Salvation is needed by all and comes only through Jesus ChristFor more on the plan of Salvation see our website that is focused on the "GOOD NEWS" for mankind. You actually need only one verse to summarize the problem and the solution:
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. |
Our message is not based on the writings of a founder or modern prophet. It is not based on popular opinion or just church tradition. We believe the Holy Bible is God's revelation of Himself to humanity and a reliable, stand-alone source for understanding our purpose in this life and the life to come.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. |
Tulsa COG7 is affiliated with the General Conference of the Church of God (Seventh Day). While we individually and as a local church body have the right and responsibility to study scripture for ourselves we are in overall agreement with the General Conference Statement of Faith below.
Statement of Faith
1. The Holy Bible
The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s inspired Word. Inerrant in its original writing, the Bible is the only authoritative and infallible rule of faith and conduct for humanity.
2. The Deity
The sovereign deity of the universe is God Almighty, who is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. He is eternal, infinite, holy, self-existent Spirit who created, sustains, rules, redeems, and judges His creation. He is one in nature, essence and being.
- God the Father: God the Father of whom are all things, whom no one has seen nor can see, reigns in the heavens and transcends our complete knowing. He is revealed as our loving heavenly Father by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, God the Father will restore perfect harmony to all creation through Christ and reign eternally over the redeemed.
- Jesus the Son: Jesus Christ is God’s one and only begotten Son. As begotten, not created, He shares the nature, names, and attributes of God with the Father. As Son, not Father, Jesus is subordinate to His Father in rank. From eternity, the Son was with the Father, shared the Father’s glory as the pre-incarnate Word, and with Him created and sustains all things. Jesus the Christ (Messiah) was born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus uniting two natures — human and divine. Jesus lived without sin, died as an atoning sacrifice for sin, was entombed for three days and three nights, was resurrected bodily, and ascended to His Father to serve as mediator and high priest. He reigns as Lord in heaven and will return to earth as judge and king. Now it pleases the Father that the Son is preeminent in all things and receives our worship.
- The Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the promised divine helper who proceeds from the Father and Son. The Spirit is God’s presence and power in the world and indwells believers. By the Holy Spirit, God inspired and illuminates the Scriptures; convicts and regenerates sinners; sanctifies, teaches, comforts, guides, and preserves believers; and empowers them for service. Evidences of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life are faith in Christ, obedience to God, and the spiritual fruit of love.
3. Man, Satan, Sin, and Death
Humanity was created in the image of God: sinless, though not naturally immortal. Through Adam and Eve’s disobedience, all human beings became sinners by nature and by choice. The penalty for our sin is alienation from God, physical death (without consciousness), and, ultimately, eternal death for those who do not receive the salvation offered by Christ. It was Satan, the adversary of God, who tempted our first parents in the garden. The Devil is still capable of transforming himself into an angel of light but will finally be destroyed in the lake of fire.
4. Man, Salvation, and Life
Sinful humanity may be saved from the penalty of eternal death and receive eternal life instead, solely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from human merit, works, or ceremonies. Atonement for sins, with its attendant promise of eternal life, comes through Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf and is received in human experience by faith and repentance.
5. The Church
The church of God in Scripture is a spiritual body of believers who hold the faith of Jesus and keep the commandments of God. Under the lordship of Christ and the authority of His Word, the church exists universally and locally for purposes of worshiping God, preaching the gospel, nurturing believers, and serving humanity. Christians should participate in the church’s mission by service to others and fellowship with believers.
6. Christian Ordinances
Christ prescribed two ordinances that confirm faith in Him: 1) baptism, preceded by a confession of faith in Christ and repentance, symbolizing the believer’s initial union with Christ by death to sins, burial (immersion) in water, and rising to new life; and 2) Lord’s Supper, an annual memorial of Christ’s death in which believers eat the bread and drink from the cup — symbols of His body and blood. We extend charity toward those who may observe communion at other times. This communion service demonstrates fellowship with our Savior until He comes again. It is accompanied by footwashing.
7. The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were known and obeyed by faithful people before the law was given at Sinai. Later incorporated into the new covenant by the example and teaching of Christ, they constitute the basic moral code for humanity and are obeyed to demonstrate the believer’s love for God and his fellowman.
8. The Sabbath
The seventh-day Sabbath is God’s gift to humanity from creation, was written into the Ten Commandments by God’s finger, kept and taught by Jesus, and observed by the apostolic church. A memorial of both creation and redemption, the Sabbath should be faithfully celebrated by believers now as a day of rest, worship, and well-doing.
9. Marriage
Marriage is an institution of God and is an exclusive lifetime union between one man and one woman for the purpose of perpetuating humanity and enriching human experience. Reflecting the bond between Christ and His church, marriage may be broken only by sexual immorality. Like the Sabbath, marriage dates to Creation week, is intrinsic to the moral law, is reformed in Christ’s teachings, and finds its ultimate meaning at His return.
10. Christian Living
Christians are called to holiness in thought, word, and deed and to express faith in Christ through devotion to God and godly interaction with others. As a result — not a cause — of redemption, believers should 1) develop relationship with God through Bible reading and study, prayer, fasting, worship, and obedience; 2) relieve the physical and spiritual needs of humanity by compassionate social action and gospel witness; 3) oppose pride, envy, indolence, lust, covetousness, and other evils in the spirit; 4) refuse immoral amusements and practices such as pornography, sexual immorality, and homosexuality in the flesh; and 5) observe these Bible principles: give tithe and freewill offerings for the support of the church and its gospel ministry; eat for food only those meats the Bible describes as “clean”; regard participation in physical warfare as contrary to a Christian’s humanitarian calling; avoid intermixing Christianity with extra-biblical practices, as in the common observances of Sunday, Christmas, Easter, Lent, and Halloween.
11. Prophecy
Bible prophecy preserves and strengthens a believer’s hope for the Second Advent. It identifies religious, social, and political trends and events, including the rebirth of the nation of Israel, which point to the imminent return of Christ and the eventual establishment of God’s eternal kingdom on earth.
12. The Kingdom of God:
The kingdom of God (kingdom of heaven) is realized in three phases:
- The Present Kingdom: The spiritual kingdom of grace exists now as God rules in the lives of obedient believers. This kingdom was announced and revealed through the prophets and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. We enter this kingdom when we turn from sin to serve God through faith in Jesus Christ.
- The Millennial Kingdom of Christ: Jesus will return to earth in power and glory to resurrect the righteous dead, bestow immortality and eternal life upon the resurrected and the living righteous, avenge the saints, and be glorified in them. His earthly reign of one thousand years will be a universal kingdom in which all principalities, powers, and enemies are overcome. At its conclusion, the unrighteous will be resurrected to suffer annihilation at the great white throne judgment.
- The Eternal Kingdom of God: God’s eternal kingdom will begin when Jesus Christ, having put all enemies under His feet, turns the kingdom over to the Father. God will dwell with the redeemed in a new heaven and a new earth where no disappointment, defilement, or death can enter and where righteousness and peace will prevail forever.
Remember the Sabbath Day?
It is not hard from our name to figure out that we think the Sabbath is important. If your first question is 'why observe the "Sabbath" when most Christians observe Sunday?' Then we would ask why in the world would you not observe and participate in the Sabbath, regardless of what "most people do"?
Here are some quick thoughts but we encourage you to get our your Bible and see what God has to say about the Seventh Day Sabbath vs. the 1st day of the week. Ask your Pastor or class teacher and see if their answers really make sense. Creation God creates everything, finishes up with Man and Woman and ends the Creation week with a 7th Day Sabbath rest to enjoy His Creation. Was He tired? Hardly. Setting an example for us to follow? No doubt. 10 Commandments God writes down His essential Laws on stone tablets with His own finger. The main Bible definition of "sin" is transgression of the Law. That leads to physical and spiritual death. True Christians understand we can't keep the Law perfectly, Jesus did that for us. He died to pay our fine for sin. It would be absurd for a Christian to say he or she can now murder someone or be a chronic liar. God's Spirit would never lead us in a direction that would break God's Commandments. So why do most get to that 4th Commandment and decide that it is "Jewish" or "not applicable" or any other ridiculous excuses to avoid it? It is almost like most just want to forget it. But wait, it starts with "REMEMBER..." A Delight? Oh, but that Sabbath is soooo legalistic. How can you submit to such a harsh law? Please. That may be the attitude of some but that is clearly not God's heart. Look at these verses in Isaiah 58:13-14 (ISV): "If you keep your feet from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable; and if you honor it by not going your own ways and seeking your own pleasure or speaking merely idle words, then you will take delight in the LORD, and he will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; and he will make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob, your father. "Yes! The mouth of the LORD has spoken." |
Understanding Death, Sleep & Immortality
People get very confused over what happens after we die. And rightfully so, with the confusing teachings of the "Church".
If Uncle Joe was a Christian, we are told from his funeral on, that he is up in heaven looking down on us. How "comforting" for his family. Heaven is supposed to be a place where there "are no pain, suffering and tears". So it must be great for Uncle Joe when his family down here is doing great... but what happens when his wife is left paralyzed and shunned by the family? Or his son while on drugs shoots up a school? That seems like a mixed message! And then we are told that the non-Christians die and end up in a fiery place of torture for ETERNITY. Yes, God is supposed to be a God of LOVE but his JUSTICE requires this eternal torment. Huh? Perhaps if you decided to really study out the Bible explanations on these areas you might get a picture that actually makes sense? Sleep and Death Hebrews 9:27 tells us that is is appointed for mankind to die once and then the judgement. No re-incarnation, no second chances. So we better figure this out now! Sleep is God's pointer for us to understand death. If you sleep soundly and don't remember your dreams then you lay down... you fall asleep and then you wake up. We generally don't have any idea how long we were asleep so we look for references...clock, sunlight, etc. And so it is in death. Our spirit returns to God and we "sleep", in an unconscious state until the judgement of the Righteous (at Christ's return) or the judgement of the wicked. In either case we will "wake up" and it will seem like an instant, whether a few days or thousands of years. Immortality Do humans have immortality now? They better have if they die and end up in "eternal" hell. Consider just a couple of verses. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is. I wonder what His reward is? Wouldn't that be Eternal Life? Why would He have to give me that if I'm already in Heaven? So who has immortality today?
For He [God the Father] in His own time will reveal who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in light which cannot be approached, whom no one of men have seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. So only Jesus has immortality at the time the book of 1 Timothy was written. Hmm. We get salvation (from our sins) now in Christ Jesus but eternity, immortality when He returns. If the unrighteous do not have immortality then what awaits them at the final judgment? In the famous verse of John 3:16 we are told that God doesn't want any to PERISH. But that's what will happen to those outside of Christ. They will be consumed in a lake of fire. A very unpleasant ending and judgment will be served by a loving God.
And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire. |