Beliefs

The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct.

Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)

Isaiah 43:10

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after Me. (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22).

The Adorable Godhead

(a) Terms Defined

The Trinity – One Lord, as a Trinity or as one Being of three persons (Father, Son, and Spirit).

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (2 Corinthians 13:14; John 14:16,17)
Illustration – An egg has three parts, the yoke, the whites, and the shell, but it is one egg.

(b) Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead

The Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son proceeding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation, and authority. (John 5:17-30, 32, 37; 8:17,18).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare:

(a) His virgin birth (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31,35).

(b) His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22).

(c) His miracles (Acts 2:22; 10:38).

(d) His substitutionary work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

(e) His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4).

(f) His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9,11; 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3).

Man (or mankind) by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God (Genesis 1:26,27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12-19).

Isaiah 14:12-15

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star(Lucifer), son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

Luke 10:18-19

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

(a) Conditions to Salvation

Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God (Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Titus 2:11; 3:5-7).

Mark 1:15

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (Salvation through Jesus) .”

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

-Repentance – Requires an admission of guilt; a promise or resolve not to repeat the offense; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful effects of the wrong.

–Faith – The substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

James 2:14, 17

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

(b) The Evidences of Salvation

-The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit.

Romans 8:16

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

-The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness

Ephesians 4:22-24

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Titus 2:11-12

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.

(a) Baptism in Water

The ordinance of baptism by immersion is commanded in the Scriptures.

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Mark 16:16; Acts 10:47,48; Romans 6:4)

-Baptism is an outward expression of an inward experience.

(b) Holy Communion

The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements—bread and the fruit of the vine– (2 Peter 1:4); is a memorial of His suffering and death

1 Corinthians 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

-This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian church.

Acts 1:4-5, 8

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

–This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth

Acts 8:14-17

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:42-43

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

Acts 10:44-46

While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.

(Acts 11:14- 16; 15:7-9)

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4). The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues, but different in purpose and use.

Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

1 Corinthians 12:4-10,28

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

–Sanctification is process of being set apart, i.e. “made holy“, as a vessel, full of the Holy Spirit of God. As believers in Jesus, we are setting ourselves apart from the World. The Ecclesia-The “Called out ones.”

Romans 12:1,2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12).

–Scriptures teach a life of “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command: “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15,16).

–Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by reflecting daily upon the fact of that union. (Romans 6:1-11,13; 8:1,2,13; Galatians 2:20; James 2:17; Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter1:5).

The Church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her Great Commission.

Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven (Ephesians 1:22,23; 2:22; Hebrews 12:23).

Ephesians 2:19-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

(1) evangelization of the world (Mark 16:15-20),

(2) worship of God (John 4:23,24),

(3) building a Body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son (Ephesians 4:11,16), and

(4) meeting human needs with ministries of love and compassion (Psalm 112:9; Galatians 2:10; 6:10; James 1:27).

Psalm 139:16

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Divine healing from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers

Isaiah 53:4, 5

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

(Matthew 8:16, 17; James 5:14-16).

The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the Church

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

(Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52).