What is your only comfort in life and in death?

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer:

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

~ Heidelberg Catechism, Question 1

My Doctrinal Statement 2

3. Creation: God created everything by His own Word and power (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:2-3,10; 11:3; 2 Peter 3:5; Revelation 4:11). God Himself is the only non-created, self-existent Being. He created all things by His own will and for His own glory, each Person of the Trinity having a role in creation (Isaiah 40:28; Romans 1:20; Malachi 2:10; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Psalm 104:30). We believe in a literal 6-day Creation account found in the first chapter of the Bible, which is also backed up by God's own words concerning the origin of the Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:11). We do not believe it was too difficult for God to create everything in 6 days, neither do we believe it will be hard for Him to quickly destroy everything and create all things new again in the age to come (Revelation 21:1; Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; Hebrews 2:5; 2 Peter 3:13).

My Doctrinal Statement

I am thinking through some things about writing a short (as far as I'm concerned) doctrinal statement. Here is what I've written so far:

Doctrinal Statement:

1. The Bible: the Bible alone is the infallible, inerrant Word of God, breathed out by the Holy Spirit and is sufficient for all knowledge of faith and practice as Christians. We interpret the Bible literally based on the intent of the author, context and logical flow of thought, realizing that having a correct historical understanding of the Bible (taking it at its word) is key to rightly understanding and obeying God's will. The Bible should not be interpreted allegorically or metaphorically unless context suggests such, and at that point, interpreting the Bible with the Bible is also necessary (although we do believe there can also be spiritual meaning found behind literal facts of Scripture, as in Galatians 4:24). (Matt. 22:29; John 10:35; Acts 1:16; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Romans 12:2; 15:4; 16:26; etc.). Additionally, all Scripture must be recognized as Christ-centered (Luke 24:27,32,45; John 5:39; John 20:31; Acts 18:28; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; etc.).

2. God: God exists as the only Sovereign Being, eternally self-existent, holy (set apart from all of creation), and that He is one yet triune (three in one – Trinity, existing as Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the Creator and Sustainer of all things who is infinitely worthy of all worship. All things exist by God's own will and for His glory, and we know Him by revelation in two primary ways, 1. by the revelation in nature through creation, and 2. by the revelation of the holy Scriptures given through His chosen people Israel. (Genesis 1:1; Romans 1:19,20,21; 3:2; Exodus 3:14; John 8:24,58; Psalm 71:19; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 9:6; 40:28; 55:6-7,8-9; Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:10-11; John 1:1-3,14,18; 1 Timothy 6:13-14,15-16; Titus 2:13; Revelation 5:12-13; 22:12-21 etc.).

More to be continued...

3. Creation:
4. Man:
5. The Law & the Gospel:
6. Salvation:
7. Judgment:
8. about secondary matters: