THREE SIMPLE POINTS
Our statement of faith makes three points regarding our beliefs about the church of Jesus Christ.
First, the true Church is comprised of true believers in Jesus Christ. The “true Church” has no organizational presence in the world, i.e. there is no one denomination or organization that IS the true Church. People with genuine saving faith in Christ exist within every denomination.
The obverse is true as well: there are people in every denomination who are not true believers, some of whom are self-deceived and living out false professions of faith. One is saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not by joining any particular church, denomination, or Christian ministry.
Second, we accept only those who profess faith in Christ into membership at our local church. That doesn’t guarantee that a soul’s profession of faith is genuine. Their profession simply creates a practical foundation upon which to operate as a group. We all claim to agree with each other about Christian truth and seek to work together for God’s glory and the spreading of the truth on that basis.
If in the outworking of ministry a member of our church demonstrates disagreement with our church’s beliefs or ministries, a discussion must take place about the nature of the disagreement. On some issues there is room to disagree; on others there isn’t.
Finally, as Christ is the head of His Church, we believe each local church must submit to His authority and decide and govern its own affairs accordingly. Some churches choose to work together with other churches as a denomination. Others, like our church, prefer independence, governing ourselves and cooperating with other churches and Christian organizations as our local leadership chooses.
I’ll unpack each of these points in upcoming blogs…
Here are the three points as expressed in our statement of faith:
We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ, of which Christ is the head.
We believe that only those who are thus members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and the Head of the Church and that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs.
First, the true Church is comprised of true believers in Jesus Christ. The “true Church” has no organizational presence in the world, i.e. there is no one denomination or organization that IS the true Church. People with genuine saving faith in Christ exist within every denomination.
The obverse is true as well: there are people in every denomination who are not true believers, some of whom are self-deceived and living out false professions of faith. One is saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not by joining any particular church, denomination, or Christian ministry.
Second, we accept only those who profess faith in Christ into membership at our local church. That doesn’t guarantee that a soul’s profession of faith is genuine. Their profession simply creates a practical foundation upon which to operate as a group. We all claim to agree with each other about Christian truth and seek to work together for God’s glory and the spreading of the truth on that basis.
If in the outworking of ministry a member of our church demonstrates disagreement with our church’s beliefs or ministries, a discussion must take place about the nature of the disagreement. On some issues there is room to disagree; on others there isn’t.
Finally, as Christ is the head of His Church, we believe each local church must submit to His authority and decide and govern its own affairs accordingly. Some churches choose to work together with other churches as a denomination. Others, like our church, prefer independence, governing ourselves and cooperating with other churches and Christian organizations as our local leadership chooses.
I’ll unpack each of these points in upcoming blogs…
Here are the three points as expressed in our statement of faith:
We believe that the true Church is composed of all such persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united together in the body of Christ, of which Christ is the head.
We believe that only those who are thus members of the true Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and the Head of the Church and that every local church has the right under Christ to decide and govern its own affairs.