Beliefs

Project Barnabas – Statement of Faith

 

God

We believe in the one true God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, coeternal in being, coeternal in nature, coeternal in power and glory, and equally having the same attributes, perfections of Deity and characteristics of personality (Deut. 6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14).  We believe God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is the Creator of heaven and earth and continues to sustain all of His creation (Gen. 1:1; Gen. 1:27-28; Col. 1:15-17).

Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is God, the living Word and the eternal Son of God, 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 (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35).  We believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and ushered in the Kingdom of God by preaching repentance and by healing the sick and broken (Hebrews 2:14; Col. 1:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:21).  We believe that Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died (Rom. 3:24; 1 Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:3-5).  We believe that Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven and is now exalted and seated at the right hand of God the Father, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate as the only mediator between God and man, continually making intercession for His own (Acts 1:9, 10; Heb. 7:25, 9:24; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is God and as such, a person.  We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and draws sinners to Christ and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration. We believe Christ baptizes all believers with the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ at conversion. The Holy Spirit indwells all believers from the moment of spiritual birth and is our seal unto the day of redemption. We believe the Holy Spirit’s fullness, power and leadership are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith. We believe that every believer is called to live so in the power of the Spirit that he will not indulge the sinful nature, but will bear fruit to the glory of God (John 16:8-11; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; 2 Cor. 1:22; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 5:18).

The Scriptures

We believe that all Scripture is the Word of God verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit without error in the original manuscripts and the final authority in all matters of Christian faith, thought, life and conduct. We believe that Scripture is a gift from God to His people; we love and delight in his Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; John 17:17).

Humanity

We believe that man was originally created in the image of God, but that he sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator.  That historic fall brought all mankind under divine, eternal judgment.  Man has inherited a sinful, corrupted nature and thus has a total bent toward sin; of himself  he is entirely unable to please God and to overcome his lost condition. Everyone is in need of spiritual transformation and renewal by the Holy Spirit. We also believe that because humanity is created in the image of God all human beings have intrinsic value.  This is demonstrated by the reality of Jesus Christ’s incarnation, becoming a man, and his willingness to die for humanity (Gen. 1:26, 27; Rom. 3:22, 23, 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3, 12).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the work and gift of God alone, brought to man by grace alone, not the work, in whole or in part, of human effort, goodness or religious ceremony, and received by personal faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, whose body was broken and blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19).

Believer’s Assurance of Salvation

We believe that all who are born again and continue in faith are kept by God’s power, are secure in Christ forever and cannot lose their salvation (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30;  Rom. 8:1, 38, 39;  1 Cor. 1:4-8;  1 Pet. 1:5).  We believe it is the privilege of believers to have assurance of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their personal Savior through the promise of God’s word, which also clearly forbids the use of Christian freedom as an excuse to indulge the sinful nature (Rom. 13:13, 14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).  This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word.  We believe that the saved person is in the process of being conformed to the image of Christ, and will bear fruit in this lifetime.

Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God sovereignly grants spiritual gifts to all believers. Each believer has the responsibility to allow God to develop their spiritual gifts (1 Tim. 1:6).  We also believe that specific spiritual gifts are neither essential (proving the presence of the Holy Spirit), nor a necessary indication of a deeper spiritual experience (1 Cor. 12:7, 11, 13; Eph. 4:7-8).  We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His will, and does heal the sick and afflicted even today (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15).  We believe it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gifts and grace of God given to him all to the edification of the body (Eph. 4:11-13; Rom. 12:1-8; 2 Cor. 13; 1 Pet. 4:10-11).

The Church

We believe that according to Scripture the church is to be understood primarily as a spiritual fellowship and a missional community of men and women who are reconciled with God and with one another.  The New Testament uses a number of core biblical images for the church: the people of God (1 Pet. 2:9-10), the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-27), the communion of saints (Gal. 6:10,16; 1 John 1:3-7; Acts 2:42-47), and the creation of the Spirit (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5-7). We believe the true church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23, 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2).  We believe the church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where authentic, loving community is formed and maintained. We believe the singular purpose of the church is to make disciples. The church does this by preaching the gospel, baptizing believers and gathering for worship, prayer, fellowship and the teaching of the Word (Acts 2:42-47). We believe Scripture commands the local church to administer baptism and communion as established by Jesus Christ and to offer service to the body through development and use of spiritual gifts and to do missional outreach and service to the world (Mt 26:26-30; Mk. 14:22-26; Lk. 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Mt. 28:18-20; Mt. 22:36-39).  We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament scriptures (Acts 14:27, 18:22, 20:17, 1 Tim. 3:1-3; Titus 1:5-11).

Ecumenical Creeds

We believe and confess the central content of historical Christian faith as recorded in the ecumenical creeds (Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds).

The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in the imminent, personal, visible and bodily return of Jesus Christ to this earth to set up His kingdom and to judge the world in righteousness (1 Thes. 1:10, 4:13-18, 5:9;  Zech. 14:4-11;  Rev. 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6).

 

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