Our Statement of Faith is what we teach.
While there is some room for disagreement on non-salvation issues, we do require that prospective members read our Statement of Faith and agree to sit under and submit to our teaching.
I. GOD
We believe in the one and only living God: omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and eternal. He is one in essence, existing in three distinct Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is perfectly righteous, holy, and sovereign, worthy of worship and complete obedience.
Psalms 33:13-14; Isaiah 46:9-10; 57:15; Job 42:2; Psalms 33:6; 90:2; Matthew 3:16-17; 1 John 3:20
God the Father is the First Person of the Trinity. He created the world and everything in it. He is the source and initiator of divine revelation and salvation. He sent His son Jesus Christ to save the world to fulfill his plan of salvation. He holds the universe together. His plans will always be done.
Genesis 1:1; John 3:16; Romans 11:36
God the Son is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity. God the Father worked through the Son to create the universe, give revelation, and fulfill redemption. The Eternal Son took on human flesh, known as the incarnation, surrendering his divine rights but never his divine essence.
The God-Man Jesus Christ, perfectly God and perfectly man, is the promised Messiah, through whom the Father draws his elected children. He died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead on the third day, fulfilling the divine plan of salvation. Through his death and resurrection, we have salvation and forgiveness of sin.
John 1:14; 3:16; 6:37; Acts 2:31-33; Ephesians 2:5-8
God the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is the means by whom the Father created and maintains the universe, reveals divine truth, and authors salvation. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, teaches truth, regenerates sinners, and baptizes believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and powering them to live holy, obedient lives. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all believers to glorify Christ and edify His church. Some gifts, such as speaking in tongues and other sign gifts, were given to authenticate the apostles and their message, and were not meant to be a continuing mark of the church.
Job 26:13; 33:4; Psalms 33:6; 104:30; John 3:5-7; 16:7-9; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
We believe the Trinitarian God is Lord of Heaven and Earth – great, fearsome, mighty, and wondrous. He is the Lord Who Commands Armies, the Only Wise God, the Ruler and Director of Men. He has decreed all of history and will see it come to pass on His terms.
He keeps a watchful eye on all of creation. He humbles the proud and exalts the humble. He saves the penitent and punishes the unrighteous. He alone deserves all glory, honor, and praise as the one true God.
Exodus 4:11; Deuteronomy 6:4; James 4:6; Jude 23-25
II. THE BIBLE
We believe God has revealed Himself in a singular book – the Bible – which He authored, by His Spirit, through the hands and personalities of mortal men.
The Bible is 66 books (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament) – equally inspired, absolute truth that is inerrant, infallible, and authoritative. It is eternally relevant, trustworthy, and final. The Bible contains everything we need to know and live by. It is our resource necessary for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
GFC believes that the Holy Scriptures are complete, authoritative, necessary and sufficient (C.A.N.S. – Complete, Authoritative, Necessary, Sufficient).
We are committed to a literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible and to preaching its every divinely-inspired word through expository preaching.
We carefully study Scripture in its original context to see what the author is actually saying that we might faithfully proclaim the correct meaning of the text and communicate the word of God.
Ezra 7:10; Nehemiah 8:1-10; Psalms 119; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 4:2; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:21
III. MAN AND SIN
We believe God made man in his own image – an intelligent, rational, and emotional being, originally sinless and in perfect fellowship with God. Adam’s sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden plunged the world into sin and decay, bringing spiritual and physical death to mankind.
We fell out of fellowship with the Creator, incurring his wrath instead. As a result, man is born adrift from God, under divine judgement, dead in his sins and trespasses. None is righteous and no one seeks after God.
We are responsible and culpable for our wrongdoing and we will all be held accountable by God. The punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from Holy God in eternal hell.
Genesis 2:7; 3:1-19; Romans 3:23; 6:23; James 3:9
IV. SALVATION
We believe that forgiveness and deliverance from the penalty and power of sin can be found in the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ. We cannot earn salvation by our good deeds; it is a gracious gift of God so that no one can boast.
2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:8-9
Election. In eternity past, before the foundation of the world, God sovereignly chose in Christ those whom He would call, regenerate, save, and sanctify and glorify. All the Father calls to himself will come and He will never turn away those who receive Him in faith.
Mark 13;20; John 6:37, 44; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Timothy 2:10
Regeneration. Man is dead in his trespasses and has no capacity to save himself. Just as a leopard cannot change his spots, or a dead man raise himself from the grave, neither can a sinful man resuscitate his heart to spiritual life.
Regeneration is a sovereign act of God where the Spirit, by the power of the Word of God, quickens life in a sinner, enabling him to repent of his sins and embrace Christ as Lord and Savior.
Jeremiah 13:23; John 5:24
Justification. Upon repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a sinner is declared righteous by God. His sins are imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to him. Justification is not something we earn; it is a divine declaration based on the finished atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
John 19:30; Romans 1:17
Sanctification. Upon justification we are also declared sanctified – holy and set apart. This is positional sanctification. Progressive sanctification is our daily journey towards Christ-likeness, where the Spirit empowers us to grow in grace, do good deeds, repent from sin, and obey Christ. It is a constant battle between our fallen flesh and new nature, with the promise of victory through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
John 17:17; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:5-9
Glorification. The final state of the believer after physical death; the blessed culmination of our sanctification journey. We will be united with Christ in heaven, living eternally, glorified, fully and finally free from the earthly effects of sin.
Philippians 1:6, 23; 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:42-43
Security. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ can never lose their salvation; He will sovereignly keep them until the final day. Because God chose those he would save, calls and regenerates them, justifies and sanctifies them, he will also keep them from falling away until glorification. The believer’s security is predicated not on what he does but on the finished work of Christ.
1 Peter 1:4-5; Jude 24
Professing Christians who apostatize and fall away were never true believers in the first place.
Matthew 7:21-23; 1 John 2:19
V. THE CHURCH
We believe the church is made up of every true believer who has been regenerated, saved, and kept by Jesus Christ in this present age. The church is the body and bride of Christ, a living organism of believers united by the Holy Spirit, regardless of geographic location. We are universally united but expressed in different local ways.
Grace Fellowship Church is one such body of local believers, called to represent Jesus, grow in faith, preach and teach his Word, observe His ordinances, love one another, and advance His spiritual kingdom.
Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 2:9-10
Elders. Christ is the head of his church. He sovereignly assigns leaders for each local church – male elders (also known as bishops, pastors, and pastor-teachers) who lead as a plurality. Each must meet the biblical qualifications of church leadership outlined in the New Testament.
1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 1:1-5
Ordinances. We observe two ordinances; Baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Table, commanded by the Lord to be kept by all believers; the former as a public testimony of a believer’s identification, confession and commitment to following Jesus Christ, the latter a commemoration of the redeeming work of the life and death of Jesus.
Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 2:38-42; 8:36-39; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Worship. We gather to corporately worship God every Sunday, the Lord’s Day, through singing, giving, listening to the Word, prayer, and fellowship with one another. We also meet during the week for micro fellowship, classes, and Bible studies.
Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Hebrews 10:23-25
Evangelism. We seek to reach the lost by preaching and teaching the one true gospel of Jesus to the unsaved in every corner of the earth. We teach people to obey Christ and become his disciples.
Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:17; 2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Peter 3:15
Discipline. We believe in the mandate of church discipline as a channel of grace to members who, because of continued, unrepentant sinfulness, need Biblical correction and, if necessary, exclusion from membership.
Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:15; 1 Timothy 5:1-2; Titus 1:13; 2:15
VI. ANGELS AND DEMONS
We believe there are spiritual forces at work in the unseen world, namely Holy Angels and Fallen Angels. Holy angels are created beings, in a higher order than man, who exist to worship and serve God. Fallen angels are led by Satan, a created angel who fell away from God, taking with him a number of angels in rebellion against the creator. Satan is the author of sin and introduced it into this world through his temptation of Eve.
Satan is the enemy of God and man. However, he is defeated through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and will one day be eternally punished in the lake of fire.
Genesis 3:1-15; Psalms 8:5; Isaiah 14:12-17; Hebrews 2:7
VII. MAN’S ETERNAL DESTINY
Death and Resurrection. We believe every person has been appointed a time of physical death where his soul will separate from his body to face the Creator. If he is redeemed, he will immediately be in the presence and joy of Christ, to await the resurrection of his body, which at Christ’s return will be reunited with his soul to be glorified forever with God.
The souls of the unsaved will be kept in a state of punishment until the final Judgement, where they too will be reunited with their bodies to face God and final judgement.
2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 20:13-15
Judgment. Unbelievers who rejected Jesus Christ shall be cast into hell, the lake of fire, cut off from the life of God to endure eternal bodily torment. It is an irreversible and just punishment.
Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10; 21:8
Believers in Christ will be rewarded for their faith, receiving the promises of God, the fullness of eternal life, and His blessed presence forever and ever.
John 5:22, 28-29; Revelation 20:11-15
VIII. FUTURE THINGS
The Rapture of the Church. We teach the bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ before the seven-year tribulation period to translate His church from this earth and, between this event and his glorious return with his saints, to reward believers according to their works.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 15:51-53; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11; Titus 2:13
The Tribulation Period. We teach that immediately following the removal of the church from the earth the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving world and that these judgments will climax at the return of Christ in glory to the earth. At that time, the Old Testament and tribulation saints will be raised and the living will be judged. This period includes the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy.
Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:15-31; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 6-18
The Second Coming and the Millennium. We teach that after the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David and establish his Messianic kingdom for 1000 years on the earth. During this time, the resurrected saints will reign with him over Israel and all the nations of the earth. This reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world.
Ezekiel 37:21-28; Matthew 25:31; Acts 1:10-11; 2:29-30; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-7
We teach that the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel to restore them to the land which they forfeited through their disobedience.
The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside but will be again be awakened through repentance to enter the land of blessing.
Isaiah 65:17-25; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-32; 37:21-28; Zechariah 8:1-17; Matthew 21:43; Romans 11:1-26
We teach that this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life, and will be concluded with the release and final judgement of Satan.
Isaiah 11; 65:17-25; Ezekiel 36:33-38; Revelation 20:7-10
Jesus Christ is and will be fully victorious over the great tribulation, the coming Antichrist, and the final days of apostasy.
Revelation 20-22
IX. SOCIAL ISSUES
Homosexuality/ Sexual Immorality. We believe that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, pedophilia, pornography, or any attempt to change one’s sex is sinful and an abomination to the Lord.
We believe that every person regardless of the lack of understanding on these matters must be shown love, compassion and respect. We believe that God forgives and delivers those who forsake their sins, which includes homosexuality, and that God can redeem and straighten their ways.
Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Marriage. We believe in marriage as defined by the Holy Scriptures as the joining of a man and woman in a single, exclusive and lasting union. This union has to be recognized by the Philippine government in order for it to be recognized by the church as valid and binding.
Genesis 2:22-24; Matthew 19:5-6; Hebrews 13:4
Abortion. We believe that abortion is in direct opposition to the 6th commandment that says, “You shall not murder” in Exo. 20:13. We understand that life begins at conception and not at birth. Never will GFC promote or condone the killing of unborn babies in any way or form.
Exodus 20:13; Psalms 139:13-16
Civil Government. We believe that every person is subject to our country’s leadership and must understand that the government and its leaders have been instituted by God; and we pray for whoever is in power as the New Testament instructs us to. We, therefore, are to submit to the authority of our government until or unless it commands us to do something the Bible forbids or forbids us to do what the Bible commands.
Romans 13:1-7
Note: GFC has modeled its Statement of Faith in part on that of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley CA., USA.