STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE

 Introduction

A church is only as good as its convictions. In our day and age, “truth” is either maligned, misused, or dismissed, but rarely embraced. Grace Bible Church chooses to embrace the Word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ as absolute Truth with the conviction that each contains the Words of Life (John 6:63) and each instructs us how to have Life abundantly (John 10:10). Therefore, each statement below reflects the biblical convictions of Grace Bible Church regarding the major doctrinal themes of Scripture. Each one is uncompromising in what it entails, being drawn from the Word of God.

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe the 66 books of the Holy Scriptures are the verbally-inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, and the only rule of faith, doctrine, and practice that every child of God may be adequate, being equipped for every good work.
(Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

THE GODHEAD

We believe the Godhead eternally exists in three Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and that these three Persons are one in essence; having precisely the same divine attributes, power, and glory, and deserving the same honor, confidence, and obedience.
(Matt. 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; 2 Cor. 13:14)

THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE FATHER

A.  We believe God the Father is the first person of the Godhead who is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and unchanging Creator of all things, showing Himself in relation to His creation to be sovereign, gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness.
(Gen. 1:1, 2:7; Job 38:1-41, 42:2; Ps. 103:8-22, 109:21; 1 Cor. 8:6; Jas. 1:17)

B. We believe all creation, seen or unseen, in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, is answerable to Him as their Maker and Master.
(Ps. 2:4-6; Ecc. 12:14; Isa. 45:23-24; 2 Pet. 3:7; Rev. 22:18-19)

THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST

A. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, is the second person of the Godhead who 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. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice. We believe that our redemption is made sure to us by His literal physical resurrection from the dead.
(Luke 1:30-35, 24:36-43; John 1:1-2; Rom. 3:21-25, 4:25; 1 Pet. 1:3-5)

B. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven exalted at the right hand of God, where as the High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.
(Acts 1:9; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 2:17-18, 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2)

 THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

A. We believe the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead, who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers of this age into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.
(John 16:7-15; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:13-14)

B. We believe He is the Divine teacher who guides believers into all truth; and it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.
(John 16:13; Acts 13:52; Eph. 5:18)

THE PERSON AND WORK OF SATAN

We believe Satan is a personal being, the originator of sin, a murderer from the beginning, the father of lies, cause of the fall, and the open and declared enemy of God and man. His destiny is everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.
(Gen. 3:1-15; Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; Matt. 4:2-11, 25:41; John 8:44; Rev. 20:10)

THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN

We believe man was created in the image and likeness of God, and as a consequence of Adam’s sin inherited a sinful nature. This image has been effaced, but not erased by Adam’s sin. Thus, every person has become alienated from God and unable of himself to remedy his lost condition.
(Gen. 1:26-27; Rom. 3:10-18 & 22-23, 5:12; Eph. 2:12; James 3:9)

  SALVATION

A. We believe salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. All who believe in Jesus instantaneously receive eternal life and are declared righteous by the Father. It is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone that a relationship with the Godhead is permanently established.
(John 1:12, 3:16, 5:24, 6:40 & 47; Acts 16:31; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-9; 1 Tim. 1:16; 1 Pet. 1:18-19)

B. We believe once saved, believers are kept by God’s power and are secure in Christ forever. As believers we rejoice in the assurance of salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, understanding that such liberty should not give way to license or legalism.
(John 6:40, 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1 & 38-39, 14:1-15:4; Gal 5:13; Eph. 1:13)

THE BELIEVER’S TWO NATURES

We believe at the moment of faith the Holy Spirit indwells each believer. Despite having a brand-new spiritual nature, the old sin nature continues to reside in the body and will wage war against the Spirit. This conflict will not be alleviated until we die or our bodies are raptured (glorified). God calls believers to be holy, just as He is holy. When we live by the Holy Spirit’s power moment by moment, we are not sinning, enjoying our fellowship with God. When we rely on our flesh, even when striving toward godly ends, we sin, and are out of fellowship with our Lord.
(Rom. 6:11-13, 8:1-13; Gal. 2:20-3:5, 5:16-25; Eph. 4:17-32; Col. 3:1-17; 1 Pet. 1:14-16)

THE BELIEVER’S WALK

A. We believe the saved should live godly lives so as not to bring reproach upon the Savior or cause their brothers and sisters to stumble.
(Rom. 6:5-11, 8:5-17, 12:1-2, 14:13; Gal. 5:16; 1 John 2:15-17)

B. We believe entering into marriage or other entangling alliances with unbelievers is contrary to Scriptural truth.
(2 Cor. 6:14-7:1)

THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS

A. We believe every believer is equipped for spiritual service through divine enabling gifts, given by the Holy Spirit. The gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are given for the growth and edification of the church today; and the gifts of apostles, prophets, speaking in tongues and other sign miracles and gifts, being necessary only for the foundation of the church, gradually ceased with the completion of the New Testament Scriptures.

(Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 13:8-10; Eph 2:19-22, 4:7-16)

B. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted, but that He does not now answer through the public display of His power.
(John 15:7; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; James 5:12-16; 1 John 5:14-15)

REVELATION

We believe Scripture interpreted in its plain and literal sense indicates a sequence of divine stewardships, or dispensations, that God has set as a standard by which His people should live to better reveal His glory. Each dispensation introduces distinct standards by which a distinct people group should live for a distinct period of time and may or may not annul requirements from previous dispensations. Three of these (the dispensations of the Law, Church, and Millennial Kingdom) are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. 
(John 1:17; 2 Cor. 3:7-11; Gal. 3:10-14, 24-25; Eph. 3:1-6; Heb. 1:1-2, 7:18-19)

THE CHURCH

A. We believe all believers are united to the risen and ascended Son of God and are members of the universal church regardless of membership or non-membership in an organized local church. By the Holy Spirit, all believers in this dispensation are baptized into one body that is Christ’s body, and having become members one of another, are under solemn duty to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, loving one another with a pure heart. The church, which is the body and bride of Christ, began at Pentecost and is completely distinct from Israel
(Matt. 16:16-18; Acts 2:42-47; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23, 4:1-7; Col. 3:12-17)

B. We believe the establishment and continuance of the local church is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.
(Acts 14:27, 20:17 & 28; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-11)

C. We believe the two ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and water baptism of believers are designated in Scripture as a means of testimony for the church in this dispensation. Each person’s convictions regarding water baptism are to be left as a matter of personal liberty of conscience.
(Acts 2:41-42, 18:8; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

We believe in the personal, imminent, pretribulational coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones and His subsequent premillennial return to the earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom.
(Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:6)

 THE ETERNAL STATE

A. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.
(Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5-6 & 12-13)

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 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; 1 Thess.4:16-17; Rev. 20:4-6). Upon this first resurrection, we believe that the church will be held accountable at the Judgment Seat of Christ and will be rewarded or experience shame, depending on the deeds done in the body after salvation.
(Luke 19:11-27; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:10)

C. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the resurrection of the dead, when with spirit, soul, and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer everlasting conscious punishment, being eternally separated from the Lord.
(Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)