Live By Faith Website Banner

The Bible

The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.  It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.  Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.  It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world true center of Christian union, and is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, and religious opinions should be tried.  All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

God

There is one and only one living and true God.  The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purpose of His grace.  God is Father in truth to those who become children through the faith in Jesus Christ

God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God.  In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men and sin.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine.  He exalts Christ.  He convicts men of sin, of righteousness and of judgement.  He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Man

Man is the special creation of God, in His own image.  He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation.  By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.  The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and that Christ died for man; therefore every person of every race possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Salvation

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.  In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, and glorification.

God’s Purpose of Grace

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners.  All true believers endure to the end.  Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water.  It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby we memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

Evangelism and Missions

It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations, and to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ.

Last Things

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end.  Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly.  The dead will be raised, and Jesus will judge all men in righteousness.  The unrighteous will be consigned to hell.  The righteous will receive their reward and will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord.

Stewardship

God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have anew owe to Him.  Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions.  They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.

The Christian and the Social Order

All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society.  In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality.  We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick.  We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.

Religious Liberty

Church and state should be separate.  The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends.  A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal

Family

God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society.  It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption.  Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime.

 

Above we have added a brief description to most of our core beliefs.  To see a greater description and complete list of beliefs please click here