alightforchrist - We Believe...
Article III – What We Believe
(Distinctive Marks of the Church of God Movement – Excerpted and Adopted from “We Believe” Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, Our Parent Organization)
Section 1. - The Revelation
We believe in treasure, and cherish the Bible as the written Word of God, and hold that the sixty-six books of the Protestant biblical canon constitute the Holy Scriptures. We believe that both the Old and New Testaments are necessary for understanding God’s revelation in Scripture, both of which are to be interpreted in light of the revelation given to us in Jesus Christ. The Bible is inspired by God, and is fully the authoritative and sufficient for Christian life and practice. We further believe that the Bible is historically reliable, and that its message is faithfully preserved in the textual tradition. We rejoice that the biblical gospel is the good news of God’s love to our world!
Section 2. - God
We believe in one God in three persons- Father, Son and Holy Spirit – who created all things visible and invisible, and out of the chaos created order. Our hearts are glad that God is fully revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who was born to the Virgin Mary through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and lived on earth as both fully human and fully divine. We are grateful that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth convicts us of sin, leads us to and incorporates us into Christ, and empowers us for Christian witness. We worship the one eternally triune God!
Section 3. - Sin and Salvation
We acknowledge that all have sinned and, thus breaking our relationship with God, self, and others and the whole-created order but give thanks for God’s salvation from sin. We believe that, through his exemplary life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection, Jesus Christ is the only sufficient atonement for our sins. In keeping with the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, Jesus died on the cross and was raised for our salvation. Great is the salvation of our God!
Section 4. - The Kingdom of God
With gratitude we believe that we experience the Reign of God as the presence, love and power of God in our lives, in the church, in history and in the whole create order, now and in the future consummation. We believe that Jesus lived and proclaimed the Reign of God, a life of reconciliation and peacemaking in fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Under the Reign of God, we are required to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God.
Section 5. - The Church
We believe the church is the fellowship of the redeemed, the body of Christ, the people of God, chosen by God for the mission of the world. At the beginning of time God created humankind to be partners in mission. However, humankind failed in this partnership. In the course of time, though, God chose Israel to bless all peoples. But in the fullness of time it was Jesus Christ that God brought salvation for all people. And until the end of time God has chosen the church to be the holy body of Christ with the mission of making disciples. It is for this purpose that God continually reforms the church so that it will be conformed to the image of Christ.
We are grateful that in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise, God poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. We believe that the evidence of the outpouring is the personal holiness of God’s people and their empowerment for divine mission in the world. The Holy Spirit distributes a variety of spiritual gifts among all members of the church for accomplishing this mission. We believe God calls all people to respond in faith to the gospel of Jesus Christ, whereby they become members of the universal church of God. With Christ as the head, this community is the body of Christ on earth. We understand that each local congregation (to include Light of the World Church of God) to be an expression of this universal church, and that is God’s will for each believer to be a committed member of a local congregation.
In obedience to our Lord, we baptize believers by immersion as a sign of death to sin, resurrection to new life in Christ, and incorporation into the mission of the people of God. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper as participation and proclamation of the death and resurrection of our Lord until he comes. We wash other’s feet, following Jesus who assumed the role of servant by washing the disciples’ feet. We anoint with oil in the name of the Lord and pray that people may be healed
We believe that all who repent and confess Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord are part of the church of God. We seek mutually enriching fellowship with all who share this personal faith. Aware of the racial, cultural, and other diversity around the globe, we are committed to working for the visible unity of the one church that is rooted in biblical faith.
Our Lord empowers believers to do the work of the ministry. Jesus instructed us to model our ministries and manner of leadership after his example of being a servant rather than seeking positions of power. We understand that it is the church’s responsibility, in response to God’s call, to appoint and equip gifted women and men to a variety of leadership responsibilities for building up the body of Christ. We praise God for the privilege of participating in the life of the church!
Section 6. - The Concluding Affirmation
In devotion to Christ as the head of the Church, we desire to be a biblical people, a people who worship the triune God, a people transformed by the grace of God, a people of the Kingdom of God, a people committed to building up the one, universal church of God, and a people who in God’s love care for the whole world.
Light of the World Church of God
520 S. Third Street, Goshen, Indiana 46526 - 574-535-9079
alightforchrist.com