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DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
The
doctrinal standard of this Church is in keeping with that held
by the Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches. The full doctrinal
statement for our Church is as follows:
- We believe the Holy Bible, the
Old and New Testaments, with its sixty-six canonical books
in the original manuscripts is the verbal, plenary, inerrant
and infallible inspired Word of God, entirely without error
or contradiction in all matters of which it speaks; we additionally
believe that God by His singular care and providence has preserved
His Holy Scriptures; and that the Holy Bible is, therefore,
the only and sufficient final and supreme rule and authority
of faith and practice (Psalm 12:6-7; 119:89, 105, 152, 160;
Matthew 5:18; 24:35, Luke 16:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews
4:12; I Peter 1:24-25; II Peter 1:21; Revelation 22:18-19).
- We believe that God is Triune,
that there are three eternal, co-equal Divine persons in the
Godhead and these three are one God (Matthew 28:19).
- We believe in the Deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ; that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin (John 1 and Matthew 1).
- We believe that the only way
to be saved is by faith in the blood sacrifice, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and that to those
who thus become His sheep He says: "I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:28 and Ephesians
2:8-9).
- We believe that our Lord Jesus
Christ ascended into Heaven and is now seated at the right
hand of God, the Father, that He ever liveth
to make intercession for all that come to God by Him (Acts
1:9-11; Hebrews 4:14; Ephesians 1:20-21).
- We believe that the Church,
which is the body of Christ, began with the descent of the
Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and that each one who
accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior
is a member of the body of Christ and is indwelled by the
Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:12,13; 6:19,20).
- We believe that the Gospel commission
is for the Church, that the Lord's Supper and water Baptism
by immersion for believers only are Divine Institutions and
that Christ desires us to practice them in this age (Matthew
28:18-20; I Corinthians 11:23-29).
- We believe that God may, at
any moment, return in the air to rapture the saints, and that
a Tribulation period of approximately seven years shall follow,
after which He will come to earth with His saints and rule
for a thousand years. After this, the wicked will be judged
and cast into the lake of fire (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I
Corinthians 15:51-57; Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15, 21; 25:46;
Revelation 19:11; 20:10-15).
- We believe that Satan is a person,
the author of the fall and that he shall be eternally punished
(Job 1:7; Genesis 3:1-19; Revelation 20:10).
- We believe in the bodily resurrection
of the dead, both the just and the unjust and in the eternal
conscious punishment of the lost and the eternal joy of the
saved (Revelation 20:11-15; 22:11-14; I Corinthians 15:1-58).
- We believe the sign gifts of
the Spirit (I Corinthians 12:8-10) to be miraculous gifts
sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit for a limited
time and for specific circumstances. These gifts are all transitory
in nature and limited in operation. By transitory in nature
we mean, that by the time the New Testament Canon closed,
these gifts had gradually come to an end, with none being
operative past the end of the first century. By limited in
operation we mean that these were not gifts which were continually
exercised by an individual over an extended period of time;
and that the purpose of the usage determined the exercise
of the gifts. The purposes for which the Holy Spirit gave
these gifts were:
- As signs to unbelievers
until the completion of the Canon.
- For the authentication
of the Gospel,
- As the seal of Divine
approval upon the Church.
- Of revelatory significance
to the believers.
All of these purposes were
and are served with the completed Word of God. Therefore, we are
convinced that these gifts which were operative in the early Church
were discontinued by the time of the close of the New Testament
Canon and are not to be sought nor exercised in our day. The completion
of the New Testament assured accessibility through the Word of
God to knowledge and power adequate for life and service to all
believers. Therefore, to seek the transitory gift is a denial
of the efficacy of the Word of God (I Thessalonians 2:13). No
minister of our Church shall allow himself to become involved
with any group, movement, or organization which fosters and tolerates
the Charismatic Movement in any of its various forms. By this
action we can assure the continued propagation of the gospel through
our fellowship as we rightly divide the Word of Truth.
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