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Doctrinal Statement... The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the 66
books of the Bible to be the verbally (in its words, thought, and
concepts), plenary (in its entirely), inspired (God breathed, God
delivered), Word of God, and that it is infallible (perfect truth) and
inerrant (without error) in the original languages, and the final
authority of faith and life.
We believe in the one true and living God who is eternal, omnipotent
(all powerful, almighty), omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent
(everywhere present), and perfect in all of His attributes. Within the
Being of this one true God exist three-eternally distinct and coequal
Persons: The Father (the first person of the Godhead), The Son (the
second person of the Godhead), and the Holy Spirit (the third person of
the Godhead).
We believe that God created an innumerable number of sinless beings
known as cherubs, seraphs, and angels. We believe that one of these
created beings, “Day Star, Son of the Morning,” the highest in rank,
sinned through pride, thus becoming Satan the adversary. We believe that
Satan is an actual person with all the characteristics of personality.
We believe that he is the originator of sin and that he operates today
as the prince and god of this world. We believe that he is the arch
enemy of God and the people of God and deceiver of humanity. We believe
that he led the first parents into transgression causing their fall and
that he was judged at the cross, a judgment yet to be executed in the
Lake of Fire. We believe that a great company of angels followed Satan
in his fall, some of whom became demons who are active as Satan’s agents
in the carry out of unholy purposes, while others who fell are reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are
ministering spirits of God for the carrying out of His purpose,
especially to those who inherit salvation.
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but
that in Adam’s sin, in Adam’s fall, we sin all, and have inherited a
sinful nature, and are alienated from God. We believe that we are
totally depraved and, of ourselves, utterly unable to remedy our lost
condition.
We believe that salvation is wholly a work of God’s free grace and not
the work of man in whole or in part, or due to man’s goodness. We
believe that salvation is a free gift to us received by personal faith
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was
shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe that
salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We
believe that once saved, we are eternally secure forever because of the
nature and work of Christ and the very nature of the divine gift of
eternal life. We believe that assurance is the privilege of all who are
saved to be assured of our salvation from the very moment that we accept
Him as Savior. We believe that this assurance is not based on our own
merit, but by the testimony of the Scripture and the witness of the Holy
Spirit.
We believe that God called a people to Himself who are the physical
descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We believe that Israel is the
wife of Jehovah, unfaithful in the past, divorced in the present, but
will be reunited in the future. We believe that there will be a national
regeneration of Israel at which time all the provisions of the four
unconditional covenants given to Israel will be fulfilled.
We believe that the Church is the body and Bride of Christ. We believe
that it is composed of all Jewish and Gentile believers from Pentecost
to the Rapture. We believe that entrance into this body is by
Spirit-Baptism. We believe that all believers are obligated to assemble
together for the purpose of participation in the ordinances, to be
taught the Scriptures by gifted men, to edify each other, and to worship
God. We believe that this assembling is to be organized as a local
church under authoritative leadership. We believe that the believer is
called to holy living in the power of the indwelling Spirit; to fight
the spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil; to
use his or her spiritual gift(s) for the purpose of building up the
local body of Christ. We believe that it is the responsibility of both
the church and individual believers to evangelize and disciple all
nations both actively (doing the work of evangelism) and passively
(supporting those doing the work of evangelism). We believe that the
specific procedure for discipling the nations is to the Jew first and
this is also true in both active and passive evangelism.
We believe that an ordinance is a practice that is commanded by Christ,
practiced in the Book of Acts, and expounded in the epistles. We believe
that only two ordinances exist; water baptism and the Lord’s Supper,
both of which are limited to believers only. We believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ instituted the ordinance of baptism by immersion and the
Lord’s Supper to be observed until His return. Baptism is for believers
only and is a symbolic testimony of identification with Christ in His
death, burial, and resurrection. The Lord’s Supper is also for believers
only and commemorates the unique person and the perfect work of Christ
dying on the cross for our sins.
We believe that Christ will return into the air for the purpose of
gathering the Church to himself both dead and live. We believe that the
Rapture is both imminent and pre- Tribulational. We believe that the
Rapture is the blessed hope of the Church.
We believe that sometime after the Rapture, the Tribulation of Daniel’s
Seventh Week will occur for a period of seven years. We believe it is a
time of judgment of all humanity and that it will bring to an end the
times of the Gentiles and result in the national regeneration of Israel.
We believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth over
Israel and the Gentiles during which time the Church will co-reign with
Christ, the 4 unconditional covenants with Israel will be fulfilled. We
believe that Israel will be restored along with the resurrection of the
Old Testament saints. We believe that Satan will be bound in the Abyss,
the curse will be lifted, and the knowledge of God will fill the earth,
and peace will be maintained by the iron rod rule of Christ.
We believe in the personal, visible, and bodily return of Christ to the
earth with his saints after the Tribulation and before the Millennium in
the clouds of heaven with glory and great power at the request of and to
save Israel from her enemies, to judge all living Gentiles for the
purpose of determining who will be excluded from the Kingdom and who
will be included in the Kingdom We believe that at physical death, the souls of the redeemed are absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in full conscious bless and fellowship with the Lord, await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. We believe that at physical death, the souls of unbeliever enters immediately into eternal conscious misery, separated from God in Hell until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. We believe in the eventual resurrection of all believers before the Kingdom to fellowship with Christ in the Kingdom on this earth and then in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth in eternity after the Kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of all unbelievers after the Kingdom to appear before the Great White Throne Judgment and then to abide in the Lake of Fire forever.
Please direct
your comments and questions to Gabriel B. Johnson at
gabejohnson@greatestlovestory.com . |