Life Church

Statement of Faith

Fundamental Doctrine

1.  We believe in one sovereign God, Creator of all things,[1]  existing and made known to us as three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.[2]  Thus God is in one sense “one”—yet He is, in a different sense, “three.”  The traditional terminology speaks of God being “one in essence, three in person.”  While the terminology, or the term “Trinity” are not found in the Bible, we find no reason to object to it.  A clear explanation of these facts are not granted to us in the Bible, probably because we cannot  fully comprehend this with our finite minds.[3]

2.  We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Word made flesh,[4]  and is thus uniquely the Son of God,[5]  born of the virgin Mary.[6]  He is the Messiah, or Christ, predicted in the Hebrew scriptures.[7]  He lived a life free of sin,[8]  which qualified Him to give Himself in man’s place, an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.[9]  This He did when He died on the cross,[10]  after which He arose bodily  from the grave, appeared to many alive again, and ascended into heaven to be enthroned at the right hand of God the Father.[11]

3.   We believe that the gospel of the kingdom of God[12]  is the happy message that God has made Christ to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.[13]  Through faith in Him,[14]  by virtue of the atoning merits of His blood,[15]  sinners may be reconciled to God.[16]  Through the power of His resurrection, justified sinners experience regeneration[17] and translation into His kingdom,[18]  where they enjoy righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.[19]  Regeneration also involves the granting of the Holy Spirit to dwell in, to guide and to empower the believer.[20]

4.  We believe that the believer in Christ is called to be a disciple,[21]  that is, a learner and follower of Christ.[22] Discipleship involves obedience to the commands of Christ,[23]  resulting ultimately, through the inward working of the Holy Spirit, in personal transformation of the disciple into the image and likeness of the Master.[24]

5.  We believe that the Jewish and Christian scriptures of the Old and New Testament are given by inspiration of God, and are thus, when properly understood and applied, profitable and authoritative to the disciple in all matters pertaining to life and godliness.[25]

6.  We believe in the unity of the whole church of the living God,[26]  which is God’s family,[27]  Christ’s Body[28]  and the Holy Spirit’s habitation[29]  among men. We believe that we should receive as brethren all who sincerely embrace Christ as Lord.[30]  We believe there is no valid reason to divide the church institutionally into separate fellowships defined by differences in particular theological convictions, much less by loyalties to men or systems of thought.[31]  We believe that to define the fellowship of the saints more narrowly than God does is missing the mark.[32]

7.  We believe that, at the end of the age, Christ will physically and personally return to judge the living and the dead.[33]  We believe that the dead will be raised and the living saints caught up to meet the Lord at His coming.[34]  Those who are Christ’s at His coming will be granted eternal life,[35]  while those not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire.[36]