FAQ
What We Believe.
A summary of Faith Community’s Churches Statement of Faith.
We believe the Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God consisting of sixty-six (66) books of the Old and New Testaments. This verbally inspired Word of God is inerrant in the original manuscripts and infallible. It is the supreme authority and the final rule in life and faith. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
A. We believe there is only one living and true God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; John 10:30; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
B. We reject, however, the modernist and liberal teaching that God is the Father of all, and that all are brothers. We believe that He is the Father only of those who are born again and brought into His household. Only those who have been redeemed through His blood, having forgiveness of sins, are our brothers. (John 1:12; 3:3; 8:44; Ephesians 4:18)
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 man. (Luke 1:35, John 1:1-2, 14)
B. 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; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:24-28; 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2)
A. 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; 1 Corinthians 6:19-10; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30)
B. We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth and all saved ones are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; Ephesians 5:18; 1 John 2:20)
C. We believe that He is the giver of Spiritual Gifts to the Church in order for the Church to be fruitful and carry out its ministry. (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4:8-11) We further believe that the gift of tongues and the other miraculous sign gifts (healing, prophecy, apostleship) were temporary and gradually ceased as the Church matured (telios) and as the New Testament Scriptures were completed. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12)
A. We believe that man was created in the image and after the likeness of God, that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from God. (Genesis 1:26-27)
B. We believe that all human beings are born with a sinful nature which is enmity against God and are utterly unable to remedy their lost condition. (Romans 3:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3) However, we also believe that until a person reaches the “age of accountability,” he will not be held accountable for his sins. (2 Samuel 12:23)
A. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice; that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood and righteousness. (John 1:12-13; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
B. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us, as a High Priest, Advocate, and the only Mediator between God and Man. (Acts 1:21-22; 2:24, 29-32; 4:33; 2 Cor. 15:15)
A. We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5)
B. We believe the saved should rejoice in a personal confidence of a present salvation which rests in the manifestation of the indwelling Christ and truthfulness and accuracy of the Word of God. (1 John 5:11-13)
A. We believe in the “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent (1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20), pre-tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:9; Revelation 3:10) and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones (Zechariah 14:1-11; Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 19:11-16); and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom. (Revelation 20:1-6)
A. 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. (Romans 6:13, 8:12-13; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10)
B. We believe that in this life all claims to the eradication of the old nature are unscriptural. (1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:6-9)
A. We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as to bring honor and glory to their Savior and Lord.
B. We believe that disengagement from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded by God. (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13-14; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)
A. We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word the truths of the Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
A. We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall. (Job 1:6-7)
B. We believe he is the open and declared enemy of God and man and will be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41; Revelation 20:10)
A. We believe sanctification in two aspects: that God sanctified, that He sets us apart at the time of our personal receiving of Christ as Lord and Savior (John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 6:11), and we experience sanctification to the degree we yield to God, separate from sin and grow in wisdom, knowledge, experience and grace. (Psalms 119:11; Romans 12:1)
A. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26)
B. 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; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20:4-6)
C. 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 Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Matthew 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9; Jude 6-7; Revelation 20:11-15)
A. 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 church age. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:26-27)
A. There are two ordinances divinely enjoined upon all Christians. Without merit in themselves, they provide an expression of faith regarding the believer’s identification and fellowship with Christ.
1) Baptism. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:12-13, 36-39; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15; 18:8; 19:5)
2) Lord’s Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:23-32)
A. Definition: A dispensation is a period of time during which God gives man some specific revelation of Himself and His will and responsibility with respect to man’s obedience to that revelation.
B. Dispensationalism is based on a literal, historical-grammatical interpretation of Scripture.
C. Through dispensationalism we are able to distinguish the way in which God governs in this world at different points in time.
D. Dispensations which this church recognizes are as follows:
1) Age of Innocence/Probation. (Genesis 1:27-3:6)
2) Age of Conscience/Moral Responsibility. (Genesis 3:7-8:14)
3) Age of Human Government. (Genesis 8:15-11:32)
4) Age of Promise. (Genesis 12:1-Exodus 18:27)
5) Age of Law. (Exodus 19:1-John 19:30)
6) Age of the Holy Spirit/Grace/Church. (Acts 2:11-The Present)
7) Age of the Kingdom. (Revelation 20:4-6)
A. We believe that God created humankind in His image as represented in two and only two genders – male and female. (Genesis 1:27) We believe in the heterosexual marriage relationship as the only God-ordained family system. (Genesis 2:15-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:21-33)
