BELIEVE: PART THREE

It should be clear by now that believing in God is not enough. Satan knows He exists, and billions in our world religiously acknowledge there is a God. But the problem is, the vast majority do not know who He is, and of those who do, the vast majority of them do not have a Father-child relationship with Him. In other words, they are not born again. Obviously, what one believes about God matters. Today, I want to share with you the doctrinal statement of the church I attend. I pray you attend a church that is in agreement with us.

WE BELIEVE that the Bible is the perfect and complete Word of God; that every word of it is inspired by God, all of it was written down without any errors by its original writers, and that God has preserved it in its entirety for every generation including ours today.
WE BELIEVE that the LORD is the one true God, the creator of all that is, eternally existing in three persons: the Deity or Godhead consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, fully divine, and the virgin born son of man, fully human; that He existed uncreated with the Father before time began, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and died, shedding His blood on the cross as the sacrifice for human sin, to ransom us to God; that He was buried but rose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He ever lives to make intercession for us.
WE BELIEVE in the Holy Spirit, Who convicts sinners of their sin and Who lives inside all Christians, empowering them, as they yield to Him, to live lives pleasing to Christ, to confess and forsake their sins, and to tell the lost of God’s saving love.
WE BELIEVE that man was created by God in His own image, but that because of Adam’s sin, all people have become sinners, condemned in the eyes of a Holy God, and separated from Him.
WE BELIEVE that a person is saved from the condemnation of sin, and born into the family of God, when he, repentant of his sin, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, calling on Him to be his Savior.
WE BELIEVE in The Church, made up of all who have been saved by faith in Christ; and that God has established local churches to preach the gospel, make disciples of all nations, and encourage each other to obey Christ’s commandments; that everyone who is saved, and only those who are saved, should be baptized by immersion as a testimony to what Christ has done in their lives; and that believers should celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him until He comes.
WE BELIEVE in created spiritual beings: good angels, who do God’s will; and Satan, the author of all sin, who, with his demons, opposes God.
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ will come again for His saints; the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall meet Him with them in the clouds to be ever with the Lord; we believe that the lost will be raised from the dead in the Last Day; that everyone’s work will be judged by Jesus Christ; that those who have rejected Christ will suffer eternal punishment, with the devil and his angels, in the lake of fire; and that the elect, those saved by God’s grace, will live forever with Him in Heaven.