Church doctrine
WHO WE ARE AT O.F.J.?
Established in 1998 Outreach for Jesus has been caring for the lost, the poor, the vulnerable and people in crisis in the USA and throughout the world. Our mission is to deliver a wide range of humanitarian assistance and solutions through the help of other charities, corporate sponsors and partners. We want to make sure that all that come in touch with Outreach for Jesus learn that Jesus loves them, we love them and they can do all things through Christ. We believe that families in poverty have God-given talents, and we want to invest in their potential by educating them and investing in their future. Please get involved and join our vision.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE APOSTLES
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23)
“He told them, "This is what is written: That Christ will su er and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:46-49)
THE ASCENSION
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:46-49).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8).
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far o —for all whom the Lord our God will call."( Acts 2:38-39).
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).
“As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:9).
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3:16-17).
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:50-53).
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8).
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far o —for all whom the Lord our God will call."( Acts 2:38-39).
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
“As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:9).
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3:16-17).
FOREWORD
We believe, there is but one God eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy spirit. Each is in nite, eternal and almighty. That Jesus Christ, the Son is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and He lived a sinless life. He died; shedding His blood in His substitutionary death for sinners, then was buried, arose from the grave, ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
We believe that salvation is found in Jesus. We believe that you must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God, that he came to earth as a man in order to live a sinless life that he died in our place so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve.
We believe we must confess our sins, admit that we are ready to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and ask his Holy Spirit to come into our hearts and abide with us.
We believe that Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection are applied to our lives when we experience Baptism "Repent [death to sin], and be baptized [burial] every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We believe that once the Holy Spirit abides in us we can walk in the perfect assurance that we are the children of God, and our names are written in the Lamb book of Life.
We believe that when we receive the Holy Spirit, we will be his witness in all the earth, we will experience his gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of ) knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the e ecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills”.
We also believe that one day we will live with our Lord forever. We believe the Scripture is God’s word, his love letter to mankind.
With sincerity, we pray that God will grant the reader grace to accept the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus.
We certainly do not want to miss heaven. Let us therefore heed the prophet's words:
"This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
(Jeremiah 6:16).
THE BIBLE
The Bible is the inspired Word of God, giving a true history of the creation of heaven, earth, and humanity and containing a correct prophecy of the ages to come regarding heaven, earth, and the destiny of humanity. Moreover, there is no salvation outside of what is taught in its pages.
GOD
There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). He is the creator of heaven and earth, and of all living beings. He has revealed Himself to humanity as the Father (Creator), in the son (Savior), and as the Holy Ghost (indwelling Spirit).
FATHER
God is a Spirit (John 4:24). He is the Eternal One, the Creator of all things, and the Father of all humanity by creation. He is the First and the Last, and beside Him there is no God (Isaiah 44:6). There was no God formed before Him; neither shall be there any after Him (Isaiah 43:10).
SON
Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 1:3) and the very God Himself according to the Spirit (Matthew 1:23). Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:16); the creator of allthings (Colossians 1:16-17); God with us (Matthew 1:23); God made Word to come fl esh (John 1:1-14); God manifested in the fl esh (I Timothy 3:16);He which was, which is, and which is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8); the mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Jesus Himself testi ed of His identity as God when He said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:7-11) and "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).
It took shedding of blood for the remission of the sins of the world (Hebrews 9:22), but God the Father was a Spirit and had no blood to shed. Thus He prepared a body of fl esh and blood (Hebrews 10:5) and came to earth as a man in order to save us, for in Isaiah 43:11 He said, "Beside me there is no Saviour." When He came in esh the angels sang, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
HOLY GHOST
The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God (the Creator). The Holy Ghost comes to dwell in the hearts and lives of everyone who believes and obeys the gospel, as the comforter, Sustainer, and keeper (John 14:16-26; Romans 8:9-11).
SIN
Sin is the transgression of the law, or commandments of God (I John 3:4). The guilt of sin has fallen upon all humanity from Adam until now (Romans 3:23). The wages of sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23; Revelation 20:14) to all those who refuse to accept salvation as set forth in the Word of God.
SALVATION
Salvation consists of deliverance from all sin and unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus Christ. The New Testament experience of salvation consists of repentance from sin, water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, after which the Christian is to live a godly life (Acts 2:36-41).
WATER BAPTISM
Water baptism is an essential part of yielding our lives to the Lord and therefore, we must remember “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:27).
MODE OF BAPTISM
Water baptism is to be administered only by immersion. Paul said, "We are buried with him [Jesus Christ] by baptism (Romans 6:4; see Colossians 2:12), Jesus came up "out of the water" (Mark 1:10), and Philip and the eunuch went down "into the water" and came up "out of the water" (Acts 8:38-39).
Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection are applied to our lives when we experience Baptism "Repent [death to sin], and be baptized [burial] every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost [resurrection]." (See Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-7; 8:2).
Sprinkling, pouring, or infant baptism of any kind cannot be substantiated by the Word of God, but are only human traditions.
FORMULA OF BAPTISM
The name in which baptism is administered is vitally important, and this name is Jesus. Jesus' last command to His disciples was, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). We should notice that He said name (singular) not names. As previously explained, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names of separate persons, but titles of positions held by God. An angelic announcement revealed God's saving name in the New Testament: "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
The apostles understood that Jesus was the name to use at baptism, and from the day that the church was established (the Day of Pentecost) until the end of their ministry, they baptized all nations (Jews--Acts 8:16; Gentiles--Acts 19:5) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In fact, Jesus is the only name given for our salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST
The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the birth of the Spirit (John 3:5). This spiritual baptism is necessary to put someone into the kingdom of God (God's church, the bride of Christ) It was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28-29) and Isaiah (Isaiah 28:11), foretold by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), purchased by the blood of Jesus, and promised by Him to His disciples (John 14:26; 15:16). The Holy Ghost was first poured out on the Day of Pentecost upon the Jews (Acts 2:1-4), then upon the Samaritans (Acts 8:17), and later upon the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-46; 19:6). "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39).
TONGUES
Speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gives utterance is the manifestation God has given as the de nite, indisputable, supernatural witness or sign of the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6). It was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah as the rest and the refreshing (Isaiah 28:11-12), foretold by Jesus as a sign that would follow believers of the gospel (Mark 16:17), and experienced by Jews and Gentiles alike.
The gift of "divers kinds of tongues," mentioned by Paul in I Corinthians 12:1-12 and concerning which he gave regulations in I Corinthians 14:1-40, is given by both for self-edi cation (I Corinthians 14:4) and for the edi cation of the church (I Corinthians 14:27-28). In church meetings the gift of tongues is used to give a public message, and it is to be interpreted. Since this gift can be misused in public, it needs proper regulation (I Corinthians 14:23-28). Not all believers exercise the gift of tongues, which is di erent in function from tongues given by God as the initial witness of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Speaking in tongues means speaking miraculously in a language unknown to the speaker, as the Spirit gives utterance. Tongues can be classi ed in two ways, according to function:
(1) speaking in other tongues as the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and
(2) the gift of tongues as mentioned in I Corinthians.
HOLINESS
After we are saved from sin, we are commanded, "Go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). We are commanded to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world (Titus 2:12) and warned that without holiness no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
We must present ourselves as holy unto God (Romans 12:1), cleanse ourselves from all lthiness of the esh and spirit (II Corinthians 7:1), and separate ourselves from all worldliness (James 4:4). If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (I Peter 4:18).
No one can live a holy life by his own power, but only through the Holy Spirit. "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8).
DIVINE HEALING
God has made Himself known through the ages by miraculous healings and has made special provisions in the age of grace to heal all who will come to Him in faith and obedience. Divine healing was purchased for us by the blood of Jesus Christ, especially by His stripes (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:16-17; I Peter 2:24).
Jesus went everywhere healing those who were sick (Matthew 4:23-24), and He commanded His disciples to do the same (Matthew 10:8). He said concerning those who believe the gospel, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:18). Mighty healings and miracles followed the disciples wherever the gospel was preached. There is no sickness or disease too hard for God. Any of us, our children, or our friends can be healed by the power of God.
"Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord shall raise him up: and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed" (James 5:14-16).
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ is coming back to earth in bodily form, just as He went away (Acts 1:11). He will catch away a holy people (His bride, His church) who have accepted redemption through His blood, by birth of water and of the Spirit, and who are found faithful when He comes.
"16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise rst.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (I Thessalonians
4:16-17).
"One shall be taken and the other left" (Luke 17:36). Will we be ready?
The signs of His coming are everywhere. The days of peril are here indeed, with forms of godliness void of the power of God; society and politics corrupted; and people's hearts lled with pride, blasphemies, unholiness, love of evil, and love of pleasures (II Timothy 3:1-13). These things, together with multitudes running to and fro, the increase of knowledge (Daniel 12:4), the persecution of the Jews and their return to Palestine (Luke 21:24), and scores of other things are starting signs that Jesus' coming is drawing near.
Wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, storms, floods, distress of nations, perplexity, and people's hearts failing them for fear are sounding the solemn alarm that Jesus' coming is at hand (Matthew 24:6; Luke 21:25-28).
"Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12).
RESURRECTION
There will be a resurrection of all the dead, both just and unjust.
"Marvel not this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29).
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God . . . and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" (Revelation 20:12-13)> (See also Daniel 12:2; I Corinthians 15:13-23.)
JUDGMENT
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). For this reason there will be a resurrection for everyone. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (II Corinthians 5:10).
The eternal destiny of every soul shall be determined by a just God who knows the secrets of everyone's heart. "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set
the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world. . . .Then shall he also say unto them on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting re, prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew
25:32-34, 41, 46).
* * *
The law-the Word of God
The judge-the righteous God
To be judged-our souls
What will the sentence be?
* * *
Life's opportunities past!
Reaping day at last!
Two verdicts pend:
Life or death!
The following references show plainly that speaking in tongues as the evidence of the Holy Ghost has been given by God to earnest, God-fearing people down through the years. May this give you thirst and hunger for the word of God. It will empower you to achieve all that you set your mind to do with Christ Jesus by your side.
Many people have asked me: Can one be a Christian and never go to church? Of course, we
need to defi ne "going to church." The Scriptures condemn the pointless practice of going
to an institutional assembly for the wrong reasons (Ps. 50, Amos 5:21-24, etc.). Many say
they avoid church because they worship God alone, "in their own way." Well, we certainly
are not required to worship in the identical manner--besides, there is no one way described
in the Bible anyway. But one can't really be a Christian alone. Christianity, just like Judaism,
is corporate from its very roots. It is absolutely essential for God's children to learn to work
and play together in the kingdom, as house church theology places the kingdom both
here (in the church) and in the future (in heaven). So there can be no individual Christian,
nor can there be a "radio" church Christian, nor even an "Internet" church Christian. Why?
Because of the person-to-person relationship that is at the very heart of the doctrine of
church.
Jesus said "when two or three gathered together" (Mt. 18:20), it seems that he had the house church in mind.
God bless you,
Pastor Victor Catalino - Outreach for Jesus