Statement of Faith
As a fellowship, we are very much concerned with the issue of “doctrinal correctness.” It is our belief that bad doctrine and a flippant attitude towards theology are at the heart of most of what troubles today’s church. We believe that there are certain areas of doctrine that are essential, and cannot be compromised.
We also recognize however, that there are many areas of Scripture that are not essential for our salvation, but nevertheless are important for the functioning of local churches and for identifying teaching emphases. We will attempt first to outline what we believe to be essential, and then move to non-essentials.
Essential Doctrine
The Scriptures
We believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative, and inerrant Word of God. We believe that it reveals all things that are necessary to salvation, life and godliness, and that it is a final and closed revelation, consisting of the sixty-six books of Holy Scripture. (1Thess 2:13; 2Tim 3:14-17; 2Peter 2:2-4)
God
We believe that there is only one true and living God, eternally existing in a Trinity of persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We believe that these three persons are one in substance, power, and eternity; each possessing the fullness of the divine essence and yet this essence is undivided. (Col 2:8-10; Acts 5:1-4, Deut 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; 45:21-23)
We believe that God is infinite in being and perfection. We believe that He is all powerful, all knowing, and present in all places at all times. We believe that He is absolutely sovereign over all His works, and that He orders all things according to the counsel of His own wise, immutable, and righteous will for His own glory. This sovereignty extends not only to inanimate creation, but to all living things as well, and is the ultimate determiner of each creature’s destiny. (Eph 1:3-11; Rom 9:6-23)
We believe that God is self-existent and self-sufficient. That is, He needs nothing from His creation to exist or to continue to exist. On the contrary, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things both seen and unseen. (Ex 3:13-14; Col 1:15-17)
He is loving, gracious, merciful and longsuffering, forgiving sin and transgression. Yet He is also infinitely just and holy, and will by no means clear the guilty. (Ex 34:5-8)
In His sight all things are open and manifest. His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent of the creature; so that nothing to Him is contingent or uncertain. He is holy in all His counsels, works, and commands. To Him is due, from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them. (Isaiah 46:9-11, Rev 4:8-11)
Jesus Christ
We believe in both the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ, that He was truly God manifest in human flesh. (John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:5-11; Col 2:8-10)
We believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel and that He was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life. We further believe that Jesus taught and worked miracles and that He died on a Roman cross as a substitute for sinners. After dying, Jesus was buried and rose again from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. From there, Jesus intercedes for His people and will ultimately return in glory to take believers to be with Him forever as well as Judge the world in righteousness. (Isaiah 7:14; 52:13-53:12; Luke 1:26-38; Heb 7:26; Rom 3:25; Matt 28:5-7; Acts 1:9-11, Rev 19-22)
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is both a person and that He is fully God, being the third person of the blessed Trinity. (Acts 5:1-4; Matt 28:19; John 14:15-21)
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, to convict men of sin, to regenerate sinners, baptize them into Christ, and to seal them until the day of redemption. We believe that He is our Guide, our Comforter, and our Instructor in the things of God. (John 16:7-15; Titus 3:5; 1Cor 12:13; Eph 1:13-14; John 14:15-20)
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every true believer. We believe that this indwelling at once unites us with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and results in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, as well as the experience of the new birth. (Eph 1:12-14; 1Cor 6:17, 12:13; Rom 6:4-5; 1Peter 1:3)
Justification
We believe in justification by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ and His work alone. Our view of justification is the traditional Protestant and reformed view of being a judicial act by God, in which He declares sinners to be righteous in His sight. This declaration of righteousness is based solely on the merit of Christ’s obedience and satisfaction, which God imputes to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Eph 2:8-9, Ro.3:19-28, Ro.4:5-8, Ro.5:9,18-19, Ro.4:22-25)
Repentance and Faith
We believe that the only means of being cleansed from sin and corruption is through repentance and faith in the precious Blood of Christ as a sacrifice for our sin. We believe that all people everywhere are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel. Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone to save, being fully persuaded that what God promises in the Gospel, He is able and willing to do. Repentance flows from faith and means a change in affections from sin to God and always results in tangible acts that reflect that turning. (Luke 3:8; John 3:16,17; Acts 16:30,31; 17:30; Romans 3:21-4:25; Ephesians 2:8,9)
Sanctification – New Life in Christ
We believe that the new birth will produce sanctification and holiness in the life of a believer. Sanctification is not to be confused with justification which is a legal standing before God, but it is rather to be understood as the fruit of true justification and regeneration. Sanctification is effected through the diligent study of the Word of God, the daily mortification and resisting of sin and the daily yielding to and filling of the Holy Spirit. Progress in sanctification will vary in each individual child of God, but it will nonetheless be present in all, seeing that it is the sovereign work of God in our hearts. (Ezek 36:26-27; Jer 32:38-40; Titus 3:5; John 15:3, 17:17; Eph 5:18, 26; 1Peter 2:2; Phil 2:12-13)
We believe that walking in the Holy Spirit is the responsibility of all believers and that it is a necessary part of enabling one to overcome sin and to be a vibrant witness for Christ. (Eph.5:16, Gal.5:16, Ro.8:13, Acts 1:8)
Baptism
We believe that water baptism is essential, not to regeneration, but as a sign and seal of the righteousness we possess by faith. (Matt 28:19-20; Rom 6:1-6; Col 2:12)
The Lord's Supper
We believe in the regular partaking of the Lord's Supper both as a memorial of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and as a means of grace in which Jesus is spiritually present among His people (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:17-37)
The Church
We believe in the Church, which is the company of all believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation in all ages. We believe that the Church is both the Bride and the Body of Christ. We believe that the Church is the instrument of God whereby the Gospel is to be preached to all nations.
We believe in the regular assembling together of the saints to worship Him, to hear the teaching and preaching of the Word of God, to pray for one another, to build one another up, to use their spiritual gifts, to share in breaking the bread of Holy Communion, and to give as God has prospered them to the work of the ministry. (Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 5:25-32; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 20:7; 1Corinthians 12-14; 16:1-2; Revelation 7:1-17)
Eschatology (Last Things)
We believe in the personal, physical, and future return of Jesus Christ to the earth, to rule in righteousness and to inaugurate the New Heavens and New Earth. (Zech 14:1-9; Matt 24:30-31; 25:31-46; Acts 1:9-11; 2Thess 1:7-10; Rev 1:7; 19:11-21; 20-21)
We believe in the physical resurrection of the body, the eternal blessedness of the saved, and the eternal damnation and misery of the lost. (1Thess 4:13-18; Dan 12:2; Rev 20)
Our Distinctives
The Doctrines of Grace
Man’s Radical Depravity
We believe in the doctrine of Man’s Total Depravity. We believe that the first man, Adam, stood as the representative and federal head of the entire human race. We believe that in his fall, the entire human race fell with him, resulting in the total corruption and condemnation of mankind before God. This does not mean that every man is as wicked as he could be, but that sin has corrupted us at every level of our being. Because of this corruption, we are unable, apart from grace, of either understanding or desiring spiritual truth, and we are by nature God’s enemies and the objects of His wrath. (Rom 5:12-19; Rom 8:6-8; 1Cor 2:14; John 6:37, 44, 63-65; Eph 2:1-3)
Election of Grace
We believe that God has unconditionally chosen a company of people, His Elect, out from the fallen sons of Adam. These Elect were given to the Son, by the Father, before the foundation of the world was laid. God has done everything necessary to bring these Elect to faith in Christ and to secure them eternally unto Himself. This election to salvation is attributed solely to the sovereign Grace of God and not to any merit, good works, or faith on our part, faith itself being the gift of God. (Rom 9:1-24; Eph 1:3-14; 2Tim 1:9; John 6:37; Ps 89:1-5, 15-36; Rom 8:28-39; Eph 2:1-10)
Definite Redemption
We believe that this salvation was purchased for the Elect by the precious Blood of Christ. The blood was shed as propitiation to the Father, for the sins of His Elect, and results in their justification before God. Literally, we were the ones that deserved to be crucified and to drink of God’s wrath, but our blessed Savior instead drank it for us! Concerning the merit and value of the blood, it is enough to have purchased and cleansed every person ever born. Yet, as concerning the intention of God as to whom it would be effective for, it was limited to the Elect alone. Else would God have failed in His purpose, a thing that Scripture makes clear as being impossible. (1Peter 1:18-21; Rom 3:25-26; John 3:16; 10:11, 15, 25-30; Matt 1:21; Heb 9:12-15; 10:14; Isa 46:9-11; Eph 1:11)
The Call of God in Regeneration
We believe that both repentance and faith are the graciously and sovereignly bestowed gifts of God. We believe that these are generated in the human heart by the precious Holy Spirit as He works through the Word of God to effectually and infallibly call elect sinners to Christ. (Luke 5:32; 24:37; Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2Tim 2:25; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; Rom 10:17; 1Thess 2:13-14)
Preservation and Perseverance of True Believers
We believe that all who are called by God’s grace, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and justified by Christ’s blood, will persevere in faith and holiness, and will never fall away from Christ. They are kept by the power of God and no man is able to pluck them from the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-30; Rom 8:28-39; Phil 1:6; Heb 7:22-25; 10:14; 12:1-2)
The Kingdom of God
We believe that the Kingdom of God is a stock phrase that encapsulates the entire hope of Israel in the Old Testament. We further believe that Jesus, in His life, teaching, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension brought the Kingdom of God to earth. However, He also taught that the Kingdom would come in its fullness at His second coming. The Kingdom therefore, is both a present reality, and an future hope. It is both now and not yet. The powers of the coming age are now available in the present to be demonstrated as God wills (Matthew 4:17; 12:28; Luke 17:20,21; 22:14-16; Romans 14:17; Hebrews 6:5)
Spiritual Gifts (Charismata)
We believe that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still valid for today, being sovereignly distributed to every member of Christ’s Church, as the Spirit, wills, for the purpose of edifying the entire body. We believe these spiritual gifts should be earnestly prayed for, sought after, and practiced according to biblical instructions, decently, and in order. (1Cor 12:1-11; 31; 14:1-40; Romans 12:3-8; 1Peter 4:10)
Creation
We believe that God created all things, visible and invisible, in the space of six literal, 24-hour days, approximately 6,000-10,000 years ago. We believe that Genesis 1-11 is a factual, historical record of actual events. We believe that Adam and Eve were real, historical people and the parents of the human race. The sin of Adam is responsible for all the sin, suffering, curse, and death in the world. We further believe that the flood of Noah's time was a worldwide deluge and not a local catastrophe. (Genesis 1-11; Romans 5:12-21; 2 Peter 3:5-6)
The Roles of Men and Women in the Home and in the Church
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in the garden in the Image of God and as equal partners and that both share equally in the blessings of salvation. God has however ordained different roles for men and women in both the home and in the church.
God has called husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave His life for Her. They are to serve, provide for, lead, and protect them. Wives are called to submit to their husbands as they would to Christ.
As a consequence of this, we also believe that God has ordained that the leadership and teaching offices of the Church are to be filled only by gifted and qualified men. We do not believe that women should ordinarily serve in these capacities since the managing of the Church is compared to the managing of the home. (Genesis 1:26; 2:18-25; 1 Corinthians 11:3-16; 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)
