Statement of Faith

We believe that, “theology matters.”

Therefore we desire to restore Christian to “Christian universalism,” which after its journey through Modernism is presently an ambiguous term. We want to be clear as possible what we mean when we speak of “Christian Universalism.”  Provided here is a summary of our core beliefs.  However, no words representing our faith have any substance apart from connection to the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ.  Words are meaningless outside the context of a life of love for God and others.

We hold to the early creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. Profoundly neither of these creeds include the doctrine of an eternal hell:

The Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

  the Maker of heaven and earth,

     and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

    born of the virgin Mary,

    suffered under Pontius Pilate,

    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

    the holy catholic church;

    the communion of saints;

    the forgiveness of sins;

    the resurrection of the body;

    and the life everlasting.     Amen.

The Nicene Creed can be found here:  http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.html

Where the  Apostle’s and Nicene creeds are silent as to the nature of “hell” we believe we have the freedom to take God seriously when He said:

“On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,  the sheet that covers all nations;  he will swallow up death forever.  The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”  Isaiah 25:6-8

“Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.  All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord;  they will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.”   Psalm 86:8-10

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  John 12:32

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”  1 Cor 15:26

“It is finished”.  John 19:30

“Behold, I am making all things new”.  Rev 21:5

In regard to creeds A. W. Tozer said:

“That our idea of God corresponds as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is.”

Tozer is saying that how we live (and how we pray) reveal most accurately what we truly believe.

Our Father,

We believe in You because we see the work of Your hand as a Father in the creation all around us every day.  We see Your image in the love, beauty and glory of others.   Gen 1:27,  Isa 6:3

We bow before You because You are the Holy Sovereign God of the Universe. There is no one greater or higher and no desire of Yours can fail because Your love and power never fail.  We bow now but we are told we will join every person in the universe to someday bow and confess together that Jesus Christ is Lord to Your glory, our Father.    Job 42:2, I Cor 13:8, Phil 2

We trust You because you have promised to “make all things new” through Christ and to restore every heart to their original purpose and design of loving and worshipping You. We know that You are good because You have promised to be “all in all” and “everything to every one.” We fear you but are not afraid of you because you are love.   Rev 21:5, I Cor 15:28, 1 John 4

We love You because You first loved us, and even while we were  Your enemies You demonstrated Your love for us through Your life of obedience and death on the cross on our behalf.   Rom 5:10, I Jn 4:19

We confess to You our sin because You are “faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.”  I John 1:9,

We hope in You because it was Your blood that is the source of life, poured out for us, that makes us alive again. It was Your death that conquered our sin and Your Resurrection that swallowed up our death in victory.  Jesus Christ redeemed and revealed our original design as Your image-bearers. Heb 9:22,  I Cor 15:55

We worship You because You brought Resurrection hope to the world and the entire created order as You were raised to life as the “firstfruit” of the Resurrection of all creation.    Col 1:15

We follow You because “You alone have the words of life” and Your “commands are not burdensome.”  We follow You because Your laws are simply the outworking of loving You by loving our neighbors as ourselves. We want to follow You because love is the way of Your heart and we therefore want to be like You, our Father. We can love your law because Christ is the fulfillment of the law for us and now your laws are a promise and not a curse.  John 6:69, I John 5:3, Rom 10:4

We give our lives to You and for others because You gave Your life for us and for the entire world.  We now see the value of every human being because we are now aware of Your image and likeness in each person we meet. The vision of Your sacrificial love for us is so beautiful and powerful that we would lay down our very lives for Your honor and glory and to champion Your Great Name.    Luke 9:23

In Jesus’ NameAmen

In closing we share with you the way The Sanctuary summarized their belief in the ultimate redemption and restoration of all:

God is One, and so his judgment is Love.

God is Love, and so desires to save.

God is Almighty, and so can save.

God is Jesus, and so does save.

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col.1:19-20)

God is better than you thought.

The Love of Jesus is deeper than you know.

And the Spirit is everywhere working the wonders of Mercy.   

Found here

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Gary Aronson, U.P., Wa. December 23, 2015 at 11:07 am

Thanks for sharing!!!! Gary

William Deyerle May 12, 2016 at 3:11 am

Thanks to all involved for doing the hard work necessary to construct and maintain this excellent resource.

Grace, peace and love

Bill

Phillip May 12, 2016 at 9:54 pm

Thank you Bill for your comment. We appreciate the encouragement!

Blessings!

Mik March 1, 2020 at 6:38 am

By this, you are trying to make it easier for people to believe in God, by telling them what they want to hear, and what makes them feel better about their eternity. God does not need this kind of help! I believe this way of thinking will only hurt them in the long run, and that their eternity will be greatly jeopardized!! The only way to eternal life with God, is by repenting of our SIN, and asking Jesus into our heart, and thus, our life. The Holy Spirit will guide your path. There is no other way to salvation, there is no other way to avoid hell!! John 14:16-27

Phillip April 11, 2020 at 10:46 pm

Dear precious friend, I understand your concern as I was exactly in your mindset for over 40 years. Indeed, we are trying to make it easier to believe in God as He has presented Himself through Christ. Many so-called Christ-followers have made it extremely difficult and barred the way for the world to come. Apparently there were those doing this in Jesus’ day:

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

Tell me, what reputation do Christians have today in the world? A survey found that most people who believe in God believe in a distant, angry, critical and judgmental god. According to a Baylor University poll/study:
31.4 percent believe in an Authoritarian God, who is very judgmental and engaged
25 percent believe in a Benevolent God, who is not judgmental but engaged
23 percent believe in a Distant God, who is completely removed
>
16 percent believe in a Critical God, who is judgmental but not engaged

I think we must assume there is something missing in our message. The Jews missed the scope of God’s plan of salvation and when Jesus (and Paul) tried to include more, the reaction was always violence. I invite you to read more here to understand that what you called salvation (“asking Jesus into your heart”) is first of all not found in the Bible and second, this is a “free-will” understanding which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of your brothers and sisters in the Reformed faith. Check out how these are two different gods if you try and split them. But put these brothers and sisters together and you have a God who is willing and able to save all! Look at this amazing free-will teacher and what he implies:

Also check out our articles on free-will at Godslovewins.com

Aln June 7, 2023 at 2:25 pm

Hello dear brethren & thank you for this website…
since our Bible and translations have come from and perverted from AD300 & on with the Roman Catholic Church…much of the Greek & Aramaic that the deciples & early church fathers utilized was latinized. Have you heard or have access to a recent Greek Concordant Bible that would reveal closer renditions of what our Lord Jesus proclaimed? Have you consulted such tools as from Concordant Publishing Concern? Punishment isn’t endless, and it isn’t torment, but rather probationary and helpful. “…God’s are not our ways…”
May God continue to bless all He has placed in your hands.

Allen June 22, 2023 at 1:30 pm

Peace in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Yashua… I’m enjoying the enlightenment, but th Holy Spirit has prompted me to inquire further.
If there is no hell…why did our Savior descend to that place according to the “creed”? If it is Gehenna, why isn’t it stated so there in the creed?
Also…are not the cults or false religions identified by “isms”? Roman Catholicism; Buddhism? Et Al…universalism?…🤔

Phillip September 11, 2023 at 9:15 pm

Thanks for the comment Aln, Yes, our initial study of the topic of the nature of hell was done with the study tool of the Greek Concordant Bible as well as key word study Bible and interlinear Bible. It was quite enlightening indeed as you pointed out!

Phillip September 21, 2023 at 7:55 pm

Hello Allen, thank you for your thoughtful comment and questions. As far as the creed including “He descended into hell” I believe it hearkens to the Scriptures regarding Jesus preaching the goodness in Hades, which means “not to see.” Whether this is a place or a condition is all conjecture but the meaning is the same as far as Christ preached a message of Good News to those still in the darkness of blindness, the condition of not to see. In addition I believe the creed is referring to the Scripture where we are told in Ephesians 4:9 that “what does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth?” The lower regions refers to all that which is of the earthly nature where we walk in the flesh and not the Spirit. The final trajectory if you read the Supra of God as a whole is that Love never fails and Christ shall be all in all (I Cor 15).

As far as the reference to the “ism”ness of universalism, I absolutely agree with you that isms are derogatory and they are not something I want to follow. I prefer it be called what the Scripture calls it in Acts 3:21 as the Apokatastasis or “The Restoration of All Things.” We are using the name Christian Universalism simply because that is what folks have called it and have named it and thus google. It is simply a term we decided to use in order to invite folks into the conversation. We explain this on our page What is Christian Universalism.

Thank you for bringing this up. It is a very important clarification.

Grace and Peace,
Phillip

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