“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:1-6).
The Bible
The entire Bible in its original writings is verbally inspired of God and
is of plenary authority (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Pet. 1:21).
The Godhead
There is one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit (Deut. 6:4; I Tim. 2:5; Eph. 4:4-6; Matt. 28:19; II Cor. 13:14). God
is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. His omnipotence means He is all-powerful
over all of creation and He is able to do whatever He wills (Gen. 18:14; Job 42:2;
Ps. 93:1; Mk. 10:27; Eph. 3:20). His omnipresence means that He is everywhere present
at all times (I Ki. 8:27; Ps. 139:7-12; Jer. 23:23-24). His omniscience means that
He has knowledge of all things, knowledge that is all inclusive, extending to all
of creation throughout all time and all things both actual and possible, including
the thoughts and actions of His created beings, past, present, and future (Job 40:2a;
Ps. 139:16; 145:5; Isa. 40:13-14).
The Person of Christ
Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the
virgin Mary, and is true God and true Man, and lived a sinless life in obedience
to the Father (Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:6-9; Rom. 1:3,4; II Cor. 5:21; Col. 2:9; Heb. 4:15).
The Condition of Lost Mankind
All human beings are by nature dead in trespasses and
sins and are, therefore, totally unable by their own wisdom or strength to do anything
pleasing to God (Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 3:9-18; Rom. 8:7; I Cor. 1:18-31).
Salvation
God justifies ungodly sinners by His Grace upon the ground of the shed blood
of Christ, through the means of personal faith. This complete salvation is bestowed
as a free gift of God apart from man’s works (Rom. 3:24-28; 5:1,9; Eph. 2:8,9).
Eternal Security
All the saved are eternally secure in Christ (Col. 3:1-4; Phil. 1:6;
Rom. 8:1; 8:29-39; Eph. 1:13,14).
Personality and Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts individuals
of sin and Who regenerates, baptizes, seals, indwells, enlightens, and empowers believers
(Titus 3:5; I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13,17,18; 3:16).
The Church
In the present Dispensation there is only one true Church, called the Body
of Christ (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:22,23; 3:1-6), separate and distinct from the prophesied,
earthly kingdom of Christ. The Body of Christ began with the Apostle Paul before
he wrote his first epistle (I Thess. 2:14-16 cf. Acts 13:45,46; Phil. 1:5,6 cf. Acts
16; I Cor. 12:13,27 cf. Acts 18).
Gifts
The spiritual gifts necessary for the ministry of the Body of Christ are those
enumerated in Ephesians 4:7-16. Of these, only the gifts of evangelists, pastors,
and teachers are in operation today. The gifts of ministry, teaching, exhortation,
giving, and showing of mercy as listed in Romans 12:7 and 8 as well as the gifts
of helps and governments from I Corinthians 12:28 may also be considered operational
today. All the sign gifts of the Acts period, such as tongues, prophecy, and healing
(I Cor. 12:1-31), being temporary in character, have ceased (I Cor. 13:8-11).
Walk
By reason of Christ’s victory over sin and of His indwelling Spirit, all of the
saved may and should experience deliverance from the power of sin by obedience to
Romans 6:11. We deny that man’s sinful nature is ever eradicated during this life
(Rom. 6:6-14; Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 8:37; II Cor. 2:14; 10:2-5). As saints (Lit. “set-apart
ones”) and members of the true Church (Lit. “called out ones”), we are to maintain
a Christ-honoring testimony, separate from all forms of worldliness and apostasy,
and to demonstrate obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and love to all men (Rom. 12:1,2,9;
II Cor. 6:14-18; Eph. 5:11; I Tim. 6:20,21).
Baptism
All saved persons have been made members of the Body of Christ by one divine
baptism (I Cor. 12:13). By this one baptism, every member of the Body of Christ
is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. In light of the
statement concerning the one baptism in Ephesians 4:5, the statements concerning
baptism in Colossians 2:12 and Romans 6:3,4, and Paul’s statement in I Corinthians
1:17 that “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel,” we affirm that
water baptism has no place in God’s spiritual program for the Body of Christ in this
Dispensation of Grace.
The Lord’s Supper
The communion of the Lord’s Supper as revealed through the Apostle
Paul in I Corinthians 11:23-26 is for members of the Body of Christ to observe “until
He comes.” There is no place in Scripture where the Lord’s Supper and water baptism
are linked together as ordinances or as sacraments for the Church.
Resurrection
Jesus Christ was resurrected bodily from the dead (Luke 24:39-43). Based
on I Corinthians 15:21, all men will have a bodily resurrection (Acts 24:15): the
saved to everlasting glory and the unsaved to everlasting punishment (John 5:29;
Rev. 20:11-15).
The Second Coming of Christ
The Rapture of the Church “which is His Body” and the
Second Coming of Christ will be pre-millennial. He will come first to receive the
members of His Body to Himself (I Thess. 4:13-18; Phil. 3:20,21), and later to receive
His Millennial Kingdom, over which He will reign (Zech. 14:4,9; Acts 1:10,11; Rev.
19:11-16; 20:4-6). Because of the distinctive nature of the Body of Christ, the
resurrection and Rapture of the Church which is His Body will take place before the
Tribulation (Jer. 30:7; Matt. 24:15-31) at His appearing in the air (I Thess. 4:13-18;
Phil. 3:20,21; Titus 2:13,14; I Cor. 15:51-53). The resurrection of the other saved
dead will occur after the Tribulation (Rev. 20:4-6).
State of the Dead
Nowhere does Scripture extend any hope of salvation to the unsaved
dead but instead reveals that they will ever continue to exist in a state of conscious
suffering (Luke 16:23-28; Rev. 14:11; 20:14,15; Col. 3:6; Rom. 1:21-32; Phil. 3:19;
II Thess. 1:9). The teachings of universalism, of probation after death, of annihilation
of the unsaved dead, and of the unconscious state of the dead, saved or unsaved (Luke
16:23-28; Phil. 1:23; II Cor. 5:6-8), are to be opposed as being thoroughly unscriptural
and dangerous doctrines.
Mission
The mission and commission of the Church which is His Body is to proclaim
the message of reconciliation (II Cor. 5:14-21) and to preach Jesus Christ according
to the revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:8,9) with all boldness. In
this we should follow the example of the Apostle Paul (I Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Phil. 3:17;
4:9; I Tim. 1:11-16). That distinctive message which the Apostle of the Gentiles
(Rom. 11:13; 15:16) calls “my gospel” (Rom. 2:16; 16:25) is also called “the gospel
of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). We, like Paul, must preach the entire Word of
God in the light of “this gospel” (II Tim. 4:2; Gal. 1:8,9) and strive to reach those
in the regions beyond where Christ is not yet named (Rom. 15:20; II Cor. 10:16).
Human Sexuality
Sexual Relations: We believe that for the good of mankind God has
commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage relationship
between a man and a woman, and that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality,
incest, fornication, adultery, or pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift
of sex and therefore unacceptable behavior for anyone professing to be saved through
personal faith in Jesus Christ (Gen. 2:24; 19:5,13; 26:8,9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-29;
I Cor. 5:1; 6:9; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:1-7; Col. 3:2-5; I Thess. 4:1-8; Titus 2:11-14;
3:3-8; Heb. 13:4).
Marriage: We believe that the only legitimate marriage relationship is the joining together of one man and one woman as husband and wife (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; I Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22,23).
Spiritual Authority: We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women. Husbands are to be the leaders in the home and men are to be the leaders in evangelism, pastoring, and teaching. Accordingly, only men are to be leaders and serve as directors of the Berean Bible Institute or be eligible for licensure to the Gospel ministry by the Institute (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:18; I Tim. 2:8-15; 3:4,5,12).
Abortion
Human life begins at conception and the unborn child is a living human being.
Abortion constitutes the unjustified, unexcused taking of unborn human life and
is therefore considered to be murder. We reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies
due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control,
or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable (Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16;
Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).
Lawsuits Between Believers
Believers are prohibited by Scripture from bringing civil
lawsuits against other believers to resolve personal disputes and that any such disputes
should be resolved by the individuals involved according to the governing principles
found in the Bible (I Cor. 6:1-8; Eph. 4:31,32).
Giving
All believers, as stewards of that portion of God’s wealth entrusted to them,
are expected by God to financially support other ministries and/or organizations
of similar beliefs, whose purpose is compatible with the purpose of any such local
church, through offerings that are freely given with a willing and cheerful attitude.
We also believe that upon transfer of any offering or gift to a local church or
compatible ministry or organization, the believer relinquishes all rights to direct
the use of such offerings or gifts except that of general furtherance of the work
of the local church or compatible ministry or organization (I Cor. 16:1-3; II Cor.
9:6,7; Gal. 6:6; Eph. 4:28; I Tim. 5:17,18).
Doctrinal Statement Index
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