Acts 17:11b
Our Core Beliefs
The challenge of the Word.
The simplicity of the Word.
1. The Bible/the Word
We believe that the Bible is true in its entirety and every word inspired by God as originally written (II Timothy 3:16). The Bible is God’s Word and His primary way of speaking to us (II Peter 1:3-4, Psalm 119:9-16, 33-40). The Holy Spirit teaches us and leads us into all Truth (John 14:26); His Word is Truth (John 17:17). God will therefore never contradict His Word, and He enables His children to understand it (Luke 24:45). We believe that creeds, documents, and books, while they may contain truth and be useful, are not infallible and should never be used as the standard (I Thessalonians 2:13). Only the Word of God is inspired and infallible. We desire to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), commended by Paul for comparing everything with Scripture to see if it was true. Our guide in faith and practice is the Word of God.
2. God’s original plan and the fall into sin
Everything started with God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3) and man in His own image (Genesis 1:27) all in six literal days (Exodus 20:11, Genesis 1:31). In Him all things have their being (Colossians 1:15-17). He is the Creator, we are the creation (Ephesians 4:10), and, therefore, His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). When first created, all things were very good (Genesis 1:31). But sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7, 3:17, Romans 5:12) and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. As a result, man was cast out of the garden (Genesis 3:22-24) and our world was cursed (Genesis 3:13-23, Romans 8:20-23), all things no longer being “good” or “fair”. The battle between good and evil (Ephesians 6:12) has continued and will continue until Christ returns and Satan is bound (Revelation 20).
3. Salvation from sin
Because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12), all have sinned (Romans 3:23), we are born in sin (Psalm 51:5) and there is no one righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10). The wages of sin is death (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23) and all who die in their sin are doomed to everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:41, Jude 7, II Peter 2:1-10a). Those who die in their sins (without the forgiveness available in Jesus Christ [John 14:6]) will earn everlasting punishment in hell, the second death (Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8). This punishment will be forever and horrendous; each one that is cast into the pit will suffer eternally, being separated from God (Matthew 13:42). But God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9, I Timothy 2:4), so He made provision for blood sacrifice to wash away our sins: the blood of animals in the Old Covenant foreshadowing the blood sacrifice of His own Son, Jesus, in the New Covenant. Throughout all of history there has been no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). But Christ came to fulfill the Old Testament Law (Matthew 5:17-18) in that He became our High Priest as well as our sacrificial Lamb, and offered Himself a sacrifice for us (Hebrews 5:8-10, 7:22-28). It is His blood that cleanses us from all sin (Matthew 26:27-28, Romans 5:9). If we confess our sins, repent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6, John 3:17-18, Titus 3:4-7, Acts 2:38), He will forgive us our sins (I John 1:9). That is why Jesus, the Son of God who has been with God from the beginning (John 1:1), came into the world as a man: that we should not perish but have the gift of eternal life (John 3:16, Romans 6:23). If we are thus in Christ, we are a new creation. We have been born again (John 3:3). The old has passed away and behold, all things become new (II Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 3:9-10, Ephesians 4:22-23, Romans 6:6). We then participate in the death and resurrection of Christ through baptism (Romans 6:1-4, Colossians 2:12). All this is possible because Christ took our death punishment upon Himself (II Corinthians 5:18-19) as God planned (John 3:16). We must be born again to escape the second death (I Peter 1:23, John 3:3, Revelation 20:14, 21:8).
4. The Christian life
Although we are saved by grace rather than works (Ephesians 2:8-9), faith without works is dead (James 2:17). So if we are truly saved and love Him, we will obey His commands (John 14:15, 23-24; Romans 6:1-2; I John 2:3-6). In view of God’s mercy, we are to offer our lives as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), for it is His will that we be sanctified (set apart for sacred use) and holy (I Thessalonians 4:3, I Peter 1: 14-16). Therefore, we come out from among them and are separate while purifying ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God (II Corinthians 6:15-7:1).
5. Fellowship with other Christians (the church)
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (I John 1:7). Christians do fellowship and meet together to encourage one another and spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25). We believe the church is the dynamic body of Christians continually growing toward spiritual maturity (Ephesians 4:15-16, II Peter 3:18) and being taught by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). We are part of Christ’s church because He is our Savior (Ephesians 5:22) and because we have become members of His body (Ephesians 5:29, Colossians 1:24). The church is the ekklesia (Greek for “called out ones”) that Christ cleanses and makes holy (Ephesians 5:22-32).
We believe that the church gathers together regularly to sharpen one another (Proverbs 27:17), encourage one another (I Thessalonians 5:11), teach the Word, fellowship, pray, break bread (Acts 2:42), and sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to Him (Colossians 3:16-17). We believe that Christ is the Head of the Church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23).
6. The eternal
Christ presently sits at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20) and lives to ever make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). God no longer dwells in the Holy of Holies in the temple as He did in Old Testament times. As Christians, we are God’s temple (I Corinthians 3:16, II Corinthians 6:16) and His Spirit dwells within us (Romans 8:9-11, I Corinthians 6:19). Christ has gone to prepare a place for us and will come again (John 14:2-3) to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). The righteous will be given eternal life, but the unrighteous eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).