Intoxicated on Life affirms, first and foremost, the gospel of Jesus, as it was proclaimed by Christ Himself and His apostles, and as it is inscribed in the infallible Word of God, the Bible.
We recognize there is great diversity of convictions among God’s people today, and it is our goal to foster an online community that can rally around a common faith—the core beliefs of the Christian faith.
Core Essentials
We affirm the core essentials of the historic Christian faith common to all true believers and churches throughout the world.
- The Triune God: We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Christ: Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the living Word, became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His birth from the virgin Mary. He is true God who became true man, united in one Person forever. He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.
- The Spirit: The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling the hearts of all believers, He gives us new life, empowers and imparts to us gifts for service, and transforms our character. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.
- Sin and Salvation: Being estranged from God and rightly condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifying them in His sight. Only those who are born of the Holy Spirit and come to Christ in humble faith become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
- The Church: The Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds its visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is proclaimed in its purity, where the sacraments are administered in their integrity, where scriptural discipleship is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, the church awaits the return of the Lord.
- Christ’s Return: Jesus Christ will come again to the earth—personally, visibly, and bodily—to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. Christ will physically renew this world, breaking the curse of death; those who are His will rise from their graves to the resurrection of life, and those who are not His to the resurrection of judgment.
- Great Commission: The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to this commission requires total commitment to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, to live a life of self-denying love and service.
Distinctive Convictions
As the ministry of Luke and Trisha Gilkerson, Intoxicated on Life regularly publishes material that reflects their own personal convictions on matters of faith.
- Biblical Inerrancy: All Scripture has been breathed out by God through His chosen human instruments, the prophets (2 Timothy 3:16). We affirm the verbal plenary inspiration of the original manuscripts of the Bible—every word of Scripture is of divine origin and meaningfully chosen by God as he worked through the unique personalities, experiences, and literary styles of each penman.
- Human Depravity and Christian Growth: A key summary word used in the Bible for our drift from God is “idolatry”—inordinate, ruling desires that replace God as the primary love of our lives (Exodus 20:3; Ezekiel 14:1-8; Colossians 3:5). This is the central problem of the human race and the core reason for our sinful dispositions. Our sinful habits are not merely a result of conditioned drives, physiological dysfunctions, unmet needs, or traumatized and conflicted instincts—though these all play a role in how our sin is shaped. We are not fundamentally deprived; rather, our primary loyalties are depraved: morally bent, dark, and unholy in relation to the God who made us. We have worshipped our way into sin; the solution is to worship our way out—to replace our sinful ruling desires with a sincere love for and satisfaction in God, empowered by God’s Spirit.
- Christianity and Culture: The shared beliefs of our culture can be seen in customs and artifacts all around us, and it is important for Christians to be wise in how we interface with culture. Some cultural customs and artifacts can simply be received, others must be totally rejected, and many others can be redeemed—reclaimed for Christian purposes and restored to serve the good of humanity. While Christians will naturally disagree on the best approaches to traditions, holidays, technology, fashion, and entertainment, we believe the overall thrust of the church’s mission should be to shape and transform our culture, not merely embrace it wholesale or avoid it.
- Complementarianism: God created human beings in His own image, male and female, equal in dignity and worth but distinct in their physical design and roles in family and church life (Genesis 1:27; Ephesians 5:21-33). These distinctions should be acknowledged and celebrated for human flourishing—though not every cultural or customary gender role should be understood as a necessary reflection of this truth.
- The Law of Moses: Christians are not under the Law of Moses but under the Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). This does not mean the Law of Moses is irrelevant to the church: the Law still bears witness to the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21), and, like all Scripture, is useful for teaching and growth in wisdom (2 Timothy 3:16), filled with stories written down for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11). However, Christians are not under the Mosaic covenant, the system that served as a guardian until Christ came (Galatians 3:24-26). Now that Christ has come, we live under His lordship and loving example (6:2).
- Protestantism: We gladly receive many of the historic creeds of the Christian faith: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedonian Creed. We also proudly affirm the five solae of the Reformation: that salvation is by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) in Christ alone (solo Christo) as proclaimed by the Scriptures alone (sola Scriptura) to the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).
- Church Affiliation: Intoxicated on Life is not affiliated with an specific church or denomination.
Luke and Trisha Gilkerson are members of a local congregation affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
