Statement of Beliefs
The Scriptures
Every word in the original writings is inspired by God and is without error. It is accurate in all matters to which it speaks: spiritual, historical, and scientific. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the foundation of the faith and the practice of the Church (II Tim. 3:16; II Pet. 1:21).
God
God exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three have distinct personalities and yet are of the same substance: one God (Gen. 1:1; John 10:30; John 4:24; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14).
Jesus
The eternal Son of God became incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ, being born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man. He died physically on the cross and was bodily resurrected three days later, and thereafter bodily ascended to heaven (John 1:1, 14, 18; 5:18; Heb. 1:1-9; 5:8; I John 5:20; I Tim. 2:5; I Cor. 15:1-5).
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals all believers in Christ at the point of faith in Christ, and empowers those yielded to God (Matt. 28:19; John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5; I Cor. 6:19; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 2:12; 12:13; Eph. 4:30; Col. 3:14).
Man
Man is created in the image and likeness of God. In Adam, all mankind fell into sin, with the result that all human beings are sinners and justly condemned to eternal judgment. We can do nothing to merit salvation (Rom. 2:2,3,5; Eph. 2:8,9; Gen. 1:27, 9:6; Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1).
Salvation
Salvation is a gift given to those chosen by God and drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit. The only means to their salvation is belief in Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection (Acts 4:12; 13:38, 39; I Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 4:4, 5; 5:1; John 3:16; Eph. 2:8, 9; Acts 16:31; Eph. 1:4, 5; Rom. 8:29, 30).
Christian Living
Christians are called to a holy life of service and testimony in the power of the Holy Spirit, service which includes the propagation of the gospel message to the whole world. There is promised reward in heaven for their faithfulness in such service (I Pet. 1:15, 16; Acts 1:8; I Cor. 3:12-17; John 14:1-3).
Regarding marriage, the Bible teaches that man needed a helpmate and God fashioned a woman suitable for him and they were joined together in the first marriage, which is the first and most fundamental institution for all people. Thus, God determined at conception whether one is a male or female and nothing a person does alters what God has determined. We believe that God has established marriage to be only between a biological male and a biological female. [Rom. 1:18-32; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim 1:8-11; Gen 1:26-27; 2:20-24; Ps. 139:13; Matt. 19:3-6]
The Church
The church is composed of all believers. It is the body and bride of Christ, formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and existing in two aspects, universal and local. The universal church is an elect company of believers, baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body. Its mission is to witness to its Head, Jesus Christ, preaching the gospel among all nations. It will be caught up to meet the Lord, after which He will return to set up His Kingdom. The local church is a group of believers voluntarily joined together in love, to worship God with praise and thanksgiving, and to glorify Jesus Christ through an aggressive effort to disciple others by the preaching of the gospel and the exercise of spiritual gifts. (Eph. 1:22, 23; 5:24-30; I Cor. 12:4-13, 27).
We believe that in the body of Christ men and women stand spiritually equal and constitute the Church universal. We believe women have had and always will have their God-given gifts and roles within this body. Accordingly, as the primary role of believing men is to be husbands and fathers, so the primary role of women is to be wives and mothers. We encourage women to have personal ministries, but the Scriptures are clear that male leadership is called to the local church positions of deacon, elder, and pastor-teacher. No amount of debate can water down what the Bible says about the individual and distinct callings of both sexes, regarding gifts and positions. We encourage women to pursue study of the Word of God, but the role of pastor-teacher is Biblically reserved for men. [1 Tim. 2:9-15; 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 2:1-8; I Cor. 14:34-35]
Sacraments/Ordinances of the Church
Water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only sacraments and ordinances of the church and that they are a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age (Matt. 28:19; Luke 22:19–20; Acts 10:47–48; 16:32–33; 18:7–8; 1 Cor. 11:26).
Gifts
Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities for service, i.e., “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:1-16; I Cor. 12:7, 11; I Pet. 4:10; Rom. 12:1-6).
Angels
Angels were originally created holy, but now, because of Satan’s rebellion, there is also an unholy angelic kingdom (Col. 1:16; Job 38:6, 7; Ps. 148:2-5; Jude 6; Matt. 25:41; Eph. 6:11, 12; I Tim. 5:21; Rev. 12:9).
The Return of Christ 1
The blessed hope of the church is the imminent return of Christ. The events of the return of Christ take place in the following order: the rapture of the church, the tribulation, the second advent, the establishment of the reign of Christ on earth for one thousand years and finally the eternal state of punishment for the unsaved and the eternal state of blessing for the saved (Titus 2:13; I Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:4-10; John 14:1-3; Matt. 24:21, 29, 30; 25:31-46; Rev. 3:10, 20:1-6; 11-15).
The Eternal State 1
We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19–26; 23:42; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 2 Thess. 1:7–9; Jude 6–7; Rev. 20:11–15).
1 The Board of Finding the Few recognizes that there are several orthodox views on some events related to the return of Christ and the eternal state of the believer and unbeliever (the rapture of the church and the millennial kingdom). Students need not affirm those specific elements as they appear in the doctrinal statement to be accepted into the Finding the Few training program.