Distinctives

There are a few doctrinal and philosophical distinctives which we are happy to share with you in order to help you better understand who we are and where we are coming from in our teaching. In an age where it seems evangelicals are pressured to deemphasize doctrinal distinctives and to present a homogenized, bland and shallow message, we are convicted that we are to paint with bright, distinct colors. We seek to intentionally use strong and boldly clear language in an effort to proclaim the whole council of God to anyone we are blessed to reach. You may not share each distinctive, but we do hope you can respect our overall assertive approach and will be challenged to dig deeper into God's Word and in so doing draw nearer to Him and be made more in His likeness.

Here are a few distinctives we tend to hammer home:

Reformed Soteriology

We are not afraid to be labeled as "Calvinists", although we are convinced the doctrines of grace were proclaimed long before John Calvin drew breath by none other than Jesus Christ Himself in the Bible. We proclaim to anyone willing to listen that the Lord is sovereign, and He reigns and rules over all things at all times and ordains all that has been and all that ever will be. We are quick and clear to teach that absolutely nothing is outside of His sovereign control and we seek to submit to His rule with awe, wonder and humility.

Yes, we are aware of the immediate objections to this vision of God. No, we do not believe people are robots and we do teach that the decisions people make are real, volitional and willful. This, however, does not put man on the throne of anything. God, in ways which are far beyond our ability to comprehend, rules as King in and through the free actions of men, demons and angels.

This sovereignty extends to those who will and will not be saved. God has an elect people known only unto Himself and He will save His people from their sins. Christ Jesus did not come to attempt to save His people, He did not make saving them an option left up to them…He came to save them, and He will not fail to do so. He did not come to fail, and He will not fail, all those who the Father has given to Him will come to Him. There is no way for anyone but the Lord to know who these chosen people are, so it is our business and duty to evangelize everyone we come into contact with, and we trust the Lord and the Lord alone for the results.

Complementarianism

God determines who and what a "man" is and who and what a "woman" is. We do understand a statement like that is more than enough to get us banned off social media, but we are willing to take the hit because this is what both the Bible (special revelation) and nature (general revelation) obviously teaches. And just as God has determined some people are females and some people are males (with corresponding plumbing), He has also determined general roles and functions each gender will be gifted for. In other words, while men and women are equal in value, worth and giftedness, they're not the same and should not seek to be the same.

The Bible teaches that men are called to bear the burden of Biblical leadership in the home and the church and so that is what we teach as well.

The Bible teaches that women are called to submit to the Biblical leadership of their husbands in the home and the church and so that is what we teach as well.

The Bible teaches that there are various positions of Biblical authority within God ordained society which all people are to submit to such as kings, queens, judges, governors and police. None of those positions are held by extra-equal people, however for society to function in an orderly fashion people must willingly submit as required, complementing one another in the various spheres of authority which God has established. So it is also within the home and within the life of the local church.

Historic Premillennial, Post-Trib Eschatology

The third distinctive of Christ Is King Ministries is the urgent announcement that Christ will soon return! End times prophecy is a significant theme throughout the entire Bible and so we seek to make it a significant theme in our ministry. We are convinced that Christ's Second Coming will transpire before the promised 1,000-year reign of Christ on the Earth (we are historic premillennialists). We also believe the majority of prophecy laid out in the Book of Revelation, for example, is still in the future (also known as "futurists").

The Bible, furthermore, teaches that the promised Rapture (or gathering together) of the Church will transpire "immediately after the tribulation of those day". Christ Is King Ministries as a result holds to a "post-trib" doctrine regarding the timing of the Rapture.

Being convinced that many of the prerequisite conditions and signs laid out in Bible prophecy are being (or have already been) fulfilled in our day we urge all of God's people to raise their own level of awareness and to encourage others to become more aware of the times as well.

Christian Libertarianism

The term "libertarian" can imply far more than what we intend so we want to be very clear about what we mean by that term. We believe that God instituted government and gave it tremendous power but only within a limited scope. Essentially, we believe and explain in greater detail throughout our teaching, preaching and writing, that government exists to protect you from others, not to protect you from yourself. Or put another way, government exists protect, not restrict, liberty up until the point where the exercise of liberty violates the rights of others. Then an only then does the government have authority to exercise its sword. This gives the government the right to tax the people in order to fund military and police forces, courts and prisons.

Never misunderstand this important point: Just because Christ Is King Ministries contends for an activity to be legal (recreational drug use for example) that does not in any way mean we teach such an activity is not sinful, immoral, unhealthy, good, acceptable or to be encouraged. Nor does it mean that a local church shouldn't be free to exercise spiritual authority in church discipline over any sinful behavior. In fact, our whole point is authority over individual lifestyle behavior is the prerogative of the local church...not the government.

The responsibility of government to protect individual rights and liberty extends to all people, including the unborn. Christ Is King Ministries is staunchly and vehemently pro-life both philosophically and politically. Legalized abortion is by far the most heinous sin this nation has ever collectively committed.

To review our full doctrinal statement of faith, please click here.