The Bible, the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are the inspired Word of God without error in the original writings, and are the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life. Acts 2:38

Divine Healing

The first covenant that the Lord (Jehovah) made with the children of Israel after they were brought out of Egypt was a covenant of healing.

The Lord said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD [Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord that healeth] thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26).

Some translations read: "For I am Jehovah, thy physician." He being our physician or doctor, we have the most capable in the whole world. Our Lord Jesus Christ went about Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people (Matthew 4:23, 24).

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

The suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ paid for the healing of our bodies, the same as for the salvation of our souls, for "with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Matthew 8:17 reads, "He himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (See also I Peter 2: 24.)

We see from this that divine healing for the body is in the atonement. That being true, then it is for all who believe. Jesus said of believers, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Later, James wrote in his epistle to all the churches: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:14-16).

All of these promises are for the church today.

Christ, The Mighty God

The one true God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, took upon Himself the form of man, and as the Son of man.

As Paul says, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (I Timothy 3:16). The manifestation of the Almighty God as the Son of God for the purpose of providing salvation to a lost world is the central truth of the Scriptures.

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). This one true God was manifest in the flesh, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (II Corinthians 5:19).

We believe that "in him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell" (Colossians 1:19). Therefore, Jesus in His humanity was man; in His deity was and is God. His flesh was the lamb, or the sacrifice of God.

He is the only mediator between God and man. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5).

Jesus on His Father's side was divine, on His mother's side, human; thus, He was known as the Son of God and also the Son of man.

"For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him" (I Corinthians 15:27).

"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (I Corinthians 15:28).

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

The Name Of Jesus

God used different titles, such as "God Elohim," "God Almighty," "El Shaddai," "Jehovah," and especially "Jehovah Lord," the redemptive name in the Old Testament.

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). This prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled when the Son of God was named.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

The name of Jesus is the highest revelatory title of God 's manifestation to mankind. It is to be invoked in prayer, baptism, and all other activities conducted by his followers (John 14:13; Acts 2:38; Colossians 3:17).

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

John the Baptist, in Matthew 3:11, said, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."

Jesus, in Acts 1:5, said, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Luke tells us in Acts 2:4, "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues [languages], as the Spirit gave them utterance." The terms "baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire," "filled with the Holy Spirit," and the "gift of the Holy Ghost" are synonymous terms used interchangeably in the Bible.

It is scriptural to expect all who receive the gift, filling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive the same physical, initial sign of speaking with other tongues. The speaking with other tongues, as recorded in Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6, and the gift of tongues, as explained in I Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14, are the same in essence, but different in use and purpose.

The Lord, through the prophet Joel, said, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28).

Peter, in explaining this phenomenal experience, said, "Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he [Jesus] hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear" (Acts 2:33).

Further, "the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39).