Doctrinal Statement: A Personal Systematic Theology
PROJECT • This statement surveys my doctrine on key topics in systematic theology including Bibliology, Theology Proper, Anthropology, Christology, Pneumatology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, and Missiology.
Read time: 3 min
Abstract
The 24-page doctrinal statement linked above was originally composed for my candidacy as an elder in the church where I serve as a pastor. My theological convictions align with historic Christian, Reformed, Evangelical distinctives. Readers can expect to find an introductory survey of the core tenets of the Christian faith articulated from a perspective rooted in the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Each point is footnoted with scriptural support. You will also find a few secondary and tertiary positions expressed that believers may disagree on without breaking fellowship in the gospel.
Beginning with Bibliology, I distinguish between God's general self-disclosure through creation and His explicit communication through Scripture and Christ. The Verbal-Plenary Inspiration of Scripture proves central, as I affirm the Bible's divine origin and absolute reliability, which feeds my commitment likewise to Inerrancy—Scripture's complete truthfulness. I also broach matters of hermeneutical method and the biblical canon.
For Theology Proper, I address God's knowability, explaining that while His nature is incomprehensible, He has made Himself known through General and Special Revelation, allowing us to know Him sufficiently and savingly. I affirm the Trinity, maintaining that God exists as three persons in one essence, being co-existent, eternal, and equal in substance and glory. The doctrine of Creation acknowledges God as the universe's creator. In Providence, God is purposeful and sovereignty over all creation, superintending all things according to His wise will, for His glory and the good of His people.
My views on Anthropology address the truth that humanity is created in the Imago Dei, encompassing moral, rational, spiritual, and relational capacities that reflect aspects of God's own communicable character. I understanding the nature of man to be a Dichotomous—body and soul. I also denote the pervasive impact of Original Sin and the biological basis for the sexual binary and it’s corresponding implications for male and female gender identities.
In Christology, I affirm the mystery and miracle of Christ's virgin-born incarnation, His sinless nature and righteous life, and His redemptive work, exploring His salvific offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus Christ was truly God and truly man, two natures—divine and human—in one person. His perfect life, substitutionary death, and death-defying resurrection accomplished redemption for God’s chosen family.
For Pneumatology, I defend the Holy Spirit's personhood and deity and His vital work of regenerating sinners for the effectual application of Christ’s redemption and the endowment to the church of spiritual gifts that edify the body, further the mission, and display Christ until He returns.
My statement on Soteriology outlines the logical sequence of salvation (ordo saludis), following God’s saving acts of foreknowledge, election, predestination, atonement, calling, regeneration, union with Christ, faith, justification, forgiveness, adoption, repentance, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. All aspects of salvation, including faith and repentance, are gifts from God. Human depravity and divine power are such that apart from God’s effectual grace, none could be saved. Yet by his grace, no elect can be lost.
In Ecclesiology, I focus on the local church's identity and mission, considering also its governance, visible activities, and authority. Churches participate in worship, nurture, discipline, and witness. Furthermore, being led by biblical elders and functioning as an embassy of heaven, churches have authority to discipline her unrepentant members, executing Christ's commission with the power to bind and loosen.
Regarding Eschatology, I explain my perspective on the culmination of history at Christ's Parousia, the resurrection, judgment, and the eternal states of the just and of the unjust.
Lastly, my affirmations on Missiology articulate the ongoing expansion of God's kingdom through the church's obedience to the Great Commission, carrying forth Christ's reconciliatory work in the world. The present age in which believers now live is one characterized by the dual realities of celebrating the inaugurated kingdom of Christ and yet awaiting redemption’s full consummation. ❖
