What We Believe
Preamble
The Gospel of Jesus Christ shows us that humans cannot live at God’s set standard by their own strength. Therefore, everyone is in need of Jesus the Christ as their Savior. We, as a congregation, want to reach out to everyone to share the love and redemption of Christ, we welcome everyone in our worship services regardless of creed, cause or religion. The following statement is how this local congregation interprets the Holy Bible and dictates how this congregation will conduct itself.
1. The nature and revealing activity of God
God has existed for eternity before time and will exist eternally after time. (Psalm 90:2) He has revealed Himself to man as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1, John 1, Acts 2) God is holy. (Leviticus 19:2) He does what pleases Himself to bring Himself glory. (Psalm 115:1-3)
2. The nature and saving mission of Jesus Christ
Jesus the Christ is God (John 10:30) who descended to earth, (Philippians 2:7) conceived divinely by the Holy Spirit and was born of a virgin. (Luke 1:34-37) Jesus’s mission on Earth is to “seek and save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10) Jesus suffered and died a literal death on the cross (John 19) and rose to everlasting life on the third day. (John 20) He ascended to the Father (Luke 24:51) and is now at the right hand of God interceding for His church (Romans 8:34) and preparing a place for His church to dwell with Him eternally. (John 14:2-3)
3. The Holy Spirit’s cleansing and gifting work in the believer’s life
The Holy Spirit is God. (Acts 5:3-4) The Holy Spirit is presently dwelling on Earth. (John 14:26-27) He is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and thus raises those who believe in Jesus and call Him Lord and God. (Romans 8:11) The Holy Spirit bestows gifts in each believer’s life according to the grace given to the individual. (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12)
4. Ordinances of baptism, Lord’s supper, and feet-washing
Jesus gave us three physical acts and commanded us to do them. They are 1) Baptism by immersion, (Mark 1:10, Matthew 28:19) 2) Communion, (Luke 22:19) and Footwashing. (John 13:14-15)
5. Human nature, sinfulness, and destiny
Because Adam and Eve fell in the garden, all humans are given to sinful nature upon birth. (Romans 5:12) Due to their fallen estate, those who die without Christ or are found to be without Christ on the day of Christ’s return will be cast into Hell. (Luke 16:19-31, Galatians 5:19-21)
6. Salvation;
All humans have sinned (Romans 3:23) and all humans deserve eternal death. (Romans 6:23) The name of Jesus is the only name that humans can call on to be saved from eternal death. (Acts 4:11-12) This salvation is by grace, a gift that no human deserves or can earn, (Ephesians 2:8) and is given at the time of repentance of sin and re-birth in Christ. (Acts 2:38, 3:19)
7. Holiness;
Believers in Christ are called to live a holy life, (1 Peter 1:16) striving daily to live above sin. (Luke 9:23)
8. The nature of the church and church membership
The church is the collection of all believers in Christ and membership in the church is attained at salvation. (Ephesians 1:18-23) One must be in the church to be received by Christ in order to dwell with Him in Heaven eternally. (Matthew 25:1-13, Revelation 19:7, Revelation 21, Revelation 22)
9. The mission and role of leadership in the church
Those who are in leadership in the church are called to a higher standard of accountability. (James 3:1) Leaders in the church are called to serve (Mark 9:35) and to be an example of Christ to all they meet. (1 Corinthians 11:1, 1 Timothy 1:16)
10. The nature and importance of Christian unity;
Christ prayed that the church would be one as He and the Father are one. (John 17:21) Being that the unity of God and the holiness of God cannot be separated, holiness cannot exist apart from unity and unity cannot exist apart from holiness.
11. Christian stewardship of life and financial resources;
Because of the salvation the Christian receives, a Christian’s entire life, hopes, dreams, desires, possessions are therefore given to God, who owns them regardless. (2 Corinthians 5:14-16) This is also true of the Christian’s finances. The minimum standard of giving in the church by the mature believer is the tithe, which has been holy to the Lord since the Old Testament. (Genesis 14:20, Malachi 3:10)
12. The nature and authority of the Bible;
The Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God and is the authority standard by which all life is measured. (Matthew 5:18) The Bible will be the only thing in creation that lasts forever. (1 Peter 1:24-25) The Bible is a living Word and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)
13. The kingdom of God;
The kingdom of God is a present reality and is within those who have come to salvation. (Luke 17:21) Jesus is the King (Romans 14:9) and the citizens of the kingdom are those who have come to salvation, the church. (Matthew 21:43)
14. Gender and Ethnicity;
God made the gender of “male” and the gender of “female” purposefully and biologically and left no confusion thereto. (Genesis 1:27, 5:2) Therefore, a human cannot choose their gender because the will of God determines whether they are male or female. Ones own sexuality is not a matter of ethnicity, but of gender. (Romans 1:26-27) Human ethnicity is determined by God and is independent of human gender. (Genesis 11:1-9) All born again humans are equal in God’s church no matter their gender or ethnicity. (Galatians 3:28)
15. Marriage;
Marriage is a holy act of worship in the church as the union of one biological male to one biological female. (Genesis 2:24) Sexual intercourse outside of this holy union whether human with human, regardless of gender, or human with animal, regardless of gender is sin. (1 Corinthians 6:18) This congregation agrees and adopts the “Resolutions on Homosexuality” (June, 1993), “Same-Sex Marriage” (June, 2004) and “Ministerial/Facility Protection Against Forced Officiating/Hosting of Same-Sex Marriages” (June, 2014) as adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of God, Anderson, IN.
16. The second coming of Jesus Christ and related events.
The second coming of Jesus the Christ cannot be predicted. (Matthew 24:36) It will occur when humans least expect. (Matthew 24:44) It will be “as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) and “in the twinkling of an eye.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) The trumpet of God shall sound, the dead in Christ shall rise first and then the church still living on Earth will meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) All of creation will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10-11) and all those without Christ, not in the church, will be cast into Hell with Satan and his demons. (Revelation 20:10-15)
