CONCERNING SCRIPTURES
We believe that the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are both verbally and plenarily
inspired, and are the product of spirit-controlled men and are, therefore,
wholly without error. We believe that the Bible is the supreme revelation
of God's Will for man and is our only rule of life and practice.
We believe in the
importance that the Scriptures must be in agreement with the original
languages which are found in the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and the
Textus Receptus for the New Testament. Therefore, we believe that the most
accurate English translation is the King James Version Bible. This is the
version that will be used by Freedom Bible Ministries.
{Isa. 40:8; John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2
Pet. 1:20-21; Rev. 222:19}
CONCERNING THE TRUE GOD
We believe there is
one and only one true God and that in the unity of the Godhead there are three
persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that they are equal and
execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of Redemption.
{Gen. 17:1; Ex. 20:2-3; Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor.
8:4,6; 2 Cor. 3:17}
CONCERNING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe Jesus
Christ is the Second Person of the Triune God who, without giving up His Deity,
became man by the miracle of the virgin birth in that He was begotten of the
Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin. As the perfect Lamb of God, He
gave Himself in death upon the cross, arose bodily and ascended into Heaven
where He is our High Priest and Advocate with the Father.
{Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; John 1:1-4, 14; 1
Cor. 15:3,4; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 4:14-16, 7:25}
CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy
Spirit is a person, equal with God, who convicts the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment; that He is the Supernatural Agent of redemption,
and simultaneous with regeneration, baptizes all believers into the Body of
Christ, indwelling them eternally and sealing them unto the Day of Redemption.
{John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:12-14;
Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30}
CONCERNING THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN
We believe that man was
created in the image of, and in the likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin, the
whole human race fell; inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God;
that man is depraved and of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost
condition.
{Gen. 1:26-28, 3:6; Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:22,23, 5:12}
CONCERNING SALVATION
We believe that Salvation is the Gift
of God, offered freely to all men, by grace and received by personal faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the
forgiveness of our sins.
{John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 15:3; Eph.
2:8,9; 1 Pet. 1:3-5}
CONCERNING ETERNAL SECURITY
We believe that all,
once born again by the Spirit of God, are kept by God's power alone, and are
thus in Christ forever, sealed by the Holy Ghost.
{John 3:15,16, 5:24; Rom. 8:1, 35-39;
Eph. 1:13,14; Phil. 1:6; 1 Pet. 1:3-5}
We believe that it is
the privilege of the believer to rejoice in the assurance of his salvation
through the testimony of God's Word, which however, clearly forbids the use of
Christian Liberty for a cloak of carelessness in living.
{John 8:31. 34; Rom. 8:5, 13:13,14; 1 John
2:1,2,6; 3:3, 6-10}
CONCERNING THE NEW NATURE OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that every saved person
possesses the provision made for victory of the new man over the old through the
power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; that all claims to the eradication of the
sin nature in this life are un-scriptural.
{Rom. 6:13, 8:12,13; Gal. 5:16-25; Col. 3:9;
1 Pet. 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9}
CONCERNING SATAN
We believe that the
Scriptures teach that there is a personal Devil who is the "god of this
age," the prince of the power of the air, who is full of all subtlety, who
seeks continually to frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of
men, and who was conquered by Christ on the cross and is condemned to
everlasting punishment.
{Job 1:6,7; Isa. 14:12-17; 2 Cor. 4:4,
11:13-15; Eph. 2:2; Heb. 2:14; Rev. 12:9, 20:10}
CONCERNING CREATION
We believe the
Genesis account of Creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal
account of the direct creative acts of God. No evolution was
employed. All men are descendants of the historical Adam and Eve.
{Gen. 1, 2; John 1:3}
CONCERNING RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WICKEDNESS
We believe only those
who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are righteous in the sight
of God. Those who continue in unbelief are, in God's sight, wicked and
under the curse and face everlasting conscious suffering.
{Mal. 3:18; Prov. 14:32; Rom. 6:17,18}
CONCERNING HEAVEN AND HELL
We believe that the
saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven, that their works
shall be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for the determination of
rewards which will take place at the time when Christ comes for His own; that
the spirits of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they
are kept under punishment until the final day of judgment, at which time their
bodies shall be raised from the grave, that they shall be judged and cast into
Hell, the place of final and everlasting punishment.
{Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:42-48; Luke 16:19-31;
John 14:1-5; 2 Cor. 5:8-10; Rev. 20:11-15}
CONCERNING REPENTANCE
We believe that
repentance is a change of mind and purpose from sin toward God; that it is
characterized by Godly sorrow for sin that separates man from God, and that true
repentance is inseparably related to true faith.
{Acts 2:38, 3:19, 20:21}
CONCERNING REMISSION
We believe that
remission (forgiveness) of sins is only received through and because of the shed
Blood of Jesus Christ.
{Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22; 1 John 1:7}
CONCERNING THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that
through Jesus Christ every believer has direct access into God's presence
without the need of a human priest; that every believer has the right and
responsibility related to true faith.
{Heb. 4:16; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 2:9}
CONCERNING SEPARATION
We believe that the
Scriptures teach that the believer should be separated unto God from the world
and from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations, such as the
National and World Council of Churches. This doctrine is based upon God's
eternal command to be separate from unbelievers and disobedient brethren.
This truth is to be practiced with an attitude of devotion, humility,
compassion, and yet with conviction, to create the proper condition and
atmosphere for the main objective. (i.e.) the salvation of the lost
through the Gospel of God. The twentieth century emphasis of ecumenical
evangelism which involves apostates and disobedient evangelicals is to be
denounced.
{Matt. 10:34-39, 18:15; Rom. 16-17; 1 Cor. 5:7-13;
2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:8,9; 1 Tim. 6:3-6; 2 Tim. 2:16-18;
Titus 3:10; 2 John 9-11}
CONCERNING THE RAPTURE AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
We believe in the
imminent pre-millennial return of Christ for His Church and at that moment the
dead in Christ shall be raised in glorified bodies, and the living in Christ
shall be caught up (raptured) to meet the Lord in the air before the seventieth
week of Daniel (Tribulation Period).
{1 Cor. 15:42-44, 51-54; Phil. 3:20,21; 1 Thess.
4:13-18; Rev. 3:10}
We believe that the
Great Tribulation, which follows the Rapture of the Church will be culminated by
the Revelation (2nd. Coming) of Christ in power and great glory to sit upon the
Throne of David and to establish the Millennial Reign.
{Acts 2:29,30; Rev. 20:1-4, 6}
