Statement of Faith
All Nations has adopted a basic statement of faith to guide our beliefs, our worship, and our practices. All Nations is interdenominational and works collaboratively with many churches and other missions agencies. Our Statement of Faith reflects our enthusiasm and care for a denominationally and culturally diverse Body of Christ, serving and worshiping Him throughout the earth.
All Nations also upholds the Lausanne Covenant. This milestone document and its story constitute a major uniting and confessional achievement in the history of the Church. Most major evangelical missions agencies have adopted the covenant, and since its creation in 1974, many other gatherings and conferences have sprung up in its wake. Lausanne has thus become a movement of its own, a uniting torch among those with a passion for the lost in this world.
1. We believe that only the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired, infallible, Word of God. The Bible is the final authority for what we believe and how we live. Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21.
2. We believe that the one true God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that these, being one God, are equal in deity, power, and glory. We believe that God not only created the world but also now upholds, sustains, governs, and lovingly directs the affairs of human kind, and that He will one day bring all things to their proper consummation in Christ Jesus to the glory of His name. Psalm 104; Psalm 139; Matthew 10:29-31; 28:19; Acts 17:24-28; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 1:9-12; 4:4-6; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4-6.
3. We believe that Satan, originally a great angel, rebelled against God, taking a multitude of angels with him. He was cast out of God’s presence and is at work with his demonic hosts to establish his counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth. Satan was judged and defeated at the cross of Christ and will, at the end of the age, be cast forever into the lake of fire which has been prepared for him and the demons who follow him. Matthew 12:25-29; 25:41; John 12:31; 16:11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Colossians 2:15; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:7-9; 20:10.
4. We believe that Adam was originally created in the image of God, righteous and without sin. In consequence of Adam’s disobedience, and as a result of the ratification of his disobedience by every person since then, all people are by nature and by choice separated from God, justly condemned in the sight of God, and unable to save themselves. Genesis 1-3; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:5; Romans 3:9-18; 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:1-3.
5. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, that He was conceived and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and offered himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. By the blood of His cross He obtained for us eternal redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. He was raised bodily on the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father, there to make intercession for the saints. Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-18; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:1-28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:10-14; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-23; Hebrews 7:25; 9:13-15; 10:19; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 1 John 2:1-2.
6. We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We believe repentance from sin is a necessary response to God’s grace. The saving grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, sanctifies us as we obey the word of God. We are pleasing to God because of the death of Christ on the cross. We are progressively conformed to the image of Christ as we resist the stronghold lies of the enemy and walk in the spirit and not the flesh. John 1:12-13; 6:37-44; 10:25-30; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 3-4; 8:1-17, 31-39; 10:8-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Titus 3:3-7; 1 John 1:7,9, 2 Corinthians 10:1-4.
7. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit, in whom also we are sealed for the day of redemption. The Holy Spirit regenerates, indwells, empowers to give witness to Jesus and testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God. We believe that signs and wonders, as well as all the gifts of the Spirit described in the New Testament, are operative today and are designed to testify to the presence of the kingdom and to empower and edify the church to fulfill its calling and mission. Matthew 3:11; John 1:12-13; 3:1-15; Acts 4:29-30; Romans 8:9; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Galatians 3:1-5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18.
8. We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are to be observed until the time of Christ’s return. They are not a means of salvation but are channels of God’s sanctifying grace and blessing to the faithful in Christ Jesus. We believe all God’s people are qualified to lead these two functions of worship and service to the Lord Jesus and His people. Matthew 26:26-29; 28:19; Romans 6:3-11; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; 1 Peter 3:21.
9. We believe the church is God’s primary instrument through which He is fulfilling His purposes in the earth. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, God has given the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We also affirm the priesthood of all believers and the importance of every follower of Jesus being joined with and actively involved in a local community of Jesus followers. We believe that women, no less than men, are called and gifted to lead, proclaim the gospel and do the work of the ministry. Matthew 16:17-19; Acts 2:17-18,42; Ephesians 3:14-21; 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25; 1 Peter 2:4- 5,9-10.
10. We believe that God has called the church to preach the gospel to all nations, and especially to remember the poor and to minister to their needs through sacrificial giving and practical service. This ministry is an expression of the Father heart of God as expressed in the life and death of his son, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 58:6-12; 61:1; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 4:18; 21:1-4; Galatians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:8.
11. We believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the age when He will return to the earth personally and visibly to consummate His kingdom. We also believe in and are praying for a great harvest of souls and the emergence of a victorious church at the end of the age that will experience an unprecedented purity and power in the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel as a “witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” Psalms 2:7-9; 22:27-28; Mathew 24:14; John 14:12; 17:20-26; Romans 11:25-32; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28,50-58; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; Revelation 7:9-14.
12. We believe that when a follower of Jesus dies, he/she passes immediately into the presence of Christ, there to enjoy conscious fellowship with God until the day of the resurrection and transformation of the body. The saved will then forever dwell in fellowship with their great God. We also believe that when the unbeliever dies he/she is consigned to hell, there to await the day of judgment when he/she shall be punished with eternal, conscious separation from the presence of God. Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:19-31; John 5:25-29; 1 Corinthians 5:35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 1:19-26; 3:20-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-22:15.
13. We believe that agreement with sin and a lifestyle that portrays this will exclude someone from experiencing and inheriting the kingdom of God. Repentance from sin is a command from Jesus and a necessary response for us to receive the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb and therefore be a clean and spotless bride who can stand blameless before Jesus Christ, our Lord and eternal Bridegroom. Romans 6:1-14; 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 2:1-10; 5:8-17; Revelation 22:14-15; Matthew 5:19-20; 5:29-30; Deuteronomy 28; Genesis 4:7; Ezekiel 36:24-32; Psalm 51.