Read this before you reach out. Theolotree is built on the gospel, and every lesson a church creates rests on these convictions. If your church can't affirm them, Theolotree isn't the right fit.
The gospel is good news, not good advice and not a list of rules. It is the announcement of what God has done to save sinners through Jesus Christ, and it is the lens through which all of Scripture is read.
The Bible is God's inspired Word. God-breathed through human authors carried along by the Holy Spirit. In the original manuscripts, it is without error in all that it teaches, and it holds supreme authority over what we believe and how we live.
There is one God, who created all things. He made humanity, male and female, in His own image, giving every person real dignity, worth, and a purpose to reflect their Maker.
Sin is any failure to conform to God's standards, in thought, word, or deed. All have sinned and fall short of God's glory; sin separates us from a holy God, and its wage is death.
Jesus is God's eternal Son, not a created being. Jesus is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin and without sin. On the cross he stood in the place of sinners: God laid on him the sins of all who believe and poured out on him the punishment they deserved. On the third day he rose bodily from the grave, conquering sin and death.
Salvation is God's sovereign work, received not by human effort but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. It comes through repentance and faith in Jesus, who takes our sin and credits us His righteousness.
To be justified is to be declared righteous by God on the basis of Christ's finished work, received through faith and never earned by works. It is a verdict, distinct from the lifelong growth in holiness we call sanctification.
Those who trust Christ turn from sin, confess him as Lord, and are baptized. They walk with God through his Word and prayer, and they should keep preaching this same gospel to themselves every day, resting in the finished work of the cross.
