Statement of Faith & Doctrine
Section A. Articles of Biblical Faith
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We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13).
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We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14).
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We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate (Acts 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).
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We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14).
We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18).
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We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3, 12).
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We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).
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We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word. That Word, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
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We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Rom. 6:13; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9).
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We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded by God (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11; 2 Cor. 6:14; 7:1).
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We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:19-20).
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We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts and that the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is given to each member of the Body of Christ for the good and profit of the Body according to the will of God (1 Cor. 12:4-11). We also believe that Jesus Christ gave gifted men to the church for the equipping of the saints to do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). We believe that sign gifts were primarily designed to authenticate God’s apostolic messengers and to confirm their message (2 Cor. 12:12; Mark 16:20; John 14:26; 15:15). However, as the Church was established and as the New Testament Scriptures were completed, these sign gifts ceased (Heb. 2:3-4; Rom. 10:17).
We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15).
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We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again persons of this present age (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2).
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:22-23; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
We recognize the ordinances of water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 18:8; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
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We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations of rules of life, which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardship by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these, the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the Millennial Kingdom are subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25; Heb. 7:19; Rev. 20:2-6).
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We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6, 7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
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We believe in that “blessed hope:” the personal, imminent, pretribulational and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom (1 Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6, 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).
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We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 5-6, 12-13).
We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:16-17).
We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne of judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; 2 Thess. 1:79; Jude 6, 7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).
Section B. Movements Contrary to Faith
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Ecumenism is that movement which seeks the organizational unity for all Christianity and ultimately for all religions. Its principal advocates are the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
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Neo-Orthodoxy is that theological movement which affirms the transcendence of God, the finiteness and sinfulness of man, and the necessity of supernatural divine revelation of truth; however, while using evangelical terminology, it seriously departs from orthodoxy in accepting the view of destructive higher criticism, in denying the inerrancy of the Bible as historic revelation, in accepting religious experience as the criterion of truth, and in abandoning important fundamentals of the Christian faith.
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These terms refer to the movement with evangelicalism characterized by a toleration of and a dialogue with theological liberalism. Its essence is seen in an emphasis upon the social application of the gospel and weak or unclear doctrines of the inspiration of Scripture, biblical creationism, eschatology, dispensationalism and separation. It is further characterized by an attempt to accommodate biblical Christianity and to make it acceptable to the modern mind.
We believe that these movements are out of harmony with the Word of God and the official doctrine and position of Grace Bible Church.
Section C. Covenant of Faith
In subscribing to these articles of faith, we by no means set aside or undervalue any of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, but we deem the knowledge, belief, and acceptance of the Truth as set forth in our Doctrinal Statement to be requisite to sound faith and fruitful practice, and therefore will be expressed in the teaching and preaching at Grace Bible Church.