Our Beliefs​​

     Our beliefs can be best summarized in the passage that says we are to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, with all of our souls, and with all of our minds (Matthew 22:37). Love is the foundation upon which all other precepts are understood and obeyed. As God’s Word says, those that love Me keep My commandments (John 14:15).

 

     We believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God given to men to know His will. We believe, as the Bible states, that Christ came in obedience to the Father’s command to die for humankind and offer them the hope of redemption and reconciliation with God and to be saved from sin. This free gift is offered to all peoples regardless of their race, social status, or circumstance. We are offered grace for the forgiveness of sin but also are given as new creatures the power and desire to do God’s will (Philippians 2:13). This includes living a holy life and walking as Christ walked and lived while He was upon this Earth since by God’s power and Christ’s sacrifice we are no longer slaves to sin. According to the New Covenant between God and mankind, we may all stumble and fall but God has given us forgiveness of sin upon repentance and He has written His laws on our hearts and minds so that we will know them and do them so that one day we will forever be in His presence (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16). As Ecclesiastes says, the end of the matter is fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man, the full original purpose for His creation (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

 

     We believe that God continues to be directly involved with the courses of human events both personally and societally. He has appointed unto God’s people various gifts of the Spirit so that the body of Christ may work towards His perfect will and for the benefit of all Christians in the body of Christ. The gifts of the Spirit are various and are thus given to each according to God’s will. These gifts can be given to women just as they are given to men to have authority and position in the church. If God chose to speak to Balaam through the mouth of a female donkey, surely God can choose to speak through a woman to proclaim His message and advance His purpose. This belief is consistent with the Bible’s telling of the roles of Miriam the prophetess, Deborah the judge of Israel, and Junia the New Testament apostle.

 

     God’s Word and God’s Word alone is our guide, regardless of the traditions of men. Tradition has infiltrated various doctrines within the church. For instance, we believe in keeping all of the commandments of God with the most prominent of these being the Ten Commandments which God transcribed with His own finger and gave to the children of Israel and thus to us. Within these Ten Commandments of God is the much forgotten Fourth Commandment which states to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. Exodus 20:9-11 states, “six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” It is simply a matter of church history that the Council of Laodicea of the Catholic Church changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Oddly enough, if Christ was to go to worship at God’s house on the Sabbath which was His custom, He would find many church doors closed.