1. There is one God, infinitely perfect, existing in the unity of three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God of the Bible is the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe. The earth was created in a literal six days and God rested on the seventh day. (Genesis 1-2; Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 5:48; John 1:1-2 & 1:14)

2. Jesus Christ is a divine Person of the Trinity with an infinite nature and is God’s only begotten Son. Jesus Christ walked the earth as a man, and He was both fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered at the hands of men, was crucified, died as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, was buried, and was resurrected on the third day. The purpose of His death upon the cross was to restore mankind’s relationship to God which had been broken by sin. His blood was shed as an atoning sacrifice for sinful mankind, the Just for the unjust. Now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, as the Advocate for those who trust in Christ. (John 1:14; John 3:16; Romans 5:10; Ephesians 5:2; Matthew 28:5-9; Heb. 8:1, 1 Timothy 2:5; I John 2:1)

3. The Holy Spirit is a divine Person of the Trinity sent to dwell within believers in Christ to guide, teach, and empower the Christian to grow in Christ, or be sanctified. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, or being born again, is a prerequisite for biblical change and obedience. (John 3:3 & 14:15-17; Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16-19).

4. The Bible consists of 66 books of the Old and New Testaments and no books can be added or deleted. The Bible is inspired by God and therefore inerrant (without error). The Bible constitutes the only rule of Christian faith and practice as it is the only complete and authoritative textbook written specifically to provide both the answers to man’s behavioral problems and the means for man’s behavioral changes. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

5. Man was originally created in God’s image and likeness as a responsible being. Mankind fell because of Adam’s sin of disobedience and is now born with a corrupt, sinful nature that inclines him to do wrong and separates him from the life of God. Sin (thinking or acting independently of God) results in both temporal and eternal misery and unrepentant unbelievers will experience an eternal existence in conscious torment, which is the second death. Apart from organically-caused factors, all of man’s voluntary thought and behavior is moral, for which man is responsible before God and neighbor. (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3; Romans 1:18-23; 1 Cor. 15:21-22; Revelation 21:8)

6. Mankind can only be saved by the grace of God through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is provided for all mankind yet only those who repent and believe in Him are born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God. After receiving the gift of salvation by faith through trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the believer may live free from judgment, and live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit. Every functional behavioral problem which man experiences is a result of failure to love God or man or both. (Acts 1:8; Titus 3:4-7; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 John 2:9-11, Matthew 22:37-40).

7. Mankind’s good works are not the means by which someone can receive salvation. After one is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer will produce good works that are pleasing to God and demonstrate a true faith in God. The only behavioral changes in man which are pleasing to God and are ultimately beneficial to man are those which are effected by means of the Holy Spirit applying the Word of God in sanctifying power to the will and mind of the believer in accordance with biblical methods and directives. (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:18-22; Philippians 2:12-13)

8. The Church consists of all those who have been called out of darkness and into the marvelous light of the Lord Jesus Christ. The universal church consists of all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, are born again of the Holy Spirit, and subsequently commit themselves to a Christ-like lifestyle of sacrificial love and giving. Those who are true believers in Christ will desire to adjoin and assemble themselves together in a local body of believers called the local church for the purpose of the worship of God , for prayer, fellowship, evangelism, spiritual growth, and the building up of other believers. Christ is the Head of the Body, the church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into the world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations. (Matt 28:19-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 10:25)

9. There shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust for the final judgment of God: for the just, a resurrection unto life; for the unjust, a resurrection unto eternal torment. The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be visible and personal to receive His believers into heaven and eternal life and His return is imminent. The time of His return is unknown and is the glorious hope of all God’s children. (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14; James 5:7-8; Revelation 22:12, 20)

10. With regard to discipleship, reconciliation ministry, and biblical counseling, God requires and equips all believers by the power of the Holy Spirit to make disciples. Biblical counseling and reconciliation services are subsets of discipleship. Additionally, God holds the officers of His church responsible to counsel as a part of their life calling. In certain extenuating circumstances, church discipline is biblically necessary to promote change into Christ-likeness. Thus, discipleship and biblical counseling should ultimately be done under the authority of the local church. All methodologies of The Addiction Connection are derived from biblical principles and practices. Biblical disciple-makers and addictions biblical counselors should expect to see results from rightly applying biblical truths in love to a willing counselee’s situation. (Proverbs 14:14; Matthew 18:15-20; Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 3:8; Romans 15:14; Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 5:1-5; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

11. With regard to addictions, they are primarily a spiritual problem rather than a physical or mental problem. Addictive behavior result from decisions to worship creation (oneself) rather than the Creator and, therefore, is a worship disorder. The addict willfully and knowingly chooses to partake or participate in the addictive behavior and is not compelled by anything other than his or her own sinful desires. The individual becomes an addict at the point that his or her sinful choices have become so habitual that he or she no longer recognizes making a willful choice. This does not mean that the individual has become diseased but rather that he or she has become enslaved to that sinful activity. The habitual nature of these sins can and does have physical, emotional, and mental consequences, but these are effects rather than causes. Overcoming an addiction involves recognizing the truth (conviction), repenting (turning from sin to God), and replacing sinful habits with godly ones (putting off and putting on). This transformative process means that the former addict is no longer an addict but is a new creation in Christ. (Romans 1:21-25; James 2:13-15; Romans 6:11-13,19-23; 1 John 2:15-17; James 4:6-10; Ephesians 4:20-24; Colossians. 3:5-17, 1 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 12:1, 2)