God’s Plan for Our Spiritual Life
-
God’s Plan for Our Spiritual Life -
Our Beliefs
-
Salvation is made possible through the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross and through Holy Spirit conviction. Godly sorrow produces repentance and makes possible the experience of the new birth (Titus 2:11, Romans 10:13-15; Luke 24:47; Titus 3:5-7).
Salvation is the gift of God to man, separate from works and the law, and is made operative by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, producing works acceptable to God (Ephesians 2:8). But each person has an individual free will, so it is possible, even after the new birth, to turn away from and reject Christ, with the consequences of eternity apart from God (2 Peter 2:20-22; James 5:19-20; Hebrews 6:4-6).
-
There is one true and living God, who is everlasting, infinite in power, wisdom, and goodness. (Romans 1:20) In the unity of this Godhead, there are three persons of one individual essence, who are co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16,17; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 1:1, 2, 18; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:26; 15:26; John 10:33).
-
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) presenting to us the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and constituting the Divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice (2 Peter 1:21).
-
Man is a created being, made in the likeness and the image of God, but through Adam’s transgression and fall, sin came into the world (Romans 3:23). As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested to undo the work of the devil, and gave His life and shed His blood to redeem and restore man back to God (1 John 3:8).
-
Baptism in water is by immersion, and is a direct commandment of our Lord (Matthew 28:19), and is for believers only. The ordinance is a symbol of the Christian’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12; Acts 8:36-39).
-
Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11) is a gift from God, as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ and is made available to all believers, and is received subsequent to the new birth (John 14:16, 17; Acts 1:8). The primary biblical pattern is that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is accompanied by speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit Himself gives utterance (Acts 2:4; 10:44-48; 19:6). The biblical exercise of supernatural utterance is available to every believer as a means of prayer, praise, intercession, and edification, through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 14:4).
-
Divine healing is for the physical ills of the human body and is released by the power of God and is provided for in the atonement of Christ (1 Peter 2:24; Matthew 8:17; Mark 16:18; James 5:14-15).
-
We believe the Bible presents the coming of Christ for His Church, as personal and imminent (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
-
The one who physically dies in his sins without Christ is hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire, and, therefore, has no further opportunity of hearing the gospel or for repentance (Hebrews 9:27). The lake of fire is literal (Revelation 19:20). The terms "eternal" and "everlasting" used in describing the duration of the punishment of the damned (Matthew 25:41-46) in the lake of fire, carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence, as used in denoting the duration of the joy of saints in the presence of God.
-
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. However, forgiveness for these and all sins is made available through repentance and faith in Christ (Genesis 2:24, 19:5, 26:8-9; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4).
-
We believe that God hates divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage is regarded as adultery except on the grounds of fornication or desertion by the unbelieving spouse. However, forgiveness is available for all sin. Opportunities for service in the church are still available (Matthew 19:3-12; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:15).
-
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. If you have been involved in this tragic experience, God makes His forgiveness and healing available (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; Luke 1:44; Isaiah 44:24).
-
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, has the joyous privilege of supporting his local church financially. We believe that God has established the tithe as a basis for giving, but that every Christian should also give other offerings to the support of ministry, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel (Genesis 14:20; Proverbs 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6; Ephesians 4:28; Malachi 3:8-10).