Bethany International Outfitting for Missions

Back to Home Page

About Us

Holiness and Missions

Bethany International holds to the inerrancy of Holy Scripture and to the widely accepted declarations of evangelical faith, including the Apostles Creed. However, because the founding of Bethany was related to a particular understanding of the truth regarding holiness and global missions, we desire to articulate in just a few words our beliefs about these themes.

Holiness

We believe that God, in His great love, has called us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from the power of sin and to live our lives for Him in holiness and effective service. Holiness begins in us when we receive His gift of salvation and enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. At that same time, we receive the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit which releases us from sin’s control and awakens in us a desire to live righteously.

As we seek to live a truly holy life, the Holy Spirit makes us aware that even our strongest efforts fail and that we need to be fully delivered by God from our selfishness and sinfulness. We discover that o­nly the Holy Spirit can enable us to be in practice what God has declared us to be in Scripture—His holy people.

This understanding is more than a mental awareness; it is a revelation from God accompanied by a divine call to actively take hold of all that God has already provided for us in Christ to make us holy. We believe that, through the Cross of Christ, we can be freed from sin’s control and from selfish desires. We can enter into a living, vibrant relationship with Christ who then fills us with the Holy Spirit and works Christ’s character into us and reveals it through us.

This experience, which we call sanctification, is initiated by an act of faith and full surrender to God and is not the result of human effort, self-initiated works, acts of willpower, or modified behavior. It continues as a process in which we mature in grace, truth, faith, love, understanding, and power.

Sanctification does not eliminate our distinct personality, nor does it exempt us from being tempted or from the need for cleansing if we sin. As believers we must live our lives trusting daily in His cleansing and in the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. As members of His body, Christ wants us to live this life of holiness in relationships of mutual accountability and encouragement.

Missions

A living relationship with God in Christ expresses itself in compassion for the world God loves. God calls His holy people to meet the needs of a lost world. To effectively serve Him in His global cause, we must receive His power and gifts through the baptism with and continual infilling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s power is necessary and available to us. We at Bethany International Ministries are committed to reaching the lost and making disciples of Jesus Christ. We affirm together that we will place our full trust in the Holy Spirit and encourage o­ne another daily in order that all the world may hear the Good News.