Internationale Gemeinde Münster

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What we believe, what we focus on

The faith and mission work of this church is based on biblical and practical truth. The following confession of faith represents our understanding as a church of the Holy Scripture as a whole. This confession of faith does not claim to be inspired like the Bible. It rather represents what is important to us and our foundation of faith.

The Bible is the written word of God and includes 66 books from the Old and New Testament. The Holy Scripture is inspired by God in all parts and therefore completely flawless in the original manuscripts (2. Tim. 3,16 ; 2. Pt 1,21).

The Bible is our highest authority for teaching and life.

The one true God exists eternally without origin and end as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

He is the creator, preserver and judge of this world (Genesis 1.1; Acts 17.24-31; Rev. 20.11-15) and the origin of all things.

The Lord Jesus Christ is eternal God (John 1,1-3; 1. John 5,20) and true man (1. Tim. 2,5f). He is God who became human for us. We believe in his virgin conception (Mt. 1.18-23), in his sinless life (Heb. 4.15), in his vicarious sacrificial death (2. Cor. 5,21), in his physical resurrection (Luk. 24, 26-43), to his physical ascension (Acts 1,9) and to his physical return (Acts 1,11).

The Holy Spirit is a person (John 16,7) and not just a force. He is also God. He convicts the world of sin (John 16.8-11). He causes true repentance and faith. He gives the new life from God (John 3,5) and the limb in the body of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12,13). He inhabits the believer and seals him (Eph. 1,13f). The Holy Spirit wants to fulfill every child of God (Eph. 5,18) and to transform it into the image of Jesus Christ (2. Cor. 3,17f). It brings fruit of the spirit (Ga. 5,22). The Holy Spirit gives graces to believers (Rom. 12,3-8; 1 Cor. 12,8-10). However, we believe that no particular gift can be considered evidence of rebirth (1 Corinthians 12: 28-30).

Human is loved by God (John 3,16). He is a direct creation of God in His image (Genesis 1,26f). We reject the different theories of evolution (Rom 1,18-21). Man consists of a unity of mind, soul and body. And thus has the free will through which he / she can choose against or for a life with God. After his creation, man fell into sin (Genesis 3,1-24) and died spiritually (Genesis 2,17). Therefore, by nature, he is now a lost sinner (Rom. 3,23; Eph. 2.,). Man cannot save himself from this state either on the path of religion or through philosophies and his own efforts (Eph. 2,8f). He needs the new life from God (John 3,7).

Salvation is perfect, eternal redemption through the grace of God. There is no path of the Church or own sacraments, but received as a free gift through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his accomplished work on the cross on Calvary and the Resurrection (Rom. 3,24 and 28; Tit. 3,5-7). The Bible says that the Lord preserves his children through faith in salvation (1. Peter 1,3-5). Nevertheless, his children are asked to be faithful, holy, and steadfast in succession.

The church of Jesus Christ consists of all true believers (1. Cor. 12,13) from Pentecost (Acts 2) to the Rapture (1 Th. 4, 13-17). She is the body and bride of Christ (Eph. 1,22f; 5,25-32). The members of the universal congregation gather in local congregations for worship, edification of the faithful, and worldwide proclamation of the gospel (Acts 2,42; 1. Thes. 1,8). Each local assembly is directly subordinate to Jesus Christ, the head of the church (Col. 1:18), but can cultivate and collaborate with other biblical churches (2. Cor. 8,1-5; Col. 4,16).

Christian life is a life following Jesus. This succession is only possible in connection with Jesus Christ (John 15,1-8). The spiritual connection of the believer with Christ can be seen in the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and in particular in the love for God, for the brother and beyond for all people (1. Cor. 13; 2. Peter 1, 7).

Baptism is a decree of the Lord Jesus with a symbolic character. We believe that at the time of the New Testament, only people who were reversed in the wrong way (Acts 2,38; 9,18f), to whom the Lord had opened their hearts (Acts 16,14f) and who really believed had become (Acts 8,12 and 37; 18,8). Such people were baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit by immersion (Mt. 28,19). Biblical baptism is the external representation of inner reality in the heart of the saved. With his step of obedience, the believer confesses to believe in his crucified, buried and risen Savior, which is also to be represented by baptism (Rom. 6,3-11).

The Lord's meal is also a symbolic ordinance of the Lord Jesus. It does not forgive sins, but strengthens the children of God by remembering the wonderful love of God and the sacrificing obedience of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11,23-26). It is God's will that only those born again take part in the meal. In any case, a self-examination should precede (1. Cor. 11,27-32).

A good surgeon will do everything possible to avoid this before performing an amputation. It may be that this process is painful, but if this attempt does not help, then there is only one way to make an amputation, the way to recovery, also in the interests of God and the patient (John 15,1). Mutual correction, correction and exhortation in love are part of everyday community life. Church breeding is certainly related to the cleaning and sanctification of the church. God is a holy God and he wants his children to live in sanctification and purity. Therefore God tries to sanctify us (Eph 5,26-27). Jesus uses the image of the vine and the vineyard man who cuts off any vine that does not produce fruit. He cleans vines that bear fruit so that they bear even more fruit (John 15,2). Paul speaks of the leaven, which must be removed so that the whole dough is not leavened (1. Cor. 5,6-7). Sin must not be tolerated lightly, neither in the life of the believer nor in the community of the community. Just like a rotten apple in a fruit basket, all other apples are putrefected if it is not removed, so the sin of the one can sweep away many. Community breeding can be the exclusion of the person from their service and even the exclusion of the community.

Satan exists as a person and is the great adversary of God and all believers (John 8,44; Rev. 12,1-12). He commands an army of demons (Eph. 6,11f). With the death and resurrection of Christ, these powers of darkness have already been defeated and are facing their final downfall (Rev. 20,10).

The return of Jesus Christ is a fact that is possible at any time (Mt. 24,42-44; 1. Thes. 5,1f). First he will come to rapture the church (1. Thes. 4,16f), then he will judge the people (Mt. 25,31-46) and establish the millennial kingdom on earth (Rev. 20,1- 6). Jesus will come one day to pick up his church, which the Bible calls rapture. After the Rapture, a tribulation period will come to Earth that will last 7 years and then he will come, but with all the saints and visible to all. Then a time breaks when Jesus will reign here on earth for 1000 years.

Death is not the end of man, but his existence continues either in eternal life or in eternal damnation. After the bodies are resurrected (John 5,28f, Hebr. 9,27), those saved from faith in Jesus Christ are rewarded (2 Cor. 5,10) and spend eternity in God's presence (Rev. 21,3f) . The lost, however, are judged and condemned to eternal damnation with full consciousness and forever separated from HIM (Mt. 25,46; Luke 16,19-31; 2. Thes. 1,8f; Rev. 20,11-15).

Marriage has been God's plan of creation from the beginning. It is the intimate community that reflects the community of Jesus with his church (Eph. 5,22-25). When God created Adam he was alone, God said that it is not good (Genesis 2,18). God's plan has always been that men and women enter into a permanent marital relationship that only death can separate. The Bible says in Matthew 19,5-6: Therefore a man will leave father and mother and hang on his wife, and the two will be one flesh. Men should love their women as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Women should submit to their husbands like the church subordinates itself to Christ.

Marriage does not take place through a gender association. This thought cannot be justified legally, morally, or biblically (Ex. 22,15-16). A sexual relationship is only justified if an official marriage and marriage union has taken place (1. Cor. 7,12-14). Even a promise that two people give each other is not a marriage. A marriage is one that is officially and legally sealed, which is then blessed by the spiritual family (the church of Jesus). We do not give in marriage anyone who does not believe in Jesus. This applies also if one part is a non-believer or divorced.

The outreach commandment of Jesus is the purpose of existence of a church. A church that is not missionary has no right to exist. We believe that anyone who is born again is a missionary. The future of the community lives from mission. The message of the Bible is the good news that we want to carry into homes and society because it can bring positive change in all cultures and societies. Because man is spiritually lost and lost, Jesus came into this world as the light of this world and died for the sins and sins of men. He has risen and we believe that anyone who accepts this gift will be saved by God. Jesus is the way home. That is the message of the mission.