"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." II Timothy 3:16,17
OPEN's clients recognize that we each come from a wide variety of denominations, traditions and practices. The "OPEN Statement Of Faith" states what we as a Network hold as essential to the faith. All staff and board members of OPEN and all partnering organizations are expected to be in agreement with this Statement of Faith. We exhort our clients to be familiar with what we believe, but because we wish to stress what unifies us we do not require clients to adhere to every point of this Doctrinal Statement.
We have chosen to use the World Evangelical Fellowship Statement of Faith, as it is designed to encompass the core convictions of a wide range of evangelicals, including the various national evangelical associations and mission affiliates. Likewise, a "grace-oriented" mission agency like OPEN desires to provide a comparable "allowance for theological diversity within the evangelical framework." The WEF Statement of Faith is internationally accepted. We each benefit from a brief, inclusive, international Statement of Faith that is already prepared and ready to be adopted in its entirety.
THE OPEN STATEMENT OF FAITH
(based upon the Statement of Faith of the World Evangelical Fellowship)
We believe in . . .
- The Holy Scriptures as originally given by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirely trustworthy; and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct . . .
- One God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. . .
- Our Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, His virgin birth, His sinless human life, His divine miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension, His mediatorial work, and His personal return in power and glory . . .
- The Salvation of the lost and sinful man through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith apart from works, and regeneration by the Holy Sprit . . .
- The Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the believer is enabled to live a holy life, to witness and work for the Lord Jesus Christ . . .
- The Unity of the Spirit of all true believers, the Church, the Body of Christ . . .
- The Resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
OPEN'S POSITION REGARDING SPIRITUAL GIFTS
OPEN emphasizes the essential and creative work of the Spirit of God in regeneration. Without the Spirit of Christ a person "cannot please God" (Romans 8:9). We believe in the continuous sanctifying work of the Spirit, enabling us to grow in grace and holiness until we are conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We also recognize that God in His sovereign dealings with people may visit them in a crisis experience or experiences subsequent to conversion, resulting in a clear advance in spiritual life.
We believe the doctrine of the Body of Christ teaches our oneness and demands we do our utmost to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). We must never so press and emphasize any one special interpretation of Scripture so that it causes strife and division among fellow believers. There is only one Body, one Head, and one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4,15).
Clients of OPEN come from a variety of backgrounds and traditions and are united in a common task of obedience to the Great Commission among the unreached. We believe that those basic truths in which we are united are more important than those beliefs on which we differ. We also recognize our responsibility to be true to those in our home churches and mission sending organizations whom we represent and for whom distinctive emphases are a part of their perceived loyalty to the Word of God.
OPEN as a whole does not endorse any particular teaching that requires a two-stage experience in the Christian life as normative. However, clients are free to hold a particular view, but no one is to press his view as normative or mandatory for others.
OPEN believes spiritual gifts are available to all believers under the sovereign grace of God and the work of His Holy Spirit. As a network we will seek to utilize and encourage all the gifts of the Spirit in our ministry. We believe all the gifts are valid and available for 21st century Christians. In New Testament times the gift of tongues was one of the gifts of the Spirit, yet neither it nor speaking in tongues was an indispensable evidence of the baptism of the Spirit. Similarly, the gift of tongues was given by the Spirit sovereignly to whom He willed (I Corinthians 12:11) and thus not everybody could or did speak in tongues (I Corinthians 12:29,30).
While we recognize that both staff and clients may differ theologically concerning current manifestations, we affirm our basic unity in our desire to seek our God, to know His blessings and to enjoy the power of His Spirit in preaching the Gospel (Acts 1:8). We also affirm our unity in the Body of Christ and in our desire to enjoy and practice those gifts of the Spirit on which we are all agreed. No staff, consultant, coach, board member or any person carrying on work in the name of OPEN may therefore press, teach, or practice his/her own view to the embarrassment of his church, mission, or fellow workers, or to cause or threaten division (Ephesians 4:2-3). In evangelism and church planting we need to listen to the direction the Spirit is leading individuals, not forcing upon them our spiritual idiosyncrasies.
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