WE BELIEVE:
That the Bible, composed of both the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh) and the New Testament (Brit Chadashah), is the infallible word of God and is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice (II Timothy 3:16). When referring to “the scriptures,” we refer to the Bible which contains the 39 books of the Tanakh and the 27 books of the Brit Chadashah for a total of 66 books.
That God is the Source of all that is in existence, that He manifests Himself as one God (Deuteronomy 6:4) eternally existent in three Persons (Isaiah 48:16-17), and that all oneness, modalistic, and tri-theistic expressions of His Being are false.
That Jesus (Yeshua) is God Who manifested Himself in bodily form (I Timothy 3:16; John 1:1-2,14). He is the Messiah (Mashiach, Christos, “Annointed”) of Israel and the Savior of the world (Luke 2:1-14; John 1:29; John 3:16-17). He is both the Son of God (ben Adonai) and the Son of Man (ben adam) according to the scriptures (Matthew 16:15-17; Luke 24:6-7). He is the “seed of woman” as God promised in Genesis 3:15. His virgin birth is a sign of His Messiahship (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7).
That Yeshua’s revelation of Himself through His followers in the Brit Chadashah is not mythical, but is in fact the revelation of the “historic Jesus” often spoken of in academic circles. We summarily reject any and all attempts to place the miracles of Yeshua in the category of “mythical.” Likewise, we also reject contemporary efforts to separate “the Jesus of history” from “the Jesus of faith” as this appears to be an effort to see Him as only a man and thereby implicitly stating that He could not have been God. We understand the Yeshua of faith and the Yeshua of history to be one and the same.
That Messiah “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter), then by the twelve...After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once” (I Corinthians 15:3-6a) and that, as such, His substitutionary death, His burial, and His resurrection are among the best events to which history attests. His resurrection was a bodily resurrection that occurred on the third day after His crucifixion. Any explanations that rationalize His resurrection as being an ethereal event, or that say the event was in any way non-corporeal, are patently false. We likewise reject any explanation of the death of Yeshua on the cross that says he did not actually die and that he was not actually dead until the third day. We affirm His ascension from the Mount of Olives to go to be seated at the right hand of the Father and that, in like manner, He will one day return.
That all people, by nature, are born in a state of rebellion against God. This state of rebellion is called sin, and it separates every human being from God. The only means of atonement for sin is death by the shedding of blood. Yeshua’s shed blood, unlike the shed blood of bulls and goats, provided this atonement “once for all” (Hebrews 9:11-14). A person is saved from sin, by God’s grace, upon the sinner placing his or her faith in the finished work of Yeshua. Yeshua is the only way of salvation, and faith in Him alone is absolutely essential for personal salvation. We reject the notion that a person may simply believe in the concept of the Messiah while rejecting Yeshua and be saved just the same. We appreciate and encourage the doing of good deeds (mitzvoth), but they are wholly inadequate to save Jews and Gentiles from their sins.
That the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) was sent by both the Father and Yeshua to fulfill His present ministry as, among other roles, Comforter, Counselor, Convicter of sin, Immerser into the body, and the One Who bears witness of Yeshua.
That the Gospel of Yeshua is for both Jews and Gentiles and that believers from both groups together make up one Body of Messiah. All forms of replacement theology and dual covenant theology are false. Gentiles do not and cannot become Jews as a result of finding salvation in Yeshua but remain saved Gentiles. Likewise, Jews do not and cannot become Gentiles as a result of finding salvation in Yeshua but remain saved Jews. Since it is God alone who controls which persons will be born as physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is not within the power of any person or persons, irrespective of title, to successfully declare any Jewish believer in Yeshua as no longer Jewish simply because that individual chooses to believe in Yeshua. It is in Yeshua that the “middle wall of partition” has been pulled down and now Jew and Gentile are one in Him.
That the true Messianic believer and the true Christian are essentially and in reality one Body in Messiah and, as such, are a representation of Godly unity within diversity. We affirm that Christians in Bible-believing churches do not subscribe to a false or pagan religion but are true followers of Yeshua. People joining a Messianic Jewish congregation have not found the “real” or “authentic” expression of faith to the detriment of the churches. Rather, they have entered into a distinctly Jewish faith expression that is different from, not superior to, that expressed in most churches. Any expression of castigation toward our brothers and sisters in the churches and any expression of our own self-perceived superiority as Messianic believers is sin.
