|
Statement of Faith
WE BELIEVE –
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God; He was eternally
preexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity; He
became incarnate as the virgin born Savior of the world; that by His
sinless life, atoning death on the Cross and through His bodily
resurrection He completed God’s sole plan for the redemption of
fallen humanity; Jesus is the King of Glory, who is now ascended to
the right hand of God as His Majesty on high, where He ever lives to
make intercession for us, and from whence He will return to earth
again to reign in righteousness.
(Luke 1:34-35; John 1:1, 10:36-38; Acts 1:9-11, 2:33-36; 1 Corinthians
15:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:24-26, 9:26)
These truths are revealed in the Holy Bible, which is the Holy Spirit
inspired and infallible Word of God contained in the books of the Old
and New Testament, inerrant as given in their original form; that the
Word is the conclusive and final authority provided to humankind,
revealing the ultimate Way, the Truth, and the Life – Who alone
can satisfy our need and hunger.
(Matthew 5:8; John 5:39, 14:6; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:16-17)
The Scriptures join with God’s revelation of Himself in His Messiah
and in His Creation to show us the goodness and glory of the
Eternal Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator and
Sustainer of all things visible and invisible, as revealed in the
scriptures; the everywhere present, almighty, all-knowing –
all-loving One, whose benevolent laws have framed humankind’s
promise and potential, and whose redeeming grace alone provides for
humankind’s salvation and restoration.
(John 1:3, 14:16-21, 26; 16:12-15; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16, 17; 1
Timothy 1:17, 2:3-6; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 4:15-16;
Revelation 1:8)
The Gospel is the full message of His salvation and restoration;
announcing that forgiveness of sin, restoration unto the Father’s
will and the promise of eternal life are available through repentance
and faith in Jesus, the Savior; that this faith brings new birth into
the Kingdom of God whereby the Creator’s loving purpose for
each individual may be realized by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(John 3:3-7; Acts 16:31, 26:17-20; Romans 1:16, 10:8-10, 13: Titus 3:5-7;
Hebrews 6:1-2)
The Church is constituted of all those who have believed and received the
Gospel; that the global Church’s essential unity is to be
rooted in our mutual acknowledgement of the Saviorhood and Lordship
of Jesus, the Messiah; that each community and ethnicity within the
global Church should receive the respect and acceptance of the other,
allowing one another the liberty of doctrinal distinctive, cultural
uniqueness or ministry emphasis in the spirit of love and
brotherhood.
(John 13:34,35; 15:12-13; Acts 2:36; Romans 15:7; I Corinthians 8:1-3,
12:3; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:19-23, 4:1-6; I Thessalonians
4:9-12; I John 4:7-21)
The whole Church is commissioned by Her Lord to take the whole Gospel to
the whole world, declaring the message that all may be reconciled
to God in Jesus’ Name; that even as Jesus, the Son, was sent as
our Redeemer from heaven, the Holy Spirit has been sent to enable the
living Church to spread this good news, to minister the love of God
in every way consistent with His will and truth.
(Matthew 5:13-16, 24:14, 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; John 16:7-15; Acts 1:8; 2
Corinthians 5:18-21)
The fullness of the Holy Spirit is the fountainhead of the Church’s
capacity for witness and ministry; that as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself directs
each of His own to receive His power from on high, that each being
filled today in the same way as the earliest believers we may work
the same works today, in Jesus’ Name; that the gifts, fruit,
and power of the Spirit are essential for the Gospel of the Kingdom
to be preached to all the world for a witness, and then the end shall
come.
(Matthew 3:11, 24:14; Luke 3:16, 24:48,49; John 14:12, 20:21-23; Acts 1:4-8,
2:1-4; Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Galatians 5:22,23)
According to the Scriptures, the end of all things is at hand; that vital
believers will always balance
their care and service of life’s most practical daily issues
with their warm expectation of the imminent return of their Savior
from heaven; that at His return He will judge the living and the dead
according to the righteousness of God, each one receiving their just
reward of either eternal gain or eternal loss.
(John 5:28-29; Romans 14:10-12; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Peter
3:11-14; 1 John 3:2, 3; Revelation 20:11-15)
The above affirmations of faith are founded on the revelation of God’s
Word and are reaffirmed in the following statements:
We believe in the Trinity of the Eternal Godhead
—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perfect in unity as Creator, Redeemer, and Restorer of Humankind.
We believe in the plenary verbal inspiration of the Bible
—the completed canon of the Old and New Testaments, inerrant in the
original manuscripts and infallible in its truth for faith and life.
We believe in the creation of the universe, the fashioning of earth
for human habitation, and the historicity of primeval history as
presented in the Scriptures.
We
believe in the literal existence of the devil and in the reality
of the invisible war against demonic hosts who seek to tempt and
separate humankind from the Father.
We
believe in the Gospel of salvation through the Cross—that
humankind is lost without Jesus the Savior, whose atoning blood and
substitutionary death alone provide forgiveness for and
justification from sin and provide eternal life.
We
believe in the literal reality of each—the virgin birth,
reconciling death, bodily resurrection, personal
ascension, and promised Second Coming of Jesus, the Messiah.
We
believe in the essential unity of the Church under the Saviorhood
and Lordship of Christ, with a commitment to respond to His
prayer “that they may be one” in the Spirit of humility
and love.
We
believe in the Savior’s great commission to go into all
the world preaching the Gospel, baptizing, and making disciples.
We
believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and
works of power and through the Church, beginning with the
believer’s receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit as at
the beginning.
We
believe in the showing love and good works toward all humanity in
serving human need, that the Gospel not be reproached, and that
God’s love be seen in practice as well as proclamation.
We
believe in the final judgment of all humankind into eternal
union or eternal separation from God; ministering in this light with
the passion of those who believe that “God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)
|