The Diyarbakır Fellowship’s Statement of Faith

Ahmet Preaching on Sunday

God

We believe in God as He reveals Himself in the Holy Bible. He is the one who has created the universe, who holds it together and rules it, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, just, gracious and above all a loving God. We believe that He is One God (1. Corinthians 8:5-6). However, according to the Scriptures, this One God consists of three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. For this reason there exists in the Oneness a Threeness as well. We call this the Trinity (Matthew 28:19; 2. Corinthians 13:14 ).

The Holy Bible

We believe that the Old Testament and the New Testament are God's infallible, inspired Word (Matthew 5:17-18; 2. Timothy 3:16). These books do not abrogate one another. They complete each other as they contain one and the same message. The central message of the Bible is the plan of salvation that God has put in to effect through Jesus Christ. The Old Testament was not just given to Moses and David; many prophets spoke at many different times proclaiming the revelation of God. The New Testament were given to Jesus Christ's disciples through the Holy Spirit (2. Peter 1:20-21).

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is at the center of our faith. His coming and His earthly ministry were prophesied in detail hundreds of years before His birth in the Old and New Testament (Luke 24:25-27). The word Christ means “Anointed King”. According to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the Word of God who has taken on a human body, born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem (Luke 1:26-38). When He began His ministry in Israel, He worked many miracles and led a completely sinless life. In all of this He was proclaiming Himself to be the promised Christ (John 14:6-11). Especially because of these claims, the leaders of Israel had Him sentenced to death on a cross (Matthew 26:62-68). Thus Jesus Christ although He was blameless and perfect died by crucifixion and yet was raised again three days later, proving His victory over death and sin (1. Corinthians 15:3-8). 40 days after His resurrection, He was taken back to heaven.

According to the teachings of the New Testament Jesus was not merely a prophet or great teacher. He was the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world (John 1:29). By His death on the cross He took the burden of the whole world's sin on Himself and died in the place of all humanity (Romans 5:6-8). The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation (1. Timothy 2:5-6). Today Jesus Christ is alive, sitting in the presence of God and He will return soon to rescue His followers (Revelation 19:11-16). After that He will sit upon His throne and judge all mankind (Revelation 20:11-15).

Christian Faith

According to the Bible in order to be a Christian, a person must believe in Jesus and be His follower. Unlike many other religions, the Bible teaches that good works cannot justify a person before the Holy God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus Christ came to the world for the very purpose of removing the burden of sin that we cannot bear ourselves. According to the Bible every person has received a sin nature from our first father Adam and cannot do anything to justify himself or herself before the Holy God. The Bible also teaches that the end result of sin is death and that each and every one of us is by nature condemned to Hell. But the Lord God loves all humans as a father does his children and so He has sent His holy Son into the world to die for our sins and bear our punishment (Romans 3:22-26). For this reason the only way to be justified and to go to heaven is to believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:16). After being saved by His gift of salvation, we naturally want to live a life that is pleasing to Him by obeying His commands (John 14:21). After being freed from the judgment of sin by faith, it is completely against the teachings of the Bible to continue living in sin. Finally, the Bible constantly stresses the fact that this good news of salvation through Jesus Christ is available to every human being (Romans 10:9-13).