Doctrine

Doctrine

The Holy Scriptures

The Bible is the verbally (Jeremiah. 1:9) inspired (II Timothy 3:16) infallible (John 17:17) Word of God (I Thessalonians 2:13) which has been written by godly men divinely appointed (Amos 7:14-15) and preserved by the Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:20-21). It is the supreme authority in all matters (II Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 3:4).

The Godhead

God is triune; eternally existing in three persons (John 1:1-2, Genesis 1:1-2, Hebrews 9:14), Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, II Corinthians 13:14). The three persons are co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and have the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4, John 10:30, Acts 5:3-4).

The Person and Work of Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God (John 1:1,14,18). He became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:14), having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Matthew 1:20-23) in order that He might reveal God (John 17:6) and redeem sinful man (Titus 2:14).

He lived a sinless life (I Peter 2:22). He performed miracles (Mark 2:8-12). He voluntarily died (John 10:18) on the cross (Philippians 2:8) and shed His blood (Luke 22:20) as a vicarious (Romans 5:6,8) atoning (Romans 5:11) sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 9:26).

He was physically resurrected from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20, John 20:24-27). He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and is now exalted (Philippians 2:9) at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12) as the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) and advocate of the believers (I John 2:1).

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a person (I Corinthians 2:11, I Corinthians 12:11) who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11). He is the supernatural agent that draws men to regeneration (John 3:5-6, Titus 3:5), baptizing all believers into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13,27), indwelling (John 14:17, I Corinthians 3:16) and sealing them until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

He is the divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth (John 16:13, I John 2:20). He fills believers who are fully yielded to Him (Ephesians 5:18, Acts 4:31).

The Spiritual Condition of Mankind

Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 2:26) without sin (Genesis 3:5). When the first man Adam sinned, all mankind sinned in him (Romans 5:12,19), and thus condemnation (Romans 5:18) and death (I Corinthians 15:22) passed upon all men.

Consequently, all men are by nature children of disobedience and wrath (Ephesians 2:2,3), are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, II Corinthians 5:14), separated from God by reason of sin (Isaiah 59:2), in need of reconciliation with God (II Corinthians 5:19), and spiritually lost (Luke 19:10, II Corinthians 4:3). The total nature of man is corrupt (Isaiah 1:5,6, Romans 3:9-18), and of himself, man is utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Romans 7:15-24).

Salvation

Salvation is the gift of God (Romans 6:23) brought to man by grace (Ephesians 2:8). It is received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8, Acts 16:31). Man’s works play no part in the attaining of salvation (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:9), but are rather, an evidence of saving faith (Ephesians 2:10, James 2:18).

The Believer and Sin

Although believers are those who have renounced sin (Romans 6:2), they need to reckon themselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11) because they still have a sin nature (I John 1:8) and are still susceptible to sin (I John 2:1b). But believers need not sin (I John 2:1a) for God has provided a means of victory (I Corinthians 10:13) through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 4:4-5), the blood of Christ (Revelation 12:11), and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16,18).

Believers do not, and cannot live in uninterrupted practice of sin (I John 3:9). The consequences of sin in a believer’s life is not condemnation (Romans 8:1, John 5:24) but chastening (Hebrews 12:5-8).

Separation

The believer’s walk should be separate from the world, for he has been saved out of the world (John 17:6), and although he is still in the world (John 17:11), he is not of the world (John 17:14).

Therefore, he should not love the world (I John 2:15), should not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2), and should deny worldly lusts (Titus 2:12). Believers should also separate themselves from spiritual apostasy and error (II Timothy 3:1-5, II Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1, II John 9-11).

Missions

Believers are witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ in the world (Acts 1:8, John 17:18, 21, 23) and have the responsibility to participate in the program of preaching the Gospel to every creature both personally and financially (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, I Corinthians 15:34).

The Church

The church is composed of those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:2); that is, those who are saved (Romans 10:13), born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31, John 1:12-13, John 3:3).

The word church in the Scriptures is many times used in a universal sense to refer to all believers (Colossians 1:18, 24), and more often in a limited sense to refer to believers in a given locality (Colossians 4:15-16).

Satan

Satan, also called the devil (Revelation 12:9), is a person (II Corinthians 11:14, John 8:44), the author of sin (I John 3:8), the tempter in the fall of man (Genesis 3:1-6, Genesis 3:13-16, Revelation 12:9). He is the enemy of God (Matthew 13:39) and the adversary of God’s people (I Peter 5:8). He is a liar (John 8:44), a deceiver (Revelation 12:9), and a tempter (Mark 1:13, I Corinthians 7:5). His final destiny shall be eternal torment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

Second Coming

There will be a literal second coming to earth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Eternal State

All men shall experience bodily resurrection (John 5:28) and judgment (Romans 14:10-12, II Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 20:11-13). The final destiny of the saved is eternal life in the presence of the Lord (Daniel 12:2, John 5:29, I Thessalonians 4:17), and of the unsaved, eternal conscious shame and condemnation in the lake of fire (Daniel 12:2, John 5:29, Revelation 20:14-15).

Believers who die pass immediately into the presence of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:1-8, Philippians 1:23).

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

Those who are saved (John 10:7,9,14) are given eternal life and shall never perish (John 10:27-28). They are kept by Gods power (I Peter 1:5) and thus are secure in Christ forever, for they cannot be removed from His protecting hand (John 10:28-29). This assurance of eternal security cannot be used as an excuse for sin in the life of a believer (Romans 13:13-14, Romans 14:16, Titus 2:11-15).

Spiritual Gifts

God gives a spiritual gift or gifts to every believer (I Corinthians 12:7,11, I Peter 4:10). These gifts are diverse (I Corinthians 12:4, Romans 12:6) and God distributes them to each believer as it pleases Him (I Corinthians 12:11), as is appropriate to each one (I Corinthians 12:11), and exclusive of any merit on their part (Romans 12:6).

The gifts are given for the benefit (I Corinthians 12:7) and service (I Peter 4:10a) of others as a demonstration of the manifold grace of God (I Peter 4:10b). God never regrets having given it (Romans 11:29). Spiritual gifts are worthless if not administered with love (I Corinthians 13:1-2). The health of the church depends on each member of the body using their gifts in a Christ-like manner.

Tongues

The gift of tongues is not a spiritual gift that any or all believers should expect or be expected to experience (I Corinthians 12:8-30).

Therefore, since all believers are baptized by the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13) and all believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), speaking in tongues cannot be a sign of either activity of the Holy Spirit, and is indeed, not a sign to believers at all (I Corinthians 14:1-5,19, 22-25,28).

The Rapture of the Church & The 2nd Coming of Christ

At the Rapture, all believers, living and dead shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) before the great tribulation that is coming upon the earth (Matthew 24:21, Revelation 7:14, I Thessalonians 5:9, Revelation 3:10).

The date of the Lord’s coming is unknown (Matthew 24:36, Matthew 25:13), therefore believers should always live in readiness for that event (Matthew 24:42,44). Following the rapture and the great tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ shall return to the earth with the believers (I Thessalonians 5:6, James 5:8, Acts 1:11, Jude 14, Revelation 19:15, Revelation 20:6) and shall establish His millennial kingdom (Revelation 19:15, Revelation 20:6).

Ordinances

Every believer should be baptized (Matthew 28:19) by immersion (Mark 1:10, Acts 8:36-39) as a testimony of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 19:4-5). Every believer should participate in the celebration of the Lords Supper (Matthew 26:27, I Corinthians 10:16-17, I Corinthians 11:28), the elements of which are symbols of the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 11:24-26).