The Bible, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New

Testament, was written by men prepared and superintended by God’s Holy Spirit; it reveals the Divine Being, including his nature, character, will, and purposes. In the same way, the Bible reveals humanity, authoritatively describing our nature, duty, and destiny. In the original manuscripts (autographs), the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are inerrant, i.e., without error or misstatement, in all they affirm—morally, spiritually, historically, and scientifically. Inspired Scripture judges all human ideas and philosophies, including modern speculative science. Scripture alone presents a coherent, verbal revelation of the Creator’s understanding of His creation (worldview). It alone explains God’s reign over the universe and presents the only eye-witness account of the origin of all things. (Gen. 1-11; Job 38:1-33; Ps. 19:1-11; Ps. 33:6-9; Ps. 119:160; Mt. 24:35; Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:21).

As the only God he is creator of all things, and is eternal, unchanging, infinite in being, knowledge, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, righteousness, love, mercy, and grace. He eternally consists of three Persons in perfect unity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is fully God and possesses all the attributes of God (Isaiah 44:6-8; 45:5-7; Mt. 28:19; Luke 9:35; John 14:15-18; Rom. 8:12-17; 2 Cor. 13:14)

The Lord Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, a lineal descendant of David (Luke 1:26-38). As proof of his divinity, Jesus lived, taught, and performed mighty works, wonders, and signs, as recorded in the New Testament. He was put to death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate (Luke 23:18-25), but God raised him from the dead, the same man that had been nailed to the cross, now glorified (John 20:24-29). The Lord Jesus, after His crucifixion, showed Himself to be physically and spiritually alive to His disciples, offering them many proofs of his resurrection over forty days. After this, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven to be head over all things, including the Church. There He is eternally engaged in intercession for His people (Ps. 2:1-12; Dan. 7:13-14; Mat. 1:20-23; Luke 24:44-48; John 1:29; 2:19-22; Acts 1:1-11; Col. 1:15-20; 1 Cor. 15; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34).

Before his incarnation the Lord Jesus existed in the exact form of God (Heb. 1:-4). Of His own will he laid aside his divine glory and took upon Himself the form of a servant and was “born in the likeness of men . . . found in human form” (Phil. 2:7-8); i.e., as the Son of His heavenly Father, he was fully divine, as the son of Mary he was fully human. As such he possesses two natures while remaining one person forever. As the second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus was and is possessed of all the attributes of deity and is to be worshipped as God by angels and humans (John 1:1; Phil. 2:5-11; Rev. 5:9-14). “In Him—the man Christ Jesus—dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9; I Tim. 2:5).

By His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus made a perfect atonement for sin, the only means by which the justice and wrath of God against sinners is appeased and the only ground upon which God can in mercy deal with sinners. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse in our place. He who was without sin had our sin counted to Him so that we might have His perfect righteousness counted to us (Isaiah 53:4-6; John 19:30; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2; 3:4-5).

At a time known only to God, the Lord Jesus will return to earth, personally, bodily, and visibly. At the end of time the saints will be resurrected and welcomed into God’s presence forever, while the unbelieving and disobedient will be judged in righteousness by Jesus Christ (Acts 1:6-11; 17:30-31; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Heb. 9:28; Rev 1:7; 20:11-15).

As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is distinct from the Father and the Son. Nevertheless, He is God, and as God He possesses all divine attributes. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures and in his present ministry he exalts Christ, convicting people of sin, calling them to faith in the Saviour, and effecting their regeneration. By the Spirit’s indwelling presence, the Christian is enabled to live a godly life and perform the good works that are necessary evidences of saving faith. Persistent, egregious sin, e.g., lying, stealing, witchcraft, and the active practice of sexual sin, is inconsistent with a profession of salvation (Ex. 20:14, 17; Mt. 28:19-20; John 7:37-39, 14:15-18, 16:7-15; Acts 15:8-9; Rom. 1:18-32; Rom. 8:12-17; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; Gal. 5:18-26; Eph. 2:4-10, 4:4-6; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Thess. 4:7-8; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 John 3:24, 4:13).

After making all other living things, God made man in His own image, after His likeness. God made them male and female, thus giving all human beings intrinsic, transcendent worth (Gen. 1:27; 5:1-2; 9:5-6). In mandating that human beings “subdue” the earth and “have dominion” over it, God has made mankind his stewards over creation. It follows that the unjustified killing of a human being at any point in his or her existence, i.e., from the moment of fertilization to natural death, is wrong. Be Ready rejects abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide, along with medical practices that reduce the human body to mere tissue, suitable for uncontrolled experimentation, including embryonic stem cell research, cloning, and all aspects of so-called “gender-affirming healthcare.” These constitute discrimination against the helpless, the disabled, the suffering, the elderly, and the wrongly influenced. Other than for Biblical reasons such as self-defense, just war, or specified heinous crimes, we believe that God alone has the right to end human life (Ex. 20:13; 21:22-23; Job 1:20-22; 30:23; Ps. 139:13-16; Prov. 24:11-12; Ecc. 8:8; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:29; II Cor. 3:18; Jas. 2:11; I John 3:16-17).

The first man Adam sinned, causing all his descendants to fall with him (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-19; Rom. 5:12-21). Consequently, apart from the gracious act of spiritual regeneration all human beings are lost, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, hardened in heart, and morally and spiritually dead through their trespasses and sins. They can neither see nor enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:13; 3:1-8; 6:28- 29; 8:44; 15:5; Rom. 3:10-12; 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29-30).

Individuals are justified before God on the sole ground of the shed blood of Christ and upon the sole condition of faith in Him. They are born again by the quickening, renewing, cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of the Word of God. These alone become children of God and receive eternal life. At death their spirits depart to be with Christ in conscious blessedness, and at the second coming of Christ their bodies shall be raised and transformed into the likeness of His glorified body (Ps. 32:5-6; Jn. 1:11-13, 3:3-5, 16; Rom. 3:20-28, 4:1-8, 10:9-17; Gal. 2:19-21; Eph. 2:4-10; Phil. 3:20-21; Jas. 1:18; I Pet. 1:23).

Worldwide, the church consists of the host of the regenerate in Christ, wherever they are found. The church is the bride of Christ, which He loves and for which He died. Moreover, the church is called to be the body of Christ, doing His will in the power of the Holy Spirit, standing firm as the household of God, the pillar and foundation of the truth, defending the faith, relating to the world as Ambassadors for Christ, and imploring the world to believe the gospel and be reconciled to God (1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 5:20; 11:2; Eph. 2:11-22; 3:6-11; 5:25-27; Phil. 2:14-16; I Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 3:15; Rev. 21:9-14.

All those who persistently reject Jesus Christ in this present life shall be raised from the dead, judged according to their deeds, and punished for their moral crimes and rebellion against God. Throughout eternity they will exist in a state of conscious isolation from God, in endless torment and anguish (Mt. 8:12; 25:46; Mark 9:43-48; Lk. 16:19-31; Rev. 20:14-15; 21:8).

The holy angels are obedient spirits ministering to the heirs of salvation (redeemed humans) and glorifying God. But some angels, called demons, deliberately chose to revolt. These fell from their exalted position and now tempt individuals to rebel against God.

The leader of these demons is a personal devil, called Satan. He is a being of great cunning who can exert vast power, but only so far as God allows. He and his followers shall ultimately be judged, condemned, and tormented day and night forever. (Job 1-2: Ps. 148:1-5; Mt. 4:1-11; 25:41; Col. 1:16; I Tim. 4:1; Heb. 1:6-7, 13-14; 2:14; I Peter 5:8; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6; Rev. 20:10).

Biblical marriage was established by God for the purposes of mutual fellowship between husband and wife and the fulfilling of man’s creation mandate through childbearing and rearing. God intends Biblical marriage to last for as long as both partners live and to serve as the only acceptable context for a sexual relationship. (Gen. 1:28; 2:18-24; Mt. 19:4-6; I Thess. 4:3-8; Heb. 13:4-7).

We reject racism, sexism, ageism, or any form of discrimination based solely upon a person’s natural-born biological traits. We affirm that as the result of God’s original good creation, men and women differ physically and psychologically, and are therefore designed by God to play different, but complementary roles in society and in the family (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:18, 21-24; 3:20; 9:19; Job 31:13-23; Mal. 2:10; I Cor. 8:6; 11:3; 15:22; Eph. 4:4-6; Col. 3:18-22; I Tim. 2:9-15).

We further affirm that everyone who comes to God through faith in His Son is privileged to find their identity in Christ. Gender, race, age, sexual attractions, cultural or national heritage, and all other possible identities, are secondary to the believer’s identity as a redeemed, spiritually transformed disciple of Christ. It is idolatry when another identity takes precedence or is seen as equal to our identity in Christ (Matt. 22:30; Luke 8:1-3; Acts 9:36-42; 16:14-15; 18:24-26; Rom. 16:3-16; Galatians 3:28; 5:6; Eph. 4:1-16; 1 Tim. 2:9-10; 2 Tim. 4:19; I John 3:1-2).