Five Mile Community Church Statement of Faith

  1. TRINITY
    We believe in one God, self-existent in three persons, and co-equal and co-eternal: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  2. THE SON OF GOD
    Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, is very God and very Man. He suffered, was crucified, dead and buried—to be a sacrifice for both original sin and actual transgressions, and to reconcile us to God. He arose bodily from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father where He is now our interceding High Priest.
  3. HOLY SPIRIT
    We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person who reveals Christ in both ministry to the world by restraining evil, by convicting of sin, by regenerating, and in the ministry to the church by sanctifying the believers which He indwells, empowers, guides, and teaches.
  4. BIBLE
    We believe the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the (Protestant) Bible, to be God’s infallible Word, fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, inerrant in the originals, and the sole and final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind.
  5. PRIMITIVE HOLINESS
    We believe that man was made in the image and likeness of God, but by transgression he incurred guilt before God, depravity of soul, and spiritual and physical death.
  6. ORIGINAL SIN
    Original sin is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered in the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil and that continually.
  7. ATONEMENT
    We believe in the universal atonement of Christ provided for all mankind, and that they who repent and believe on Him are justified from the guilt of sin and, by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, become a new creation in Christ and are empowered to live above sin. We define sinning as a willful, known violation of the will of God.
  8. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
    We believe that entire sanctification is that act of divine grace through the baptism with the Holy Ghost by which the heart is cleansed from all sin and filled with the pure love of God. It is a definite, instantaneous work of grace wrought in the heart of a believer through faith in the cleansing merit of the blood of Jesus Christ, subsequent to regeneration, and is attested by the Holy Spirit and by holy living. This statement of faith on entire sanctification excludes all speaking in “unknown” tongues either in public or private or as a “prayer language” as being evidence of the baptism with the Holy Ghost. We do believe in the Scriptural gift of tongues recorded in Acts 2 as a gift by the Holy Ghost of a definite known language to sanctified believers for the propagation of the gospel.
  9. CHRISTIAN MATURITY
    We believe in the progressive growth in grace toward Christian maturity through a consistent Christian life of faith and good works.
  10. THE CHURCH MILITANT
    We believe in the true universal church as the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is composed of all true believers in Christ.
  11. SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
    We believe at the end of this age Jesus Christ will rapture the Church, that the world will undergo a period of tribulation, and that this age will close with Christ’s return in power with His saints to rule the world in righteousness.
  12. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
    We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just who shall enter into an actual and eternal heaven and the bodily resurrection of the unjust who shall go into actual and eternal hell.
  13. ORDINANCES
    We believe in the ordinances instituted by Christ to be practiced by His Church: water baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and that we should show true charity to any who practice no ordinances or who believe in foot-washing.
  14. CHRISTIAN SABBATH
    We observe Sunday as the Lord’s holy day.
  15. THE SACREDNESS OF MARRIAGE AND HUMAN SEXUALITY
    We believe the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one naturally born man and one naturally born woman in a single, exclusive union as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:18-25)God created humanity male and female and brought them together in marriage. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. Also, we affirm the biological sex of all persons and that any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with one’s predominant biological sex is disordered, according to the Bible. (Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:18-24, Romans 1:26-32, I Corinthians 6:9-13, Ephesians 4:17-19, 5:25-27, Colossians 3:5, I Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4, Galatians 1:19, 21)We subscribe to a Biblical view regarding marital fidelity and monogamy, condemning promiscuity and fornication, sadism, masochism, bondage, and sodomy. (Exodus 20:14, Ephesians 5:3, I Thessalonians 4:3, Hebrews 13:4, I Corinthians 6:18, Jude 7, Romans 1:24-32)God, Himself, is the Author of marriage, the relationship in which holy love may be expressed in sexual relations, as well as in other ways. Such intimacy outside of marriage is strictly forbidden in the Word of God, distorts the divine purpose of human sexuality, and is destructive to those who indulge in it. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, polygamy, sodomy, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matthew 15:18-20, I Corinthians 6:9-10)We subscribe to a Biblical view regarding homosexuality and do not recognize this as an acceptable lifestyle. (Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, Romans 1:24-32, I Corinthians 6:9)Homosexuality is a perversion of God’s plan. Homosexual acts are sinful and will result in negative consequences in this life and punishment in the judgment day. God’s grace is sufficient to restore repentant souls and to enable an individual to abstain from homosexual practices. We reject any thought that those who continue in homosexuality can at the same time experience the favor of God or be properly classified as Christians.We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21, Romans 10:9-10, I Corinthians 6:9-11)
  16. THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
    We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including unborn babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. Therefore, we are opposed to abortion, abortifacient devices, infanticide, euthanasia, suicide, and assisted suicide. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Psalm 139)

 

For more on Salvation and our beliefs, check out Pastor Tom’s book “If There Is A God” at lorimerbooks.com