There is one living, true and holy God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 6:2-3; 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4). He is an infinite, all knowing Spirit (John 4:24), perfect in all His attributes. God is One in essence, yet eternally existing in three Persons (Trinity)—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)—each equally deserving of worship and obedience.
God the Father. He is the first Person of the Trinity, does all things according to His will and purpose, and for His glory (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Isaiah 45:5-7; Ephesians 1:11).
He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). As the only all-powerful (omnipotent) Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation. He governs all things to accomplish His will (providence), including His perfect plan for redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:13; Ephesians 1:9-10).
His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. He is Creator to all men (Genesis 1:27), but He is Father to believers (Romans 8:14-15; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
In His sovereignty, He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11; Job 38:41; Isaiah 46:9-11). He is neither author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47), nor does He tempt anyone (James 1:13). He holds mankind accountable for their choices (1 Peter 1:17; Romans 14:10, 12).
He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would adopt as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6). He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ and, upon adoption, becomes their Father (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:4-5; Hebrews 12:5-9).
God the Son. Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine attributes and in these He is coequal, consubstantial (same essence) and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9).
God the Father created all things according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are sustained (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).
In the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God Man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9). We teach that Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness (fully man and fully God) (John 5:23; 14:9-10; Colossians 2:9; Phil 2:5-8)).
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23, 25; Luke 1:26-35); and His purpose was to reveal God, redeem men, and rule over God's kingdom (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-27; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross. His death was voluntary, substitutionary, propitiatory (appeased God’s wrath), and redemptive (John 10:15-18; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
Man’s justification is made sure by Jesus’ literal, bodily resurrection from the dead. He has ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now mediates and intercedes as our Advocate and High Priest (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25; 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1).
With Christ’s resurrection, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that He has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus' bodily resurrection is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers (John 5:26-29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 6:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).
He is the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), the Head of His Body the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18), and the coming universal King who will reign on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:31-33). As such, He is the one through whom God will judge all mankind (John 5:22-23). On the basis of the death of Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the guilt, penalty, power and one day the very presence of sin. The believer is declared righteous, given eternal life and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8 9; 2 Corinthians 5:14 15; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18).
God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, possesses all the attributes of personality and deity including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (everywhere at once, Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (all knowing, Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (all powerful, Job 42:2), and truthfulness (John 16:13). He is coequal, consubstantial (same essence) and coeternal with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; and Hebrews 10:15-17).
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute God’s will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (the Bible, 2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came from the Father, as promised by Christ (John 14:16-17; 15:26), to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). The broad scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; glorifying Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ (John 16:7-8; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:22).
The Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration (born again), baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals (guarantees) them unto the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:16-18; 22-26; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
The Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher, who guided the apostles and prophets into all truth as they committed to writing God's revelation, the Bible (2 Tim 3:16). Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation (justification), and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be controlled by the Spirit (filled with the Spirit for progressive sanctification ( John 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 1 John 2:27).
The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the ministry of all spiritual gifts to the church for the perfecting of the saints today. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by showy or brash displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers (John 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18).