Christian Beliefs

We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It was written by human authors that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The original manuscripts, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are free from errors and contradictions. It is the only authoritative and trustworthy rule for faith and life. (2 Pe 1:20-21, 2 Tim 3:16, 1 Cor 2:13, Lk 21:33, 1 Th 2:13) The Bible is to be taken as literally as possible except where obviously figurative. While there are questions of meaning and application over which we may agree to disagree, there is nothing for which we are responsible to God in terms of our salvation and sanctification that is not expressed in Scripture, either in precept or principle. (2 Tim 3:14-15, Ps 119:9, 2 Pet 1:19, 1 Jn 5:13, Jn 15:5-8, Eph 6:10-17, Ps 1:1-3, Jos 1:8, Mt 4:4, 1 Pet 3:15, Jn 8:32)

There is only one God. (Deut 6:4, 32:39, 4:35, Jn 5:44-47, Is 45:21-22, 1 Chr 17:20, Mk 12:29). He is the only Supreme Being with no gods created before or after Him in all of existence, in all places, in all time. (Is 43:10, 44:6, 45:18, 44:8, Eph 4:6, 1 Tim 1:17, Ps 86:10, Acts 17:29, Ex 33:20, 2 Sam 7:22, 1 Cor 8:4). He has always been God and was never anything else. (Ps 90:2). We are to worship the LORD God and serve Him only. (Lk 4:8, 1 Cor 8:6)

There is one God, and this one God exists as one (ousia) “essence/substance” in three (hypostasis) “persons” — God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), God the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost). God is one absolute perfect divine Being in three persons. His being is what God is, in relation to the universe that he created. The three are called Persons because they relate to each other in personal ways. All three are the one God, co-eternal and co-equal. In every action of God all three persons work together as one, with one divine Will as they are in perfect agreement. (Gen 3:22, Mt 3:16-17, 28:19, John 3:34-35, 14:26, 14:16, 2 Cor 13:14, Eph 4:4-6, Titus 3:4-6, 1 Pet 1:2)

Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of God. He is the eternal Word of God, the second person of the trinity, who became a man. He was miraculously conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Mt 1:18-25, Lk 1:26-33, 34-35, 2:5-7). Because God interrupted the natural birth process with Jesus, he did not inherit a sin nature. This was the fulfillment of preordained prophecy. (Isa 7:14, 9:6, Gen 3:15, Micah 5:1-3). He added human nature to His divine nature. He is both fully human and fully divine and, therefore, has two natures. He is one person-not two. He is not part God and part man. He is presently a man, one person, with two natures where one nature is wholly God and the other wholly man. (Phil 2:5-11, Col 2:9, 1 Tim 3:16, Heb 1:5-13, John 1:1-3, 14). This paradox has been given the name the “incarnation” to describe God becoming flesh. Jesus remained sinless and because of this, he was able to break the chain of sin, represent us before the Father, and provide salvation for mankind. (1 Pet 2:22, 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15). Jesus will eternally remain as a God-man and intercedes for us eternally as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Heb 6:20, 7:25).

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or energy, but rather, is the third Person of the triune God. He is co-eternal and co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is sent to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He fully indwells every true believer as a guarantee of his inheritance, guides and empowers them, providing them gifts for ministry, interceding in accordance with the will of God, witnessing to Jesus. (Acts 5:3-4, Luke 1:35, Eph 4:30, 1 Cor 2:10-11, 3:16, 6:11, Ex 34:34, 2 Cor 3:16-17, 2 Pet 1:21, Ps 139:7-10, Jn 14:17, Is 40:13, Jn 16:13, Zec 4:6)

Man is made in the spiritual image of God. In man, God united the spiritual and material worlds. (Gen 1:26, 2:7, Isa 42:5, Job 27:3, Zech 12:1, Ecc 12:7) Every person of every race is equal under God and possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. Man was created innocent of sin, but by his free choice sinned against God, bringing sin into the human race, trickling down through all future generations. Man thus inherited a nature of flesh, that is pre-corrupted by, and naturally inclined toward, sin. Because of sin, man incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. (Ps 51:5, Rom 5:12) All mankind has sinned and falls short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23, Ecc 7:20, Eph 2:1-5). Even when we fully submit and obey all the law and righteousness of God we are unable to fully stand blameless before God; there is none that is perfectly righteous. (Rom 3:9-23, Jn 3:6-7). Man is unable through good works to earn God’s approval and avoid judgment. Any effort to prove your righteousness must come from humility and repentance, seeking God’s grace and forgiveness. (Lk 18:9-14)

Jesus Christ rose from the dead in the same body He died in after being in the grave for three days. He was raised in a glorified, physical body (still retaining his crucifixion wounds). They saw his scars, touched his body, ate and drank with Him. (Jn 19:28-42, Mt 28:9, Lk 24:39-40, Jn 4:6-7) He ascended bodily into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and rules heaven and earth. (Jn 2:19, Lk 24:39, 1 Cor 15:1-8, 12-17, Ps 16:10) Likewise, we Christians will be raised bodily from the dead and spend eternity with the Lord. (1 Cor 15:51-57)

Salvation is obtained by grace alone, through faith, in the atoning substitutionary death of Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, Rom 5:15, 6:23) God the Father so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for us and restore us to Him. This was foretold and was fulfillment of prophecy. (Mt 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19, Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34, Lk 9:22, 9:44, 18:31-33, Jn 2:19-21, 12:32-33, Jer 11:19, Isa 53:6, 44:22)

Jesus, the Word, became man, bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and died in our place, suffering the consequences of breaking the Law (1 Jn 3:4), which is physical death (Romans 6:23) and spiritual death (Is 59:2), that was due us (Is 53:4-6). He became sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). His sacrifice was a legal substitution for us (1 Jn 2:2, Jn 19:30, 1 Pet 2:24) that paid our debt. It was legal since sin is breaking God’s Law (1 Jn 3:4) and substitutionary since Christ took our punishment (Isaiah 53:4-6) as the sacrificial lamb (Gen 22:7-8, Num 6:14, Jn 1:29, Mt 26:2, 1 Pet 1:18-19, Heb 9:14) and tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9). As a result, God’s justice was satisfied and the debt that our sin brings against us has been canceled (Col 2:14).

Christian believers who repent and turn from their sin, (Is 55:7, Lk 3:3, 5:32, Mt 3:2) fully put their faith in Jesus’s atonement for their sin, (Lk 24:47, Acts 3:19) and faithfully “remain in Him” are released from eternal punishment. (1 Pet 3:18, Matt 1:21, 25:46, Rom 5:8-11, 1 Jn 2:2, Eph 1:7) He who believes in and obeys the Son has forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28, Acts 10:43, 13:38, Isa 44:22) and eternal life. We are secure in our salvation so long as we remain faithful to Christ. (Jn 3:36, 6:35, 11:25, Acts 4:12, Heb 7:23-25)

It is through faith in Christ’s redemption on our behalf on the cross that we are purified of our sin—can be born again as a new creation where the Holy Spirit indwells the person—and adopted as a son or daughter of God. (Gal 4:4-5, Jn 1:12-13, Eph 1:5, Heb 2:13, Eph 5:1-11). It is through Christ only that we become spiritually adopted as God’s children. (Rom 8:12-17, 1 Pet 1:3-4, 1 Jn 3:1). Genuine repentance and a turning away from sin is a necessary first step of conversion. (Is 55:7, Lk 3:3, 5:32, Mt 3:2, 4:17, Acts 2:28, 3:19, Rom 2:4, 2 Cor 7:8-11, Jam 4:1-10, Heb 10:22, Isa 1:15-20, 2 Pet 3:9, 1 Jn 1:8-10). Then, one must fully put their faith in Jesus’s atonement for the forgiveness of their sins. (Mt 26:28, Eph 1:7, Lk 24:47, Acts 3:19, Heb 9:22). Then one must lay down their old sinful, selfish life and live in, and for, Christ. (Rom 6:3-4, 5:8-11, 6:11, Col 2:11-12, 1 Pet 3:18, 1 Jn 1:7, 1:9). Those spiritually dead to sin and alive to Christ must persevere in the faith, allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify them, until the end and faithfully “remain in Him.” (Rom 8:13, 1 Cor 6:9-11, Heb 10:22, 12:10, 1 Pet 1:15-16, Eph 4:17-24, Jam 5:19-20, 1 Jn 1:7, 1 Thes 4:3-6)

The purpose of life is to glorify God. For Christians—who believe in the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and eternal life—the purpose of this life is to prepare us for our eternal life with Christ. (Rom 12:2, Phil 4:8-9, 1 Thes 5:23). The Christ-centered life has Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Savior because nothing can earn salvation, save us from judgment, besides a persevering, saving faith in Jesus. Those “belonging to Christ” will be evidenced by their fruit. (Mt 7:15-23, Gal 5:22-23, Tit 3:3-6). The saved are recreated, born again, thankful, eternally grateful for God’s gift of salvation; the gratitude of God and the peace of Christ radiating from their heart, mind, and spirit. The Christ-centered life is one of obedience to Jesus; striving for holiness; resisting the sinful temptations of the flesh; rejecting the influences of evil and the corrupt world system, repentance, perseverance, obedience of faith, and submission to the Holy Spirit. (Mt 16:24-28)

Whatever one does, whether in word or deed, should all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (1 Pet 1:2, Phil 2:12). The Christ-centered life is also one of mission. We are Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation, spreading the good news to the lost that God has created a way to be reconciled to Him. We are Christ’s hands of restoration, shining the light of God’s righteousness into the darkness of the world, bringing love, hope, peace, and spiritual and physical healing to the hurting. We are Christ’s Church, teaching God’s Word, helping instruct and improve believers for edification, to be grounded in the faith, discipled, and led towards spiritual maturity bearing much fruit. (2 Cor 5:18-21, Jn 14:12, Col 1:10)

We believe the church is the fellowship of the redeemed, the body of Christ, the people of God, called out by God for mission in the world. We believe God calls all people to respond in faith to the Gospel of Jesus Christ whereby they become members of the universal church of God. With Christ as the head, this community is the body of Christ on earth. We understand each local congregation to be an expression of this universal church, and that it is God’s will for each believer to be a committed member of a local congregation. We believe that all who repent and confess Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord are part of the church of God. We seek mutually enriching fellowship with all who share this personal faith. Aware of racial, cultural, religious, and other diversity around the globe, we are committed to working for the visible unity of the one church that is rooted in biblical faith. Our Lord empowers believers to do the work of ministry.

Jesus instructed us to model our ministries and manner of leadership after his example of being a servant rather than seeking positions of power. We understand that it is the church’s responsibility, in response to God’s call, to appoint and equip gifted women and men to a variety of leadership responsibilities for building up the body of Christ. In devotion to Christ as the head of the church, we desire to be a biblical people, a people who worship the triune God, a people transformed by the grace of God, a people of the Kingdom of God, a people committed to building up the one, universal church of God, and a people who in God’s love care for the whole world.