Grace and Truth Articles of Faith

Whereas we, being an incorporate body of people of like precious faith:

Believe in salvation and eternal life through the redemptive gift of Grace from the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.

Believe the Bible to be God’s Word and the revelation of His will to man and accept it as our rule for faith and conduct.

Believe Christian fellowship, mutual edification and evangelical effort is God’s ordained order for His people.

Believe church is to assemble together for worship, fellowship, counsel, guidance, justice and instruction in the Word of God, and the work of the ministry for the purpose of learning, teaching and living the Great Commandment.

Believe the church should exercise the gifts and offices provided for in the New Testament to fulfill the great Commission.

Believe God has called and anointed us to emphasize the fullness of the Gospel through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, we have accepted and adopted the following Statement of Fundamental Truths and Constitution. We shall seek, by the grace of God, to be governed by the Constitution as set forth, and will also seek to teach and propagate the doctrines contained in the Statement of Fundamental Truths.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to man, the infallible rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason, but not contrary to reason (2 Timothy 3:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 2:2).

The one true God. The one true God has revealed himself as Spirit, the eternally self-existent, self-revealed “I AM” and has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as seen in the Trinity, i.e., Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29, Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 11, Matthew 28:19).

Man, his fall and redemption. Man was created good and upright for God said, “Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But man, by voluntary transgression, fell and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 3:1-7, Romans 5:12-21).

The salvation of man.

Conditions of Salvation. The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men, through the preaching of repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ; the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, and being justified by hope of eternal life (Titus 2:11, Romans 10:13-15, Luke 24:47, Titus 3:5-7).

Evidence of salvation. The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation is the direct witness of the spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of sanctification, righteousness and true holiness.

Born again. All people who turn from their sins and put their faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ receive a new birth by which their life is restored by the power of God’s Holy Spirit (John 3:3-6, Titus 3:5). From that time forth the restored person has God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within them enabling them to live a holy life (1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Peter 1:3-4). Also giving them power to be witnesses for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).

The promise of the Father. All believers are entitled to the promise of the Father and the baptism in the Holy Spirit according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience in the early Christian Church. With it comes a deeper spiritual life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4, 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth (Acts 10:44-46, Acts 11:14-16, Acts 15:7-9).

Baptism in water. The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the scriptures by all who have repented and profess their belief in Christ as Savior and Lord. In so doing, they have the body washed through immersion in pure water as an outward symbol of cleansing, while their heart has already been sprinkled with the blood of Christ as in inner cleansing. They declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and been raised with Him to walk in newness of life as a new creation (Matthew 28:19, Acts 10:47, Romans 6:4, Acts 20:21, Hebrews 10:22). They do this with full understanding baptism has no impact on salvation of eternal life.

The Lord’s supper. The Lord’s supper, consisting of the elements, bread and the fruit of the vine, is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:4), a memorial of His suffering and death (1 Corinthians 11:26), a prophecy of His second coming (1 Corinthians 11:26), and is enjoined on all believers until He comes.

Sanctification. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to obey the command, “Be holy, for I am holy.” Sanctification is the will of God for all believers and should be pursued by walking in obedience to God’s Holy Spirit. Sanctification is experienced in basically three ways:

The church. The church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the spirit with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the spirit, is an integral part of the church, which is written in heaven (Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 1:23, Ephesians 2:22, Hebrews 12:23).

Marriage. The Word of God has made man and woman in His image. As intended from the beginning, marriage is sacred and between one man and one woman. God’s purpose is for His people to procreate and to take dominion over His Creation. A man shall leave his parents and cleave to his wife and become one flesh. (Genesis 2:21 -25, Mark 10: 6-9, Ephesians 5: 22-33, Hebrews 13:4)

The ministry and evangelism. A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the evangelization of the world and the edifying of the body of Christ (Mark 16:15-20, Ephesians 4:11-13).

Divine healing. Deliverance from sickness is provided for us in the atonement and is the privilege of all believers (Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:17). Scripture is clear in assigning healing as a duty and power to Elders as ordained by God (James 4:14 – 16).

The millennial reign of Jesus. The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, the salvation of national Israel, and the millennial reign of Christ on earth are the scriptural promise and the world’s hope (2 Thessalonians 1:17, Revelation 19:11-14, Romans 11:26, Romans 11:27, Revelation 20:1-7).

The lake of fire. The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and whoever not found written in the Book of Life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10-15).

The new heavens and the new earth. We, “according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21, Revelation 22). God’s promise and love result in our eternal joy worshiping Him (John 3:36, 1 John 1:2, Titus 1:2, 1 John 5:11).