STATEMENT OF FAITH OF ABIDE CHURCH
The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible was written by men who were divinely inspired, and it is God’s revelation of Himself and His love to mankind. We believe the Bible is the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. Therefore, all scripture is authoritative, true, trustworthy, and inerrant. The Scriptures are the only sufficient guidance for salvation, faith, instruction, doctrine, and practice.
Exodus 24:4, Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 17:19, Psalm 19:7-10, Isaiah 34:16, Luke 21:33, John 17:17, Acts 17:11, Romans 15:4, 2 Timothy 3:15-17
God
We believe there is only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing, with perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, worship, and obedience. The name of God is precious, Holy, and not to be used in vain. The eternal God exists in three distinct persons, known as the Trinity and God reveals Himself to us as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but all of the same nature, spirit, and being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over the entirety of His creation. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, full of grace and mercy, and all wise. God is the Father to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.
Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11; 20:1;Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.
God the Son, Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God sent to the world as the person of Jesus Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
Psalms 2:7-12; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired men to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth, leads men to walk with Jesus Christ, and edifies the believer. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to salvation in Jesus Christ. At the moment of salvation, He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He is the Helper promised by Jesus Christ who cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.
Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.
Mankind
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created mankind male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin, dwelt with God in the garden, and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By mankind’s own free choice, they sinned against God and brought sin to all mankind. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby creation as a whole full under a course and all mankind has a predisposed sinful nature. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect, compassion, kindness, and Christian love. We believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end; and that we must have concern for the physical and spiritual needs of our fellowmen.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
Salvation
We believe that God offers the free gift of salvation to all who confess and turn away from their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We believe that it is only by the name of Jesus Christ that anyone can be saved.
John 3:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 4:11-12, Ephesians 2:8
Evangelism and Discipleship
We believe that the ministry of evangelism is believers sharing and proclaiming the message of salvation only possible by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and discipleship is helping followers of Christ grow in their knowledge and walk with Him. Evangelism and discipleship is a responsibility of all followers of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:9-15; 1 Peter 3:15.
Heaven and Hell
We believe there is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell. All mankind who place their faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord. Those who choose to reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord in Hell which was created for the punishment of the devil and fallen angels.
Psalm 9:17; Matthew 5:3, 5:22, 25:31-46, 18:9, 25:31-34; Mark 9:42-49; Luke 12:5; John 3:18; Hebrews 12:23; I Peter 1:4; Revelation 14:10-11, 20:11-15.
Marriage and Sexual Relationships
We believe that God wonderfully and indelibly creates each person as either male or female. Male and female are complimentary sexes which together reflect the image and nature of God. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage is also an image of the relationship between Christ and His church.
Genesis 2:18-25, Psalm 139:13-16, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 7:2-5, Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 5:31-32
The Church
A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, united in faith, belief, and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each local congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ and is cooperative with likeminded congregations. Each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. The scriptural offices are that of pastor/elder/overseer, and deacon. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the offices of pastor/elder/overseer and deacon are limited to men as qualified by Scripture, and we recognize the role of deacon as a servant role only with no governing authority within the church.
The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.
Matthew 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42,47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6; 13:1-3; 14:23,27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11,21; 5:22-32; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-14; 3:1-15; 4:14; Hebrews 11:39-40; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Revelation 2-3; 21:2-3.
Love
We believe that as followers of Jesus Christ we are to love the Lord our God with every part of our being; heart, soul, and mind above all things. We are to love those we encounter with the compassionate and charitable love of God. We are to live under a new commandment to love each other as believers with the same love Christ demonstrated to us. Love is greater than all gifts, faith, and hope. God is the very definition and embodiment of perfect love.
John 13:34-35, Matthew 22:36-40, 1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 John 4:7-8
Church Ordinances
Baptism
Christian baptism is the full immersion of a believer in water by the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith and fellowship with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. The baptism gives testimony to the believer’s death to sin, the burial of their old life, and their resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew 3:13-17; 28-19-20, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 3:23, Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33, Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12
Communion
Communion, also known as the Lord’s Supper, is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the wine, memorialize the death of Jesus Christ and anticipate His return.
Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.
