Josh Groves

I believe the Bible is God's Holy Word, written by 40 different authors across three different continents (Europe, Africa, Asia) between around 1000 BC and 100 AD. Each author received Divine Inspiration - which means neitherthat God completely controlled the authors' hearts and minds while they wrote, nor did God dictate to them the precise words to be written. I believe in the virgin birth of Christ, His incarnational life and ministry, and His physical death and resurrection. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity - the Son of God and God the Son, completely God and completely man in His nature - who lived a perfect, sinless life, displayed His love for mankind and paid for the sins of those He came to save when He was crucified and shed His blood on a cross. When He rose from the grave He became victorious over death and secured eternal life for His people. These people He forknew, predestined, and called according to His purpose are assured of God's promise to work all things for good in their lives as they are given direct access to God through prayer and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. These individual members make up the one church body, the Bride of Christ. An individual must repent of their sin and put their faith in the person of Jesus and the saving work of bothHis death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. This type of faith is only attainable when God extends His saving grace to people and reveals Himself to whomever He has purposed to be conformed into the image and likeness of His Son, Jesus. Only by God's saving grace can a person exercise faith in Jesus, and the work of salvation is done by God because He is the only one capable of transforming a sinful human heart that is hardened towards God from birth. We can try to behave better morally, but we can't be free from sin until Jesus breaks those chains and frees us from the burden of trying to fulfill God's perfect Law on our own. Regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity or cultural background, Jesus will return one day to gather His people from the corners of the earth, to recreate the heavens and the earth, to establish His eternal rule as King of the universe, and to receive eternal worship and glory from those He redeemed and saved from their sin.