Thursdays are going to be spent working a little Theology (study of God) together – starting with the EFCA statement of faith found here.

The Evangelical Free Church of America is an association of autonomous churches united around these theological convictions:

 Jesus Christ

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

As I study for my Ancient Church class exam this week, Arius comes to the forefront in a major way. He wrongly believed that Jesus could not have been the same substance as God and ended up being marked a heretic. Scripture is clear (Jn 1, Co 1:15-23) that He was God, begotten in human form and given to us as a gift to show how life should be lived – dying on a cross for our sins – and rising from the grave in victory over death. We see this in the first part of article 4 of the Statement of Faith for the EFCA. Jesus was both natures in one person, fully God and fully man. The statement goes on to state that He was the one Israel was waiting for – the promised Messiah of what we call the Old Testament (Gn 3:15, Is 52:13-53:12).

We believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit (God) in the virgin Mary (man) and was able therefore to live a sinless life, not succumbing to the curse of Adam (Ro 5:12-21). He lived that sinless life, suffering all trials and temptations man feels, while not allowing them to rule but instead living out the will of the Father perfectly (He 8-9, look at 9:14!). The last part of the statement is there to fit into the Apostle’s Creed and to identify Jesus as the one from the Gospels. He is now our High Priest (offering His sacrifice to the Father on our behalf) and advocate (standing up for us and sitting in power at the right hand of God). Jesus is amazing in so many ways. What do you love about Him?