JHS Publishing Ministries Statement of Faith

The Holy Scriptures

I believe that the Scriptures of the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek Scriptures are verbally inspired of God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life. The Scriptures have been recorded and preserved by the Holy Spirit (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21; Psalm 12:6-7).

I believe that the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts which underlie the King James Version and the Kingdom Study Bible (the Massoretic text of the Old Covenant and the Textus Receptus of the New Covenant) are the true words of God that have been preserved through the process of multiplication of copies to preserve the true readings, and that the Greek TR, commonly known as the Scrivener text, combined with the Traditional Hebrew Massoretic text constitutes the True Word of God today. The number of Greek words in the Received Text that have any question at all about their authenticity are about six or less, according to a study published some time ago by the Dean Burgon Society. And those 6 Greek words in question (out of the many thousands of Greek words in the Bible) do not affect any doctrine, so that we may read and be confident in Bible versions that rely only on the Received text as the very Word of God in our own language.

I reject the so-called "Critical texts" (aka Aleph and B or the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus; from which many other modern editions of the Greek NT are derived) as deeply flawed and unreliable; not only because of the thousands of missing words and phrases (many of which are suspiciously targeted at the Divine Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ), but because these Alexandrian texts contain two large holes in the text at Mark 16:9-20 and John 8:1-11 that are required for the UCCOO format to work. Since the UCCOO format works perfectly everywhere in the Bible, and if the Critical texts were used as the basis for the Kingdom Study Bible it would then be left with two large gaps in the format, but if the Textus Receptus is used as the basis for the Kingdom Study Bible then the UCCOO format works perfectly, I can only conclude that the Critical texts were tampered with by unknown persons with evil intentions toward the Word of God, and therefore they should not be seen as a reliable reflection of the Words of God given by inspiration to the Apostles.

I also believe that the only Bible translations that are acceptable for the use of Christians today are those that strictly adhere to a word-for-word translation method from the original Greek TR and Hebrew Massoretic texts. These would include the King James Version, the Kingdom Study Bible, and a few others.

The Triune nature of the One and only True God Jehovah

I believe in one Jehovah God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). These divine Persons are coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial; each Person is as much God as either of the other Two (I John 5:7). All other gods (so-called), such as the Moon god Allah of Islam, are false and lead only to eternal destruction of the soul in the Lake of Fire. Since the Bible declares Jesus Christ to be the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1-3ff), and hence co-equal in all respects with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, I cannot accept the popular idea that Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Bible-believing Christians all worship the same God. These other religions deny that Jesus is God in the flesh, and the Bible tells us that this assertion is the spirit of Antichrist (I John 4:1-3); therefore these other religions (and the multitude of other false religions in the world who say the same thing) are not of God and Bible-believing Christians can have no agreement or spiritual fellowship with them (I Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

The Pre-existence, Deity and Incarnation of Jesus Christ

I believe that Jesus Christ ever existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit and that in His incarnation was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary and is true God and true man (John 1:1-9; I Timothy 3:16).

The Creation and Fall of Man

I believe that man was created in the image of God and that he did not evolve. I believe that man sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God. I believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, are totally depraved, and for those who reach an age of moral responsibility, they must be born again to be accepted of God (Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10, 23; John 3:5-17).

The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ

I believe that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood. I believe that He literally arose from the dead on the third day in the same body in which He suffered and died. I also believe that our Lord ascended into Heaven; that He is now seated at the right hand of the Father and is our High Priest and Divine Advocate with the Father. I believe that by His finished work on the cross and His unceasing ministry of intercession in Glory, that Jesus Christ has procured for every Believer eternal redemption, eternal salvation, and everlasting life (I Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 5:9; John 3:16, 20:27; Mark 16:19; Hebrews 5:9, 7:25, 8:1, 9:12; I John 2:1).

The Personality and Ministry of the Holy Spirit

I believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person, that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment, that He regenerates the sinner by the Word of God, that He permanently indwells the body of each Believer, that He seals, enlightens, instructs, and guides every born again person, and that He is the efficient power for godly living, Christian service, and spiritual worship. I believe that all who by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ are born again by the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the children of God (John 3:5-17, 14:16-17, 26, 16:7-15; I Peter 1:23; Ephesians 4:30).

The Ordinances of the Assembly

I believe that the local Assembly has two Scriptural ordinances and that these ordinances picture the saving Finished Work of Jesus Christ. These are, namely, water baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper. While recognizing that water baptism has no saving merit, it is my conviction that after one is saved, baptism is the next step in the process of spiritual growth for the new Believer. Not only does it portray to the world the Believer's union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection and with the Lord's local Assembly, but I believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon the life of the Believer when he/she obeys this important command of our Lord. This is not the "Baptism of the Spirit", but simply God's blessing in response to the obedience of the Believer to their new Lord and Savior.

I also believe that upon baptism, the Believer should become a member of a Bible-Believing, Bible-preaching local Assembly which is His Body. (1 Corinthians 12:13, 27)

I believe that Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to commemorate His death until He comes and that the elements (unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine) symbolically portray the body and blood of Christ. As such, I deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, as well as the Protestant doctrine of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the bread and grape juice The elements are completely symbolic and participating in the Lord's Table/Communion can convey no saving merit whatsoever to the participant. It is a matter of obedience alone and not of salvation. (Acts 2:41-47; Romans 6:4; I Corinthians 11:23-29, 12:12-27).

The Salvation of Man

I believe that those who have been born again have everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but have passed from death unto life (John 3:18, 5:24). The conditions to salvation are repentance and faith.

Our Lord's Second Advent

I believe in the "blessed hope," which is the personal, Premillenial, Pretribulational, and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is known as the rapture of the New Covenant saints. I also believe in the personal, visible, Premillenial, and glorious return of Christ to the earth with His saints at the end of the Great Tribulation. This phase of His coming is known as the revelation of Jesus Christ. When He returns to earth with His saints, I believe that the Lord Jesus will establish His Millennial Kingdom and will reign for one thousand years. This is a literal reign upon the earth in fulfillment of the Old Covenant Messianic promises (Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; John 14:3; Revelation 19:11-21, 2:1-6).

The Resurrection of the Dead

I believe in the bodily resurrection of all New Covenant saints at the rapture (I Thessalonians 4:16; I Corinthians 15:51-57) and of the resurrection of the unjust at the end of time (Revelation 20:11-15; John 5:28-29). The resurrection of the New Covenant saints is unto a glorious body, like unto His (Philippians 3:20-21); while the resurrection of the unsaved is unto a body fitted for the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

The Eternal State of the Saved and the Lost

I believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell: heaven is the place of eternal conscious joy for all who receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, and hell is the place of eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire for all who reject Jesus Christ and those dying in their sin (John 8:24, 14:1-6; Psalm 9:17, 16:11; Philippians 1:21, 23; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:10-15). After the Great White Throne Judgment, all the unsaved will be turned into the Lake of Fire; the saints of all ages will enjoy the New Jerusalem and the new earth (Rev. 21-22).

The Personality of Satan

I believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen angel, prince of demons, the god of this age, the great enticer and deceiver, the adversary of Christ and His people, the accuser of the brethren, whose end is the lake of fire (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Rev. 20:1-10).

The Assembly (the Ecclesia or Church)

I believe that the Assembly is a local, visible body of Believers called out from the world for the purpose of obeying the Great Commission, and that they are separated unto Christ. I believe that the supreme mission of the Assembly in this age is to preach the Gospel to every creature and, in the context of the local Assembly, to disciple those who believe on His name (I Corinthians 12:12-27; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Luke 24:47).

I do not believe in the existence of a mystical, invisible body of Christ but instead that each Assembly is the body of Christ in that locale (I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23). Furthermore, I believe in the perpetuity of the Lord's Assemblies, i.e. that there have been local Bible-believing Assemblies from the days of Christ until the present; and that such Assemblies will continue until the Lord returns. I believe that once a Believer has joined the local Assembly, he or she can only be removed from the rolls of the Assembly by death, Assembly discipline, or transfer of letter to an Assembly of like faith and order.

I further believe that the term "Assembly" is preferable to the traditional term "church", because "Assembly" is the only English word that accurately conveys the true meaning of the Greek word underlying it. The term "church" conveys an unbiblical meaning of simply "called out" rather than "called out to assemble in one place" which "Ecclesia" means. The term "church" is a bucket that can be filled with almost any meaning desired by those who do not respect the Final authority of Holy Scripture; whereas "Assembly" is much more specific and therefore preferable.

Separation

I believe that God commands Christians to be a separated people (II Corinthians 6:17-18 and 7:1). JHS Publishing Ministries will separate itself from all forms of religious apostasy and neo-evangelical inclusivism. I reject the ecumenical movement which seeks to join all Assemblies into one body regardless of doctrine or practice. I also reject the charismatic renewal movement with its unscriptural emphasis on emotionalism, tongues, and healing. This Assembly will enjoy fellowship with Assemblies of like faith and order, but will have no part in any council of Assemblies that is ecumenical in nature or thrust.

I believe Christians should be personally separated from all worldly practices that hinder spiritual growth and stability. I believe that God's people should not love the world or the things that are in the world (I John 2:15-16). In addition, I believe that a Christian should strive to live a holy life and maintain a testimony consistent with the Bible. This affects such areas as dress and appearance, associations, amusements, language, and all other such areas as would be considered worldly (John 17:15-19; James 4:1-10).