What We Believe

The SCRIPTURES

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments consisting of sixty-six books are the verbally inspired Word of God and therefore infallible and without error in their original writings. Hence, the Scriptures are the supreme and final authority in testing all claims about what is true and right. The Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, obedience, and church government. In matters not addressed by the Bible, what is true and right is evaluated by standards and principles consistent with the teachings of Scripture.

Psalm 33:4; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 4:4; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35; John 17:17; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21

GOD

There is only one true and living God, the Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Sovereign of all things, having in and of Himself all perfection and holiness, and being infinite in them all; He is a personal being who is all knowing, all powerful, and has all wisdom; his perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future; to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

God eternally exists in three persons revealed to us in the Scriptures as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity being co-equal and having all the attributes of God, but yet maintaining their distinctive personal attributes and roles but without division of nature, essence or being. Thus, each Person in the Godhead is fully and completely, equally and eternally God.

God alone is Creator of heaven and earth who created in six literal days. He sustains the elements of this world and its inhabitants by the power of His word and is Sovereign over all His creatures. He has a definite plan that He is working for His glory; He knows all things from beginning to end and will bring all events to ultimately glorify Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God from eternity decrees or permits and foreknows all things that come to pass to the praise of his glory and for the eternal joy of those who love him; he perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will yet in no way is the author or approver of sin nor destroys the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

Genesis 1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 104; 115:3; 135:6; Isaiah 43:15; Isaiah 45:23; 55:11; Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 24:35; John 1:1; 4:24; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6

The Father

God the Father is a holy God who demands all to worship Him. His justice, love, and mercy compel Him to reconcile a lost world to Himself. He has done this by sending His Son Jesus Christ to earth as the God-Man to become a substitute for man and to pay for the sins of the world.

Even though God created all humans, only those who have been reconciled to Him by faith in Christ can call Him Father.

God the Father reigns supreme over the world and the affairs of man and will one day bring all things to glorify Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:1, 26; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11-13; 20:1-21; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3, 15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9-15; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Hebrews 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17

Jesus the Son

Jesus Christ is the eternal only begotten Holy Spirit conceived Son of God born of the virgin Mary. He is unique in His nature in that He is fully God and fully man in one body, the same in essence, being, and nature as God. Having taken upon Himself human nature so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one Person, He lived a sinless life fully obeying the Father's will for Him. By his life, he perfectly fulfilled the law and suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. His death on the cross was a substitutionary propitiation for the sins of the world in order to reconcile sinful man to Holy God. He bodily and physically arose from the dead three days later as proof of his saving work and victory over sin and death. He bodily and physically ascended to heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints on the basis of his all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe. Jesus will return in power and glory to judge the world and to finish his redemptive plan.

Jesus is Lord of all and one day every knee will bow to Him and every voice will acknowledge that He is Lord. Salvation in him is received when a person repents of their sin and places their faith in Jesus Christ alone for the remission of their sins.

Genesis 1:26; 3:15; 18; Psalms 2:7-12; 22; 110; Isaiah 7:14; 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18 10:30, 38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5, 20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is fully God who is coequal and coeternal with the Father and Son. He is a person and not a force. He works in the world to convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He points all people to Jesus Christ and exalts Christ. He fills each believer to teach them the truths of God's Word and enable them to live the Christian life.

He is the guarantee of the believer’s inheritance who seals him as a confirmation of the promise until the redemption of the purchased possession.

Genesis 1:2, 26; Judges 14:6; Psalms 51:11; 139:7-12; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 28:19; Luke 1:35; 11:13; 12:12; John 4:24; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17

MAN

God originally created man in His own image as male and female, free from sin; but through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God by choosing to declare his independence from God, distrust God’s goodness, and disobey God’s clear commands and thus fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a corrupt nature and are wholly opposed to God and His law, resulting in guilt, death, and condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.

Male and female gender is a gift and part of God’s goodness in creating humans in his image. Because God created man as male and female, he has given distinctive roles and responsibilities to each gender based on his wisdom for the good and benefit of all mankind.

Humans have inherent dignity and worth because of God’s image within each person so every life, born and unborn, of every nation, tribe, and ethnicity, is sacred before God and Man.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5, 7, 18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18, 23; 5:6,12, 19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18, 29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19, 21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

SALVATION

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes election, regeneration, repentance, faith, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14, 29; 3:3-21, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4; 5:8-10; 6; 8:1-18, 29-39; 10:9-10, 13; 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8, 14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

Election

Election is God's eternal invitation to all people unto everlasting life, not because of foreseen merit in them, but by His mercy in Christ. When a person elects or chooses to receive Christ as Savior, he is then called, justified, and glorified. It is the glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

Regeneration

Regeneration is a work of God's free and saving grace alone whereby believers become new creatures in Jesus Christ. Regeneration results in a change of heart produced by the Holy Spirit who brings to life those who are dead in trespasses and sin, enlightening their hearts and minds to understand the Word of God, and giving life to their whole person so that they love and practice holiness leading to sanctification.

Repentance

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin and rebellion against God to God in faith in the provision of the Lord Jesus Christ. It occurs when a person being, by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbles himself before God and with godly sorrow and detestation of it, turns from sin and sincerely commits to forsake it and purposes and endeavors to walk in obedience to Christ to please God in all things.

Faith

Faith is a gift of God not of any works. Faith is brought into being through the hearing/preaching of the Word. Scriptural faith is trust and dependency on God’s Word and promises concerning its revelation of Christ as the only Savior for mankind. Faith is not merely intellectual assent, but a life commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By faith, believers believe everything in Scripture to be true.

Saving faith is accepting and resting upon Jesus Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit and leads to a life of holiness. Saving faith is a persevering faith which will endure to the end of a believer’s life.

Justification

Justification is a work of God whereby he declares sinners righteous pardoning their sin and reckoning them as righteous and acceptable in his presence. It is God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners through the satisfaction that Christ alone has made on the cross for sin and is not based on any merit in a person; Christ paid the full debt for sin for the justification of all who believe; God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin for all who believe that they might become the righteousness of God in Christ; justification is obtained on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ when one receives and rests on Him and His righteousness by faith alone.

Sanctification

Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God's Word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is a progressive work of God through the supply of the Holy Spirit and man as he seeks to obey and please God pressing after a heavenly life in cordial obedience to all Christ's commands.

Perseverance of the Saints

Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved and sanctified by His Spirit will never totally nor finally fall away from grace, but will persevere to the end; and though they may fall into sin through neglect and temptation and grieve the Spirit, they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto Salvation.

Because God gives mankind eternal life through Jesus Christ, the believer is secure in the salvation for eternity. Salvation is secured by the grace and power of God, not by the self-effort of the Christ-follower. It is the grace and keeping power of God that gives us this security.

John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 7:25; 10:10, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5

The CHURCH

The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power and authority for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or local churches; and to each of these churches He has given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which He has appointed. The Scriptural officers of a church are Pastors and Deacons.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation, each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord and shares an equal voice in its government, plans, and discipline.

Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Rev. 2-3; 21:2-3

ORDINANCES

An ordinance is a symbol and a picture of a spiritual truth. We believe Jesus ordained two ordinances for his church: baptism and the Lord’s Table (Matthew 28:16-20; Matthew 26:26-29). Both ordinances are symbolic in meaning and do not impart any type of grace to the believer. An ordinance is a practice commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ to commemorate the work of Christ to redeem sinful man. They do not save from sin, but are a picture of what Christ has done to purchase our salvation.

Baptism

Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his union with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, of his giving himself up to God to live and walk in newness of life, and commitment to a local body of believers. It is not required for salvation, but it is a prerequisite for church membership and for participation in the Lord's Supper.

Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread, signifying Christ’s body given for his people, and wine, signifying the New Covenant in his blood, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.

Mathew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23-29ns 5:9-10; 6:1-7; 7:20-24; 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27; 2:8.

The LORD’S DAY

The Lord’s Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, resting from worldly employment and amusements, works of necessity and mercy only excepted. We hold the Lord’s Day to be Sunday, the first day of the week.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3, 33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1, 19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

LIBERTY of CONSCIENCE

God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to his Word. Man being created in God's eternal image has been given the revealed Scriptures for his guide. The functions of civil magistrates are ordained of God. Christians should subject themselves to all lawful things in the Lord, commanded by them, not for fear of punishment, but for peace of conscience.

Genesis 1:27; 2:7; Matthew 6:6-7, 24; 16:26; 22:21; John 8:36; Acts 4:19-20; Romans 6:1-2; 13:1-7; Galatians 5:1, 13; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; James 4:12; 1 Peter 2:12-17; 3:11-17; 4:12-19.

The JUDGMENT

God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when everyone shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life with Him.

Matthew 25:41-46; 7:21-23; Mark 3:28-29; 9:43-48; John 3:36; Acts 17:11; Romans 2:5-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8

The RESURRECTION

The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God—the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised for final judgment.

Daniel 2:12; Luke 14:14; 20:35; John 5:28-28; 11:25; Acts 24:15; Romans 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 42-45; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Revelation 20:6

The FAMILY

God created the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption, functioning together within a Divinely ordered framework. The family does not exist for itself alone but exists to glorify God, promote human procreation, and nurture intimate companionship within the biblical guidelines for family and marriage. The one flesh, cleavage relationship of marriage is a beautiful picture of Christ loving and sacrificing himself for and nurturing his bride, the church. This one-flesh relationship in marriage can only exist between a man and woman, identifying with their natural biologically assigned gender, united under God, both legally and spiritually, together in the marriage covenant till they are parted by death.

Children are a gift and blessing from the Lord. Parents must be diligent in all areas of life to teach and train their children in the ways and service of the Lord. Children must honor and obey their parents. The primary responsibility of this education and training is at home from the parents with the local church serving to complement the efforts of the parents in raising their children with a sound biblical world view.

MARRIAGE, GENDER, and SEXUALITY

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.

We believe that the term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Redemption Church as the local Body of Christ, and to provide a biblical role model to the Redemption Church members and the community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Redemption Church in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality (Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22).

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Redemption Church.

SANCTITY of LIFE

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.

Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 139

ORIGINS

This church holds to a literal six-day creation of the world and all its components by God out of nothing by the word of his power as recorded in the book of Genesis 1-2 and Hebrews 11.

We believe that God directly created Adam from the dust of the ground and Eve from his side. We believe that Adam and Eve were the historical parents of the entire human race and that they were created male and female equally in the image of God.

The CHURCH and STATE

We believe the state should not impose its will on the church nor establish a state religion; the state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind; the state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion; the church, however, can and should seek to influence and impact the state with the gospel of Jesus Christ.