STATEMENT OF FAITH

The following beliefs represent the core orthodox beliefs from a biblical and historical perspective. While church members are not required to fully understand or articulate all aspects of these beliefs, the explicit rejection of any one of these particular beliefs disqualifies one from membership in Redemption Bible Church. Revisions of this statement to more clearly align to the Scriptures remain at the sole discretion of the elders, with the understanding that such changes will be communicated to the members of the church. 

We teach that there is one living, infinite, almighty God, perfect in holiness, wisdom and power. (Psalm. 50:1; Ephesians 4:6). He created all the heavens, earth and everything in them for His glory (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 19:1; John 1:3). He reveals Himself and His character to all people through creation (Romans 1:20). He is the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). We teach that He has eternally existed in three Persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that they are equally divine, holy, and loving and each is equally deserving worship and obedience (Genesis 1:26; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

We teach that God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6). His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. As Creator He is Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), but He is spiritual Father only to believers (Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18). He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). In His sovereignty He is neither the author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47), nor does He abridge the accountability of moral, intelligent creatures (1 Peter 1:17). He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9). 

We teach that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is the promised Christ, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, was killed and was bodily resurrected from the dead (Matthew 1:18-25; Hebrews 4:15; I John 3:5; I Corinthians 15:3-4). 

We teach that in the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and became the God-Man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9). The purpose of the incarnation was to reveal God, redeem men, and rule over God’s kingdom (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:29; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 7:25-26; I Peter 1:18-19).

We teach that Jesus’ shed blood and sacrificial death on the cross was the perfect and fully sufficient sacrificial payment for our sins, and that His death was voluntary, vicarious, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25; 5:8; Hebrews 10:12; I Peter 2:24)

We teach that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection reconciles us believing sinners with God, frees them from the punishment, penalty, power and one day the presence of sin; and that they are declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God. (Romans 3:25; 5:8-9; I Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 18; I Peter 2:24; 3:18)

We teach that Jesus has risen from the dead and now sits at God’s right hand as our priest and mediator (Hebrews 10), and that Jesus will personally return at a time according to the Scriptures. (Matthew 24:30)

We teach that as the Mediator between God and man (Timothy 2:5), the Head of His Body, the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18), and the coming universal King, who will reign on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6; Luke 1:31-33), He is the final judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as Lord and Savior (Matthew 25:14-46; Acts 17:30-31).

We teach that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (I Corinthians 2:10-13), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5: 3-4; 28:25-26; I Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15-17).

We teach that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7). We teach that the Spirit glorifies the Lord, convicts of sin, regenerates hearts, unites us with Him, and transforms believers into the image of Christ (John 16:8; Acts 1:5; 2:4; Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:22)

We teach that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13).

We teach that the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher, who guided the apostles and prophets into all truth as they committed to writing God’s revelation, the Bible (2 Peter 1:19-21). Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation, and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with (controlled by) the Spirit (John 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 1 John 2:20, 27).

We teach that the Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith (John 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18). 

In this respect, we teach that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today, and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth, and were never intended to be characteristic of the lives of believers (Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:1-4).

We teach that man was created by God in His image and likeness, and that he was created in order that he would glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, and live his life in the will of God (Genesis 2:7, 15-25; Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).

We teach that in Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from His divine grace. On his own, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8). 

We teach that God created all mankind, male and female, in His image, equal yet distinct. (Genesis 1:27)

We teach that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God. (Isaiah 55:11; 2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible, all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the final authority for all life and godliness. (Matthew 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:3)

To be more specific, we teach that all 66 books of the Bible are breathed out by God, that is, they have God as their source (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21). We teach that Scripture is true and without error in their original writings (John 17:17). We teach that Scripture is our highest authority (Matthew 5:17-19). And we teach that Scripture is sufficient and profitable for all matters of life and obedience (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 15:4, 2 Peter 1:3).

We teach that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

We teach that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God's unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

(Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.)

We teach that the true church consists of all who are saved by grace, through faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5). The church is the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32) of which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15). 

We teach that the true church is God’s witness expressed in local congregations uniting as one for His purpose (Ephesians 4-5). 

We teach that the one supreme authority for the church is Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18) and that church leadership, gifts, order, discipline, and worship are all appointed through His sovereignty as found in the Scriptures. The biblically designated officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders (also called bishops, overseers, pastors, and pastor-teachers; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11) and deacons, both of whom must meet biblical qualifications (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-5).

We teach the autonomy of the local church (Titus 1:5). We teach that it is Scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and propagation of the faith. Each local church, however, through its elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. The elders should determine all other matters of membership, policy, discipline, benevolence, and government as well (Acts 15:19-31; 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).

We teach that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). Believer baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing forth his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42). 

We teach that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should always be preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32). We also teach that, whereas the elements of Communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper in nevertheless an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, in communion with His people 

(1 Corinthians 10:16).