WHAT WE BELIEVE
|
STATEMENT OF FAITH...
We believe that there are several key essential creeds and beliefs that Christians must believe and accept which separates them from those who do not believe and accept critical Biblical truths, the failure of which to accept places our mutual brotherhood and their eternal life in question. We believe further, that we have a responsibility, as witnesses of the Truth, to witness the Truth to these and share these key essentials with them in love. WHAT WE BELIEVE... THE HOLY SCRIPTURES - The Bible is God's word to man. The Bible is God's inerrant Word to us, as originally given by God through human authors under the supernatural guide of the Holy Spirit, and is absolutely true and trustworthy. It is our only standard of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; Psalm 119). THE HOLY TRINITY - There is only One True and Living God. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is infinite, eternal, unchangeable, and is revealed to us as the Godhead existent in the co-equal, co-eternal, and co-substantial persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-6, 13-14; Ephesians 4:6; Matthew 28:19; Genesis 1:1, 3, 14, 18; Isaiah 9:6). MAN, HIS FALL AND REDEMPTION - Man's condition is one of sin and separation from God. Man was created by innocence, directly and immediately by God in His spiritual image, for the purpose of fellowship with God and glory for God. Man was tempted by Satan and sinned, and because of this, all men have been born in sin since that time. Every person has a tremendous potential for good, but all are marred by a nature of rebellion and disobedience toward God, others, and all good things, ultimately and eternally bound for hell. All persons need to be saved from their sin. (Romans 3:9-10, 23; Romans 5:12; 1 John 3:8; Galatians 3:13-14) ABOUT SALVATION: God has acted in Jesus Christ to deliver us from sin. Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin. He provided forgiveness and atonement for our sins by shedding his blood on the cross and rising again to provide life and justification. Apart from Christ, there is no salvation. (Ephesians 2:8; John 3:3-5; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 5:12)
WATER BAPTISM - Baptism in water is an act that pictures Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. It is a direct commandment of our Lord, and is for believers only, wherein the believer is immersed in water as a testimony of |
his or her identification which the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for the remission of sins, and of commitment to God to walk in newness of life. (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12; Acts 10:44)
GOD'S KINGDOM - That God's kingdom has come in the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the Church of His Spirit in us, through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible, and triumphant appearing of Christ and His return to the earth as King. The kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over everything and His particular reign in the lives of those who confer Him as Lord. (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 4:23; Matthew 6:10; Matthew 10:7-8; John 15:26-27; Romans 14:17-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:18; 1 Corinthians 15:23-28, 51-52; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:11-15; 21:5) INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - That the Holy Spirit indwells in every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is our abiding Comforter, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the infilling or empowering of the Holy Spirit for Church today. We believe in the present church of the Spirit and in the exercise of all the gifts of the Spirit. (John 14:26; John 16:7, 13, 15; Romans 8:9-10, 14) BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT - The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and Fire is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to those who believe in this dispensation and is received subsequent to the new birth. (Matthew 3:11; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4; 2:38-39; Acts 19:1-7) DIVINE HEALING - Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers. (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 16:18; James 5:14-20; 1 Peter 2:24) THE LORD'S SUPPER. The Lord's Supper consisting of the elements (bread, and the fruit of the vine), is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, a memorial of his suffering and death; and a prophecy of His second coming. It is enjoined on all believers "until He comes." (2 Peter 1:4; 1 Corinthians 11:26) TITHING AND GIVING. As God is the source of all blessing and for all things, we owe all to Him; we are commanded to worship Him with our finances, time, abilities, and possessions. According to the Scriptures, Christians are to give their tithe cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally to the glory of God. (Malachi 3:8-12; 2 Corinthians 9:6-12) DEATH AND RESURRECTION. Everyone will face judgment before God; some to eternal life, others to eternal condemnation. Death involves no loss of consciousness, but the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ, and there is separation of soul and body until the first resurrection when the spirit, soul and resurrected body will be reunited in glorified form in heaven forever. All men will be bodily resurrected, the saved to everlasting life, but the lost into eternal condemnation. The one who physically dies in his sins without Christ is hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire and therefore has no further opportunity of hearing the Gospel or for repentance. The lake of fire is literal. The terms "eternal" and "everlasting" used in describing the duration of the punishment of the damned in the lake of fire, carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence as used in noting the duration of joy and ecstasy of the saints in the presence of God. (Hebrews 6:1-2, 9:27; Revelation 19:20) CHURCH HISTORY | OUR VISION | WHAT WE BELIEVE
|