What We Believe

What We Believe

THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16,172 Peter 1:20,21Matthew 5:18John 16:12,13).

THE GODHEAD

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – coeternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:42 Corinthians 13:14).

THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1,2,14Luke 1:35).
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that the sufficiency of this atoning sacrifice to accomplish the redemption and justification of all who trust in Him is assured by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24,254:25Ephesians 1:71 Timothy 4:10Hebrews 2:91 Peter 1:3-52:24; and 2 Peter 2:1).
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9,10Hebrews 9:247:25Romans 8:341 John 2:1,2).
THE PERSON AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
  • We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-112 Corinthians 3:61 Corinthians 12:12-14Romans 8:9Ephesians 1:13,14).
  • We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:131 John 2:20,27Ephesians 5:18).
THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26,27Romans 3:22,235:12Ephesians 2:1-312).

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8-10John 1:12Ephesians 1:71 Peter 1:18,19).

THE ETERNAL SECURITY AND ASSURANCE OF BELIEVERS
THE TWO NATURES OF THE BELIEVER

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and, that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Romans 6:138:12,13Galatians 5:16-25Ephesians 4:22-24Colossians 3:101 Peter 1:14-161 John 3:5-9 ).

SEPARATION
MISSIONS

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15Acts 1:82 Corinthians 5:19,20).

THE MINISTRY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS
  • We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts; and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today; and, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (1 Corinthians 12:4-112 Corinthians 12:12Ephesians 4:7-12).
  • We believe that the biblical offices of pastor and elder in the church, or their equivalents, are restricted to biblically qualified men (1 Timothy 2:123:1-7Titus 1:5-9).
  • We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:71 John 5:14-15).
THE CHURCH
DISPENSATIONALISM

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these — the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the millennial kingdom — are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:171 Corinthians 9:172 Corinthians 3:9-18Galatians 3:13-25Ephesians 1:10Colossians 1:24,25Hebrews 7:19Revelation 20:2-6).

THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6,7Isaiah 14:12-17Matthew 4:2-11; 25:41Revelation 20:10).

THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

We believe in that “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His millennial kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18Zechariah 14:4-11Revelation 19:11-1620:1-61 Thessalonians 1:105:9;Revelation 3:10).

THE ETERNAL STATE

Movements Contrary to Faith

ECUMENISM

Ecumenism is that movement which seeks the organizational unity of all Christianity and ultimately of all religions. Its principal advocates are the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

ECUMENICAL EVANGELISM

Ecumenical Evangelism is that effort to promote the Gospel by bringing fundamentalists into an unequal yoke with theological liberals and/or Roman Catholics and other divergent groups.

NEO-ORTHODOXY

Neo-Orthodoxy is that theological movement which affirms: the transcendence of God, the finiteness and sinfulness of man, and the necessity of supernatural divine revelation of truth; but, while using evangelical terminology, seriously departs from orthodoxy: in accepting the views of destructive higher criticism, in denying the inerrancy of the Bible as historic revelation, in accepting religious experience as the criterion of truth, and in abandoning important fundamentals of the Christian faith.

NEW EVANGELICALISM (NEO-EVANGELICALISM, NEW CONSERVATISM)

These terms refer to that movement within evangelicalism characterized by a toleration of and a dialogue with theological liberalism. Its essence is seen in an emphasis upon the social application of the Gospel and weak or unclear doctrines of: the inspiration of Scripture, Biblical creationism, eschatology, dispensationalism, and separation. It is further characterized by an attempt to accommodate biblical Christianity and make it acceptable to the modern mind. We believe that these movements are out of harmony with the Word of God and the official doctrine and position of IFCA International and are inimical to the work of God.