This is a reprint of a post written by Seedbed.com’s staff. Seedbed is a website of Asbury Seminary whose mission is similar to our own: providing on-line theological resources for the growing of the church. Finding this post encouaraging, we wished to share it with you in support of Seedbed’s mission:
God desires everyone to live forever in his Kingdom. The possibility is open to anyone, anywhere at any time.
Our understanding of the Gospel compels us into a global context. With respect to the human condition, we stand firmly with the Magisterial Reformers: totally depraved. However, we read Scripture as revealing a God who desires that all be saved. Further, we believe that salvation is available to the whole human race through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God goes ahead of the Gospel, preparing the way for the Lord, freeing the will of the entire human race to make a personal decision to either follow or reject the Son of God. Because the Spirit of God is at work in every person on earth, the Gospel compels us to join that work in every conceivable way. The harvest is plentiful. We aim to raise up and resource laborers in the fields.
We are initiated into the Kingdom of God in Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone.
We stand on the sure foundation of the biblical doctrine of Justification by grace through faith, yet we believe salvation must be personally experienced. We affirm the great contributions of systematic theologians yet we believe theology must be pressed further into practical expressions. Justification by grace through faith is only the doorway into the glorious cathedral of the Gospel. We’re resourcing a “working” theology, constantly testing personal experience by Scripture and shaping a pathway whereby people can “work out their salvation,” and be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. More than just propositional doctrine, we are pressing on toward “Practical Divinity.”
The Holy Spirit completely renovates people and communities.
Put another way, true holiness of heart and life is the highest aspiration of the Gospel. Our greatest ambition is to pursue the Gospel’s greatest aspiration: the holiness of the human race. We long to see the biblical doctrine of sanctification by grace through faith fully experienced in the people of God. We are resourcing people to press onward, into full salvation through the indwelling power and delivering presence of the Holy Spirit. A gospel that does not touch and transform every aspect of the human person and society is an incomplete gospel.
The grace of God works best in mission-minded communities structured by accountable love.
We are not content with the shallow awakenings often occasioned by revivals and crusades. A personal experience of saving faith must be shepherded into a sustaining life of holy love. We resource discipling infrastructures purposed for transformation. The “awakened” must be organized into communities where they can be known, encouraged, held accountable to grace and sent into mission.
Responsible leadership in the Kingdom of God must be true to the Church, loyal to the Movement, and organized for the Mission.
We serve the church, local and global, denominational, independent and otherwise through resourcing the dynamic movement of the Spirit. Simultaneously, we resource bonds of relationship uniting the Church around the core essentials of the Gospel and the mission of God in the World. While committed to the institutional church, we are resourcing a structured tribal federation of like-minded believers rather than more denominational systems or sectarian movements.
The Church of Jesus Christ is a lay movement that must be equipped and unleashed in the world.
Though insistent on a heart level experience of the Holy Spirit, the hallmark of the Gospel is street level love. The Gospel must express its power in every sector of society and particularly among the underserved. We resource a spirituality lived in mission and expressed primarily through the laity. We believe Christian service stretches beyond duty into a means of encountering God in the World.
Sound worship is the central act of the people of God.
At the core of our resourcing commitment lives an unquenchable appetite to worship the living God in community. We believe salvation is a song and worship is the central act of the people of God. We’re resourcing worship practices with fresh theological expression. We aim to inspire a new generation of hymn writers and worship leaders who will center us around the Table of the Lord, guiding the church into a way of worshipping that is itself mission.
The original post can be found at: http://seedbed.com/feed/our-theological-perspective-and-worldview-the-resourcing-commitments-of-seedbed
