Statement of Faith
Purpose
A. This Statement of Faith is an expression of our common beliefs regarding the Word of God, the person of God, the work of Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the unity and calling of the body of Christ, the ministry of the church, and the reality and imminence of the final judgment/salvation of man. By setting down these beliefs in a written and concise manner we are seeking to foster unity, clarity, and understanding among those who have been brought together by conviction into this work of God.
THE REVEALED WORD
B. In accordance with the historic faith of the apostles and prophets we believe that God has spoken to man concerning Himself and the way of salvation in the events and encounters of Biblical history. We believe that these historic ‘words of God’ have been recorded and set down for us in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. We believe that the Biblical canon is comprised of the following 66 authoritative books:
- The Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy;
- The Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah;
- The Writings: Ruth, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, and Lamentations;
- The Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi;
- The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John;
- The History of the Early Church: The Acts of the Apostles;
- The Letters: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2,3 John and Jude;
- The Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation
These 66 books record the historical, progressive, multifaceted revelation of God’s person and purposes on the earth. We believe that through the biblical account of mankind’s creation and ancient past, the redemptive history of the nation of Isreal, the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus, and formative history and experience of the Early Church, God has made known His truth, power, and saving intentions for the world.
We believe that these 66 books are fully inspired, accurate, and reliable with regard to all matters of faith and conduct as they were originally written. We hold to the Biblical Scriptures as the plumb line for all that we do and believe.
THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD AND MAN
C. Together we confess our faith in the one true sovereign and eternal God Who made Himself known in the acts of creation and the deeds and words of redemption is the self-existent “I AM”, the one true God who is distinguishable but indivisible as three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that the triune God created the spiritual and physical universe ex nihilo, “out of nothing,” and that this creation in its original state was purposeful, orderly, progressive, and full of goodness. We believe that the act of creation was an expression of God’s truth and love. We believe that mankind stands as the culmination of God’s creative work and as such was uniquely invested with the very image of the Creator.
We believe that God created man, male and female, in His image in order to establish them as His children – a “family” with whom He could share His life and live forever. We believe that the joyous and intimate fellowship with God for which man had been originally created was destroyed by the exercise of man’s free choice to separate himself from God in order to possess the knowledge of “good and evil” by independent experience.
We believe that this willful act of rebellion and distrust brought chaos, corruption, and darkness into the world and resulted in alienation and hostility between God and man, man and man, man and creation, and man and himself. We believe that as a result of personal and corporate sin, mankind is under the just condemnation of the Holy God.
THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS
D. We believe that God, full of great compassion and mercy, took the initiative to reconcile man to Himself by providing atonement for sin and by establishing historical covenant relationships with individuals and nations. We believe that three of these historic covenants – with Noah, Abraham, and the people of Israel – were the means by which God extended forgiveness and salvation to the ancient world in order to preserve and extend His saving purposes on the earth.
We believe that in the fullness of time and as the culmination of all that had gone before, God established a new covenant with man, the final covenant, that was universal and eternal in its implications and meaning. We believe that the heavenly Father sent into the world His eternal Son incarnate as a man to live, die, and be resurrected for man’s full and eternal salvation.
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God and Son of Man, truly God and truly man, sent at the fullness of time, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, sinless in His life and character, and sin-bearing in His sacrificial death on the cross. We believe that in His life, teaching and ministry, Jesus was “the Word” by which God has made Himself fully known.
We believe that in His deity, Jesus Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. We believe that in His humanity Jesus was the model for what it means to be a true child of God. Our confidence in the truth of His identity is based not only on the perfection of His character and life and the profound nature of His revelation and teaching, but also on the testifying works of His power – healing, deliverance, and resurrection which He accomplished during His ministry on the earth. We believe these works to be the manifest endorsement of God the Father and the Holy Spirit concerning the person of Jesus and His saving life and work.
We believe that at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry He was unjustly condemned by wicked men who crucified Him for rightfully claiming to be Israel’s Messiah. We believe that through these events Jesus willingly laid down His life as a ransom and accepted the consequences of our sin so that we might receive the justification of His life. We believe that His sacrifice on our behalf was accepted by God the Father and vindicated by His resurrection from the dead after three days in the grave. We believe that after Jesus was bodily raised He appeared to many of His disciples over the course of 40 days.
We believe at the end of this time Jesus was taken up from them and exalted to the right hand of the Father where He now rules with all authority and judgment as both Lord and Christ over the kingdom of God. We believe that at the appointed time which no man knows, Jesus will return in glory on the clouds of heaven to usher in the next age which will bring salvation to the righteous and judgment to the wicked.
We believe that at the time of His return, both the living and the dead will be raised to appear before the throne of God to give an account of the way they have lived their lives. We believe that Jesus will separate the wicked and the righteous on that day on the basis of their acceptance or rejection of His saving work as evidenced by the words and deeds of their lives.
We believe that through personal faith in Jesus Christ we are identified with His atoning sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, and His righteousness is credited to our account. In this way, we believe that we are set free to live a life that is truly pleasing to God. We believe that our reconciliation and justification to God is a free gift of His grace which cannot be earned, but only willingly received through repentance by the fruit of righteousness and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We believe that salvation and eternal life in Christ are both present and future realities; experienced in the present through the life of faith, and entered into fully in the glory of the age to come.
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
E. We believe that the work of Salvation is initiated by the Father, accomplished by Christ, appropriated by personal faith, and applied by the Holy Spirit. We believe that as a result of Christ’s ascension back to the Father, The Holy Spirit has been poured out “on all flesh” in fulfillment of God’s saving purpose.
We believe that the Holy Spirit, as the third person of the Trinity, has come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We believe that the work of the Spirit in the life of the individual believer and the corporate church is to fully establish the Lordship of Jesus in every arena of life. His role is described in Scripture as that of Teacher, Counselor, Comforter, and Judge. His manifest presence and work in the lives of the redeemed brings forth gifts, fruit and wisdom in accordance with the will of God.
The Christian life is essentially “life in the Spirit” – life lived in, under, and by the counsel, protection, and power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that it is the will of the Father and the command of Christ that every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit.
We believe that it is only the fullness of the Spirit, experience either concurrent with, or subsequent to conversion, is the necessary initiating event into the Spirit-filled life. We believe that the Holy Spirit reveals, enables, and administrates the work of the kingdom of heaven on earth among God’s people. It is in submission to His presence and work in our lives that we base our conviction that we are both servants and heirs of that eternal kingdom.
THE UNITY AND CALLING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
F. We believe that through the new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have been given a new identity and unity as the people of God. We believe we have been saved by grace into a spiritual community which binds us together with all the redeemed into one holy, universal, apostolic church. This corporate identity and calling is described in Scripture as that of an army, a nation, a priesthood, a body, a temple, and a bride. We believe that as an army we have been commissioned by Christ to serve the Father by waging war in the Spirit under the banner of the kingdom of God.
We believe that as a holy nation we have been called to live a corporate life of righteousness and justice, particularly with regard to those who are without rights and rescues in our society, as a testimony to the nations of the earth. We believe that as a royal priesthood, we are called to serve and intercede as mediators of God’s grace and mercy to man. As a body, we are called to a life of interdependence, unified action, and personal submission to the will of our common “Head” – Jesus Christ.
As a temple, we have been incorporated as “living stones” into the very dwelling place of God on the earth. Finally, as the Bride of Christ, we are being prepared for eternal glory and honor as a people joined to God in covenant intimacy. We believe that the corporate calling of the church can be summed up as a simple charge to love and serve our God and fellow man.
THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH
G. We believe that the church’s call to love and service issues forth in a ministry that is manifold and diverse. We believe that the ministry of the church is directed toward the personal and corporate, temporal and eternal, physical and spiritual redemption of man’s life before God. We believe in the five-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers through which a multitude of individual gifts and callings function.
In each of these five realms or spheres of authority in the Body of Christ there are three primary functions of ministry – healing, deliverance, and proclamation – which are expressed in a variety of ways toward the one end of man’s redemption. We believe that it is God’s saving will to wholly redeem man – body, soul, and spirit. We believe that this redemption will require the full and effectual healing and deliverance of man from sin, sickness, Satanic domination, and death.
We believe in the absolute assurance of complete healing and deliverance for the redeemed in the eternal age and in the real hope for the manifestation of that future certainty in the present day. In concert with the ministry of healing and deliverance, we have been corporately commissioned to proclaim the message of salvation which is the good news of God’s kingdom.
This proclamation is both verbal and visible in the words and works of God’s servants. In addition to individual gifts and callings, God has also given the corporate church the administration of certain sacred acts – water baptism, which is the initiating of public declaration of our personal identification with the saving death and resurrection of Jesus’ and the Lord’s table, which is the ongoing public declaration of our commitment to Christ and our sure hope for His triumphant return.
We believe that these sacred acts are an essential means of grace to God’s people as they walk out their life in the world. We believe that the gift and graces of the church have a three-fold ministry focus – toward God, and toward the world, and toward one another – in the outworking of our corporate call to love and service.
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