The Christian Articles of Faith
GOD
We believe that there is only one God but existing in three Persons - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. All three are separate Persons but all three are One and co-eternal and co-existing together in perfect unity and agreement (1 John 5:7). It is in the Name (singular) of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Three Persons). When God was saying "Us" He was talking to the Son and the Holy Spirit. He could not be talking to angels because angels cannot create. We reject the heresy of angel creationism and believe that the Trinity has always been there from the beginning now and forever.
God the Father is the First Person in the Godhead. He is the invisible God that cannot be seen yet He is very real. God the Father is the overall head of the Godhead. It is He who is the Father of the Christians. Not all are God's children but only those who accept His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:10-12).
Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father and He is God the Son. He is also God as He is the Word (John 1:1-3). It was through Jesus Christ's incarnation through His virgin birth that He showed two natures - being God and being man. It was through His virgin birth through Mary that He became man, He became in the flesh, the seed of David (as Mary is a descendant of David through Nathan and Joseph his stepfather is a descendant of David through Solomon) yet He did not sin because of His nature as God. It was Him who knew no sin who became sin for mankind (2 Corinthians 5:21). We reject the notion that Christ was just a man or never became man, He is both man and God as Scriptures state.
God the Holy Spirit is the One who helps interpret the Bible NOT man (1 Peter 1:20-21). The role of God the Holy Spirit is to dwell inside the Christian (Romans 8:9). It is through Him that the believer lives upright as a result of salvation (Ephesians 5:18).
THE SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Scriptures are sufficient to EVERYTHING because it was inspired by the Holy, Triune God (2 Timothy 3:15-19). The Scriptures are categorized as both the Old Testament (prophetic and royal) and the New Testament (apostolic). Each and every passage is inspired by the Holy Spirit whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament so the only way to interpret the Bible is with the Bible, whether they may be the prophetic writings, royal writings, or the apostolic writings.
Today the Scriptures are completely written and they are the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Revelation 20:19 warns that anybody who adds or subtracts from the finished work of God will be taken away from the Book of Life. This ministry adheres to the King James version as the pure, perfect translation with nothing added or subtracted, diligently translated from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.
SINNERS, REPENTANCE, AND SALVATION
We believe that salvation is not the work of man but the work of God. Why? In the first place, man is a filthy, degenerate sinner as they are by nature liars, having open graves for throats, (Romans 3:4-19). Sin in any way whether it be unto death or not unto death are both SINS. James 2:10-11 says that even if people try to keep the whole Law if they break one, they are guilty of ALL.
It was done through Jesus Christ who through His death and resurrection (Hebrews 2:14), that He shed His blood in order for sins to be forgiven for without which, there is none which had to be literally applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven (Hebrews 9:12-22). Man must get saved NOW (2 Corinthians 6:2) because there is ONLY one life to live and after that, is the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There is NOTHING man can do- ONLY Christ did the work!
The lost sinner must see Jesus Christ as Lord (Kurious) or Supreme in Authority before they can even trust on Him for salvation, that is to see that He is who He is and not another Jesus which is again, a sure road to Hellfire. Repentance which in Greek is Metanoneo means "Such a virtuous alteration of the mind and purpose as it begets a virtuous change in the life and practice." which is necessary for salvation in the sense of seeing who they are and who Jesus is. Unless the sinner repents, that person is not going to see the need for the Lord Jesus Christ in one's life because they don't see themselves as offensive before God. Rejection happens because they choose to do so and not out of God's election.
Sinful people reject God because they think what they are doing is not sin or they love sin and they refuse to accept Jesus because of their love for sin (John 3:20). Such people hate the truth and want to continue sinning so they refuse the saving faith from God which changes their lives for the better. Ironically many of them are also work salvationists.
Salvation is neither gained nor maintained by good works. Why? Romans 11:6 says if we are saved by grace, it is not of works and if it is of works, it is not of grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 states that Christians are saved by grace through faith and not of themselves and that good works for the Christian is the result and still can't play a part for salvation but rather, saved to serve and not to sin. Anybody who says that Christians lose their salvation when they sin or they need to do good works to stay saved is a HERETIC of the works salvation gospel... cleverly "labeled" as lordship salvation by some of its proponents but in the process, they reject Christ's Lordship if they trust in themselves. Many people will try to win Jesus by their good works but will stumble to Hell (Matthew 7:21-23).
THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
We believe that Christians are if saved, always saved. There is a difference between the true believers in Jesus Christ vs. the fakes like Judas Iscariot. 2 Timothy 2:7 describes the one who finishes the race vs. 1 John 2:19 to those who departed, those who departed were NOT saved to begin with, they do not persevere like the saints of God. If salvation can be lost, Matthew 7:23 is a lie because Jesus said, "I NEVER KNEW YOU!" to anybody who is His.
However, having eternal security is STILL NO excuse to live in sin and be disobedient to God who is still righteous and holy. Sin can still destroy and kill even if the ultimatum of Hell has been paid in full. God will still chastise the disobedient Christian because being holy, He cannot condone sin at all (Hebrews 12:5-6).
Eternal security is not a believe once and you are saved forever even if you don't believe afterward. True faith in Christ CONTINUES to the very end. No believer can truly and completely fall away. Every other so-called believer that does is not saved to start with (1 John 2:19).
Also, one cannot be possessing eternal security yet possess no evidence of conversion like good works, perseverance to the end and a continual hatred for sin as a result of faith in Christ that continues. If such a person claims to have eternal security YET still lives a life of sin, they are just false converts and not saved, to begin with, because eternal security is inseparable from daily sanctification and the perseverance of the saints.
GOOD WORKS OF THE BELIEVER
Although a Christian is saved by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works, they are saved to serve and NOT to sin and God provides them the power to serve. Good works were made for the saved, not the unsaved and it is the result of God's grace in the believer that teaches them from a life of sin to a life of service (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11-15). That is, every believer will be bearing good fruit for God.
Any sin that a believer does will still be paid for at the Judgment Seat of Christ - no believer can sin all they please. They may fall into sin and when they do, God chastises them. No true believer will be living in so much sin.
Good works happen not to make Jesus their Lord, Christians do good works because He is their Lord! James 2:18-24 shows that real genuine faith will not fail to produce good works as while salvation is by faith alone but saving faith is never alone, it is always going to result in good works. It has been the stand of the Baptists even before the Protestant Reformation.
THE ONE TRUE CHURCH... WHICH WAS ESTABLISHED BY AND ON JESUS CHRIST... ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT, ONE BAPTISM
We believe that the Church is NOT the building but the group of saved, born again believers in it. Though the Church is separated physically by independent, fundamental Christian assemblies as no pastor usurps authority over another local church but it is still united spiritually under one doctrine found in the Scriptures- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (Ephesians 4:4-7, Luke 17:21). That is every local New Testament assembly is an independent church in a legal sense but it still is part of the one true Church. Acts 7:38 states that God's one true church began in the wilderness, therefore by nature it is prophetic. It became apostolic ever since the Book of Acts in the New Testament, all run by the Scriptures through and through.
The one true Church is built on the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18-19, 2 Corinthians 10:4 declares Jesus Christ is the ROCK. John 4:24 hold the one true church worships God in Spirit and in Truth, wherever they are. Jesus Christ is the HEAD of the one true Church and NOBODY else (Ephesians 5:24) showing the Church is still united in Spirit. Church succession is applied by carrying the Bible's principles, not by human succession. We reject the notion that any can be the head of the church like the Pope of Rome or any cult leader for a fact. Rather, we stick to the fact that Jesus is the Head of the Church.
The practices of the Church are dictated SOLELY by Scripture which is God's Word. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:16 warn of the consequences of deviating from Scripture-led tradition to man-made tradition, which by the way they are NOT compatible (Mark 7:8-9). That means ANY unscriptural form of worship must be thrown out of the pulpits and other churches that violate the policy will be answerable to God during the Blessed Hope.
The Church has its two sacraments namely baptism and the Lord's supper. Baptism is reserved ONLY for the believers and must be done by IMMERSION (Acts 8:36-38). We reject infant baptism and adult-only baptism as heresies to avoid. We also practice the Lord's supper which is the show the Lord Jesus' death until He returns which constitutes of the unleavened bread and the non-fermented wine which should always be done in the evening (1 Corinthians 11:20-30). The sacraments are nothing more than a sign or a pledge, not anything that contributes to getting saved or staying saved. Baptismal salvation and salvation by the Lord's supper are utter perversions and trying to add to the finished work in Christ.
The Church is responsible for educating believers, not the public school system. The need to create good Christian schools is a must. Why? We believe that Christians should NEVER be educated in non-Christian schools regardless of nature. Christians must separate from the world, not associate with it which most Christians, however, fail to do so (Romans 12:1-2).
We also reject the heresy of the Baptist Brider. As said, the Baptists are not the only members of the true Church but also every fundamental Christian who adheres to the truth in Scripture alone. The Baptist Bride movement has been responsible for division inside the family of Christ and is a view that must be rejected at all costs.
However, within the church, there will be those who seek to pervert the Gospel and they are wolves in sheep's clothing, therefore, it is our responsibility to preach against heresies to expose them in the process.
Before the Tribulation period, the Lord Jesus Christ will rapture the one true Church in which the members will finally be physically organizationally one and not just in spirit and truth. Until the Church age has ended, the Antichrist cannot complete the New World Order because even just a few Christians can give headaches to this world today.
GOVERNMENT AND ITS ROLE
We believe that the government was ordained by God to maintain peace and order (Romans 13) and there is a practice of the separation of church and state. The church is obliged to obey the government, not the other way around unless the government should violate the very principles of the Bible then Christians are required to disobey but not in a rebellious and disrespectful manner. Christians should in no way support anything sinful even if it is sponsored by the government.
However in the last days, Satan has perverted the principles of government and authority which leads to the Communist New World Order under the Antichrist, which will take place AFTER the Christians have been removed so he can be revealed.
REVELATION
We believe that the Book of Revelation to be REAL and WILL HAPPEN, the final closing of the Bible and the last of the apostolic writings in the New Testament. We believe that God's purpose of allowing the Tribulation Period is this - to give sinful humanity what it wants as a means to end the world's iniquity. The rise of the Antichrist and his False Prophet will be the final hours of mankind, which they believe they have reached the ultimate triumph, only to meet their ultimate end.