1: Fulfillment, The Right Story
Though we strongly suggest that nobody on earth has all the facts correct about God and His will… we do maintain that we, at cult, have the story right. We suggest that the biblical narrative is, in almost every way, the retelling of what God has already done to reconcile the world to Himself. We maintain that everything (except Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Revelation 21 through Revelation 22:5) has occurred and been fulfilled. We also maintain that the Bible now presents eternal principles for people to embrace personally and spiritually, if they so choose.
In other words… we claim that that God has had the total victory over all things (Satan, hell, sin and death) through the victory of His only begotten Son. Because of this, the human race has been returned, as it were, to a garden of Eden state (spiritually) allowing for all human beings to choose whether to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (non-faith) or to eat of the tree of life (faith in God).
2: The Great News
Because we stand by our claimed “right story” explained above, we believe that the formerly preached “Good News” to the Bible’s intended audience has now become “the Great News”. We might understand the difference using the following comparison:
The Good News:
The Great News:
3: Spirit Is Primary
In the face of the Great News, we see a shift from what was described as necessary for believers in the Apostolic Church to belong to His pure Bride to what is now in place for people seeking God in spirit and truth, which can be summarized in the following summary for all people to consider.
4: A Rejection Of Previous Soteriology
We theologically refuse both Calvinist and Arminian soteriology as limited and believe that there is a better view.
Of, course the Calvinist view of God necessitates: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints. In response, Arminius taught that God, knowing all things before creating them, (including the outcome of giving all human beings free will) still created the human race knowing that in and through their free-will choices and the effects of the Fall that few would choose faith and there isn’t anything God can do about it. As a result, to an Arminian, most people will go to a literal hell forevermore because God was incapable of saving them from it. To a Calvinist, God refuses to elect more than a few to heaven thereby deserting most of the human race to eternal punishment as well.
We stand by another view all the while allowing any and all people with the right to embrace the Calvinist or the Arminian view as they please. We suggest that God gave all human beings free will as evidenced by the circumstances surrounding Adam and Eve in the garden. We maintain that God then removed all the deleterious results caused by the Fall through His only Son and that all human beings are since placed in the same position as our first parents – free to choose life in Him or life without Him. We entirely reject the notion that God predetermine anyone to an eternal punishment. We also reject that God created Man knowing full well that most of the human race would wind up in such punishment due to their free will choices. Instead, we proclaim that God, through the physical Nation of Israel, sent the second Adam, Jesus, who overcame all things on behalf of the human race, reconciled the world to God and returned the entire human race to a position of freedom of choice; that all people have since stood, as it were, before the two garden trees with the first being the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and the second being the Tree of Life (Jesus); that all are spiritually free to “choose this day whom they will serve” (God or self). We suggest that God has beaten Satan, sin death and hell through the victory of His Son and therefore all people are responsible for what they freely choose to pursue and believe. We also suggest that the result of choosing self in this life does not end with God’s wrath upon them but in them receiving a lesser resurrection in the hereafter (whatever that looks like) and that those who choose Him will enter into His Kingdom above (the New Jerusalem) rewarded with a glorious resurrected body (as promised).
5: View Of The Afterlife
Because of our view of fulfillment, we see John’s description of the afterlife in Revelation 21 through 22:5 as having application in the heavens today. We do not see hell as having a place in this description any longer and instead see there being the Kingdom (described as the New Jerusalem) and those who enter in as being of faith and we see those who remain outside of it as not. We also choose to believe that there is a constant invitation for all to enter in the Kingdom above but what is required to accomplish this remains a mystery.
6: Four L’s – Light, Learning, Love & Liberty
We maintain that the earth will never end (Ecclesiastes 1:4), that the Kingdom of God will increase forever (Isaiah 9:6-7) and that in the face of God having reconciled the world to Himself, (2 nd Corinthians 5:19) He calls to all souls to receive Him by faith (Hebrews 11:6).
Those who come to Him by believing that He is are then encouraged to pursue Light, to Learn of Him, to embrace Love and to walk in Liberty. These four L’s are central in outlining our approach to the faith today.
7: Creations, Children, Sons & Daughters
We humbly submit that a contextual view of the written Word of God uniquely and distinctly illustrates a picture of the human race as consisting of human creations, children of God and Sons and Daughters.
We suggest that God’s human creations are those who have not believed that He is, have not looked to Him in faith and have chosen to not see the pursuit of Him in this life as important. We suggest that He loves them unconditionally and will reward them accordingly in and through the resurrection. We subsequently maintain that any and all people who believe that God is have acquiesced to faith and therefore please Him. (Hebrews 11:6) We do not believe knowing the person or name of Yeshua the Messiah is required for His acceptance but ardently maintain that at some point in time He will be revealed as Lord, Savior, author and finisher of the faith and that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as such. We suggest that coming to faith is the beginning step of a creation becoming a child of God and that only children of God enter His kingdom above.
We finally distinguish, because the scripture distinguishes, between children of God and Sons and Daughters of God. We suggest that while those who come to faith are all adopted as His children, that only when such children have matured in the faith, and grown in the capacity to love as He commands, will God appoint them the spirit of His only Son and it is at this point that they become His Sons and Daughters (Galatians 4).
8: Faith and Love
Finally, we believe that in the face of fulfillment the two driving principles existing for all children of God are faith and love.
We approach the sacred faith from these two abiding principles and reject any and all doctrinal precepts insisted upon by men and their religious views.