What We Believe
With the belief that the Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice, Lion's Heart accepts the Holy Scriptures as the revealed will of God, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity, adopts the following statements of Fundamental Truths as a basis of fellowship among us (i.e., that we all speak the same thing — 1 Cor. 1:10; Acts 2:42). The phraseology employed in this statement is not inspired or contended for, but the truth set forth is held to be essential to a full gospel ministry. No claim is made that it contains all Biblical truth, only that it covers our need as to these fundamental doctrines.
The Scriptures Inspired
The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.
2 Tim. 2:15-17 | 1 Thes. 2:13 | 2 Pet 1:21
The One True God
The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I AM," the Creator of Heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Deuteronomy 6:4 | Isaiah 43:10, 11 | Matthew 28:19 | Luke 3:22
THE ADORABLE GODHEAD
Terms defined. The term "Trinity" and "Persons" as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from "gods many and lords many." We therefore may speak with propriety of the Lord our God, who is One Lord, as a Trinity or as one Being of Three Persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.
Matt. 28:19 | 2 Cor. 13:14 | Jn. 14:16–17
Distinction and relationship in the Godhead. Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead, which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but that this distinction and relationship as to its mode is inscrutable and incomprehensible, because unexplained.
Lk. 1:35 | 1 Cor. 1:24 | Matt. 11:25–27; 28:10 | 2 Cor. 13:14 | 1 Jn. 1:3, 4
Unity of the One Being of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the Holy Ghost and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy Ghost is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but One God Almighty and His Name One.
Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are never identical as to person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the Godhead; nor opposed as to cooperation. The Son is with the Father and the Father is with the Son, as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son preceding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation, and authority. Hence, neither Person in the Godhead exists or works separately or independently of the others.
Jn. 5:17–30, 32, 27 | Jn. 8:17, 18
The Title, "Lord Jesus Christ." The appellation "Lord Jesus Christ" is a proper name. It is never applied in the New Testament either to the Father or the Holy Ghost. It therefore belongs exclusively to the Son of God.
Ro. 1:1–3 7 | 1 Jn. 3
The Lord Jesus Christ, "God with Us." The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal nature, is the proper and only Begotten of the Father, but as to His human nature, He is the proper Son of Man. He is therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man; who, because He is God and man, is "Immanuel," God with us.
Mat. 1:23 | 1 J. 4:2, 10, 14 | Rev. 1: 13, 17
The Title, "Son of God." Since the name "Immanuel" embraces both God and man in the One person, our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title "Son of Man" is His proper humanity. Therefore, the Title "Son of Man" to the order of time.
Matt. 1:21–23 | 2 J. 3 | 1 Jn. 3:8 | Heb. 7:3; 1:1–13
Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ. Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ to say that Jesus derived the title "Son of God" solely from the fact of incarnation, or because of His relation to the economy of redemption. Therefore, to deny that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that the Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and relationship in the Being of God; a denial of the Father and the Son; and a displacement of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
2 Jn. 9 | Jn. 1:1, 2, 14, 18, 29, 49; 2:22, 23; 4:1–5 | Heb. 12:2
Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord. The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ having by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; angels and principalities and powers having been made subject to Him as Heir both Lord and Christ, He sent the Holy Ghost that we, in the Name of Jesus, might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father until the end, when the Son shall become subject to the Father that God may be all in all.
Heb. 1:3 | 1 Pet. 3: 33 | Acts 2: 32–36 | Rom. 14:11 | 1 Cor. 15:24–28
Equal Honor to the Father and the Son. Wherefore, since the Father had delivered all judgment unto the Son, it is not only the express duty of all in heaven and on earth to bow the knee, but it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost to ascribe unto the Son all the attributes of Deity, and to give Him all the honor and glory contained in all the names and titles of the Godhead (except those which express relationship, see paragraphs 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4) and thus honor the Father.
[Jn. 5: 22–23 | 1 Pet. 1:8 | Rev. 5: 5–14 | Phil. 2:8 | Rev. 7:9, 10; 4:8–11]
The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:
His Virgin birth [Matthew 1:23 | Luke 1:31,35]
His sinless life [Hebrews 7:26 | 1 Peter 2:22]
His miracles [Acts 2:22; 10:38]
His substitutionary work on the cross [1 Corinthians 15:3 | 2 Corinthians 5:21]
His bodily resurrection from the dead [Matthew 28:6 | Luke 24:39 | 1 Corinthians 15:4]
His exaltation to the right hand of God [Acts 1:9, 11; 2:33 | Philippians 2:9–11 | Hebrews 1:3]
The Fall of Man
Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God
[Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:17; 3:6 | Romans 5:12–19]
The Salvation of Man
Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Conditions to Salvation. Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life.
[Luke 24:47 | John 3:3 | Romans 10:13–15 | Ephesians 2:8 | Titus 2:11; 3:5–7]The Evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence of salvation is direct witness of the Spirit. The outward evidence of all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.
[Romans 8:16 | Ephesians 4:24 | Titus 2:12]
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the endowment of power for life and service, the bestowal of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4, 8; 1 Corinthians 12:1–31). This experience is distinct and subsequent to the experience of the new birth (Acts 8:12–17; 10:44–46; 11:14–16; 15:7–9). With the baptism in the Holy Ghost come such experience as an overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37–39; Acts 4:8), a deepened reverence for God (Acts 2:42), and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost (Mark 16:20).
The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial physical evidence of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4). The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same as the gift of tongues (1 Cor. 12: 4–10, 28), but different in purpose and use.
Sanctification
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God (Romans 12:1–2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12). The Scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command: "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15, 16).
Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily upon the fact that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the domination of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:11,13; 8:1, 2, 13; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter 1:5).
The Ministry
Our Lord has provided a divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry for the threefold purpose of leading the Church in:
The Worship of God (John 4:23, 24)
The Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son (Ephesians 4:11–16)
The Evangelization of the world (Mark 16:15–20)
Divine Healing
Divine healing is an integral part of the Gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.
[Isaiah 53:4, 5 | Matthew 8:16; 17 | James 5:14-16]
The Blessed Hope
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the Church.
[1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 | Romans 8:23 | Titus 2:13 | 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52]
The Final Judgment
There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast nd the false prophet, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
[Matthew 25:46 | Mark 9:43–48 | Rev. 19:20; 20:11–15; 21:8]
The New Heaven and The New Earth
"We, according to His promise, look for the new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness"
[2 Peter 3:13 | Rev. 21, 22]
The Church and its Mission
The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven. [Eph. 1:2, 23; 2:22 | Heb. 12:23]
Since God's purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshipped by man, and to build the body of believers in the image of his Son, the priority reason-for-being of Lion's Heart, as part of the Church are:
To be a corporate body in which man may worship God
To be a channel of God's purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son
[Eph. 4: 11–16 | 1 Cor. 12:28; 14:12]To be an agency of God or evangelizing the world [Acts 1:8 | Matt. 28:19–20 | Mk. 16:15–16]
Ordinances of the Church
The Church shall adhere to the following ordinances:
Baptism in Water. The ordinance of Baptism by immersion in water (Matt. 28:19) shall be administered to all those who have repented of their sins and who have believed in the Lord Christ to the saving of their souls, and who give clear evidence of their salvation (Romans 6:3–5; Colossians 2:12). The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded in the Scriptures. All who repent and believe in Christ as Savior and Lord are to be baptized. Thus, they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in the newness of life. (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4).
Holy Communion. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper shall be observed regularly as enjoined in the Scriptures. (Luke 22:19,20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26). The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements— bread and the fruit of the vine— is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4); a memorial of His coming (1 Corinthians 11:26); and is enjoined on all believers "till He comes!"
Sanctity of Human Life
We believe in the sanctity of human life and that life begins at the moment of conception.
[Jer. 1:5 | Isa. 49:5 | Gal. 1:15]
Christian Chastity and Marriage
We believe in chastity for Christian single men and women; and the sacredness of Christian marriage. We define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and that romantic and sexual contact between the same sex is sinful. We also affirm the laws on sexual morality as stated in Leviticus 18.
[Rom. 1:26-27 | 1 Cor. 6:9-10 | Lev. 18:22]