Articles Of Faith
PREFACE
1 In Matthew 6:18, Jesus prophetically stated; “… I will build my church…” The many types and shadows of the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple worship were pointing toward the New Testament period and the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus showed Himself alive to many of His disciples for forty days. He left them with the promise of the Spirit returning to indwell them (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:5-8).
On the Jewish Feast day of Pentecost, 30 A.D., a group of one hundred and twenty faithful followers of Jesus were gathered in Jerusalem in an upper room. Suddenly they were overwhelmed with the promised Spirit. They began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. Thus the Church was born! As the Apostle Peter spoke to the gathered throng, 3,000 others were likewise added to the original group of one hundred twenty.
Since this beginning in Jerusalem, the Church spread as the apostles carried the Gospel forth into the world. At the death of the apostles and the conclusion of their writings, which we recognize as New Testament Epistles, those whom they had ordained continued their message with signs following. During the intervening centuries, the true Church of Jesus Christ has known much tribulation and persecution at the hand of those who oppose her message. Yet in every century the Lord has had a witness and the Church has had a voice.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, God chose the United States to pour out the Latter Rain of His Spirit. Revival fires began to spread as people began to seek a deeper experience with God. Soon thousands were filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ here in the United States. Then, Missionaries were sent out into other countries carrying the Gospel. Thus America became a great bastion for Apostolic truth in the twentieth century. In every state the Apostolic Message spread and churches were founded.
From these churches, groups began to form as churches and men of God united their efforts to do more for God. Through the efforts of these faithful witnesses the Commission of Jesus Christ to “…preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), is being fulfilled.
WE BELIEVE the Bible to be inspired of God; the infallible Word of God. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is the only God-given authority which man possesses; therefore, all doctrine, faith, hope, and all instruction for the church must be based upon, and harmonize with, the Bible.
It is to be read and studied by all men everywhere, and can only be clearly understood by those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27)."... no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:20, 21).
THE ONE TRUE GOD We believe in the one ever-living, eternal God: infinite in power, Holy in nature, attributes and purpose; and possessing absolute, indivisible deity. This one true God has revealed Himself as Father, through His Son, in redemption; and as the Holy Spirit, by emanation. (1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 5:19; Joel 2:28).
The Scripture does more than attempt to prove the existence of God; it asserts, assumes and declares that the knowledge of God is universal. (Romans 1:19, 21, 28, 32; 2:15). God is invisible, incorporeal, without parts, without body, and therefore free from all limitations. He is Spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit hath not flesh and bones. (Luke 24:39).
The first of all the commandments is, hear, 0 Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord" (Mark 12:29; Deut. 6:4). "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Eph. 4:6). This one true God manifested Himself in the Old Testament in divers ways; in the Son while He walked among men; as the Holy Spirit after the ascension.
THE SON OF GOD The one true God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, took upon Himself the form of man, and as the Son of man, was born of the Virgin Mary. As Paul says "and without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Timothy 3:16). "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:11). This one true God was manifest in the flesh, that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. ". . God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. . ." (2 Cor. 5:19). We believe that, ". . in Him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). "For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell" (Col. 1:19).
Therefore, Jesus in His humanity was man; in His deity was and is God. His flesh was the lamb, or the sacrifice of God. He is the only mediator between God and man. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus on His Father's side was divine, on His mother's side, human; Thus, He was known as the Son of God and also the son of man, or the God-man. "For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him" (1 Cor. 15:27). "And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8).
THE NAME God used different titles, such as "God Elohim", "El Shaddai", "Jehovah", and especially "Jehovah Lord", the redemptive name in the Old Testament. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: ... and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).
This prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled when the Son of God was named, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His People from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
CREATION OF MAN AND HIS FALL In the beginning God created man , pure and holy; but through the sin of disobedience, Adam and Eve, the first of the human race, fell from their holy state, and God banished them from Eden. Hence by one man's disobedience, sin entered into the world. (Gen. 1:27; Rom. 3:23, 5:12).
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION Pardon and forgiveness of sins is obtained by genuine repentance, a confessing and forsaking of sins. We are justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). John the Baptist preached repentance, Jesus proclaimed it, and the Apostles emphasized it to both Jews and Gentiles. (Acts 2:38, 11:18, 17:30).
The word "repentance" comes from several Greek words which mean, change of views and purpose, change of heart, change of mind, change of life, to transform, etc. Jesus said, -except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). Luke 24:47 says, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
WATER BAPTISM The scriptural mode of baptism is immersion, and is only for those who have fully repented, having turned from their sins and a love of the world. It should be administered by a duly authorized minister of the Gospel, in obedience to the Word of God, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Acts of the Apostles 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5; thus obeying and fulfilling Matthew 28:19.
THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT John the Baptist, in Matthew 3:11, said, "...He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."Jesus, in Acts 1:5, said, "...ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." Luke tells us in Acts 2:4, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues (languages), as the Spirit gave them utterance." The terms "baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire," "filled with the Holy Spirit," and the "gift of the Holy Ghost" are synonymous terms used interchangeably in the Bible.
It is scriptural to expect all who receive the gift, filling, or baptism of the Holy Spirit to receive the same physical, initial sign of speaking with other tongues. The speaking with other tongues, as recorded in Acts 2:4, 10:46, and 19:6, and the gift of tongues, as explained in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14, are the same in essence, but different in use and purpose.
The Lord, through the Prophet Joel, said, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; ..." (Joel 2:28). Peter, in explaining this phenomenal experience, said, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He (Jesus) hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." (Acts 2:33). Further, "...The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:39)
MARRIAGE We believe the sanctity of marriage in the bonding of one man and one woman as recorded in the Word of God. We believe that God ordained one man and one woman to be united together in holy matrimony.
God ordained marriage and the family as the foundational institution of human society, and that the only legitimate marriage is a sacred and permanent covenant relationship between one man and one woman, symbolizing the union of Christ and His Church.
Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said,It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him.
Genesis 2:21-25 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man.Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Ephesians 5:21-33 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. nevertheless let ever y one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
HUMAN SEXUALITY We believe God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity is to be engaged in outside of marriage of a man and a woman. Any form of child molestation, fornication, adultery,homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, bisexuality, incest, pedophilia, or pornography is a sinful perversion of God’s gift of sex.
We believe God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance. Genesis 2:22-24; 19:5, 13; Leviticus 18:1-30; Matthew19:4-6; Romans 1:26-29; 7:2; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-23; 1Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4