|
|
What do we Believe?
|
Everything we do starts with who God is and what He expects out of His creatures. Our statement of faith and doctrine forms the theological pillars of our ministry and insures that we minister in such a way that accurately reflects what we believe. These are the biblical convictions that determine and control our approach to ministry. We have conveniently categorized our doctrine under seven major theological themes with the basis of them all being the first one; the foundation of the Word of God (see Figure 1).
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Word of God
We believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20, 21; John 10:35). We believe that inspiration refers to the process whereby God breathed out His words by moving men to record His words accurately, thus producing the inerrant original manuscripts. We believe in the "verbal plenary" view of inspiration which claims that the Bible is equally inspired in all parts. Because the Bible is the accurate Word of God, it is true in every area and is the sole basis of authority for the believer (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13). It has the right to establish and command the standard for belief and practice. Since it is the very Word of God, to disobey or to obey the Bible is to disobey or obey God Himself.
Our commitment is that our ministry must never stray outside nor go beyond the commands of Scripture. The Scriptures are absolutely sufficient to equip the man of God for every work of the ministry (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It should be the primary focus of every sermon, Bible study, or counseling opportunity. We believe that when the church gathers, the emphasis must be on the proclamation of God's Word and the exhortation to obey it (1 Timothy 4:13).
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Person of God
We believe in one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-7; 1 Corinthians 8:4). He is an infinite, all-knowing Spirit (John 4:24), and perfect in all His characteristics. While He is One in essence, He eternally exists in three Persons (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14), each equally deserving of worship and obedience.
-
The Father
We believe in the deity of the Father. Like the Son and the Holy Spirit, He is God. He is a Person of the Trinity and is coequal to the other members of the Trinity in every area. He has existed for all eternity.
We believe that God the Father is sovereign in the creation and in the governing of the world (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). We believe that He declares everything to come to pass for His own glory (Ephesians 1:11). He continually directs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). In affirming that truth, we do not believe that His control of sinful people and tragic events makes Him the author or approver of evil (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47) nor do we believe that His sovereignty reduces the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1 Peter 1:17).
We believe that He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6), and He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9).
The Son
We believe in the deity of the Son, Jesus Christ. Like the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is God. He is a Person of the Trinity and is coequal to the other members of the Trinity in every area. He is the Word of God that was made flesh (John 1:1-14). He has existed for all eternity.
While we believe that the Son is eternally fully God, we also believe that He was made incarnate. He became fully man. The means of the incarnation was the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:16; Galatians 4:4). We believe that the incarnation, once accomplished, is the lasting state of Jesus Christ. It began at His birth and continues forever (in His resurrected, glorified body).
We believe in the self-emptying of the Son as taught in Philippians 2:5-11. The self-emptying permitted His addition of humanity, but did not involve in any way the subtraction of Deity or the attributes of Deity. The Scriptures teach that Christ voluntarily gave up the exercising of these attributes while on earth. His change was a change in form, not a change of content. He emptied Himself by taking on humanity in order that He could die for the sins of mankind (Isaiah 1:12).
We believe, as the Scriptures definitely assert, in the sinlessness of the Son. He was announced as a Holy Child (Luke 1:35), His enemies failed to show that He was a sinner (John 8:46), and He always kept the Father's commandments (John 8:29). The writers of the epistles also always describe the Son as sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1:19; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26-27).
We believe that Christ is the head of the Church (Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:18). He is the Chief Shepherd. The Church is His. He is the only way of salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). He is to be obeyed (Matthew 28:20), emulated (1 John 2:6), and proclaimed (Colossians 1:28; 1 Corinthians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:5). The church must submit to His headship and exalt Him in all things (Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:18), whether through worship of His person, conformity to His character, or proclamation of His name.
The Spirit
We believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit. Like the Father and the Son, He is God. He is a Person of the Trinity and is coequal to the other members of the Trinity in every area. He has existed for all eternity.
The Holy Spirit possesses attributes that only deity could posses. For example, He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10), omnipotent (Luke 1:35), and omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). Scripture also attributes divine works to the Holy Spirit such as His part in the Creation (Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4; Psalm 104:30), His part in the Regeneration of man (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5), and His part in the Resurrection of the dead (Rom. 8:11).
We do not believe that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force, but a distinct person with a distinct personality. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person because the Scripture ascribes to Him characteristics of a person. Some of these characteristics are knowledge (Rom. 8:26), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), and love (2 Timothy 1:7). He searches, speaks, testifies, commands, reveals, strives, creates, makes intercession, and raises the dead, etc. (Genesis 1:2; 6:3; Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 15:26; 16:18; Acts 8:29; 13:2; Rom. 8:11).
We believe that the Holy Spirit does certain activities that are more particularly ascribed to Him, not only in the Trinity, but also in the salvation of man. Just as He Himself is the person who completes the Trinity, so His work is the completion of God's contact with His creatures and the consummation of the work of God in every sphere. We believe that the Holy Spirit was active in the revelation (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22), inspiration (2 Samuel 23:2; 1 Peter 1:11; 2 Peter 1:21), and illumination (John 16:14; 1 Corinthians 2:12-14) of the Holy Scripture. We believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner (John 15:26; 16:8-11), regenerates that sinner upon conversion (John 3:5-8), indwells him throughout his life (John 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), and seals him until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).
We believe that apart from the work of God the Spirit in the hearts of people, our ministry is in vain. He does the work of regeneration in the heart of the believer (John 3:6; Titus 3:5). He indwells the believer and gives him assurance of his future inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). He fills the believer in that He influences and enables him to live an obedient and God-pleasing life (Ephesians 5:18). He brings comfort to the hearts of those who are downcast (Acts 9:31). He intercedes for believers when they do not know what to pray (Romans 8:26-27). He produces in the believer love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). He equips individual believers with gifts for service in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:11).
Therefore, we believe that our ministry must proceed with the humble awareness that the Holy Spirit is the One who produces obedience in the lives of believers. He is not only the One who saves the sinner, but He is also the One who sanctifies him. Our own pursuit of holiness, as well as any efforts to shepherd others, must be done in prayerful dependence on His power.
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Predicament of Man
We accept and believe the Genesis account of creation: that God willed into being the heavens and earth and all that is in them out of nothing in six literal days (Genesis 1:2; Exodus 20:11; Psalms 33:6-9; Mark 10:6; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrew 11:3). We believe that man was created by the direct act of God as a sinless creature and in His own image and likeness (Genesis 2:7; Romans 5:12). Man was created with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:15-25; James 3:9). He was created for the purpose of glorifying God and enjoying His fellowship (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
We believe that because Adam, the first man, sinned, all men are now sinful by nature and choice (Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18, 23; 5:10-12). Because of sin, Adam and, therefore, all men incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace.
We believe that man is totally depraved, without any inherent righteousness, and unable to extricate himself from that condition. He cannot gain God's approval on his own merits, and, apart from the grace of God, he is destined for an eternity in Hell. Man's salvation is thereby wholly of God's grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8).
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Plan of Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift of God and is given apart from any merit of man (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19). This gift is received by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance (Luke 24:47; 13:3; Acts 26:20), confession of Christ (John 4:29; Matthew 10:32, 33; Romans 10:9), and trusting in Him alone for eternal life. As stated in the above section on man, because man is totally depraved he cannot extricate Himself from his condition of slavery to sin and spiritual death. It is all of God who reaches down to dead, blind, and captive sinners and gives them the enablement to believe, repent, and to publicly confess His name (Ephesians 2:1-10). We believe that once salvation is received, it cannot be lost (John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 5:9-10; 8:1, 31-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24). We believe that God's Spirit gives assurance of salvation to the obedient believer (John 10:28, 29; 2 Timothy 2:13; 1 John 3:24).
We believe that God declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 55:6-7) and confess Him as sovereign Lord (Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 2:11). He is entirely just in declaring the repentant sinner righteous because He imputes Christ's righteous life to his account (Colossians 2:14 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30). On the cross God treated Christ as if He had lived the sinner's life so that He could eternally treat the repentant sinner as if he had lived Christ's righteous life (2 Corinthians 5:21).
We believe that genuine regeneration is demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works are the proper evidence and fruit of salvation (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10), and a true believer will manifest these as he submits more and more to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to His Word (Ephesians 5:17-21; Philippians 2:12b; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 1:4-10). This day by day obedience is the process of sanctification-increasingly being conformed to the image of our Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). This sanctification process is climaxed in the believer's glorification at Christ's coming (Romans 8:17; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:2-3).
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Purpose of the Church
-
The Definition of "Church"
We believe that the word "church," as used in the New Testament is used in two senses - a local (visible) church and the universal church (sometimes referred to as the invisible church or Body of Christ).
We believe that the local church is a local, visible, temporal manifestation of the universal church. The local church is an assembly of professing believers in Christ who have been baptized and who are organized to carry out God's will.
We believe that the universal or invisible church is made up of all the true believers in the world, and includes all believers from the Day of Pentecost until the time when the church is taken out of the world. When every believer is taken out of the world, God's program of the church will be complete. We believe that God's program for the church and God's program for His chosen people Israel are to be kept separate.
The Purpose of the Church
We believe that the purpose of the church is to bring honor and glory to God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up to spiritual maturity and Christ likeness (Ephesians 4:13-16) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42).
We believe that God carries out His work in the world through His church. He has promised to build it and to not let it crumble (Matthew 16:18). Christ so loved the church that He died for her (Ephesians 5:25) that He might sanctify her and present her to Himself in all her glory, blameless and without spot or blemish (Ephesians 5:26-27). Christ both nourishes and cherishes the church (Ephesians 5:29), and exists as head over His bride (Ephesians 5:23). The Church, having been "built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20), is to function as "the pillar and support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). It is through the church that believers are equipped to mature into the likeness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16) and unbelievers are presented the gospel.
We believe that it is very important for believers to identify with, function in, and submit to the leadership of a local church (Hebrews 13:17). Believers are to edify one another by using their spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11), regularly assembling together (Hebrews 10:24-25), and devoting themselves to the teaching of God's Word, fellowship, celebration of the Lord's Supper, and prayer (Acts 2:42).
The Spiritual Gifts of the Church
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts. He has given abilities, opportunities and enablement; that is, grace gifts, to each believer for the building up of the Church. We also believe that He has given specially gifted men to the Church for the edifying of the souls and the building up of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 5:14-16).
We believe that the sign gifts such as tongues, healing, prophecy, etc. are not normative for the Church of Jesus Christ today (1 Corinthians 12-14; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 5:14-16).
The Ordinances of the Church
We believe that the Lord has given the church symbols to remind her of His grace and to minister unto her. These ordinances were ordered by Christ to be administered in the church. We believe that the Lord has given the church two ordinances, namely water baptism and the Lord's Supper (Acts 2:38-42).
We believe that the meanings of the ordinances have great theological considerations. Water baptism is that ordinance of the church that associates believers with the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-11). Water baptism is not a means of salvation, but it is a command that Christians must obey. The mode of water baptism that was used in the early church was immersion (Acts 8:36-39). We believe that immersion gives us the most proper symbol of being dead to sin and alive to Christ (Romans 6:3-5). We believe that baptism is to always follow conversion. In the book of Acts, wherever baptism is mentioned, the hearing and receiving of the Word is its justification.
The Lord's Supper is that ordinance of the church in which believers remember, commemorate, and proclaim the Lord's death until He comes by partaking of the elements, namely the bread and the cup. We believe that the Lord's Supper is to be reserved for believers and should always be preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32). We believe that the bread and the cup are only symbols of the flesh and blood of Christ, and that they are not His literal body and blood. However, participating in the Lord's Supper is an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, fellowshipping with His people (1 Corinthians 10:16).
The Relationship of the Church to Jesus Christ
We believe that a beautiful relationship exists between the church and Jesus Christ. This relationship was initiated by Christ who "loved the church, and gave himself for her" (Ephesians 6:5-27). Many intimate relationships are used to describe the church's union with Christ such as the shepherd to the sheep (John 10:1-18), the vine to the branches (John 51:1-8), the head of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12, 13, 27; Eph. 4:4), and the bridegroom to his bride (Revelation 19:7, 8; 21:9). All of these relationships illustrate Christ's unconditional love for the church and the church's absolute need to depend on Him for existence.
The Relationship of the Church to the World
We believe that home and foreign missions are a basic ministry of the local church outreach and that each local church has the solemn responsibility to help reach all the lost, and thereby evangelize the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).
While we are in the world in order to influence it for Christ, we believe that we are not to be of this world. Since our citizenship is in Heaven, as the children of God we should walk in separation from this present world, have no fellowship with its evil ways, abstain from all unclean amusements and habits which defile mind and body.
We do believe that "grey areas" exist and that Christians in the church may disagree as to what "unclean amusements and habits which defile mind and body" are. We are committed to upholding the clear teachings of the Word in regards to such matters while not going beyond what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6). Therefore, in areas that the Bible does not specifically touch on, we encourage people to follow their Spirit informed consciences while being charitable to those who may disagree (Romans 14-15).
We do believe that Biblical ecclesiastical separation forbids alliances of any nature, such as cooperation in cooperative meetings, councils or organizations with churches which are apostate in that they reject any of these fundamental doctrines: the triune nature of God, the Deity of Christ, the virgin birth of Christ, the sinless life of Christ, justification by faith alone, and/or the verbal inspiration and authority of the Bible as the word of God as set forth and supported in these articles of faith. (Luke 8:14; Romans 12:2; I Corinthians 16:10-20; 6:14,18; Ephesians 5:3-11; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; I Peter 2:11; 2 John 9-11).
The Relationship of the Church to the Civil Government
We believe in the authority of civil government and that it was instituted by divine appointment for the interest of all. It is our duty to pray for all those in authority and to obey the laws of the land so long as they are not opposed to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in the Scriptures. (Exodus 18:21-22; Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; 23:5; Romans 13:1-7)
|
|
What we believe about...
|
The Presence of Spirit Beings
We believe that spirit beings exist, are present in, and participate in the world today. We believe that angels are spirit beings, created by God to serve as His ministers (Job 38:4, 7; Hebrews 1:14; Psalm 104:4). They are not to be worshipped (Revelation 19:10). Their strength, appearance, and travel are beyond human capabilities (2 Peter 2:11; 2 Thessalonians 1:7), they are immortal and do not marry (Luke 20:36; Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25), and their proper abode is in heaven (Jude 6).
We believe that there is one literal, personal Devil who is a spirit being and who led an angelic rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-19). He is the accuser of the brethren (Job 1, 2), the father of lies (John 8:44), and the "god" of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 6:11-12). He was defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 16:20). While it is in God's plan to allow him to still operate, he will not ultimately succeed, but will be rendered inactive for the thousand years of the millennium (Revelation 20:1-10). Then after one final rebellion against Christ, he will be cast into the lake of fire to burn forever in torment (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).
We believe that those angels who followed Satan in his rebellion are referred to in Scripture as demons. They can inflict disease and pain, indwell humans and animals (Mark 5), oppose God's children, promote immorality, and spread false doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1). They are under the sovereign control of God, and they will follow their leader to their doom which is sure (Matthew 8:29, 25:41).
|
|
What we believe about...
|
God's Plan for the Future
We believe that at death there is no loss of our consciousness (Revelation 6:9-11), that the soul of the believer passes immediately into the wonderful presence of Christ (Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8), that the soul separates from its earthly body (Philippians 1:21-24), and that they remain separated until the first resurrection at the rapture of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation 20:4-6). It is at that time that the soul and the body of the believer will be reunited to be glorified with Christ (Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, 50-54).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men-the saved to eternal life (John 6:39; Romans 8:10-11, 19-23; 2 Corinthians 4:14), and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15).
We believe that the souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the second resurrection (Luke 16:19-26; Revelation 20:13-15), when the damned soul and the resurrected body will be united (John 5:28-29). The unsaved shall then appear at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and shall be cast into the lake of fire to experience eternal torment (Matthew 25:41-46).
We believe that the Scripture outlines the order of events in the end times as follows: The rapture of the Church up to heaven for the judgment seat of Christ and the subsequent marriage supper of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 3:13-15; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:1-10). The people remaining on earth will then be punished for their rejection of Christ during a period of at least seven years (Revelation 4-19). During this "tribulation period" God will prepare the Jews through suffering for the Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming starts the reign of Jesus Christ on earth in which the raptured saints will "reign and rule with him" for 1000 years. At the end of the millennium, God will conquer the nations of the earth and forces of Satan in the battle of Armageddon. Satan and his followers will be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment, and the saved will abide in the new heaven and new earth and the heavenly city of Jerusalem for eternity (Revelation 21:1-22:5).
|
|
|
|
|
