About Project Diktuon
Pulling the Fish Together
Beliefs

I expect that the one thing we have in common is Christ. Anything else springs from Him. We may be in many different directions, and distances. But I believe that having been drawn close enough to Him, we will agree on some basic things and values.

I have tried to sketch some of these beliefs and values in this and the following chapter. I think they are quite basic, and have listed them with virtually no argumentation. If these beliefs and values are not quite as self evident to you or you cannot produce the biblical arguments yourself, then Diktuon might not be for you. In case you disagree on something, drop me a note.

God is one. Father and Son and The Holy Spirit are of the same being. They are not separate. The difference is more in how we perceive God in different settings than in God Himself, who is one integral and immutable being.

Father is almighty and beyond time and space. He has created everything. He has revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ and in His Word, the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible. The Bible is the only reliable revelation about Him and salvation and all other revelation must be measured against it.

Jesus Christ is God incarnate, true God and true man, of one being with God. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. He died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected, ascended into heaven and will come to judge all men rightfully according to their works. Our sins are forgiven to us on the grounds of Jesus’ work on the Cross, by the faith God has given to us. There is no other way to God but Jesus, no salvation other than in His work on the cross.

The Holy Spirit is of the same being as God. The Spirit works everywhere in the world, lives in Christians and unites Christians into the death and resurrection of Christ.

For a more accurate attempt to describe the trinity, refer to the Athanasian Creed.

A Christian is a person, whom the Holy Spirit has joined to the death and resurrection of Christ. He has been called to the childhood of God and to be a co-heir together with Christ and to live the life where Jesus lives and actualizes Himself in him.

If anyone is in Christ, he is both saved and justified. This implies that we are to live accordingly, our lives are to reflect the will of God, His love and holiness. The Holy Spirit causes this to happen by calling us to change and effecting the change in us. This process where he causes this change in our lives is called sanctification or spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth is a process whose active agent is The Holy Spirit and object the Christian, in whom The Spirit effects the growth. In this process, Christ will gain more room in the Christian’s life, heart and mind, making him express The character of Christ more and more.

The Holy Spirit wants us to mature in our faith. The Spirit wants to sanctify us in order for us to get to see the Lord. For this we need to accept discipline from The Spirit. Spiritual growth is continual surrendering to repenting in things The Spirit points one to repent, and obedience in every issue The Spirit brings up. This continual surrendering and obedience extends the Kingdom of God in the individual.

The Kingdom of God is the domain of His reign. When a Christian consents to spiritual growth, the Kingdom extends in him. Collectively, the Kingdom of God is all those who recognise the kingship of Jesus, to the extent they recognise it. This aggregate is also known as the body of Christ. This collective body consists of several smaller communities.

When The Holy Spirit builds a community in the Kingdom, it means both growth of the individuals and growth of their mutual unity. The Holy Spirit has also provisioned the Kingdom with various gifts given to the subjects of the King. A result of the growth of the Kingdom is understanding the purpose of these gifts and serving one another with them, using them to advance the goals of the Kingdom.

God has called some of His subjects into some of the five offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher. The joint commission of these people is to prepare God’s people for works of service and build the body of Christ. While some of these people might not have official positions in the local congregations or other communities of the Kingdom, it is the will of God that they would recognise these offices.

One important direction, where Spirit is leading these communities is out. The Spirit wants to increase both the number of these communities and the number of subjects of the King.

Only The Holy Spirit Himself can cause the growth of the Kingdom. What we can and are called to do, is let the Spirit use us as His hands on the earth, so that he might grow the Kingdom in us, through us, and with us, making us catalysts of the change in ourselves and in our environments.

When people change, it has an impact to their surroundings. This change is primarily spiritual, but as our practical acts arise from our hearts, it will manifest in our deeds. Some trivial examples of these practical implications are mutual love and evangelistic work. More generally, God transforms our priorities to be Himself, our families, and then other issues, like our service.

[Facebook] [LinkedIn] [StumbleUpon] [Email] More »