Cardinal Doctrines

Commissioned ministers affirm that their personal Christian faith is in harmony with the cardinal doctrines of Volunteers of America.  These are found in Article VII of the Volunteers of America Constitution of 1896.

  • We believe in one supreme God, who is “from everlasting to everlasting,” who is infinitely perfect, benevolent and wise, who is omnipotent and omnipresent, and who is creator and ruler of heaven and earth.
  • We believe in a Triune God – The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.  We believe these three persons are one, and while separate in office, are undivided in essence, co-equal in power and glory, and that all men everywhere ought to worship and serve this Triune God.
  • We believe the contents of the Bible to have been given by inspiration of God, and the Scriptures form the Divine rule of all true, Godly faith and Christian practice.
  • We believe that Jesus Christ, when upon earth, was truly man and yet was as truly God -- The Divine and human being blended in the one Being, hence His ability to feel and suffer as a man and yet supremely love and triumph as the Godhead.
  • We believe that our first parents were created without sin, but by listening to the tempter and obeying his voice fell from grace and lost their purity and peace; and that in consequence of their disobedience and fall, all men have become sinful by propensity and are consequently exposed to the wrath of God.
  • We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, by the sacrifice of His life, made an atonement for all men, and that whosoever will call upon Him and accept His overtures of grace shall be saved.
  • We believe that in order to be saved, it is necessary (a) to repent toward God; (b) to believe with the heart in Jesus Christ; and (c) to become regenerated through the operation of the Holy Spirit.
  • We believe that the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God, thus giving the inward witness of acceptance by God.
  • We believe that the Scriptures teach and urge all Christians to be cleansed in heart from inbred sin, so that they may walk uprightly and serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of their lives.
  • We believe the soul shall never die; that we shall be raised again; that the world shall be judged by God; and that the punishment of the wicked shall be eternal, and the joy and reward of the righteous will be everlasting before the throne of God.