Articles of Faith with Explanations

1. We believe in the one true and living God, and that there are three persons in the God-

     head, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Explanation:  The scriptures teach God’s existence as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit), yet these are One in perfect agreement in every way.  He is the Sovereign Creator, Upholder, and Judge of all.  God is immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternally perfect.

God is sovereign:  God exercises total control in Heaven and in Earth by direct cause, or by His permissive will.

God is Creator:  God created all things that were created by speaking them into existence, with one exception.  He created man in His own image, male and female, fashioning them from the earth.

God is Upholder:  God holds all His creation in place by His own power.

God is Judge:  God is Judge of the righteous and the wicked.  His judgments are perfect in every way.

God is Immutable:  God does not change.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God is Omnipotent:  God’s power is inexhaustible.

God is Omnipresent:  God is everywhere present and nowhere absent at all times.

God is Omniscient:  God has infinite knowledge of all things.

God is Eternally Perfect:  God has always been and will forever be good in every way.

2.  We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the written and inspired word of God, the New Testament is     

     the only rule of practice for the Church of the living God,  and that the Authorized King James translation of 1611 is  the true   

     and best English translation of the Holy Scriptures. 

     Explanation:  Scripture teaches that God is the Author of all scripture.  He called and caused men to write every word by His  

     irresistible power.

The Old Testament is primarily the history of the fall of man, God’s old covenant with the nation of Israel, and prophecies of the coming Messiah, our Savior. 

The New Testament is primarily the revelation of God’s new covenant, the unfolding of redemption (recovery of fallen man) by the blood of Jesus Christ, the establishment of the New Testament Church and it’s practices, and the details of Christ’s second coming.

3.   We believe the doctrine of eternal and particular election.

Explanation:  God, having perfect knowledge, knew man would be separated from Him by   sin, and chose His family from among the human race before the creation of our world.  They were not chosen based on their good works, but based only on the good pleasure of God’s will. 

This election was sealed by covenant with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  The Father gave them to the Son.  The Son covenanted to give His life for theirs, and the Holy Ghost would indwell all the elect.  They were predestinated, which is to say their destination was predetermined for Eternal Heaven before the world began.

4.   We believe the doctrine of original sin.

Explanation:  The origin or beginning of sin was by the first man, Adam, who disobeyed God.  This disobedience placed the entire human race in a state of total depravity, corrupting them from the state of innocence in which Adam was created.  The sinful seed was passed on to all mankind as they began to multiply, filling the earth with sinners.

5.   We believe man is impotent to recover himself from his fallen state by his own free will and ability.

Explanation:  Death is the result of sin.  God told Adam when he disobeyed he would die in that same day.  Death is a separation.  Adam’s sin caused a separation of fellowship with God, and would eventually cause his natural death also.  Just as man can not generate life from natural death by an act of his will, he is also impotent, or helpless, to recover himself from the state of death in sin, that leaves him separated from fellowship with God.  By man’s fallen nature it is in his nature to sin.  The natural man is corrupt in all his parts, (totally depraved) has no desire for God, and does not see his need for a Savior.

6.   We believe sinners are justified in the sight of God only by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Explanation:  The covenant made between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (see Article 3) was God’s plan to recover His family from their fallen state.  The fulfillment of the covenant began when the Holy Ghost came upon the virgin, Mary, and Jesus was conceived in her womb, God being His Father.  He was the Son of man and the Son of God.

Jesus was born, lived a perfectly righteous life, and then offered Himself to God as a holy sacrifice for the sins of His elect, by way of crucifixion.  Jesus took the sins of the entire elect family in His own body, and suffered the wrath of God on their behalf.  God accepted the sacrifice, raising Him from the dead, and imputed, or credited His elect with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

7.   We believe all of God’s elect will be called, regenerated, and sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

Explanation:  As scripture teaches that man is dead in sin, it also teaches that we must be born again, or from above, before we can see the Kingdom of God.  God will call, or speak to the heart, of every one of His elect at some point after their conception, but before their natural death.  This is an irresistible call.  It regenerates, or imparts a new, eternal, spiritual life.  The Holy Spirit indwells the child of God, sanctifying them, or setting them apart.  (Refer to Article 3 – the covenant)  This seals, or identifies their ownership by God.

8.   We believe the Saints shall be preserved in grace and never ultimately fall away.

Explanation:  God’s elect family will be preserved eternally because of their covenant relationship with Him.  However the sinful nature remains with the child of God even after they are given spiritual life.  When they sin, the Lord in His mercy is faithful to correct, chasten, or discipline them as needed.  If there is a failure to repent, the child of God can fall away from fellowship and lose the joy of their salvation in a temporary since.  Nevertheless, the new nature is eternal, given by the grace, or unmerited favor of God.  Children of God are preserved, or kept by this eternal grace forever, and will never fall away in an eternal sense.

9.   We believe in the resurrection of the dead and a general judgment. 

Explanation:  When the entire elect family has been born again (see Article 7), Christ will return.  The graves will open and the souls of all who have died will be reunited with their new immortal (forever alive) bodies.  Those who are alive when He returns will be changed to immortals.  There will be a general judgment of the entire human race.

The wicked will be judged for their wicked works and receive their just punishment.  They will be totally separated from God forever, when He casts them into Hell.

Those made righteous by the blood of Jesus will stand before God justified. (“just as if” they had never sinned).  The elect will receive the reward of the inheritance that Jesus purchased for them with His own precious blood: their home in heaven.

10. We believe the punishment of the wicked will be everlasting and the joys of the righteous will be eternal. 

Explanation:  The scriptures teach that the duration for the punishment of the wicked and the joys of the righteous will both be eternal.

11. We believe baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper are ordinances, Washing of the Saints Feet is an example given to us by Jesus Christ, and true believers are the only participants of these ordinances and examples which they should observe.

Explanation:  Those who have heard and believed the gospel are commanded to repent, or turn away from their sins and follow Christ, be baptized, and to not forsake assembling themselves with believers.

Immersion, or being completely submerged beneath the water, is the proper biblical example of the ordinance of baptism.  It is a clear picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

The Lord’s Supper is another ordinance, or commanded practice, and should be observed often, in remembrance of Christ.  Unleavened bread, or bread prepared without the fermentation process, and real wine as opposed to grape juice, are the proper biblical emblems for Christ’s body and blood.  These emblems depict the purity of His sinless body.

After Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He taught servitude to His disciples.  After supper was ended, He, being their Lord and Master, girded Himself with a towel, stooped to a lowly posture, and washed their feet.  He told them that those who seek to be great in the Kingdom of Heaven should be servant of all.  He admonished them to find happiness in following His example.  Practicing this example literally, helps the Church remember His life as a servant, accompanied with the remembrance of His death.

12. We believe only ministers who have been biblically called and had “the laying on      

of  hands” of a presbytery, have the right to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Explanation: When God calls men to the office of Minister, the Church will recognize this gift and calling.  In an appointed time, the church should publicly recognize the call, form a presbytery, or group of Preachers, and ordain the man to his office.  The administration, or supervision, of church ordinances should be delegated only to Ministers, who have been ordained by this biblical procedure.  (This office is also referred to elsewhere in the scripture as Preacher, Elder, and Bishop.)