Read the doctrines

This week the challenge that I have been doing is to read the doctrines of The Salvation Army. This is quite an important one for me as I am currently following plans which will with God's blessings lead me into full time ministry with The Salvation Army. I am proud to be a member of The Salvation Army, actually I am writing this post sat in McDonald's wearing my uniform, and feel that each and every member should know what it is that we stand for and why we believe what we believe.

Salvation Army doctrines

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.

We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.

We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead-the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.

We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.

We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.

We believe that repentance towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, are necessary to salvation.

We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

So there they are, the doctrines of The Salvation Army. These doctrines are the core of our faith as a Church and vital to our life as Christians practising our faith in this branch of the body of Christ. As a member of The Salvation Army I do believe these doctrines although I do not claim to always be 100% happy with what they mean. However when I have issue with them it is normally problems such as the fact that we believe in the endless punishment of the wicked. As someone who has a considerable number of friends who are scientists and part of what I call Dawkin's Disciples I sometimes worry that these people may fall into the category of wicked due to their active stance against God and Jesus.

There is not a lot I can really say about the doctrines without turning this post in to one of epic length. I think that after doing this challenge I have been inspired to do a series looking at the beliefs I have from the Church I belong to. So look out for that coming up, probably in the new year. However I have a little bit of a back log of things I want to write about stacking up and not much time in which to do the relevant research, but hopefully the holidays will provide me with time to catch up.

So reading the doctrines is done. Well not quite, there is a little more I want to do with them as I said but essentially the task as set out by the challenge is done. But I am intending to memorise these doctrines for myself as well as write on them for you guys to hopefully read in the future.

Now all that is left is for me to let you know what task has come out of the hat for me to complete this week. The task that I pulled out of the hat was to write out my salvation testimony. Now this is something that The Salvation Army seems to do a lot, from the very early days of William Booth testimonies have been integral to our fellowship. In my view a testimony is a very organic thing, it grows and evolves with you as you grow in your Christian faith, if it doesn't then maybe you should be a little worried. So This week I will write out my salvation testimony, which will be different to any I have written before and unlike any I am likely to write in the future but it will be an interesting snapshot into my Christian life as it stands right now. Please check back next week to read the post and testimony I produce and also I hope you will keep checking in the future for when I post further on the doctrines.