The Mysteries of the Kingdom

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

We believe that the Church is both struggling for salvation, and already ruling and reigning with Christ.

We believe that those who die in Christ continue to grow closer to God through the work of the Holy Spirit, but also that they continue to have ministries on earth, since they function as roadsigns to God and the anchors of the line of witness, influence, and truth that flow down to us from the Incarnation of the Christ.  Thus, the Saints are a constant part of the Church; we worship with them, pray with them, and may ask for their prayers, even as we continue to pray for grace and mercy for the "Whole Church" both living and dead.

We believe that the Kingdom is "both here and coming", and that the Kingdom is also an earthly aspiration of all righteous governments and enlightened leaders. This Kingdom influences all other kingdoms of the earth, through example, the the work of the Church, and through the intercession of the Saints.

We believe that salvation is both wrought and being wrought, both assured to all who ask in faith, for Christ's infinite mercy, and also won through loyalty to the Cross, submission to God, and doing the works of repentance. God gives us grace and salvation without personal merit, and may even give grace to those who do not ask, through the intercession of others, but His work is mysterious, glorious, and is focused on the love that Christ has for every man, and therefore beyond those outside of the relationship to perfectly know.

We believe Christ assumed all humanity and changed our human condition, making it possible to love through death, to have good manifest in our bodies through grace, and restoring us to our original position in the pre-fall creation. We now have access to the Holy Spirit, which was originally the glory that shown in man, but was lost in sin. Now, we may enter into that glory again, delight in our relationship with God, and experience His Life as the power that God gives His servants to do His Will.

We believe that in Incarnating, Christ changed the universe, that the material world was restored by God taking on material... And that God's goal is to fill the whole creation with His Presence in a future perfection of all things.We believe that the Church is both struggling for salvation, and already ruling and reigning with Christ.