The
following is adapted from the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Disciplines of
the Global Methodist Church from the "Articles of Religion of the
Methodist Church" and "The Wesleyan Way of Salvation".
As a Wesleyan expression of Christianity, the Global Methodist Church professes the Christian faith, established on the confession of Jesus as messiah, the Son of God, and resurrected Lord of heaven and earth. This confession, expressed by Simon Peter in Matthew 16:16-19 and Acts 2:32, is foundational. It declares Jesus is the unique incarnate Word of God, and He lives today, calling all to receive Him as savior, and as the one to whom all authority has been given. This faith has been tested and proved since its proclamation by Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the resurrection. It was defended by the women and men of the early church, many of whom gave their lives as testimony. Their labor, enabled and inspired by the Holy Spirit, resulted in the canon of scripture as the sufficient rule both for faith and practice.
There
is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite
power, wisdom, and good; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible
and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one
substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God, and resurrected Lord
of heaven and earth.
Jesus is the unique incarnate Word of
God, and He lives today, calling all to receive Him as savior, and as the one
to whom all authority has been given.
The Holy Scripture contains all things necessary
to salvation. The canonical books of
the Old and New Testaments (as specified in the Articles of Religion) are the
primary rule and authority for faith, morals, and service, against which all
other authorities must be measured.
Original sin stands not in the following of
Adam, but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is
engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original
righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.
The
condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare
himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon God;
wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God,
without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will,
and working with us, when we have that good will.
Grace is the manifestation of God’s love toward
fallen creation, to be freely received and freely given. This undeserved gift
works to liberate humanity from both the guilt and power of sin, and live as
children of God, freed for joyful obedience.
The gift of grace is available to all persons.
God’s
prevenient or preventing grace refers to “the first dawning of grace in the
soul,” mitigating the effects of original sin, even before we are aware of our
need for God. It prevents the full consequences of humanity’s alienation from
God and awakens conscience, giving an initial sense of God and the first
inclinations toward life.
God’s convincing grace leads us to what the
Bible terms “repentance,” awakening in us a desire to “flee the wrath to come”
and enabling us to begin to “fear God and work righteousness.”
God’s
justifying grace works by faith to bring reconciliation to God through the
atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
God’s sanctifying
grace begins with God’s work of regeneration, sometimes referred to as “being
born again.” It is God’s work in us as we continually turn to Him and seek to
be perfected in His love. Sanctification
is that renewal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost, received through faith
in Jesus Christ, whose blood of atonement cleanseth all from sin; whereby we
are not only delivered from the guilt of sin, but are washed from its
pollution, saved from its power, and enabled, through grace, to love God with
all our hearts and to walk in His holy commandments blameless. We believe that a life of holiness or “entire
sanctification” should be the goal of each individual’s journey with God.
The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men (and women) in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same. We celebrate and rejoice in the priesthood of all believers.
For the full statement of what we as a Global Methodist Church believe,What do Methodists Believe? | Learn More | Global Church (globalmethodist.org).