Our Mission Statement

The Marauders of Light is an outreach where set-apart young men and women are trained and equipped through intensive spiritual discipleship and hands-on experience. The purpose of this outreach is to arouse an unshakeable gospel loyalty and to inspire those involved to give their lives away to people in need.

Our Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible is the inspired and infallible and authoritative Word of God.

(II Timothy 3:15 -16)

We believe there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (Deut. 6:4; Matthew 29:19; Mark 12:29; John 5:17-30)

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal future return to the earth in power and glory to rule over the nations.

(Isaiah 7:14; Hebrews 7:26; Acts 2:22;I Corinthians 15:3; Acts 1:9-11)

We believe man was created good and upright, but fell from that place of perfection into a condition of spiritual depravity. (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:17; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 5:12-19)

We believe the only means of our being cleansed from sin is through repentance and through faith in the precious blood of Christ. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for personal salvation. (Luke 24:47; Romans 8:16; 10:13-15; Titus 2:11; 3:5-7)

We believe the Scriptures teach a life of holiness. Sanctification is a separation from that which is evil and a dedication unto God. We believe all believers should earnestly pursue sanctification by walking in obedience to God's Word. We further believe that the Christian is able to live a godly life by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1:15-16; Philippians 2:12-13)

While we do believe that the gifts of the Spirit are in operation today, we believe that the main evidence of a fuller in-filling of the Holy Spirit is the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in a believer's life (Galatians 5:22-23)

We believe that Christ's death on the cross provides healing for the human body, in answer to believing prayer, if and when it is in the sovereign will of God for that person. (Isaiah 53:4,5; Matthew 8:16,17; James 5:14-16)

We believe in the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule and reign on the earth for a thousand years. (Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27, 30; Revelation 19:20; 20:11-15; 21:8)

 

A Fuller Statement of Faith

 

The Word of God

It’s sixty six books compiled by God Himself, each book supernaturally orchestrated and selected, every paragraph divinely governed in its construction, every phrase purposely chosen, and every word bearing heavenly significance.  We believe that the Scriptural collection of canonized text is perfect in its native state, timeless and un-evolving in its substance, and fully authoritative in its position.  We believe that Scripture, though aided in its construction by the intellects, personalities, and pens of men, is nonetheless God’s very words.  Just as Jesus was wholly man and yet wholly God, so the text of Scripture bears an identical miraculous nature. We believe that the entirety of Scripture is useful for the formation of doctrine and that every doctrine discerned from the Biblical text must prove to be in agreement with the entirety of the sixty-six books and must not be disprovable or undermined by even a single variant reference.  We believe the inherency of Scripture can be maintained through the process of translation, however, we believe it essential in the process of language translation that individual words in the original language be translated for individual words in the new language, and that editorial interpretation be avoided with great care.  We discourage use of idea-for-idea translations amongst our students as primary study texts and oppose the notion that dynamic equivalent and paraphrase renderings of the Biblical text are authoritative representations of God’s unchanging Word.  We outright oppose the Emergent notions of our day that challenge the divinity of Scripture and that recast the nature of the Bible as simple narrative.  Whereas the Bible certainly includes story, it is much more than a mere testimony of the past, it is an authoritative, governing guide and rule of Kingdom Law for the present and it supernaturally contains a complexity of heavenly Truth that can be trolled only with a humble, contrite, trembling dependence upon the Spirit of Almighty God.  

 

 

Who is Jesus Christ?

We stand in concert with the Nicene Creed on the person of Jesus Christ and wholly agree with the historic defense of Athanasius in claiming Jesus to be God “in substance.”

 

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

 

We assert the Deity of Jesus Christ and do not take lightly the diminishment of any of the above revealed elements of His Person.   We believe that Jesus Christ is the quintessential player in Universal history, both at the level of nations and at the level of the individual human soul.  We believe that the Person of Jesus Christ is preeminent in all matters of life, whether they be theological, philosophical, psychological, historical, political, economical, or societal in purport.  We believe that faith in Jesus Christ, with exclusive allowance of Lordship over the human soul, represents the door through which the fullness and essence of True Life can be found.    We wholly reject the notion that belief in Jesus Christ can fit into a system of faith that does not give Him sole position of control and command over the human life.  We believe that the act of yielding to Christ as Lord necessitates a removal of all other systems of religious thought that contradict and undermine the revealed purposes of the rightful King over all.  We stand against the modern post-modern ideology of the Emergent Church that suggests Jesus is peaceable with other gods remaining in the human soul while He is doing His transforming of the individual and corporate life.

 

The Cross

We believe that the Cross is the pivot point in history, representing a correction of the great problem of humanity. It’s more than two pieces of wood and an innocent man hanging needlessly upon them – it is Majesty on High delivering a death blow to the entire army of Hell, the greatest act of heroic love this universe has ever witnessed, the Champion of Heaven absorbing the full punishment of sin and fulfilling perfect justice, and a seemingly helpless Lamb conquering the powers of sin and death and paving the way for a Kingdom take-over of human lives.  The Cross represents a brilliance born in the heart and mind of the Almighty, being the perfect enunciation of His nature of Love, Holiness, Justice, Wrath, and Grace, perfectly fulfilling every demand of Messianic authenticity, while at the same time shaming and humiliating the confounded demonic and earthly rebels that unwittingly helped to carry it out.  The Cross is both the greatest tragedy and yet the most dramatic victory.  It was triumph wrenched from the jaws of apparent defeat, the Son forsaken by the Holy Father allowed to drink to the dregs the wine of God’s wrath and yet simultaneously it’s His affectionate proposal of life and love to His beloved Bride - the ultimate gift of love and redemption.  It’s Life purchased, Salvation gained, the Host of Hell defeated, and access opened to the long shrouded mystery of godliness.  The Cross represents the inauguration of a new covenant, the establishing of a new order – a heavenly invitation to every man, woman, and child to partake of the Body and Blood of God, to receive the very Living Reality of God’s Life within – to exchange their life for God’s Life – to no longer live to themselves but for Christ to live in them. 

 

The Cross is the centerpiece of the Gospel.  It’s not for the covering of sin, it’s the heavenly solution for the removal of sin’s presence.  It’s more than the forgiveness of transgressions, it’s the channel through which men and women can access the very Life of Jesus Christ, living, moving, and having His being within them, in order to represent God’s very nature, character, purity, and holiness to this world about.  The Cross is the device that God has used to take the filthy rebels of humanity and make them pure and holy vessels of His presence.

 

 

What is the Gospel?

We believe that the Gospel (or Good News of God) is represented in Scripture with six distinct elements of Messianic triumph and intent.

 

1)      The Sentence of Death Removed

Man is imprisoned in his sin – unable to escape the control of sin, the earthly effects of sin, and the eternal penalty of sin.  However, the Good News of God is that the triumvirate of sins effect has been canceled through the work of the Messiah, Jesus Christ – the wrath of God has been absorbed by the stricken Son of God – divine justice has been served, sin has been condemned in the flesh.  Thusly, the guilty rebels of earth (you and me), if we would only accept this act of divine intervention with faith, have the privilege of legal justification before the bar of Heaven.  We can be forgiven of our rebellion, self-will, and lifelong resistance to His rule and reign.  Such justification and forgiveness, when accepted through faith, creates a way into the very Presence and Eternal Life of God.  The guilty conscience of man can be swept clean and filled with unspeakable joy, and the condemnation of Hell that hangs justly over the souls of every human can be wholly removed and replaced with hope of life ever after with God. 

 

2) The Prison Door to Sin is Unlocked

Man is controlled by sin.  And as a result, the pure and holy things he may esteem with his mind and wish to emulate with his life, he is unable to perform and act out.  He finds within his being, a barrier to purity, holiness, and righteousness.  However, the work of the Cross, the triumph of our Messiah, has done more than merely remove the sentence of Death from the children of God - in fact, for those who believe, it has removed the barrier to purity, holiness, and righteousness in a believer.  That which has always hindered men from living out the commands of God has been removed.  The prison door has been unlocked, and now, the people of faith, have the privilege of walking in the light as our God is in the light, and bearing fruit that evidences a regeneration of the human soul.

 

3) The invitation to live in His Presence

Though man was a rebel prior to coming to the Cross, and though man was saturated with the dark stain of sin when first approaching the throne of Grace, amazingly, Jesus Christ’s work has created an avenue through which sinful man can enter into the presence of the Divine.  Not just be forgiven, and not just be freed from the dark oppression of the soul, but actually permitted the privilege of living where the King lives, sharing in the rights and allowances of His Kingdom, the privileges and protections of His Spirit Law, being counted among His people, named amongst His company. 

 

4) The adoption as sons and daughters

Amazingly, the blood of Christ goes even further than even these three astounding realities.  It doesn’t leave us mere citizens of a Kingdom, washed clean and set on our feet with dignity, it also makes a way for us to be adopted into His very family and to be called amongst His sons and daughters.  Beyond mere forgiveness of sins, freedom from sin, and allowance into His Presence, this is the monumental privilege of sharing in the authority of His Name, the pleasures of His person, and the riches of His personal wealth.  We are offered a place not just in His salvation plan, but on His very lap, invited to know Him and become a heart-friend of the Most High God – actually free to call Him Abba, Papa, Father.  And thusly, we are privileged to actually share in His inheritance - all of it!

 

5) The commission to represent the King’s nature and herald the King’s Word to this lost world

We are also chosen to now represent Him to this lost world, to carry His burdens, to stand for His Truth, to preach His message, and to live as He Himself lived.  As the One who has called us is holy, so we are to be holy in every thing we do, in order to demonstrate to this world the stunning virtue and excellence of our Champion, Jesus Christ.  We are called to be His Body – His very hands and feet to valiantly undergird the weak, His mouthpiece to shout His Gospel, His ears to hear the cries of the needy, and His feet to go into all the world, seeking and saving that which is lost.  We are called to follow Him, to do as He did, and to die in similitude to His dying.  We are called to absolute purity of heart, mind, and life.  We are called to model God’s perfection.  And whereas, such a calling is wholly impossible for us to fulfill and carry out, God doesn’t back down in Scripture in clarifying this amazing intent.  And this is why the sixth piece to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see below) is so important – because without it, none of the above features can even be realized beyond a miniscule level.  

 

6) The privilege of becoming the dwelling place of God

The Cross was about far more than forgiveness.  It was about more than men being set free, invited into the Kingdom of their King, being adopted as His very children, and being commissioned to represent His Truth to this world.  Shockingly, the Cross also purchased the way for us to find the fullness of Life.  The Cross created an avenue through which the awesome, all-powerful, consuming fiery Life of God can actually enter into the bodies of believing men and women and make the entirety of this Gospel (as mentioned above) a living, breathing reality.  God desires to live inside us, to speak through us, love through us, feel through us, hear through us – live, move, and have His being in and through us.  Just as Jesus did nothing but what His Father in Heaven was doing (He only spoke that which His Father spoke and only did that which His Father did), so we are to be baptized with the very living presence of God within, enabling us to do precisely the same thing (speaking only that which Jesus is speaking and do only that which Jesus is doing).  Our life is not our own, it’s been bought with a price.  And when we yield to this indwelling Life of God, suddenly it is no longer just a human attempt at imitating the magnificence and perfection of God, but it is the magnificence and perfection of God at work within us demonstrating His Life to this onlooking world.