What We Believe

The Holy Scriptures

We believe that the Bible, including both the Old and New Testaments as originally given by God, is verbally and plenarily inspired and free from error and is therefore the final and authoritative guide for faith and conduct. (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).

The Godhead

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—and that these three are one God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections, and worthy of precisely the same reverence, confidence, and obedience. (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:1-14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6)

god the father

We believe that God is spirit, infinite, and eternal. He is unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. God the Father has the specific role of Father to the nation Israel, to the Lord Jesus Christ, to all believers in Christ and, more generally, to all mankind. He is the initiator of the plan for the salvation of mankind as well as for the overall Messianic role of Christ. (Exodus 4:22; Psalm 2:7-9, Matthew 3:17; John 3:16; 4:24; Acts 17:29; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:3-10).

the person and work of christ

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, 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 humanity. (John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35)

2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24-25; 1 Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate. (Acts 1:9-10; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2)

the holy spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost. He dwells in every believer and by His baptism unites all believers to Christ in one body. We believe that, in this age, certain well-defined ministries are committed to the Holy Spirit. These ministries include the following: the restraining of evil in the world; the conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment; the regenerating of all believers; the indwelling and anointing of all who are saved, thereby sealing them for the day of redemption; the baptizing into the one body of Christ all who are saved; and the continued filling of those among the saved who are yielded to Him. (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:22; 2 Thess. 2:7; John 3:6; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30, 5:18)

Satan

We believe that Satan is a real, created being, a fallen angel and the author of sin. Under the permission of God, he deceptively led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to a world system that is under his control. He is the open and declared enemy of God and mankind, and shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matt. 4:2-11, 25:41; Eph. 6:11-12; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 20:10)

mankind

We believe that in Adam's sin all subsequent mankind became tainted with sin. As a result, all people are sinners by nature and by practice, eternally condemned apart from the salvation and grace of God. (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 1:18-3:23, 5:12, 6:23)

We believe that mankind was created in the image and likeness of God as male and female. These two distinct, complementary sexes, each individually and together in relationship, reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:18-25; 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 18; 7:2-5; Heb. 13:4).

salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God, offered to all humanity by grace and received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is solely by grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, apart from any human works or merit. It is the Holy Spirit who imparts new life to believers, by the Word of God, and only those thus saved are born again and adopted into the family of God. (Lev. 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 1:12; 3:1-36; 5:24; 6:29; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Rom. 1:16-17; 3:22-26; 4:5; 5:6-9; 10:9-10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13, 22, 6:15; Eph. 1:7; 2:8-9; Phil. 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:18-23)

The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

1. We believe that all believers are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5)

2. We believe that the assurance of the believer's salvation rests upon the testimony of God in His written Word and is also confirmed by the inner witness of the Spirit and a love for other believers. (John 5:24; Rom. 8:16; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 10:22-23; 1 John 3:14; 5:1, 11-13)

sanctification

We believe that every believer is sanctified (set apart) unto God by justification and is therefore declared to be holy and is identified as a saint. This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and is distinct from progressive sanctification which is the work of the Holy Spirit by which over time the practice of the believer is brought into closer alignment to the believer’s position in Jesus Christ. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness, becoming more and more conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ until the day that we shall be “like Him” when we see Him face to face. (John 17:17; Rom. 8:1-17, 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:18, 7:1; Eph. 4:20-24; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 10:10, 14; 1 John 3:1-3).

spiritual gifts

We believe that divine, enabling gifts for service are bestowed by the Spirit upon all who are saved. While there is a diversity of gifts, each believer is energized by the same Spirit, and each is called to his own divinely appointed service as the Spirit may will. (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:11; 1 Peter 4:9-11).

We teach concerning the sign gifts, namely (1) miracle working, (2) healings, (3) tongues, (4) interpretation of tongues, that the first two were the signs of the authority of the early disciples, capturing the attention of the populace, identifying with the work of Christ and attesting to their origin the power of God. These were the credentials the apostles presented to an unbelieving world. The last two were signs to Israel that God was temporarily removing the nation of Israel from the privileged place and now working primarily through the church. Since our understanding is that these sign gifts have served their purpose during the transition from the old covenant to the inauguration of the new, we do not view them as normative spiritual gifts given to individual believers today. If the Spirit of God should choose to use them again, we would expect it to be in line with their “sign” character and in accordance with the guidelines set forth in Scripture (Matt. 21:43; Isaiah 28:11; Romans 11:11-32; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40).

the ordinances

We believe that water baptism and the Lord's Supper are the only ordinances of the church and that they are a Scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8; 1 Cor. 11:26)

the church

We believe that all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of the church which is the body and bride of Christ, established at Pentecost and completely distinct from Israel. Its members are constituted as such regardless of membership or non-membership in the organized local churches. (Matt. 16:16-18; Acts 2:42-47; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:20-23; 4:3-10; Col. 3:14-15)

We believe, however, that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures. It is the responsibility of the local church to worship God in spirit and truth, teach the Word of God, practice love toward one another, observe the ordinances, appoint godly leaders, exercise church discipline, and evangelize the world. (Matthew 28:18-20; John 13:34-35; Acts 14:21-27; 20:17,28-32; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11)

final events

We believe in the personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and the Judge of all mankind to establish His kingdom on earth. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all humanity, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Zech. 14:4-11; Matt. 24:29-31; Acts 17:30-31; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6).

We teach that the imminent coming of Christ to rapture the living members of the Church and to resurrect those dead in Christ will immediately precede the seven-year tribulation. The physical return of Christ to the earth will end the tribulation period and will usher in His 1000-year reign over the earth. His reign is followed by the final judgment of mankind, Satan, and the fallen angels, the creation of a new heaven and new earth, and the ushering in of the eternal joys of heaven for all those who have received salvation in Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Thess. 2:1-12; 2 Peter 3:3-10; Revelation 3:10; 20:1-25; 21:1-22:5).

As a diverse group of believers from different backgrounds and Christian traditions, we understand that there is great value in distinguishing between our core beliefs (non-negotiables) and our firmly held convictions. Our core beliefs are those doctrines of historic, orthodox Christianity. Our firmly held convictions are doctrines about which there may be liberty for a diversity of Christian belief and practice within the same local church fellowship. The doctrinal statement of Community Bible Church recognizes this two-tiered distinction. Our core beliefs are introduced below using the words “We believe.” Our firmly held convictions are introduced with the words “We teach,” indicating that, while there is liberty regarding the particular doctrine, Community Bible Church takes a decided stance and will teach from a particular doctrinal viewpoint.