Statement of Faith
STATEMENT OF FAITH
The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe as interpreted and applied by our Senior Pastor and Elders. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible Word of God and is final authority concerning morality and conduct of mankind.
This Church receives the Bible as the all-sufficient basis of doctrine and practice. The Bible shall be taken to mean a translation of the unabridged Scriptures, consisting of the thirty-nine (39) Books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven (27) Books of the New Testament. The following doctrinal statement sets forth the substance of basic Biblical principles which all members and prospective members shall accept, believe, affirm and embrace without reservation:
The Inerrancy of Scripture
We believe: The Bible to be the truth; the inspired, the only authoritative Word of God. [John 1:11; II Timothy 3:16; Psalm 119:89; Psalm 138:2; Matthew 24:35; John 17:17; Hebrews 4:12]
God - The Holy Trinity
We believe: That there is one God, eternally existent in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, being unified in purpose. These three persons of the Godhead, while of the same Divine Essence, have different characteristics, personalities, duties and responsibilities. [Genesis 1:1, 26, 27; 18:15ff; Deuteronomy 6:4, 5; Matt 28:18-20; II Corinthians 13:14; Titus 3:4-6; I Peter 1:2]
That God, the Holy Trinity is the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of the universe, reigning supreme, now and forevermore. [Genesis 1:1ff; John 1:1ff; Colossians 1:16,17; Revelation 19:6]
That God, the Holy Trinity is omnipotent [Job 42:2; Jeremiah 32:17;
Matthew 19:26], omnipresent [Psalm 139:7-11; Jeremiah 23:23; Acts 17:27,28],
omniscient [Proverbs 15:11; Psalm 139:1-6, 12-16, 23,24; 147:5; Isaiah 46:10; John
21:17; I John 3:20].
1. The Person and work of God the Father, First Person of the Holy Trinity
that God the Father:
We believe
a. Is the First Person of the Holy Trinity [John 3:16; 20:21];
b. Is love [I John 4:6-Il] and that He greatly loves us [Psalm 103:13; Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16; 16:26; Romans 5:8];
c. Is the Great Provider in the universe [Psalm 37:4; 84:11; Proverbs 2:6; Isaiah 42:6; John 3:16; 6:65; 16:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; James 1:5,17; 4:6];
d. Is Holy [Leviticus 19:2; John 17:11]
e. Is merciful [Deuteronomy 4:3 1; II Chronicles 30:9; Psalm 103:8; Luke 6:36];
f. Is righteous [John 17:25; II Timothy 4:8];
g. Is just [Isaiah 45:21; Zephaniah 3:5];
h. Is perfection, free from defect or limitation [Job 11:7-10; Psalm 145:3; Matthew 5:48]
2. The Person and work of God the Son, Second Person of the Holy Trinity
We believe in:
a. The deity of our Lord Jesus Christ [Micah 5:2; Luke 1:28-35; Matthew 16:16; John 10:30; John 14:10, 11; Luke 22:70; Colossians 1:19; 2:9; Hebrews 6:18-20; 7:24-26];
b. His virgin birth [Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-37];
c. His sinless life [Hebrews 4:14-16; II Corinthians 5:21; John 8:46];
d. His miracles [John 2:9; John 4:46; Luke 5:6; Mark 1:25, 26; Luke 8:26, 43; Mark 6:41; Matthew 15:32; John 11:41-44; Luke 24:6];
e. His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood [Hebrews 9:11-15; 22:24-26; Matthew 26:27,28];
f. His bodily resurrection [Matthew 28:6,7; Mark 9:9; 16:6, 9, 14; Luke 24:6, 34; John 2:19-22; 21:14; Acts 2:32: 3:15; 17:3];
g. His ascension to the right hand of the Father [Luke 22:69; John 20:17; Acts 1:2, 9; 7:55, Ephesians 4:8-10; Colossians 3:1];
h. His personal return in glory and power [Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; John 14:3; Hebrews 9:28];
3. The Person and work of God the Holy Spirit, Third Person of the Holy Trinity
We believe:
a. That the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, sent to earth as our Comforter in fulfillment of Christ’s promise not to leave us as comfortless orphans [John 14:18;15:26; 16:7-11];
b. In His present ministry and enabling power, by whose indwelling the Christian is called to live a godly life, not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, but bearing fruit to the glory of God [John 14:16, 17; Romans 8:9-11; Galatians 5:16-25; Acts 1:8].
c. That some of the chief functions in His present ministry are, not speaking on His own initiative, to bear witness of Christ, to draw men to Christ, to convict of sin, to tell us of future things, to teach us His (Christ’s) truth and to glorify Christ [John 16:7-15];
d. That all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are sealed in Him with a view to the Day of Redemption [Romans 8:9; II Corinthians 1:21, 22; Ephesians 1:13, 14];
e. That Christ does baptize believers with (or in) the Holy Spirit and that this Baptism may take place at or subsequent to conversion, God not being limited to any one option [Matthew 3:11; Mark 1: 8; Luke 3:16; John l: 33; Acts 1:5; 8:17; 9:17, l8; 10:44ff; 11: l5ff].
We believe that the Baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit will result in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good [I Corinthians 12; I Peter 4:10,11]. So then, we affirm that the Baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit is as necessary today as it was in the Early Church;
f. That all of the Gifts of the Spirit, initially given to the First Century Church (during and after the Day of Pentecost) have been given down through the Church Age, are now being given and will continue to be given until the close of the Church Age [Hebrews 13:8; John 17:20; I Corinthians 12-13; Ephesians 4:7, 8; Romans 12:3-8] and that all believers should earnestly desire and seek such gifts [I Corinthians 12:3 1; 14:1];
g. That these Spiritual Gifts are to be used to edify and build up the Church, the Body of Christ. We believe that the focus of the Church in its corporate worship must be on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the Gifts of the Spirit must glorify Christ. We further believe that the guidelines laid down in I Corinthians, Chapter 14, must be observed and we have resolved to follow them in our corporate worship service [I Corinthians l4; Ephesians 4:1-6, 11-16].
Steps to Salvation
We believe that in order to obtain salvation, lost and sinful man must:
1. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God and Savior [John 3:15-18, 36; 5:24; 6:47, 48; 11:25, 26; Romans 10:9-11];
2. Accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation and regeneration by the Holy Spirit [Acts 4:12; John 14:6; I Timothy 2.5; I Corinthians 3:11-15; Romans 8:9; John 6:63];
3. The above steps constitute being born again [John 3:3-8; Galatians 4:28-31; I Peter 1:23-25; John 6:63].
The Resurrection of the Dead
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost. They who are saved shall be resurrected in a glorified body like unto the Lord’s for judgment and eternal life in glory. They who are lost shall be resurrected to judgment and damnation. [John 5:29, I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Corinthians 15:35-38; Matthew 22:29-32; John 11:24-25; Philippians 3:10-1l; Revelation 20:5,6].
The Unity of Believers
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ [John 17:21; Ephesians 2:14; Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 10:17; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:1-6, 11-13].
Marriage and Sexuality
1. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning and that is marriage sanctioned by God which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other [Genesis 1:27-28, 2:20-25: Mark 19:8-9; 1 Corinthians 7:2-5; Ephesians 5:31-32].
2. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman [Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:18, 22:22; Proverbs 6:27-29; Matthew 5:27-29; Mark 7:20; acts such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, pornography or any attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender, are sinful and offensive to God [Genesis 18:20-21, 19: 4-5,12-13,24-25; Exodus 22:19; Deuteronomy 22:5; 27:21; Leviticus 18:22-23; 20:13,15, 16; Judges 19:22-23; Matthew 18:6, Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; Jude 7].
3. We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of the Church [Romans 3:23-24; 5:8; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 John 1:9; John 8:31,34-36; Ephesians 4:15; Titus 3:1-2; 2 Peter 3:9].