Inasmuch as the University is interdenominational and yet theologically conservative, the Articles of Incorporation contain a doctrinal statement which is given below:
The Bible, consisting of all the books of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God, a supernaturally given revelation from God Himself, concerning Himself, His being, nature, character, will and purposes; and concerning man, his nature, need and duty and destiny. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without error or misstatement in their moral and spiritual teaching and record of historical facts. They are without error or defect of any kind.
There is one God, eternally existing and manifesting Himself to us in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Our Lord Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin Mary, a lineal descendant of David. He lived and taught and wrought mighty works and wonders and signs exactly as is recorded in the four Gospels. He was put to death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate. God raised from the dead the body that had been nailed to the cross. The Lord Jesus after His crucifixion showed Himself to be alive to His disciples, appearing unto them by the space of 40 days. After this, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, and the Father caused Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church.
The Lord Jesus, before His incarnation, existed in the form of God and of His own choice laid aside His divine glory and took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. In His pre-existent state, He was with God and was God. He is a divine person possessed of all the attributes of Deity, and should be worshiped as God by angels and man. “In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” All the words that He spoke during His earthly life were the words of God. There is absolutely no error of any kind in them, and by the words of Jesus Christ the words of all other teachers must be tested.
The Lord Jesus became in every respect a real man, possessed of all the essential characteristics of human nature.
By His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus made a perfect atonement for sin, by which the wrath of God against sinners is appeased and a ground furnished upon which God can deal in mercy with sinners. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse in our place. He who Himself was absolutely without sin was made to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jesus is coming again to his earth, personally, bodily, and visibly. The return of our Lord is the blessed hope of the believer, and in it God’s purposes of grace toward mankind will find their consummation.
The Holy Spirit is a person, and is possessed of all the distinctively divine attributes. He is God.
Man was created in the image of God, after His likeness, but the whole human race fell in the fall of the first Adam. All men, until they accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior, are lost, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, hardened in heart, morally and spiritually dead through their trespasses and sins. They cannot see, nor enter the Kingdom of God until they are born again of the Holy Spirit.
Men are justified on the simple and single ground of the shed blood of Christ and upon the simple and single condition of faith in Him who shed the blood, and are born again by the quickening, renewing, cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the Word of God.
All those who receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and their Lord, and who confess Him as such before their fellow men, become children of God and receive eternal life. They become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. At death their spirits depart to be with Christ in conscious blessedness, and at the Second Coming of Christ their bodies shall be raised and transformed into the likeness of the body of His glory.
All those who persistently reject Jesus Christ in the present life shall be raised from the dead and throughout eternity exist in the state of conscious, unutterable, endless torment of anguish.
The Church consists of all those who, in this present dispensation, truly believe in Jesus Christ. It is the body and bride of Christ, which Christ loves and for which He has given Himself.
There is a personal devil, a being of great cunning and power: “The prince of the power of the air,” “The prince of this world,” “The god of this age.” He can exert vast power only so far as God suffers him to do so. He shall ultimately be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and shall be tormented day and night forever.
Theological Distinctives
The Articles of Faith, presented here as originally conceived by the founders of the organization, has been and continues to be the stated theological position of Biola University. Where “man” is used referring to the human race it includes both genders. In addition, the following theological distinctives indicate the organization’s understanding of and teaching position on certain points that could be subject to various interpretations.
In fulfillment of God’s historical purpose for humanity to rule and establish God’s kingdom on earth (Gen. 1:28; Ps. 8:4-8; Matt. 6:10; Heb. 2:6-9), the Scriptures teach a millennial reign of Christ with His saints on earth following His literal return. The nation of Israel, having been redeemed, will play a central role in bringing the blessings of salvation to all nations during the millennium in fulfillment of biblical prophecies (e.g., Is. 2:1-4; 11:1-12; Jer. 23:5-6; Ezek. 37; Amos 9:9-15; Zech. 14; Matt. 19:28; Acts 1:6; 3:19-21; Rev. 20:4-6). Following the millennium, this kingdom will be merged into the eternal kingdom (I Cor. 15:22-28).
Before these millennial events, the believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:13-17). The time of this “rapture” is unknown, and thus believers are to live constantly watchful and ready.
The existence and nature of the creation is due to the direct miraculous power of God. The origin of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of kinds of living things, and the origin of humans cannot be explained adequately apart from reference to that intelligent exercise of power. A proper understanding of science does not require that all phenomena in nature must be explained solely by reference to physical events, laws and chance.
Therefore creation models which seek to harmonize science and the Bible should maintain at least the following: (a) God providentially directs His creation, (b) He specially intervened in at least the above-mentioned points in the creation process, and(c) God specially created Adam and Eve (Adam’s body from non-living material, and his spiritual nature immediately from God). Inadequate origin models hold that (a) God never directly intervened in creating nature and/or (b) humans share a common physical ancestry with earlier life forms.
Though there be many fillings of the Holy Spirit, there is only one baptism that occurs at the time of regeneration. The gifts of the Spirit are given to believers according to the Will of God for the purpose of building up the Church. During the foundational era of the Church (i.e., the time of Christ and the Apostles) God gave special manifestations of the overtly supernatural and miraculous gifts (e.g., tongues, healings, miracles) as “signs” that witness to the validity of those bearing new canonical revelation (c.f. II Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3-4). Beyond the foundational era, God in His sovereignty may grant any spiritual gift and work miraculously for the benefit of His church at any time.
The Bible is clear in its teaching on the sanctity of life. Life begins at conception. We abhor the destruction of innocent human life through abortion on demand, infanticide or euthanasia as unbiblical and contrary to God’s will. Life is precious and in God’s hands.
Biblical marriage consists only of a faithful, heterosexual union between one genetic male and one genetic female, and biblical marriage is the only legitimate and acceptable context for a sexual relationship.
Chosen People Ministries exists to pray for, evangelize, disciple, and serve Jewish people and help fellow believers to do the same. The Chosen People Ministries’ Doctrinal Statement affirms our commitment to the essence of historic, evangelical faith, and our core theological emphases as related to Jewish ministry.
BIBLE
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible, which is inerrant and infallible in the original autographs. The sixty-six books of the Bible are the sole and final authority for belief, life, and practice (Psalms 107:11; 119:160; Mark 7:6-13; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-3; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
GOD
We believe there is one infinite and perfect God, eternally existing in three distinct and equal persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 33:27; Isaiah 6:1-3; 40:28-31; Psalm 90:2; Acts 17:24). Each possesses the characteristics of personality as well as the nature and perfections of deity (Matthew 28:19-20; John 1:1-3; 15:26; 16:12-15; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-4). We believe God is love (1 John 4:7-8). He is compassionate, gracious, merciful, just, and true (Exodus 34:6-7).
CREATION
We believe God is sovereign and created all things in heaven and earth for his glory (Genesis 1-2; Job 38-41; Psalm 19:1-4; Isaiah 37:16; Jeremiah 10:11-12; John 1:1-3; Romans 4:17; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 11:3). We believe God created Adam and Eve in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27; 2; 5:1-2; 9:6; Luke 3:38). All human beings have value because they are made in the image of God.
SIN
We believe through Adam’s sin, the image of God in humanity was marred so that all men and women are born guilty before God with a nature in rebellion against him (Genesis 3:1-24; Psalms 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 36:1; 51:5; 53:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 53:6; 59:7; Romans 3:10-18, 23; 5:12-21; 8:20-21). As a result, all people stand condemned and need reconciliation to God through the Messiah (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23; 5:8-12; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21; Ephesians 2:1-4).
ISRAEL
We believe God chose the Jewish people as his bridge of redemption to a sinful world. He made an everlasting and irrevocable covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 15:9-21; 17:1-8; 26:3-5; 28:13-15; 35:11-13; Romans 11:28-29). It includes the election and perpetuity of Israel as God’s chosen people, the gift of the land of Israel, and the promise of Messiah through whom all families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3; 2 Samuel 7:6-16; Jeremiah 31:23-40; Romans 9-11; Galatians 3:6-4:7). We believe God initiated the restoration of creation by calling Abraham and his seed to bless the world (Genesis 12:1-3). The nation of Israel, Abraham’s seed, is a kingdom of priests, a light to the nations, a witness to God’s faithfulness, and a continuing part of God’s program (Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 49:6; 61:1, 4-6).
YESHUA
We believe God the Son preexisted as the eternal Word, became man, and was known as Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, the Son of David (2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Chronicles 17:7-14; John 1:1-18; Romans 1:2-4). We believe in his full deity (Isaiah 9:6-7; John 10:30; 20:28; Acts 2:14-36; Colossians 2:9), his virgin conception (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:34-35), his full humanity (Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15), and his sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22 [Isaiah 53:9]). He is Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22-24), Priest (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 2:17), and King (Psalm 2; Hebrews 1:1-14). He offered himself once for all as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity (Isaiah 53:5-6; Hebrews 9:6-10:18; 1 John 2:2; Revelation 1:5), was raised from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-7), ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11; 2:30-38; Ephesians 1:19-23), and intercedes for his people (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24). As the risen Messiah, he exercises divine authority from God’s right hand and will return to reign as King over Israel and the nations (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 110:1; Zechariah 14:9; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 2:1-11; Mark 14:62; Luke 1:32-33; 22:69; Acts 2:30-36; Philippians 2:10-17; Revelation 17:14) until he hands over the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24, 28).
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the full deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 4:30). He bears witness to Yeshua through the Word of God (John 14:25-27; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11). He convicts the world of sin (John 16:7-11), regenerates individuals (John 3:3-5; Romans 6:3-4, 11; 8:11; Titus 3:5), baptizes believers into the body of Messiah (Acts 1:5; 2:16-18, 32-33; 1 Corinthians 12:13), and equips them for the Great Commission and the common good (Galatians 5:16-24; 6:8-10; 1 Peter 2:9-13). He indwells, sanctifies, fills, guides, helps, and produces the fruit of the Spirit in believers, and gives gifts to the body for the sake of God’s people (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Ephesians 4:11; John 14:15-21; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:19-22; 5:18).
SALVATION
We believe salvation for both Jews and Gentiles is available only through Jesus and his finished work (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). People must repent and believe in Jesus as Messiah to receive this salvation, a gift from God by grace through faith alone and not by works (John 3:16; 10:28-30; Romans 3:21-4:25; 8:28-30; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 13:5). In accord with the New Covenant promise, believers in Messiah are forgiven of their sins, reconciled to God, regenerated and indwelt by the Spirit, empowered for godliness, granted abundant life, and sealed by the Spirit for the day of redemption (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Ezekiel 36:24-27; John 10:10; Romans 1:16; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:10; 4:30).
MISSION
We believe God commissioned his disciples to take the gospel to the Jew first and to the nations (Matthew 10:5-23; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 9:15; Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:1-29). God promised to preserve a faithful remnant of Jewish people who embrace God’s message of salvation through the ages (1 Kings 19:18; Romans 11:5). Today this remnant accepts Jesus as Messiah. The Apostle Paul urged Gentile believers to attract Jewish people to the gospel (Romans 11:11). One day this mission to his chosen people will conclude when the Lord brings the nation of Israel to repentance and the knowledge of his Son. Scripture declares, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:25-29).
BODY OF MESSIAH
We believe the body of Messiah is comprised of Jews and Gentiles who have accepted Jesus as the promised deliverer (Ephesians 2:11-3:6). Gentiles who have come to faith in Messiah Jesus are fellow heirs with Messianic Jews in the kingdom of God (Ephesians 3:6; Galatians 3:1-4:6). We encourage Jewish and Gentile believers to live together in unity and mutual respect, recognizing the value of expressing their cultural diversity in worship and lifestyle (Acts 14:23; 15:24-28; Romans 14:1-15:21; 1 Corinthians 9:20-21; Colossians 2:16-23; Hebrews 10:24-25).
FUTURE
We believe when Jesus returns he will reign over his kingdom from Jerusalem in fulfillment of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants (Isaiah 2:1-4; 19:23-25; Micah 4:1-5; Zechariah 12:10). All nations will participate in the blessings of the earthly kingdom and share in the worship of God (Daniel 7:13-14; 9:27; Zechariah 14:16; Revelation 20:1-6). After he has put all his enemies under his feet and presents the kingdom to the Father for eternity, unbelievers will suffer unending judgment in hell (1 Corinthians 15:20-28; Revelation 20:7-15). The heavens and the earth will be made new, and believers will abide in joy and fellowship with God in the New Jerusalem forever (Isaiah 25:6-9; 65-66; Daniel 12:1-2; Revelation 21:1-22:6).