We believe that:
There is one God, eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin, lived without sin, died for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return personally and visibly to establish His kingdom (Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Revelation 19:11-16).
The Bible is the inspired Word of God and our final authority for faith and practice. We believe Scripture must be studied as a whole. The New Testament opens up and reveals truths God had already established in the Old Testament through history, prophecy, types, and patterns (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Luke 24:25-27; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11).
Biblical types are a God-given method of teaching truth. The people, events, and institutions of the Old Testament are real history, but God also arranged them to reveal spiritual and prophetic truths. Properly understood, the type and its New Testament fulfillment agree with one another and help explain subjects such as salvation, the Christian life, inheritance, and the coming kingdom (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11; Hebrews 9:8-9).
All people are sinners and spiritually dead apart from Christ. Eternal salvation is the free gift of God, received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone and completely apart from human works. Christ’s finished work is sufficient, and the eternal life received through Him cannot be earned, maintained, or lost through our works (John 3:16; John 5:24; Ephesians 2:1, 8-9).
We believe salvation involves the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. The salvation of the spirit occurs when a person passes from death unto life through faith in Christ. The salvation of the soul concerns the believer’s present life and future accountability. The redemption of the body will occur in the future (1 Thessalonians 5:23; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:9; Romans 8:23).
God did not save us merely to rescue us from eternal judgment. He saved us with a purpose in view. That purpose is connected with spiritual maturity, inheritance, rulership, reigning with Christ, and participation in His coming kingdom. Eternal life is a gift, but inheritance and positions of rulership are connected with the believer’s faithfulness (Genesis 1:26; Romans 8:16-17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:26-27).
The coming Kingdom of Christ is one of the central themes of Scripture. Much of the New Testament was written to people who were already saved and deals with their faithfulness, suffering, overcoming, inheritance, rewards, and future rulership with Christ. These passages are not primarily telling believers how to receive eternal life. They reveal what God expects from those who already possess eternal life and what is at stake in the coming kingdom (Matthew 16:24-27; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Hebrews 10:35-39; Revelation 3:21).
Every Christian will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. This judgment does not determine whether a believer possesses eternal life. That issue was settled through Christ’s finished work. At the Judgment Seat, believers will give an account of their lives and works. There can be reward, approval, inheritance, and rulership, but there can also be loss and forfeiture. The Judgment Seat should therefore be viewed as a serious motivation for faithful Christian living (Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
We believe the Word of the Kingdom has largely been neglected within modern Christianity. Many churches clearly teach how a person is eternally saved but give far less attention to why that person was saved, the salvation of the soul, the believer’s inheritance, the Judgment Seat of Christ, and the coming kingdom. We believe these truths should once again occupy the place Scripture gives them (Matthew 13:19-33; Luke 18:8; Acts 20:27; Hebrews 2:1-3).
We believe Israel and the Church are distinct within God’s purposes. God’s promises to Israel have not been transferred to or permanently replaced by the Church. God will fulfill His promises to Israel, while the Church has been called to a heavenly inheritance and future rulership with Christ (Genesis 12:1-3; Romans 11:25-29; Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 1:3-4).
We believe all Christians will be removed from the earth before the coming Tribulation, after which believers will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Christ will then return to establish His literal Messianic Kingdom and reign for one thousand years. Faithful believers who qualify will share in His rule (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:4-6).
We believe Christians are called to live by faith, grow to spiritual maturity, overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, and faithfully finish the race set before them. Our goal is not merely to know that we possess eternal life, but to be found faithful when we stand before Christ and to hear His approval in that coming day (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Ephesians 6:10-18; Hebrews 12:1-2; 2 Timothy 4:7-8).
We believe the Church is the body of Christ, made up of all believers in Jesus Christ during the present dispensation. The Church has been called with a heavenly calling and a heavenly inheritance in view. God’s purpose for the Church is ultimately connected with believers being prepared to become co-heirs with Christ and to reign with Him from the heavens during the coming Messianic Kingdom. The Church does not replace Israel, and promises specifically made to Israel remain Israel’s promises (Matthew 16:18; Romans 8:17; Ephesians 1:22-23; Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 2:9-10).
We believe Israel remains God’s chosen earthly people and that God will fulfill the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. Israel’s present unbelief and dispersion do not cancel those promises. Following the completion of God’s present work with the Church, He will again deal directly with Israel, bringing the nation through a time of judgment and ultimately to repentance, restoration, and blessing. During the coming kingdom, Israel will occupy her God-ordained place among the nations on the earth under the rule of the Messiah (Genesis 12:1-3; Jeremiah 30:7-11; Ezekiel 36:24-28; Romans 11:25-29).
We believe the present dispensation will end with the removal of the complete Church from the earth. All Christians will then appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, where their works and faithfulness will be judged with a view toward reward, loss, inheritance, and rulership in the coming kingdom. God will then complete His dealings with Israel during the final seven years of Daniel’s prophecy. At the conclusion of that period, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly, overthrow Gentile world power, restore Israel, and establish His literal one-thousand-year Messianic Kingdom. Christ will reign over the earth, with faithful Christians ruling with Him from the heavens and restored Israel occupying a position of rulership and blessing upon the earth. Following the Millennium will come the final judgment, the destruction of the present heavens and earth, and the creation of a new heavens and new earth in which God’s purposes for the ages will be brought to completion (Daniel 9:24-27; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:4-6, 11-15; 21:1-5).