Please read this carefully as you will be asked to confirm your agreement with the following when you apply for ATS Membership. Thanks.
- I affirm that Christ's substitutionary death on the cross was both the supreme revelation of God's love for humankind and an atoning sacrifice for sin and that His life provided a perfect example for His people to imitate. His substitutionary death pays the penalty for sin, provides forgiveness, and creates gratitude and saving faith in all who receive Him. The cross is central to every aspect of life and work, of witness and outreach, of research and doctrine.
- I hold that the Bible is the Word of God the inspired, infallible revelation of truth in written form. The Bible is its own interpreter, provides the foundation and context for scholarship and the totality of life, and is the unerring standard for doctrine and experience.
- I endorse the use of historical grammatical, biblical interpretation of the Scripture, recognizing the necessity of the Holy Spirit's aid in so doing. I reject the use of any method in biblical study that retains the principle of criticism which subordinates the Bible to human reasons (Methods of Bible Study Committee Report, Preamble), tradition, or experience.
- I affirm the literal reading and meaning of Genesis 1 11 as an objective, factual account of earth's origin and early history; that the world was created in six literal, consecutive, contiguous 24 hour days; that the earth was subsequently devastated by a literal global flood, and that the time elapsed since creation week is to be measured in terms of a short chronology of a few thousand years.
- I affirm a real sanctuary in heaven and the pre advent judgment of believers beginning in 1844, based upon the historicist view of prophecy and the year day principle as taught in Scripture.
- I believe that the writings of Ellen G. White possess more than pastoral authority and that in them God has spoken as He did through prophets and apostles of old, to instruct His people concerning His will and the course He would have His people pursue. The Bible alone is the only foundation of Seventh day Adventist doctrine; Ellen White's writings, while subject to and judged by the Scriptures, are an invaluable tool for illuminating Scripture and confirming church teaching.
- I affirm the identification of the Seventh day Adventist Church as the remnant movement called by God to proclaim the three angels' messages of Revelation 14:6 13, which prepare the world for the soon return of Christ.
- I affirm my faithfulness to the Seventh day Adventist Church and pledge to continue supporting it through tithes, offerings, personal effort, and influence.