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What We Believe

What we believe
While there is great diversity of beliefs in the universal body of the church, as a local body of Christ, Hebron Christian Fellowship believes, affirms and teaches the following doctrines.

The Bible

We believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and the 66 books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the complete Word of God. We believe that the Word of God is inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed.

We believe in the literal, grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture and affirm the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in six literal days. We believe that the Bible constitutes the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

We believe that, whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation.

God

We believe that there is but one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —each equally deserving worship and obedience.

God the Father

We believe that God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. He is the Creator of all things. As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, he is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption His fatherhood involves both his designation within the Trinity and his relationship with mankind.

He has decreed for His own glory all things that come to pass. He continually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures. He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own; He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

God the Son

We believe that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father.

We believe that God the Father created ‘the heavens and the earth and all that is in them’ according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation.

We believe that in the incarnation the eternal Son, without altering His divine nature or any of the divine attributes, made Himself of no reputation by taking on a full human nature consubstantial with our own, yet without sin.

We believe that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and thus born of a woman, so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the divine and the human, were joined together in one person, without confusion, change, division, or separation. He is therefore God and man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man.

We believe that in His incarnation, according to His human nature, he acted in submission to the Father by the power of Holy Spirit, while, according to His divine nature, He acted by His authority and power as the eternal Son.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and that His death was voluntary, substitutionary, and redemptive.

We believe that on the basis of the efficacy of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the believing sinner is freed from the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and that he is declared righteous, given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God.

We believe that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and that He is now ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now mediates as our Advocate and High Priest.

We believe that the bodily resurrection Jesus Christ is also the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers.

We believe that Jesus Christ will return to receive the church, which is His Body, unto Himself at the rapture, and returning with His church in glory, will establish His millennial kingdom on earth.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One through whom God will judge all mankind: believers, living inhabitants of the earth at His glorious return and the unbelieving dead at the Great White Throne.

As the Mediator between God and man, the Head of His Body the church, and the coming universal King, who will reign on the throne of David, He is the final Judge of all who fail to place their trust in Him as Lord and Saviour.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect, emotions, will, eternality , omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence and truthfulness. In all the divine attributes He is coequal and consubstantial with the Father and the Son.

We believe that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation, the incarnation, the written revelation, and the work of salvation.

We believe that the work of the Holy Spirit in this age began at Pentecost, when He came from the Father as promised by Christ to initiate and complete the building of the Body of Christ, which is His church. The scope of His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals them unto the day of glorification.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher, who guided the apostles and prophets into all truth as they committed to writing God’s revelation, the Bible . Every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation, and it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with (controlled by) the Spirit.

We believe that the Holy Spirit administers spiritual gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit glorifies neither Himself nor His gifts by ostentatious displays, but He does glorify Christ by implementing His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the most holy faith.

We believe, in this respect, that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today, and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth, and were not intended to be characteristic of the lives of believers.

Man

We believe that man was created by God in His image and likeness. Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God.

We believe that God’s intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world.

We believe that in Adam’s sin of disobedience, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. With no recuperative powers to enable him to recover himself, man is hopelessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe that, because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration.

Salvation

We believe that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works.

Regeneration

We believe that regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given. It is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Word of God when the repentant sinner, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, responds in faith to the divine provision of salvation. Genuine regeneration is manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct. Good works are the proper evidence and fruit of regeneration and will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to the Word of God. This obedience causes the believer to be increasingly conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Such a conformity is climaxed in the believer’s glorification at Christ’s coming.

Election

We believe that election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies.

We believe that sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust Christ as Saviour. Sovereign grace includes the means of receiving the gift of salvation as well as the gift itself, sovereign election will result in what God determines. All whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith, and all who come in faith the Father will receive.

We believe that the unmerited favour that God grants to sinners is not related to God’s anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely of His sovereign grace and mercy.

Justification

We believe that justification before God is an act of God by which He declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins and confess Him as sovereign Lord . This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man and based on the imputation of our sins to Christ and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. By this God is enabled to “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”.

Sanctification

We believe that every believer is sanctified (set apart) unto God by justification and is therefore declared to be holy and is therefore identified as a saint. This sanctification is positional and instantaneous and is not referring to progressive sanctification. This sanctification has to do with the believer’s standing, not his present walk or condition.

We believe that there is also, by the work of the Holy Spirit, a progressive sanctification by which the state of the believer is brought closer to the standing the believer positionally enjoys through justification. Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this respect, we believe that every saved person is involved in a daily conflict—the new creation in Christ doing battle against the flesh—but adequate provision is made for victory through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The struggle nevertheless stays with the believer all through this earthly life and is never completely ended. All claims to the eradication of sin in this life are unscriptural. Eradication of sin is not possible, but the Holy Spirit does provide for victory over sin.

Security

We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for sinful living and carnality.

Separation

We believe that separation from sin is clearly called for throughout the Old and New Testaments, and that the Scriptures clearly indicate that in the last days apostasy and worldliness shall increase.

We believe that, out of deep gratitude for the undeserved grace of God granted to us, and because our glorious God is so worthy of our total consecration, all the saved should live in such a manner as to demonstrate our adoring love to God and so as not to bring reproach upon our Lord and Saviour. We also believe that separation from all religious apostasy and worldly and sinful practices is commanded of us by God.

We believe that believers should be separated unto our Lord Jesus Christ and affirm that the Christian life is a life of obedient righteousness that reflects the teaching of the Beatitudes and a continual pursuit of holiness.

The Church

We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church the bride of Christ of which Christ is the Head.

We believe that the formation of the church, the Body of Christ, began on the Day of Pentecost and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the rapture.

We believe that the church is a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age. The church is distinct from Israel, a mystery not revealed until this age.

We believe that the establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures and that the members of the one spiritual Body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies.

We believe that the one supreme authority for the church is Christ and that church leadership, gifts, order, discipline, and worship are all appointed through His sovereignty as found in the Scriptures. The biblically designated officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders also called bishops, pastors, and pastor teachers; and deacons, both of whom must meet biblical qualifications.

We believe that these leaders lead or rule as servants of Christ and have His authority in directing the church. The congregation is to submit to their leadership.

We believe the importance of discipleship, mutual accountability of all believers to each other, as well as the need for discipline of sinning members of the congregation in accord with the standards of Scripture.

We believe the autonomy of the local church, free from any external authority or control, with the right of self-government and freedom from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations. We believe that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other for the presentation and propagation of the faith. Each local church, however, through its elders and their interpretation and application of Scripture, should be the sole judge of the measure and method of its cooperation. The elders should determine all other matters of membership, policy, discipline, benevolence, and government as well.

We believe that the purpose of the church is to glorify God by building itself up in the faith, by instruction of the Word, by fellowship, by keeping the ordinances and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world.

We believe the calling of all saints to the work of service.

We believe that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christian baptism by immersion is the solemn testimony of a believer displaying his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life . This is followed by the laying on of hands which is a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible Body of Christ.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes and should be always preceded by solemn self-examination. We also believe that, whereas the elements of Communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, fellowshipping with His people.

Angels

Holy Angels

We believe that angels are created beings and are therefore not to be worshiped. Although they are a higher order of creation than man, they are created to serve God and to worship Him and they also minister to believers.

Fallen Angels

We believe that Satan is a created angel and the author of sin. He incurred the judgment of God by rebelling against his Creator by taking numerous angels with him in his fall and by introducing sin into the human race by his temptation of Eve .

We believe that Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man; that he is the prince of this world, who has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and that he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire.

Last Things

Death

We believe that physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness , that the soul of the redeemed passes immediately into the presence of Christ, that there is a separation of soul and body, and that, for the redeemed, such separation will continue until the rapture , which initiates the first resurrection , when our soul and body will be reunited to be glorified forever with our Lord, until that time, the souls of the redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

We believe the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

We believe that the souls of the unsaved at death are kept under punishment until the second resurrection when the soul and the resurrection body will be united. They shall then appear at the Great White Throne Judgment and shall be cast into hell, the lake of fire, cut off from the life of God forever.

The Rapture of the Church

We believe the personal, bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ before the seven-year tribulation to translate His church from this earth and, between this event and His glorious return with His saints, to reward believers according to their works.

The Tribulation Period

We believe that immediately following the removal of the church from the earth the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon an unbelieving world and that these judgments will be climaxed by the return of Christ in glory to the earth. At that time the Old Testament and tribulation saints will be raised and the living will be judged. This period includes the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy.

The Second Coming and the Millennial Reign

We believe that, after the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David and establish His messianic kingdom for 1,000 years on the earth. During this time the resurrected saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth . This reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan from the world.

We believe that the kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel, to restore them to the land that they forfeited through their disobedience. The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside, but will again be awakened through repentance to enter into the land of blessing.

We believe that this time of our Lord’s reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life, and will be ended with the release of Satan.

The Judgment of the Lost

We believe that following the release of Satan after the 1,000- year reign of Christ, Satan will deceive the nations of the earth

and gather them to battle against the saints and the beloved city, at which time Satan and his army will be devoured by fire from heaven. Following this, Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, whereupon Christ, who is the Judge of all men, will resurrect and judge the great and small at the Great White Throne Judgment.

We believe that this resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment, they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the lake of fire.

Eternity

We believe that after the millennium, the temporary release of Satan, and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the earth will be replaced with a new earth, where only righteousness dwells. Following this, the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven and will be the dwelling place of the saints. The new earth will be a tangible place where believers in actual physical bodies will live. Here believers will enjoy eternal fellowship with God and one another.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled His redemptive mission, will then deliver up the kingdom to God the Father , that in all spheres the triune God may reign forever and ever .