Statement of Fundamental Truths
In 1912 a revival broke out in Panam Oklahoma. People were saved, filled with the Holy Spirit and set free by God's Power. From those roots a close knit church family has been actively involved in spreading the Gospel. We not only concentrate on our area but around the world through an active missions program..
I am convinced that God has called us to the Kingdom for such a time as this. My prayer is Revival Fires will continue to burn in Panama Oklahoma. As we reflect on more than 80 years, we can be proud of the role this church has played in the history of this area. We can also rejoice over being a part of that history.
The Assemblies of God may have started with a flame in Hot Springs, Arkansas But, it turned into a wildfire on the dusty, drought-stricken prairie of Oklahoma. Now see for yourself the exciting and vital role the Pentecostal pioneers of Oklahoma played in the formation and growth of the Assemblies of God in Like a Prairie Fire.
You'll find this captivating account of Oklahoma's Pentecostal heritage filled with a wealth of information. You'll meet many of the dedicated, self-sacrificing men and women who played hey roles in the Movement's growth. And with over 300 historical photographs included, you're guaranteed to get a taste of what it was like to be part of the first organized district of the Assemblies of God.
Just go to our District website and order the book.
You may be wondering where we came from, and you'll be glad to know we've been around a while. The Assemblies of God has its roots in a religious revival that began in the late 1800's and swept into this century with widespread repetition of biblical spiritual experiences.
During that time, many Christians in the United States and other parts of the world began to feel a need for more of God's power operating in their lives. Individually and in groups, they began earnestly to pray and to seek to conform their commitments and experiences to what they believed was the New Testament pattern.
In response, the Holy Spirit came on large numbers of them, prompting a joyous, spontaneous worship and an intense desire to spread the gospel. As in the Bible in the Book of Acts, this experience, called the "baptism in the Holy Spirit," was universally accompanied by speaking in unknown languages. It was associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost (Acts 2), and participants in the movement were called "Pentecostals."
The beginning of the modern Pentecostal revival is generally traced to a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, on January 1, 1901. While many others had spoken in tongues previously during almost every period of spiritual revival, most researchers agree it was here that recipients of the experience, through study of the Scriptures, came to believe speaking in tongues is the biblical evidence for the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The revival spread rapidly to Missouri and Texas, then to California and elsewhere. A three year revival meeting at Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles attracted believers from across the nation and overseas and served as a springboard to send the Pentecostal message around the world.
Reports of what was taking place were carried in scores of periodicals and other publications that sprang up with the movement. Spontaneous revivals also began to break out about that time in other parts of the world and on various mission fields.
The Pentecostal aspects of the revival were not generally welcomed by the established churches and participants in the movement soon found themselves outside existing religious bodies. They were forced to seek their own places of worship, and soon there were hundreds of distinctly Pentecostal congregations.
By 1914, many ministers and laymen alike had begun to realize the rapid spread of the revival, and the many evangelistic outreaches it spawned had created a number of practical problems. The need arose for formal recognition of ministers as well as approval and support of missionaries, with full accounting of funds. In addition, there was a growing demand for doctrinal unity, gospel literature, and a permanent Bible training school.
These concerned leaders realized that to protect and preserve the results of the revival the thousands of newly Spirit-baptized believers should be united in a cooperative fellowship. In 1914 about 300 preachers and laymen gathered from 20 states and several foreign countries for a "general council" in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to discuss and take action on the growing need.
The five reasons they listed for calling the meeting were: doctrinal unity, conservation of the work, foreign missions interests, chartering churches under a common name for legal purposes, and the need for a Bible training school.
A cooperative fellowship emerged from the meeting and was incorporated under the name "The General Council of the Assemblies of God." Most of the delegates had little desire to form a new denomination or sect, and they structured their organization to unite the assemblies in ministry and legal identity while leaving each congregation self-governing and self-supporting. This structure continues to the present.
In 1916 the General Council added a Statement of Fundamental Truths to its constitution. A simple statement, it remains virtually unchanged and continues to provide a sound basis for the Fellowship, giving a firm position on vital doctrines.
From the beginning, Assemblies of God ministries have focused on evangelism and missions and have resulted in a continuing growth at home and abroad. Our constituency has climbed from the founding convention attendance of 300 to more than 2.5 million in the United States and over 35 million overseas.
Today, Assemblies of God people worship in over 12,000 churches in the U.S. and in 210,435 churches and outstations in 186 other nations. The aggressive missions programs of the church are designed to establish self-supporting and self-propagating national church bodies in every country. Ministers and leaders are trained in 1,845 foreign Bible schools — more than any other U.S. based denomination. The Assemblies of God has 20 endorsed Bible colleges, liberal arts colleges, and a seminary in the U.S.
The national headquarters of the Assemblies of
God is located in Springfield, Missouri. The headquarters includes an
administration building, the Gospel Publishing House, and the International
Distribution Center. The Gospel Publishing House is the printing arm of
the church turning out more than 14 tons of gospel literature each day.
Statement of Fundamental Truths
1. The Scriptures Inspired
The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired
of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative
rule of faith and conduct.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 [KJV/NIV]
1 Thessalonians 2:13 [KJV/NIV]
2 Peter 1:21 [KJV/NIV]
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2. The One True God
The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent "I
AM," the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind.
He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship
and association as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Deuteronomy 6:4 [KJV/NIV]
Isaiah 43:10,11 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 28:19 [KJV/NIV]
Luke 3:22 [KJV/NIV]
The Adorable Godhead
a. Terms Defined
The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as related to the
Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with
Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding
of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished
from "gods many and lords many." We therefore may speak with
propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a trinity or as one
Being of three persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.
Matthew 28:19 [KJV/NIV]
2 Corinthians 13:14 [KJV/NIV]
John 14:16-17 [KJV/NIV]
b. Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead which He expressed
in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but
that this distinction and relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable
and incomprehensible, because unexplained.
Luke 1:35 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 1:24 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 11:25-27 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 28:19 [KJV/NIV]
2 Corinthians 13:14 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 1:3-4 [KJV/NIV])
c. Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes
him the Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes
Him the Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Ghost which
constitutes Him the Holy Ghost and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore
the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy Ghost
is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because
these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but
one Lord God Almighty and His name one.
John 1:18 [KJV/NIV]
John 15:26 [KJV/NIV]
John 17:11 [KJV/NIV]
John 17:21 [KJV/NIV]
Zechariah 14:9 [KJV/NIV]
d. Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead
The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are never identical as to Person;
nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the Godhead; nor
opposed as to cooperation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is
in the Son as to relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father
is with the Son, as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but
the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Ghost is from the
Father and the Son proceeding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation
and authority. Hence, neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works
separately or independently of the others.
John 5:17-30 [KJV/NIV]
John 5:32 [KJV/NIV]
John 5:37 [KJV/NIV]
John 8:17,18 [KJV/NIV]
e. The Title, Lord Jesus Christ
The appellation, "Lord Jesus Christ," is a proper name. It is
never applied in the New Testament, either to the Father or to the Holy
Ghost. It therefore belongs exclusively to the Son of God.
Romans 1:1-3 [KJV/NIV]
2 John 1:3 [KJV/NIV
f. The Lord Jesus Christ, God with Us
The Lord Jesus Christ, as to His divine and eternal nature, is the proper
and only Begotten of the Father, but as to His human nature, He is the
proper Son of Man. He is therefore, acknowledged to be both God and man;
who because He is God and man is "Immanuel," God with us.
Matthew 1:23 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 4:2 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 4:10 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 4:14 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 1:13 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 1:17 [KJV/NIV]
g. The Title, Son of God
Since the name "Immanuel" embraces both God and man in the one
Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, it follows that the title, Son of God,
describes His proper deity, and the title, Son of Man, His proper humanity.
Therefore, the title Son of God, belongs to the order of eternity, and
the title, Son of Man, to the order of time.
Matthew 1:21-23 [KJV/NIV]
2 John 1:3 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 3:8 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 7:3 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 1:1-13 [KJV/NIV]
h. Transgression of the Doctrine of Christ
Wherefore, it is a transgression of the Doctrine of Christ to say that
Jesus Christ derived the title, Son of God, solely from the fact of the
incarnation, or because of His relation to the economy of redemption.
Therefore, to deny that the Father is a real and eternal Father, and that
the Son is a real and eternal Son, is a denial of the distinction and
relationship in the Being of God; a denial of the Father, and the Son;
and a displacement of the truth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
2 John 1:9 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:1 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:2 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:14 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:18 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:29 [KJV/NIV]
John 1:49 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 2:22,23 [KJV/NIV]
1 John 4:1-5 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 12:2 [KJV/NIV]
i. Exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, having by Himself purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; angels and principalities
and powers having been made subject unto Him. And having been made both
Lord and Christ, He sent the Holy Ghost that we, in the name of Jesus,
might bow our knees and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father until the end, when the Son shall become subject to
the Father that God may be all in all.
Hebrews 1:3 [KJV/NIV]
1 Peter 3:22 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 2:32-36 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 14:11 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 [KJV/NIV]
j. Equal Honor to the Father and to the Son
Wherefore, since the Father has delivered all judgment unto the Son, it
is not only the express duty of all in heaven and on earth to bow the
knee, but it is an unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost to ascribe unto the
Son all the attributes of Deity, and to give Him all honor and the glory
contained in all the names and titles of the Godhead except those which
express relationship (see Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead,
Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost , and Identity and
Cooperation in the Godhead) and thus honor the Son even as we honor the
Father.
John 5:22,23 [KJV/NIV]
1 Peter 1:8 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 5:6-14 [KJV/NIV]
Philippians 2:8,9 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 7:9-10 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 4:8-11 [KJV/NIV]
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3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:
His virgin birth,
Matthew 1:23 [KJV/NIV]
Luke 1:31 [KJV/NIV]
Luke 1:35 [KJV/NIV]
His sinless life,
Hebrews 7:26 [KJV/NIV]
1 Peter 2:22 [KJV/NIV]
His miracles,
Acts 2:22 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 10:38 [KJV/NIV]
His substitutionary work on the cross,
1 Corinthians 15:3 [KJV/NIV]
2 Corinthians 5:21 [KJV/NIV]
His bodily resurrection from the dead,
Matthew 28:6 [KJV/NIV]
Luke 24:39 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 15:4 [KJV/NIV]
His exaltation to the right hand of God.
Acts 1:9 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 1:11 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 2:33 [KJV/NIV]
Philippians 2:9-11 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 1:3 [KJV/NIV]
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4. The Fall of Man
Man was created good and upright; for God said, "Let us make man
in our own image, after our likeness." However, man by voluntary
transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also
spiritual death, which is separation from God.
Genesis 1:26,27 [KJV/NIV]
Genesis 2:17 [KJV/NIV]
Genesis 3:6 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 5:12-19 [KJV/NIV]
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5. The Salvation of Man
Man's only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ
the Son of God.
Conditions to Salvation
Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life.
Luke 24:47 [KJV/NIV]
John 3:3 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 10:13-15 [KJV/NIV]
Ephesians 2:8 [KJV/NIV]
Titus 2:11 [KJV/NIV]
Titus 3:5-7 [KJV/NIV]
The Evidence of Salvation
The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.
Romans 8:16 [KJV/NIV]
The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:24 [KJV/NIV]
Titus 2:12 [KJV/NIV]
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6. The Ordinances of the Church
Baptism in Water
The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded by the Scriptures.
All who repent and believe on Christ as Saviour and Lord are to be baptized.
Thus they declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that
they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.
Matthew 28:19 [KJV/NIV]
Mark 16:16 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 10:47,48 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 6:4 [KJV/NIV]
Holy Communion
The Lord's Supper, consisting of the elements --bread and the fruit of
the vine-- is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our
Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4 [KJV/NIV]), a memorial of his suffering
and death (1 Corinthians 11:26 [KJV/NIV]), and a prophecy of His second
coming (1 Corinthians 11:26 [KJV/NIV]), and is enjoined on all believers
"till He come!"
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7. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly
seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire,
according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal
experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement
of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses
in the work of the ministry.
Luke 24:49 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 1:4 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 1:8 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:1-31 [KJV/NIV]
This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the
new birth.
Acts 8:12-17 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 10:44-46 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 11:14-16 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 15:7-9 [KJV/NIV]
With the baptism in the Holy Ghost come such experiences as:
an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, John 7:37-39
[KJV/NIV], Acts 4:8 [KJV/NIV]
a deepened reverence for God, Acts 2:43 [KJV/NIV], Hebrews 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts 2:42
[KJV/NIV]
and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark
16:20 [KJV/NIV]
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8. The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism
in the Holy Ghost
The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial
physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives
them utterance.
Acts 2:4 [KJV/NIV]
The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the
gift of tongues, but is different in purpose and use.
1 Corinthians 12:4-10 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
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9. Sanctification
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of
dedication unto God.
Romans 12:1,2 [KJV/NIV]
1 Thessalonians 5:23 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 13:12 [KJV/NIV]
The Scriptures teach a life of "holiness without which no man shall
see the Lord."
Hebrews 12:14 [KJV/NIV]
By the power of the Holy Ghost we are able to obey the command: "Be
ye holy, for I am holy."
1 Peter 1:15,16 [KJV/NIV]
Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification
with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by the faith reckoning
daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually
to the dominion of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:1-11 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 6:13 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 8:1,2 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 8:13 [KJV/NIV]
Galatians 2:20 [KJV/NIV]
Philippians 2:12,13 [KJV/NIV]
1 Peter 1:5 [KJV/NIV]
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10. The Church and its Mission
The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit,
with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission.
Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General
Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Ephesians 1:22,23 [KJV/NIV]
Ephesians 2:22 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 12:23 [KJV/NIV]
Since God's purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is
lost, to be worshipped by man, and to build a body of believers in the
image of His Son, the priority reason for being of the Assemblies of God
as part of the Church is:
To be an agency of God for evangelizing the world.
Acts 1:8 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 28:19,20 [KJV/NIV]
Mark 16:15,16 [KJV/NIV]
To be a corporate body in which man may worship
God.
1 Corinthians 12:13 [KJV/NIV]
To be a channel of God's purpose to build a body
of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.
Ephesians 4:11-16 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14:12 [KJV/NIV]
The Assemblies of God exists expressly to give continuing emphasis to this reason for being in the New Testament apostolic pattern by teaching and encouraging believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. This experience:
Enables them to evangelize in the power of the
Spirit with accompanying supernatural signs.
Mark 16:15-20 [KJV/NIV]
Acts 4:29-31 [KJV/NIV]
Hebrews 2:3,4 [KJV/NIV]
Adds a necessary dimension to worshipful relationship
with God.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 13 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14 [KJV/NIV]
Enables them to respond to the full working of
the Holy Spirit in expression of fruit and gifts and ministries as in
New Testament times for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Galatians 5:22-26 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 14:12 [KJV/NIV]
Ephesians 4:11,12 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
Colossians 1:29 [KJV/NIV]
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11. The Ministry
A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided
by our Lord for the threefold purpose of leading the Church in:
Evangelization of the world.
Mark 16:15-20 [KJV/NIV]
Worship of God.
John 4:23,24 [KJV/NIV]
Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son.
Ephesians 4:11-16 [KJV/NIV]
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12. Divine Healing
Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness
is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.
Isaiah 53:4,5 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 8:16,17 [KJV/NIV]
James 5:14-16 [KJV/NIV]
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13. The Blessed Hope
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation
together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
is the imminent and blessed hope of the church.
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 8:23 [KJV/NIV]
Titus 2:13 [KJV/NIV]
1 Corinthians 15:51,52 [KJV/NIV]
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14. The Millennial Reign of Christ
The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which
is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His
saints to reign on earth for one thousand years.
Zechariah 14:5 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 24:27 [KJV/NIV]
Matthew 24:30 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 1:7 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 19:11-14 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 20:1-6 [KJV/NIV]
This millennial reign will bring the salvation of national Israel,
Ezekiel 37:21,22 [KJV/NIV]
Zephaniah 3:19,20 [KJV/NIV]
Romans 11:26,27 [KJV/NIV]
and the establishment of universal peace.
Isaiah 11:6-9 [KJV/NIV]
Psalms 72:3-8 [KJV/NIV]
Micah 4:3,4 [KJV/NIV]
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15. The Final Judgment
There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised
and judged according to their works. Whosoever is not found written in
the Book of Life, together with the devil and his angels, the beast and
the false prophet, will be consigned to the everlasting punishment in
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Matthew 25:46 [KJV/NIV]
Mark 9:43-48 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 19:20 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 20:11-15 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 21:8 [KJV/NIV]
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16. The New Heavens and the New Earth
"We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness."
2 Peter 3:13 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 21 [KJV/NIV]
Revelation 22 [KJV/NIV]
Copyright ©2002 The General Council
of the Assemblies of God
1445 Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802
Telephone: 417-862-2781