Doctrinal
Statement of Faith
God is my strength and my power; and He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like hinds' feet and sets me upon my high places.
II Samuel 22:33 & 34
We Believe in the Bible
We believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Every word of the sixty-six books from Genesis to Revelation is "God-breathed" and written by men "carried along" by the Holy Spirit. Through the Bible, God has made Himself and His Will known and has unveiled the absolute truth about mankind and the world around us; therefore, we seek to teach and follow the Bible as our authority in all we do, say, and think.
See: II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Matthew 5:18; Psalm 119:105; John 17:17; I Peter 1:25
We Believe in God
We believe in one God, the Creator and sovereign Lord of the universe, Who exists as one in essence and substance, and three in person - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that God in His character defines holiness, truth, justice, love, mercy, faithfulness, and righteousness, and He alone is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory.
See: Genesis 1; Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14; Isaiah 46:9-10; I John 1:5; Psalms 145:17; Romans 11:33-36; Revelation 4:11
We believe in Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal God, the second person of the Trinity. Through the virgin conception and birth, the Son of God took on sinless human flesh and became the sinner's sacrificial substitute through His death on the cross, fully satisfying God's wrath once and for all towards those who trust Him. After His bodily resurrection from the dead, He ascended to heaven where He presently intercedes for believers and awaits His physical return to the earth to establish His earthly kingdom.
See: John 1:1-14, 20:26-31; Hebrews 1:8; Colossians 1:15-18; I Peter 2:24; Romans 5:8; Philippians 2:5-11; I John 2:1-2; Romans 8:34
We believe in the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the eternal God, the third person of the Trinity. He presently convicts the world of sin, brings individuals alive spiritually, baptizes believers into the body of Christ, dwells within them, places God's permanent seal of ownership on them, and becomes their Teacher of God's Word and Guide for daily living.
See: Acts 5:3-4; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 12:13 and 6:19-20; romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14; John 16:8 and 14:16-18
We believe in Salvation
We believe that we are born with a sin nature, spiritually dead, and therefore separated from our holy Creator - and only through the atonement of those sins can we be made right with God. No amount of good works can atone for sin, as they still fall far short of God's perfect standard. Only through turning from our sin and placing our faith in Christ's sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection can we be made right with God and have our sins eternally forgiven. This faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is brought about by the regenerating work and will of God, and is demonstrated in an obedience in public baptism and a changed life that reflects the indwelling Holy Spirit.
See: Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 3:23-24, 4:1-8, 5:6-8, 6:23, 8:5-8, and 10:9-13; John 1:12-13; II Corinthians 5:17; Matthew 7:20, 28:18-20; Galatians 5:22-23
We believe in the Church
We believe that the universal church consists of all those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation from sin, with Christ Himself as the Head. We believe God's plan is for believers to congregate into local bodies to (1) worship Him together, (2) build one another up by the teaching and preaching of God's Word and by the use of spiritual gifts, (3) spread the salvation message locally and around the world, and (4) demonstrate to society the love and righteousness of God. The true church follows the principles of the New Testament, observing the ordinances of communion and believer's baptism by immersion and establishing leadership by elders and deacons, whose qualifications and responsibilities are defined in the Scriptures. We believe that each local assembly of believers is to be self-governing in areas of membership, discipline, service, and policy.
See: Acts 2:41-42; Ephesians 5:23-24; Mathew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8, 6:1-7, 15:13-18 and 20:17-28; Ephesians 4:29; I Corinthians 11:23-32; I Timothy 3:1-13
We believe in the Return of Christ
We believe in the return of Christ at any moment to gather up His universal church, both dead and alive, to meet Him in the air, preceding the seven-year time of Great Tribulation on the earth. At the culmination of the seven years, Christ will descend to the earth in power and glory to wipe out His enemies and establish His physical, thousand-year reign on the earth, followed by the final judgment of mankind, where every individual's final destiny will be sealed for eternity. Those who have rejected salvation through Christ alone will be cast into the everlasting punishment of hell, while those whose sins have been forgiven through Christ will live in the presence of God and His kingdom forever.
See: I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10; I Corinthians 14:42-54; Daniel 9:25-27; Matthew 24:29-31; Isaiah 11:1-9; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16, 20-22
Faith and Experience
The Bible is our final authority in all matters of faith and experience. While God has given us explicit moral absolutes to live by, we also recognize that it should not be our focus to prescribe lifestyles not clearly defined by Scripture. Instead, we strive to teach and encourage each person to think through the principles of Scripture, applying them in a way that honors God and builds others up. Each believer is to be guided in these areas by God, to Whom he or she alone is ultimately and individually responsible.
See: Romans 14:1-15:13; I Corinthians 8: 1-13 and 10:23-33
Top Fulton Union Christian Church - 5232 County Rd. HJ - Delta, OH 43515
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