Beliefs

1. Holy Bible: We believe the Holy Bible (Scripture) was written by men inspired by God, and is God's revelation of Himself to man. All Scripture is totally true and trustworthy, providing the basis and standard for our lives as followers of Jesus.  As the inspired Word of God, the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life according to which all doctrines should and must be judged. (NOTE: The Holy Bible referred to in this statement of faith is the New King James Version of the Old and New Testament and shall be used for the purpose of interpreting this document. Other translations may be adopted or used by the congregation and members for teaching or personal use.) (Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

2. Creeds: We believe the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds are true declarations of the faith of the Church as confessed and believed in all times and places. They serve as orthodox statements of the faith not because they are authoritative in themselves but because they accurately summarize the teaching of Scripture.

3. God:  We believe in the one living and true God, both holy and loving, eternal, unlimited in power, wisdom, and goodness, the Creator and Preserver of all things. Within this unity there are three persons of one essential nature, power and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

     The Father: We believe the Father is the Source of all that exists, whether of matter or spirit. With the Son and the Holy Spirit, He made man, male and female, in His image. By intention He relates to people as Father, thereby forever declaring His goodwill toward them. In love, He both seeks and receives penitent sinners. (John 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; Hebrews 12:9-11; 1 Peter 1:17)

    The Son: We believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly man. He died on the cross and was buried, to be a sacrifice both for original sin and for all human transgressions, and to reconcile us to God. Christ rose bodily from the dead, and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion, and ascended into heaven, and there intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand until He returns to judge all humanity at the last day. (Psalm 2:7-12; Matthew 1:18-23; John 1:1-18; 17:1-5, 20:1-20,28; Romans 1:3-4; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 3:2; 4:14-15; Revelation 19:16)

    The Holy Spirit: We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God who inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is of the same essential nature, majesty, and glory, as the Father and the Son, truly and eternally God. He is the Administrator of grace to all, and is particularly the effective Agent in conviction for sin, in regeneration, in sanctification, and in glorification. He is ever present, assuring, preserving, guiding, and enabling the believer. (Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-14; Acts 2:1-4; Romans 8:9-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13)

4. Humanity:  We believe that the two great commandments which require us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbors as ourselves, summarize the divine law as it is revealed in the Scriptures. They are the perfect measure and norm of human duty, both for the ordering and directing of families and nations, and all other social bodies, and for individual acts, by which we are required to acknowledge God as our only Supreme. Therefore, all people should so order all their individual, social, and political acts as to give to God entire and absolute obedience, and to assure to all the enjoyment of every natural right, as well as to promote the fulfillment of each in the possession and exercise of such rights.  We believe mankind (created as male and female) is the special creation of God, made in His own image (Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7, 18-22). In the beginning man was innocent of sin, but chose to sin against God (Genesis 3) which brought sin into the human race (Romans 3:10-18, 23; 5:12). We reject the idea that “original sin” is simply following the example of Adam but is the corruption of human nature affecting all the offspring of Adam. As a result of original sin, each individual is very far gone from original righteousness and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and therefore every person born into this world deserves damnation. Only the grace of God can remove the just penalty for sin (Psalm 32:1-5; Ephesians 2:1-22), restore an authentic relationship with God (Colossians 1:21-22), and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God (Romans 8:28-30)

5.  Salvation: Salvation denotes the action of God in delivering humanity. It is the divine work of rescuing sinners. In the salvation of humanity, God offers the recovery of what unfallen man and woman were originally made capable—daily trusting response to God. By Jesus’ descent to humanity, God has accomplished what human effort could not do in its attempt to ascend to righteousness by moral endeavor. We believe that the condition of mankind after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn to faith by his own natural strength or good works. Man has no power to do good works that are acceptable to God or to call upon God in faith without the preceding grace of God in Christ. There is no salvation apart from personal, living faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. In its broadest sense salvation includes justification, sanctification, and glorification. (John 3:14-18, 36; 5:24; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:3-8.; Colossians 1:9-22)

Justification is the declaration of God that one, however sinful, who trusts in Christ’s atoning work is treated or accounted as righteous. This is not a legal fiction but a merciful divine action historically enacted on the cross. Justification is the reversal of God’s judgment against the sinner whereby the sinner is declared to be no longer exposed to the penalty of the law, which is ultimately spiritual death. Justification is that divine act whereby one stands in right relation with God, as act of God’s free grace through which the sinner is absolved from guilt and accepted as righteous on account of the Son’s atoning work. We are justified by grace through repentance and faith, because of the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ and not because of our own works or merit.

Sanctification is the gracious act of God in cooperation with human effort through which the moral disposition is gradually transformed so that one spontaneously loves good and resists evil. God the Spirit is enabling the human self to will the proportionally greater good, so that the human will is being brought into greater conformity with the will of God. It is the life experience, beginning at the point of justification, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to grow toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 6:1-23, 8:1-18, 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Galatians 5:22-25; Philippians 2:12-13)

Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the eternal state of each believer when they are given spiritual bodies, fitted for God’s presence, that are completely devoid of the sin currently present in all people. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers who have died—reunited them with their souls—and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrected bodies like his own. (1 Corinthians 15:50-57; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

6.  The Church: We believe that the Christian Church is the entire body of believers in Jesus Christ, who is the founder and only Head of the Church. The Church includes both those believers who have gone to be with the Lord and those who remain on the earth, having renounced the world, the flesh, and the devil, and having dedicated themselves to the work which Christ committed unto His church until He comes. The Church on earth is the universal assembly of believers among which the Word of God is preached in purity, the sacraments are properly administered, and all strive to live in obedience to Scripture. It is also the mission of the Church to obey the Great Commission; to preach the Gospel to all people, to do the ministry of evangelism, and to witness to others the mighty acts of God. In Holy Baptism, God calls all members of the Church, both lay and ordained, to testify in word and deed, that God has acted for the world's salvation through Jesus Christ. To carry out its witness to the world, the Church structures itself both as congregations and in wider and more universal bodies. As an independent congregation connected to other congregations through the historic faith and cooperation in ministry, True Faith Community Church understands itself to be within the one holy, catholic/universal, and apostolic Church. All authority in the Church belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ and is manifested through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments. (Matthew 16:15-19; Acts 2:41- 42,47; 6:3-6; 14:23; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2 – 3)

Sacraments of the Church—Baptism and the Lord's Supper: The Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian profession, but rather they are certain sure witnesses as well as effectual signs of grace and God's good will towards us. Through them God works invisibly in us to create, strengthen, and confirm our Faith in him. A Sacrament is a ceremony established in the Gospel to be a testimony to the promise which belongs to the Gospel, that is, the promise of reconciliation or grace. Two things are required for the essence of a sacrament in the New Testament: (1) The express and universal command of God, covering the universal church of the New Testament, regarding some external or visible element or sure sign and a prescribed rite for administration and use. (2) The promise of the Gospel regarding the free mercy of God for the sake of Christ added to this rite in the Word in such a way that through it this [mercy] is offered, shown, applied, and sealed to individuals who use the sacraments in true faith. Based on this definition, there are only two such sacraments in the New Testament, namely Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Jesus commanded the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper be observed by His church until He returns.

Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth. The baptism of young children is to be retained in the Church. Being offered to God through baptism, children are received into God’s grace. As a church sacrament, it is prerequisite to the privileges of active church membership and to taking the Lord's Supper. Baptism should only occur once in the lifetime of a believer. Baptism may be accomplished by immersion, dipping or sprinkling (Matthew 3:13-17, 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; Acts 2:41-42; Romans 6:3-5)

The Lord's Supper is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; insomuch that, to those that rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise, the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ. The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. We believe that the body and blood of Christ are truly present and given to all who partake the Supper. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's sacrament reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped. (Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29)

7.  Marriage and Human Sexuality: We believe that God has ordained marriage to be a covenantal, exclusive union between one man and one woman. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to only occur between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God. (Genesis 2:18, 22-24; Mark 10:1-9; 1 Corinthians 6: 9-20; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:22-33)

8.  Last Things: We believe that God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return to the earth, and all will be judged in His righteousness. All who have a personal, living faith in Jesus will be judged righteous, will be given glorified, eternal bodies, will receive their reward, and will dwell forever with Jesus. All without personal, living faith in Christ will be judged unrighteous and will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment and separation from God. (Isaiah 2:4; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 17:22-37; John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 35-58; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; Revelation 20:1 – 22:13)

9.  Evangelism and Missions: We believe that it is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ to make disciples of all nations. Missionary effort, in the preaching of the good news of salvation to all nations—through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ—is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every believer to constantly seek to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the good news of salvation of Christ. (Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-53; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13-15; 1 Peter 2:4-10)

10.  Spiritual Maturity: We believe that Christian spiritual maturity is promoted through biblical understanding and application of that understanding in the life of believers. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, all sound learning is a part of our heritage as followers of Jesus Christ. The new birth of a regenerate life in Jesus opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. An adequate and ongoing system of Christian training and study is necessary to fulfill Christ’s commission to make disciples that are growing in their faith and spiritual maturity. (Deuteronomy 6:1-10; Proverbs 3:13-26; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 2:3, 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 5:12 – 6:3)

11.  Stewardship: We believe that God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and all that we are we owe to Him. Therefore, all believers are under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, believers should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of Jesus’ cause on earth. (Genesis 14:20; Malachi 3:8-12; Acts 2:44-47; 2 Corinthians 8 – 9)