About Nenana Bible Church
-
NENANA BIBLE CHURCH STATEMENT OF FAITH
(A) The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures are the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and are, therefore, the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning, and all issues of interpretation and meaning shall be determined by the pastor according to this model. The King James Version of the Bible shall be the official and only translation used by the church. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5-6)
(B) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life that define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations – the law, the church, and the kingdom – are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (Gen. 1:28; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25, 27; Rev. 20:2-6).
(C) The Godhead
We believe in one Holy, triune, Almighty God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; John 10:30; 14:16-18; 14:10, 26; 2 Cor. 13:14)
(D) The Person and Work of Christ
(1) We believe that Jesus Christ, although co-equal with God, condescended to become man without ceasing to be God, was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary and was true God and true man. The Lord Jesus walked on this earth giving to man the visible representation of the invisible God, after which He died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative, vicarious and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe in Him are justified (declared to be not guilty) on the ground of His shed blood. (John 1:1-3, 14; Luke 1:26-38; Col. 1:15; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:9; Heb. 9:12)
(2) We believe in the physical resurrection of the crucified body of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His ascension into Heaven, and His present life for us as High Priest and Advocate at the right hand of God. (Luke 24:39, 40, 49-51; Heb. 1:3; 8:1, 2; 7:24-26)
(E) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is Deity, a divine person of the Godhead who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment and that He is the supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. He is not a force but is truly a person and is equal with the Father and the Son. (Acts 5:3-4; John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14)
(2) We believe that all who are born of the Holy Spirit are thereby baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ, being united with Him in death, burial, and resurrection, which relationship makes available to each believer all the power and resources necessary to live abundantly and victoriously over nature and bondage of sin. (Rom. 6:1-3; 8:11-13; Col. 2:9-13; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph 1:17-21.)
(3) We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the church to do the work of the ministry. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28; Eph. 4:7-12)
(4) We believe that all believers should walk worthy of Christ in all areas of life by virtue of their position in and relationship to the resurrected Lord Jesus and should grow daily in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, resulting in the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit. (Eph 4:1-7; Heb 4:14-16; 2 Pet. 3:14, 18; Gal. 5:22, 23; Col. 1:10)
(5) We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and the gift of healing, were temporary. Speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit. Ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, although God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing. (1 Cor. 1:22; 13:8; 14:21-22)
(F) The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God but that in Adam’s sin, the human race fell, incurred physical and spiritual separation from God, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God. We believe that all mankind, therefore, is born under bondage of sin and with a sinful nature. Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. We believe that the saving grace that God grants to sinners is not related to any initiative of their own part or to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:17; Ps. 51:5; John 6:53; Rom. 3:22-23; 5:12; 6:23; Eph. 1:4-7; 2:1-3; 4:17-19; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:2).
(G) Salvation
We believe that salvation is only by grace, a free gift of God, through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from any human merit or works, which gift is bestowed to all who repent, believe, and confess the Lord Jesus. We believe that salvation is the supernatural act of God whereby man, enabled by the Holy Spirit and through the instrumentality of the Word of God, is brought into a proper relationship with God. It is that act of God where spiritually dead man is, in a moment of time, made spiritually alive. We believe that God, before the foundation of the world, chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies. We believe that sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have eternal life and are thereby born of the Holy Spirit into the family of God, possessing eternal security. (Ps. 3:8; Jonah. 2:9; Luke 24:47; John 1:12, 13; 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:28; Acts 2:38; 4:12; 11:18; 16:30-33; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20; Romans 2:4; 3:21-26; 8:28-30; 10:9; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:4-11; 2:1-2, 8, 9; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 5:12-14)
(H) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
(1) We believe that once a person is saved, he is kept by God’s power and remains secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1Pet. 1:4-5)
(2) We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh. (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15)
(I) The Church
(1) We believe that the Church began on the day of Pentecost. We believe that the local church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is solely made up of born-again believers. (Acts 2; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph.1:22-23; 5:25-27)
(2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament. (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)
(3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or controls, and any affiliations, societies, organizations, associations, or agencies this church affiliates with to further the objectives stated in the Purpose Statement are not authoritative in matters of church practice or belief. (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Pet. 5:1-4)
(4) We believe that Israel is God’s chosen national people. In God’s sovereign will, Israel serves as a channel of His blessing to the entire world for His glory, and His witness to the nations. God’s election of Israel for this unique relationship is irrevocable. We believe Israel is distinct from the church and central to God’s plan-past, present, and future. The unfulfilled prophecies given to Israel in the Old Testament will find their literal fulfillment in Israel at a future time (Gen. 12:3; Gen. 28:13; Ps. 105:6-10; Isa. 43:7, 10; Rom. 11:28-29)
(J) The Ordinances of The Church
We recognize water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 8:36-38; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
(K) Separation
We believe that believers should maintain a godly testimony and live in such a way that that their lives do not bring reproach upon their Savior. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations. We stand against any and all worldly philosophies that seek to destroy or undermine the truth of Biblical Christianity such as liberalism, modernism, higher criticism, evolution, reconstructionism, feminism, replacement theology, successionism, secular humanism, ecumenicism and any other ideology contrary to the Word of God. (Lev. 19:28; Rom. 12:1-2; 14:13; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11)
(L) The Second Coming of Christ
We believe in that blessed hope, the personal, bodily, imminent, premillenial return of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ in the air, who will rapture His Bride, the church, prior to the seven-year Tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will personally and visibly return with His saints to establish His earthly Messianic Kingdom, which was promised to the nation of Israel. (Ps. 89:3-4; Dan. 2:31-45; Zech. 14:4-11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; Titus 2:13; Rev. 3:10; 19:11-16; 20:1-6; 1Thess. 5:9, 10; Acts 1:11; John 14:3; Rev. 20:4-6; 1:7)
(M) The Eternal State
(1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all mankind, the saved to eternal life and everlasting blessedness, and the unsaved to everlasting conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire. (John 5:28, 29; Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:4-6, 11-15.)
(2) 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)
(3) We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection when, with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment. (Matt. 25:41-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-26; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev. 20:11-15)
(N) The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is real and that he is a person; that he is the enemy of God and author of sin, that he is the deceiver and destroyer of men, and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 12:9; 20:10)
(O) Creation
We believe that the Genesis account of creation is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of God’s creation of the universe in six literal, 24-hour periods. We reject evolution, the Gap Theory, the Day-Age Theory, and Theistic Evolution as unscriptural theories of origin. (Gen. 1-2; Ex. 20:11)
(P) Civil Government
We believe that God has ordained and created all authority consisting of three basic institutions: 1) the home, 2) the church, and 3) the state. Every person is subject to these authorities, but all (including the authorities themselves) are answerable to God and governed by His Word. God has given each institution specific Biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in their respective Biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. We believe that we must obey the state unless it requires us to act contrary to our faith, at which time we must obey God rather than the state. (Matt. 22:15-22; Acts 5:29; Rom. 13:1-7; Eph. 5:22-24; Titus 3:1-2; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 2:13-14)
(Q) Human Sexuality and Sexual Immorality
(1) We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between one biological man (genetically male at birth) and one biological woman (genetically female at birth). We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery, hormone therapy or appearance. (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4)
(2) We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one biological man (genetically male at birth) and one biological woman (genetically female at birth) for life. (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23)
(3) All of our members, employees, and volunteers must affirm and adhere to this statement on marriage and human sexuality to qualify for involvement with the ministry. This is necessary to accomplish our religious mission, goals and purpose. Behavior or counter-witnessing that does otherwise will impede and burden our integrity and religious mission.
(R) Family Relationships
(1) We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position and value before God, but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4-5, 12)
(2) We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are an heritage of the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values, as taught in the Holy Bible, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction. (Gen. 1:26-28; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps. 127:3- 5; Prov. 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Mk. 10:6-12; 1 Cor. 7:1-16; Eph. 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Col. 3:18-21; Heb. 13:4; 1 Pet. 3:1-7)
(S) Divorce and Remarriage
We believe that God disapproves of and forbids divorce and intends marriage to last until one of the spouses dies. Divorce and remarriage are regarded as adultery except on the grounds of fornication. (Mal. 2:14-17; Matt. 19:3-12; Rom. 7:1-3)
(T) Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. We reject any teaching that abortions due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the physical or mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44)
(U) Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
We believe that the direct taking of an innocent human life is a moral evil, regardless of the intention. Life is a gift of God and must be respected from conception until natural death. Thus, we believe that an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder contrary to the will of God. Discontinuing medical procedures that are extraordinary or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be a legitimate refusal of over-zealous treatment. (Ex. 20:13, 23:7; Matt. 5:21; Acts 17:28)
(V) Love
We believe that we should demonstrate love for others, not only toward fellow believers, but also toward those who are not believers, those who oppose us, and those who engage in sinful actions. We are to deal with those who oppose us graciously, gently, patiently, and humbly. God forbids the stirring up of strife, the taking of revenge, or the threat or use of violence as a means of resolving personal conflict or obtaining personal justice. Although God commands us to abhor sinful actions, we are to love and pray for any person who engages in such sinful actions. (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 5:44-48; Luke 6:31; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:9-10; 17-21; 13:8-10; Phil. 2:2-4; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; Titus 3:2; 1 John 3:17-18)
(W) Lawsuits Between Believers
We believe that Christians are prohibited from bringing civil lawsuits against other Christians or the church to resolve personal disputes. We believe the church possesses all the resources necessary to resolve personal disputes between members. We do believe, however, that a Christian may seek compensation for injuries from another Christian’s insurance company as long as the claim is pursued without malice or slander. (1 Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31-32; Matt. 18:15-17)
(X) Missions
We believe that God has given the church a great commission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations so that there might be a great multitude from every nation, tribe, ethnic group, and language group who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As ambassadors of Christ, we must use all available means to go to the foreign nations and not wait for them to come to us. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20)
(Y) Giving
We believe that every Christian, as a steward of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to him, is obligated to financially support his local church. We believe that every Christian should give sacrificially and cheerfully to the support of the church, the relief of those in need, and the spread of the Gospel. We believe that a Christian relinquishes all rights to direct the use of his tithe or offering once the gift has been made. (Gen. 14:20; Prov. 3:9-10; Acts 4:34-37; 1 Cor. 16:2; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; 1 Tim. 5:1718; 1 John 3:17)
AUTHORITY OF STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teachings of the Bible and, therefore, is binding upon all members. All literature, whether print or electronic, used in the church shall be in complete agreement with the Statement of Faith.
