What We Believe

Mission Statement

Gospel Tools is an online community that uses technology to provide individuals with education, resources and encouragement to learn how to share the Gospel with their family, friends, and circle of influence.

"But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts." – 1 Thessalonians 2:4

The Scriptures

We believe that the Bible, the collection of sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation, is the very Word of God, is the truth without error, and shall remain to the end.

We believe the Bible is inspired. It was written by holy men of old who are supernaturally inspired by the Holy Spirit in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally free from error as no other writings have ever been or ever will be.

We believe the Bible is the ONLY complete and final revelation of the will of God to man, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter. 1:19-21; Acts 1:16; Acts 28:25; Psa. 119:105, 130, 160; Luke 24:25-27; John 17:17; Luke 24:44-45; Psa. 119:89; Prov. 30:5-6; Rom. 3:4; I Peter 1:23; Rev. 22:19; John 12:48; Isa. 8:20; Eph. 6:17; Rom. 15:4; Luke 16:31; Psa. 19:7-11; John 5:45-47; John 5:39

The True God

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God.

We believe God is an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the Creator and the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth.

We believe God is inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honour, confidence, and love.

We believe that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They are equal in divine perfection and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Ex. 20:2-3; Gen 17:1; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 4:24; Psa. 147:5; Psa. 83:18; Psa. 90:2; Jer. 10:10; Ex. 15:11; Rev. 4:11; I Tim 1:17; Rom. 11:33; Mark 12:30; Matt. 28:19; John 15:26; I Cor. 12:4-6; I John 5:7; John 10:30; John 17:5; ICor. 2:10-11; Phil 2:5-6; Eph. 2:18; II Cor. 13:14

Jesus Christ

The Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever born or can ever be born of a woman.

We believe that He is both the Son of God and God the Son. We believe that He was God incarnate and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God's kingdom.

Gen 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; Mark 1:1; John 1:14; Psa. 2:7; Gal. 4:4; I John 5:20; I Cor. 15:47

 

Saviour

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind.

We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity.

We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them.

We believe Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as the substitutionary sacrifice for man's sin. This sacrifice is the only sufficient payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. This payment was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection.

We believe in the bodily Resurrection of the Lord Jesus on “The third day according to the Scriptures”, and that He ascended “to the right hand of the throne of God”, and that He alone is our “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God.”

Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; 1 Peter 1:19, 2:2; 1 John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6

 

The Return of Christ

We believe that "this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven,” – bodily, personally, and visibly.

We believe that the “dead in Christ shall rise first”, that the living saints “shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump”, that "the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David”; and that “Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet.”

Matt. 28:6-7; Acts 24:39; John 20:27; 1 Cor. 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2-7; Acts 1:9, 11; Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Rev. 3:21; Heb. 8:1; Heb. 12:2; Heb. 8:6; I Tim. 2:5; I John 2:1; Heb. 2:17; Heb. 5:9-10; John 14:3; I Thess. 4:16; Matt.24:27, 42; Heb. 9:28; I Cor. 15:42-44, 51-53; I Thess. 4:17; Phil. 3:20-21; Luke 1:32; I Cor. 15:25; Isa. 11:4-5; Psa. 72:8, Rev. 20:1-4; Rev. 20:6

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. He is equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature, and was active in the creation of all things.

We believe that in this unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled. He convicts of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony. He is the agent in the New Birth. In that role, He seals, endues, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and helps every believer.

John 14:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Heb. 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Gen. 1;1-3; II Thess. 2:7; John 16:8-11; John 15:26-27; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Eph. 1:13-14; Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; John 16:13; Rom. 8:14; Rom. 8:16; II Thess. 2:13; I Peter 1:2; Rom. 8:26-27

The Devil, Or Satan

We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honours; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy; the lord of the antichrist, and the author of all the powers of darkness – destined however to final defeat at the hands of God’s own Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.

Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:14-17; Rev. 12:9; Jude 6; II Peter2:4; Eph. 2:2; John 14:30; I Thess. 3:5; Matt. 4:1-3; I Peter.5:8; I John 3:8; Matt. 13:39; Luke 22:3-4; Rev. 12:10; II Cor. 11:1315; Mark 13:21-22; I John 4:3; II John7; I John 2:22; Rev. 13:13-14; II Thess. 2:8-11; Rev. 19:11,16, 20; Rev. 12:7-9; Rev. 20:1-3, 10; Matt. 25:41.

Creation

We believe the Genesis account of creation is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively.

We believe all animal and vegetable life was made directly by God and that He established the law that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”

We believe that God specifically created mankind in His own image, after His own likeness, and in 2 distinct genders – male and female. Man is not the result of evolution, an evolutionary change of species, or developed through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms.

We believe the only legitimate marriage can be between a man and a woman and that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage.

We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions.

We believe that God rejects any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance.

Gen. 1.1; Ex 20:11; Acts 4:24; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 11:3; John 1:3; Rev. 10:6; Rom. 1:20; Acts 17:23-26; Jer. 10:12; Neh. 9:6; Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:21-23; Gen. 1:11; Gen. 1:24.

The Fall of Man

We believe that God created mankind in innocence and that man voluntarily sinned and thus fell from his sinless, happy state.

We believe that all mankind are now sinners as the consequence of the original sin, not by constraint, but by choice, and therefore live under eternal condemnation without defence or excuse.

Gen. 3:1-6, 24; Rom. 5:12, 19; Rom. 3:10-19; Eph. 2:1, 3; Rom. 1:18; Ezek.18:19-20; Rom. 1:20, 28, 32; Gal. 3:22

Salvation

Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and that Christ freely became a man, yet without sin, and honoured the divine law by His personal obedience.

We believe Christ's death made the full and vicarious atonement for the sins of all mankind and that His death was voluntary and the only legitimate substitute in the sinner’s place – Jesus Christ alone is qualified to be the all-sufficient Saviour.

Justification

We believe that Christ justifies all that believe on Him by faith – including the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life. This justification is bestowed solely on the merits of the righteousness of Christ and through faith in His shed blood, and imputes His righteousness to those that are justified.

Salvation

We believe that salvation is made free to all by the Gospel and that nothing can prevent the salvation of anyone (including the greatest sinner) except for their sin and voluntary rejection of the Gospel.

We believe that in order to be saved, all sinners must be convicted of their guilt and helplessness, believe that the way of salvation is only through Jesus Christ, turn to God with unfeigned contrition and receive Christ by openly confessing Him as their only Saviour.

We believe that salvation is instantaneous and not a process and that in the new birth, the one dead in trespasses and sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life – the free gift of God. Simultaneously, the partaker becomes a new creation, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We believe that the evidence of this new creation appears in voluntary obedience to God, holy fruits of repentance and faith, and the newness of life.

Psa. 51:1-4, 7; Isa. 53:4-7, 11-12; Isa. 55:1, 6-7; Hab. 2:4; Zech. 13:1; Matt. 11:28; Matt. 18:11; Mark 1:15; Luke 5:27; Luke 12:8; Luke 18:13; John 1:12-13; John 2:2; John 3:3, 6-7, 15-16, 18, 36; John 4:10; John 5:40; John 6:37; John 10:18; Acts 2:37-38, 41; Acts 13:39; Acts 15:11; Acts 20:21; Rom. 1:17; Rom. 3:24-25; Rom. 4:1-8; Rom. 5:1, 9; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 8:1, 29-30; Rom. 10:9-11, 13; I Cor. 15:10, 20; II Cor. 5:17, 19, 21; II Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4; Gal. 3:11; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:1, 4-5, 8; Eph. 5:9; Phil. 2:7-8; Col. 2:13; Col. 3:12; I Thess. 1:4; I Tim. 1:15; Titus 1:1; Titus 3:5-7; II Pet. 1:2, 4; I Pet. 2:24; I Pet. 3:18; Heb. 2:14; Heb. 12:2; Heb. 7:25; Heb. 9:12-15; Heb. 10:38; I John 5:1; Rev. 22:17;

Missions

We believe the command God has given to the church to give the Gospel to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is clear and unmistakable. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us.

Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; Rom. 10:13-15, 2 Cor. 5:20