The Bible, Core Beliefs, and Immigration - By Britt Fuller

I believe the Scriptures are:

• God’s Revelation to humankind (complete, inspired, inerrant, and infallible)
• the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and what is right,
therefore, possessing authority for the total well-being of humankind

The above, or a similar statement, is often the first article in an evangelical church or organization’s statement of beliefs. It is the foundation on which all other articles and declarations of faith are built. There is much packed into this statement of belief, but for me personally, it simply communicates that the Bible has authority in and over my life. I find this statement easy to affirm in its entirety.

However, what is affirmed in the mind should also be lived out in the body through action. If the above statement is truly a core belief, as many Christians across our country proclaim, it should consistently motivate our behaviors. As the Apostle Paul expressed in the example of salvation, what we believe should directly lead to action. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10). James drives this point home when he challenges us to action with the command, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). True belief and action are inseparable. Our core beliefs, different from a statement of beliefs, are demonstrated not by what we say they are, but how we live them out. Often there is a gap between proclamation and application. Those not associated with the Christian church in the U.S. look on and plainly call this gap hypocrisy.