God

We believe there is one living God, who is the creator and ruler of the universe.  We believe this one God exists in three separate but equal persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (collectively, the “Trinity”).  These three distinct Beings comprise one God because they share the same nature, attributes, and will.  They exist distinctly to perform different but harmonious functions.

The Father

We believe God the Father is the head of the Trinity.  We believe He can be known through the knowledge of His revealed son, Jesus Christ.  From the Scriptures, we know the Father to be holy, sovereign, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, eternal, unchangeable, and full of love, justice, goodness, mercy, and truth.

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He voluntarily and humbly became human in order to bring salvation to man. As man, Jesus combined full deity with true and perfect humanity. By becoming fully human and living wholly without sin, He made Himself a fitting substitute to bear God’s judgment in the place of sinful man. Jesus died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins of God’s chosen people so that they can stand before God and not receive the judgment otherwise owed them–Jesus paid it all! Three days after His death, Jesus arose bodily from His tomb and ascended into heaven where He now ministers on behalf of saints.

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.  He exists in the form of a spirit and is at work in the world to bring God’s chosen people to salvation.  Once saved, the Holy Spirit indwells each believer and works to bring their nature into conformity with the nature of God.  He actively works in the hearts of those He indwells to convict them of sin, to teach and train them in the knowledge of God, to preserve their faith in the Lord, and to empower them to live meaningful lives for the Lord.  Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, God is able to use His children as His chosen means of accomplishing His will on earth.

The Bible

We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God.  We are wholly committed to the absolute authority and inerrancy of the Bible.  God intended the Scriptures to teach humanity about Him and to serve as the foremost guide for those seeking to live lives surrendered to His will.

Children

We believe that children hold a special place in the heart of God. We believe that He is a protector of children and a Father to the fatherless. We further believe that He appoints an angel to care for and protect each child in accordance with His sovereign will. We believe that each child’s appointed angel stands continually in the presence of God and reports to Him concerning the child’s welfare. Hence our name: 18ten.org. It is derived from Matthew chapter 18 verse 10, where the words of Jesus are recorded for us: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My father who is in heaven.”

Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God in a state of innocence. Through deliberate disobedience, man fell from his sinless state and, as a consequence, lost his fellowship with God and became both spiritually dead and subject to physical death.

Sin

We believe that sin is anything contrary to the character of God.  Every man is alienated from Christ because of his sin.  Each person is born into the world with a sinful nature and without the capacity to know Christ, to love Christ, or to exercise faith in Christ, except through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Because of sin, man can do nothing in and of himself to avoid the judgment of God.  However, God forgives those for whom Jesus died and will judge them as if they had never sinned.