written, were wholly inspired of God and, thus, free from error. It is our
ultimate authority on all matters that it addresses. In His providence, God
has faithfully preserved copies of the Scriptures over the centuries. From
these copies, the original text of Scripture can be ascertained with great
accuracy so that people may read God’s words today. The Bible is God’s
true story of His eternal reign over all. It constitutes our only infallible
guide in faith and practice. We are to delight in God’s word and obey it
because we delight in God and love Him above all else.

     B. Our God: There is but one God, the Creator, Sustainer, and
Preserver of all things, infinite in being and perfection. He is sovereign
over all creatures, actions, and things. God exists eternally in three
Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are equal in power
and glory.
     (1) God the Father: The Father sent forth His Son to redeem those
who, in repentance and faith, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as their only
way of salvation.
      (2) God the Son: The Son became incarnate without human father,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. In the Son,
who is the Lord Jesus Christ, divine and human natures were inseparably
united in one person, both natures being whole, perfect, and distinct. He
was and is fully God and fully man. To effect salvation, He lived a sinless
life, and died on the cross as the sinner's substitute, shedding His blood
for the forgiveness of sins. On the third day, He physically and bodily rose
from the dead. He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He
performs the ministry of intercession. He shall come again, personally and
visibly, to complete His saving work, to judge the living and the dead, and
to consummate the eternal plan of God.
     (3) God the Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune
God who indwells every person who has been saved by God's grace
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He regenerates us and enables us
to turn to Christ in repentance and faith. He applies to us the work of
Christ and helps us to grow in Christ.
     C. Our sin and our salvation: God created Adam and Eve in His own
image. By disobedience, they fell from their sinless state through the
temptation by Satan. This fall plunged humanity into a state of sin,
spiritual death, separation from God, and brought upon the entire race the
sentence of eternal death. From this condition we can be saved only by
the grace of God, through faith and repentance, on the basis of the work of
Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. By justification and adoption we
are given a right standing before God; by regeneration, sanctification, and
glorification we are renewed.
      D. Our mission as the body of Christ: The body of Christ, in its
broadest sense, is the world-wide community of true Christian believers
who are joined together with Christ as their Head. As the body of Christ,
we are to serve God with a passion to see Him glorified and enjoyed by all
people. Guided by God’s Word and Spirit, we are to delight in and worship
the Triune God, diligently seek the expansion of His reign and will on earth,
persuasively proclaim and teach the whole counsel of God as set forth in
the Scriptures, consistently display God’s love to believers and nonbelievers,
and compassionately aid the poor, sick, disadvantaged, and
others in need. As citizens of heaven, we are to be involved in the world,
but not of the world, living holy lives, separated from sin, obedient to God’s
Word, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and using individual gifts and
abilities to serve God and others.
      E. Our destiny: Those who die in Christ shall enter into full
possession of eternal life and eternal bliss in the presence of God, while
those who die without Christ shall be condemned to eternal separation
from God and eternal punishment. After Christ’s return, the bodies of
believers and unbelievers will be raised, the bodies of believers to eternal
life and the bodies of unbelievers to eternal judgment.