We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God without error and is our final authority for faith and peace.
We believe that a man is born a sinner and must be born again to enter into Heaven.
We believe in God's plan for salvation. |
Scripture
We believe all Scripture was given by verbal, complete, and inerrant inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16) and God has promised to preserve every jot and title of what He inspired (Matt. 5:18).
Trinity
We believe in the one true God who is manifest in three eternal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7; Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19).
Jesus Christ
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is fully and literally God in human form (I Tim. 3:16), He was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), and in the womb of a virgin named Mary (Isa. 7:14) received a human body. We believe He was tempted by Satan in all points like we are, yet without sin (Matt. 4:1-11; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 2:16). We believe He allowed Himself to be crucified in order to pay the penalty deserved for all our sin (Rom. 5:11-21), He literally and bodily rose again from the grave on the third day (1 Cor. 15:3-4), and He now sits on the right hand of the Father in heaven (Col. 3:1).
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God and the current, earthly manifestation of God
and the current, earthly manifestation of God through His indwelling of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:16; John 16:7), and that He seals the believer and baptizes (immerses) him into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation (1 Cor. 12:13) with the goal of teaching God's Word and conforming the believer to the very image of Christ (Eph. 1:3-14; 1 Cor. 2:9-16; 2 Cor. 3:17-18). We believe all spiritual blessings are received at the time of salvation (Eph. 1:3), the Spirit gives gifts to every believer as He (the Spirit) wills so the believer might effectively communicate the love of Christ (1 Cor. 12-13), and the modern tongues movement is not according to Scripture (1 Cor. 14).
Satan
We believe Satan is a real, historical being, a fallen cherub who was lifted up in pride and rebelled against God, leading an army of angelic beings with him (Isa. 14:12-17). His defeat was sealed by the work of Christ on the cross (Heb. 2:14). His final destiny is the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).
Adam & Eve
We believe the Genesis account of creation are historical, not allegorical or figurative. We believe Adam was an historical person, created by the direct act of God and in His image (Gen. 1-2). Adam chose to sin against God through the free will God gave him and reaped the wages of death. As the originator of the human race, Adam passed his sinful nature to all mankind (Rom. 5:12). All men are sinners by birth and become sinners in experience (Rom. 3) for which the wages are death (Rom. 6:23).
Salvation
We believe salvation is by God's grace alone on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and in His resurrection, appropriated by the faith of anyone who will personally believe in his heart and confess with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 10:9-10). We believe the act of salvation is just as definite and decisive as physical birth (John 3:1-7). We believe this salvation cannot be reversed or lost and believers are kept by the power of God (John 10:28-29; 1 John 2:19; Rom. 8:35-39; 1 Pet 1:5).
Judgement
We believe all men will spend eternity either with Christ or eternally separated from Him. We believe the lost who die, wait in a literal Hell for the day of final judgment where they will be assigned to the proper degree of punishment in a literal lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). We believe those who have accepted Christ as Savior will experience a bodily resurrection to everlasting life (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-58).
What Hope for Life believes regarding:
Sickness and Healing
We believe our ways are not God's ways (Isa. 55:8) We may not fully understand why we suffer, why some are healed and some are allowed to endure until death. We believe that Bible gives us clear direction of how we are to react to suffering, regardless of whether we understand its purpose. To Jesus, physical healing and spiritual healing were always part of the same package-spiritual healing was his true focus. Jesus was willing to perform "signs and wonders" but only to get people into the kingdom. He wasn't on earth just to heal bodies but to save souls and redeem lives.
God heals-but He does it his own way. And He wants to heal the whole person, not just a disease.
Mortality
We believe that as difficult as it is, coming face to face with our mortality is absolutely necessary if we are to live life to the full. When we are ready to die, we are ready to live. (John 10:10b.) When coming face to face with a life-threatening illness, we have no choice but to deal with the reality of our own mortality. It's not morbid to think about death. Doing so probes our deepest feelings and beliefs. Facing our mortality begs the question of where we find our hope. Facing our mortality is a necessary step toward finding a hope that will not disappoint us even in the midst of life's most tumultuous storms. (II Cor. 4:16-18)
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