Blessed Light Academia is a Christian oriented blog written by Emma Beal. Much of the writing here will reflect those beliefs and promote the journey of learning more about Christ and his teachings. The following are some of my core values.
- All Scripture is God-breathed. The words of the sixty-six books of the Bible were written by men of God moved by the Holy Spirit. The whole Bible is without error in the original manuscripts and therefore authoritative in all matters of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21).
- The primary purpose in the life of the believer is to glorify God in everything and to make Christ known to the unbelieving world until His return (Colossians 3:23-24, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
- God eternally exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are the one God (Matthew 28:18-19, Deuteronomy 6:4).
- Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary. He is the true God and true man (Luke 1:30-35, John 1:18, Hebrews 4:15).
- Man was originally created by God in His own image. Through sin man fell and lost his spiritual life becoming dead in his sin and subject to the power of Satan. Thus man is in need of salvation (Genesis 1:27, 3:1-24, Ephesians 2:1-2).
- In response to man’s need, God the Father sent Jesus to this world to make atonement for sin. His substitutionary death on the cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead provide the basis for salvation. His atonement is sufficient for all, yet efficient only for those who believe (John 3:16-17, 1 Timothy 2:3-6, Mark 10:45).
- Salvation for man comes only by grace through faith in Jesus and His provision on the cross. Since salvation is a gift from God, a believer is secure forever (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 11:29).
- The Holy Spirit indwells every believer at the time of conversion. Water baptism unites all believers to Christ in one body. He is the believer’s source of power for all acceptable worship and service (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 5:18:20, Ephesians 4: 7-16).
- It is God’s will for believers to live a holy life in cooperation with the indwelling Holy Spirit while putting to death the deeds of the flesh. God the Father does discipline His children when they sin (1 Thessalonians 4:3, Romans 8:13, Hebrews 12:4-11).
- Jesus came to fulfill all that was written in the Law and the Prophets. All of it was pointing to him even where it is not explicitly prophetic. He accomplishes what the Law required. The law was kept perfectly by Christ. And all its penalties against God’s sinful people were poured out on Christ. Therefore, the law is now manifestly not the path to righteousness, Christ is. The ultimate goal of the law is that we would look to Christ, not law-keeping, for our righteousness. (Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 10:4, Hebrews 9:12, )
- We believe God has ordained and created marriage to exist between one man and one woman, with absolute marital fidelity. (Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:18-24, Matthew 19:4-9, Mark 10:5-9, Ephesians 5:31-33
- Christ himself is the center of worship. The physical temple has ceased to be the geographic center of worship. Now He is the “place,” the “tent,” and the “temple” where we meet God. Therefore Christianity has not geographic center, no Mecca, no Jerusalem. The priesthood that stood between worshipper and God has ceased. (Matthew 18:20, Hebrews 7:23-24, John 4:21-23)
