I would like to give my statement of faith. I would like to state what I believe and why I believe it. In these writings, I will use only what I know of Scripture to back what I believe. To start, first of all, I would like to state who and what God is to me. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.” God is One and there is none other beside Him. As Isaiah 46:5-9, “To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me that we may be alike? I am God, there is none else: I am God there is none like me.” “For there is one God and one mediator between God and the man, Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Jesus Christ was fully 100% God yet fully 100% man as well. I believe that Jesus Christ is the One true God, robed in flesh as man, to die for our sin as the only pure blood sacrifice. He rose triumphant over death, hell and the grave. The Bible says in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth!” The Bible clearly states here that God Himself is a Spirit. That very Spirit robed itself in the flesh of Jesus Christ the man. Therefore, the man Christ Jesus was that Spirit, which we know by John 4:24, was the one God Himself. In Isaiah 9:6, the Bible says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be on His shoulders and His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” The Bible calls Jesus Christ Himself, The Everlasting Father, specifying that he Himself is our Father and The Father, all together. The Father part of the Godhead is God in parental relationship to humanity (Jesus). Also, it is the 100% God part of Jesus Christ the man. The Spirit (which is God himself) was the father, which was in the “man” Christ Jesus. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When God, that Spirit, saw His creation sin, He knew that the only way they could be saved was by a perfect sacrifice. God (Spirit) Himself, robed Himself in flesh as Jesus Christ, and came to earth as the Son of God, which was represented in flesh as humanity. As Hebrews 1:1-3 references, “God (Spirit) hath in these last days spoken unto us by His son (the man Jesus)…who being the express (exact, precise or specific) image of His person.”

Just as in the Old Testament, Jehovah (the Lord) or God had many attributes, such as Jehovah Jireh (our Provider), Jehovah Rapha (our Healer), Jehovah Shammah (God with us) and Jehovah Shalom (our Peace). God expressed Himself in the flesh as Jesus Christ and became Emmanuel, God with us. This act came from the desire God has always had to walk with man just as he did with Adam in the Garden of Eden. God Himself came to walk with man and to become his ultimate sacrifice. To see, feel and hear as man, becoming sin by taking on flesh. Yet there was no sin in Him. He became the ultimate sacrifice tasting death, Hell and the grave. So, just as the children of Israel had heard from birth, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord”, this same God who spoke, “Let there be light” is the same exact voice that spoke, “My house shall be called an house of prayer” when he drove the merchants out of the temple.

The word Trinity does not appear even once in all the pages of the Bible. Also, the Bible does not say that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead. Although it does speak of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, this does not mean there are three, separate and distinct persons. These words merely refer to the three offices, roles or relationship to humanity. The Bible only uses the word three, in reference to God, in John 5:7 where it speaks of the Father, the Word (not the Son) and the Holy Ghost and concludes by saying, these three are one.

What does it mean to be one? We all agree that there is one sovereign God, that He is Almighty, omniscient and omnipotent. If someone or something is almighty, how can this trait be shared with more than one entity or person? Almighty, in Webster’s dictionary, means to have absolute power over all. This trait is impossible to be shared. It can only belong to One distinct being, Jesus Christ, which was God (Spirit) robed in flesh. How could Jesus Christ be the savior when God the Father said in Isaiah 43:11, “Beside me there is no savior?” It is because God (Spirit) was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.

Many people would look at this view and say that it is “carnal” and that we cannot even begin to understand something as complex as the Trinity. There is absolutely no way to explain this at all. That is true. I was once told that you had to take it by faith, which I believe in some cases there are some things you do have to take by faith. But why would God make such a fantastic mystery out of Himself and who he really is if the Bible is here for the purpose of us being able to know Him to His fullest capacity? To know Him the best that we can, why would He seek to hide that from us? The answer is that He doesn’t. We as humans have been confused by the teachings of many who allowed themselves to be deceived by their own carnal minds and that see their church as the world’s church.

It has been said that we, Apostolics, are “Jesus Only”. This is a fallacy. We are Jesus everything! Jehovah-God, Almighty Counselor, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father, The Comforter, Everything! “For in Him, (Jesus) dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). According to Revelation 4:2, “A throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne” (Jesus, the Mighty God). God never changes, and there is only absolute truth through the word of God. If God never changes and His word never changes, then what was taught in the New Testament about God and salvation will never change. It remains the same through every century, decade, year, month, week and day. We are to be separate from the world in every way, in actions and in physical ways. “Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). If the Bible is absolute truth and there is nothing relative about it, then there must be an absolute doctrine of salvation and of right and wrong. For instance, when doing a puzzle, you cannot take only some of the pieces and try to put them together to form a complete picture. The same is with the Word of God, which is our exact, specific map of salvation. All pieces of the Word of God must be recognized and used in our lives. Yes, there are places in the Bible where we must have direction in interpreting it, but it has gone so far that people feel they must misconstrue every verse for their own privilege. Even when man’s morality dictates his theology, the Truth is still evident. Salvation is not only taking one or two verses that you see, but also the entire Bible and what it has clearly spelled out for us, a distinct and exact formula of salvation through God’s very words. There is more to salvation than merely believing on His name and asking him to come into your life. Believing in a being that you can’t see requires faith. The Bible says in James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” Therefore, there are commands God has given us as a recipe for our salvation and in order to prove our faith in Him.

One of these commands is repentance. In Acts chapter 2 verse 37, when the Holy Spirit was being poured out as evidenced by speaking in tongues, the multitudes in the city were pricked in their hearts and confounded and asked, “Men and brethren, What shall we do?” The apostle Peter stood up among them and said in verse 38, “Repent and be baptized 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.” This verse can be used as one of the initial verses for salvation. The first step in our quest is to repent. To repent is actually a military term, which means to “completely turn around by doing an about-face” or a 180 degree turn. To leave what we used to be behind and move forward in what God has planned for our lives. It is also to ask forgiveness for the sins in our past. John 13:3 says, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Repentance is a key step in our salvation but it is not the final step, more is required. Acts 2:28 also says that we should be baptized.

Water baptism in Jesus name is a necessary part of salvation. If you believe in Jesus and His commands, wouldn’t it be wrong not to be baptized in His name as He commanded us (Acts 2:38)? If you are not baptized, it would be disobedient to His word. The Bible says, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”(Mark 16:16). Baptism is an essential part of salvation. Some say it is only essential if you believe and that when you believe it becomes necessary. Well, if those who don’t know are okay without it, then why do we send missionaries to other countries or even witness at all to those who don’t believe? If their ignorance saves them, then why would God send us to risk our lives in order to reach them for His namesake? In Romans, we are told that we are without excuse, speaking of all humanity. If they want to know God or a “higher power”, truly God will send someone to show them His truth and salvation. Truth is revealed to the one who truly seeks it with all his heart. The Bible says that His, (God’s) invisible attributes are clearly seen in the things that are made. You must obtain salvation in order to make it to heaven. Baptism is an essential important part of that salvation. It is an example of our death and burial in Christ, just as He died and was buried (Col. 2:12), only we are dying to sin. Just as Christ was buried, we must be buried in water to identify with Christ Himself just as the Apostles taught. Being buried in water is an example of Christ’s blood washing away all our sin, which we have repented of, or turned from. The Bible says in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” To be born of the water is to be baptized in His name. Not only must you be baptized, but you must be baptized in Jesus name!

Most “Christian” religions baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit using Matthew 28:19 as a reference. But what is that name? The words Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not names. These words are merely titles of what God is. God is a Spirit, God is our Father, and God was manifest in the man Christ Jesus. Every time the Bible records the name or formula associated with an actual baptism in the New Testament church, the name of Jesus is used. All five such accounts occur in the book of Acts. It records that the following people were baptized in Jesus’ name: the Jews (Acts 2:38), the Samaritans (Acts 8:16), the Gentiles (Acts 10:40), the disciples of John (rebaptized in Acts 19:5) and the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:16). Why does it matter you may ask? For one point, this is the way in which we were instructed. Second, it fulfills the instructions given in Matthew 28:19 because Jesus is the Name of the Father). As well, in Acts 4:12 it also says, “Neither is there salvation in any other name, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” It is the highest name (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is the name with which we identify with God because He is God.

Receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the third part of our salvation. Receiving the Holy Ghost does not come immediately after believing. In Acts 19:2, Paul asked the disciples of John, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” Clearly indicating that they did not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost immediately after they believed! They told him they had not even heard that there was a Holy Ghost. This caused Paul to question their baptism. He asked them how they had been baptized. They had been baptized under John’s baptism. Paul instructed them further on baptism and they were then baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. “When Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them: and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6). John chapter 3 verse 5 says that you must be born of the water (baptism) and the Spirit (receiving the Holy Ghost) in order to be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Receiving the Holy Ghost is the actual process of God (Spirit) coming to live literally inside of you.

Speaking in tongues is the evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Many say that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is not for everyone, but the Bible says in Acts 2:39 that, “the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Since the Holy Ghost is essential to salvation, and speaking in tongues is the evidence, then this Holy Ghost is for everyone. Because we are all called.

In this paper, I have not sought to rebuke or to call out those who do not agree, but only to reveal to you what I, as an Apostolic believer, believe. We strive to follow the doctrine and teachings of the apostles of Jesus Christ. We believe in the infilling of the Holy Ghost and that it is necessary for salvation along with baptism in Jesus name and repentance of sins. We believe what the Bible says. We must follow the commandments God gave through His word and His apostles. The most important thing here is not whether we agree on the Godhead (it is important though), but in the importance of being baptized in Jesus name (Acts 2:38 and 4:12) and being filled with His Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues (Acts 2:38) and living a Holy, righteous life. We are to follow the example set forth by Jesus Christ, who was God robed in flesh reconciling the world to Himself.

We congratulate America Nevitt on her article for the Crusaders essay contest. We also thank all who submitted articles and encourage more to be sent for future publication.