PWBC's Statement of Faith
The following is a brief statement of those doctrines we hold to be essential and fundamental.
- The Holy Scriptures:
- We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be plenary, verbally-inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17 * 2 Peter 1:20-21 * Matthew 5:18).
- GOD:
- We believe in one triune God, eternally existing in three Persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) – co-equal in power and glory, co-identical in nature, co-eternal in being, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4 * 2 Corinthians 13:14).
- The Person and Work of Jesus Christ:
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God; was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal and redeem sinful mankind (Luke 1:35 * John 1:1-3, 14).
- We believe that the Lord Jesus accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious sacrifice and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24-25 * Ephesians 1:7 * 1 Peter 1:3, 5; 2:24).
- 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 1:9-11 * Romans 8:34 * Hebrews 7:25; 9:24 * 1 John 2:1-2).
- The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit:
- We believe that God the Holy Spirit is a Person, that He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement, that He regenerates the sinner by the Word of God, that He permanently indwells, seals, enlightens, instructs, and guides every born-again person, and that He supplies the power of Godly living, Christian service and spiritual worship (John 14:16-17; 16:7-15 * Ephesians 4:30 * 1 Peter 1:23).
- Total Depravity of Man:
- We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the entire human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God and thereby is now totally depraved and completely unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26-27 * Romans 3:22-23, 5:12 * Ephesians 2:1-3, 12).
- Salvation:
- We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to mankind by grace alone and is received by personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior who paid in full the price our sin demanded through His death, burial, and resurrection (John 1:12 * Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10 * 1 Peter 1:18-19).
- The Eternal Security and Assurance of the Believer:
- We believe that all of the redeemed are kept saved by the power of God and are therefore secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30 * Romans 8:1, 38-39 * 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 * 1 Peter 1:5).
- We believe that it is a privilege of the believer to rejoice in the assurance of his salvation through the testimony of God’s Word (Luke 10:19-20).
- The Two Natures of the Believer:
- We believe that every believer in Christ possesses two natures with provisions made for victory of the new nature over the old sin-nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and that all claims of the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Romans 6:13; 8:12-13 * Galatians 5:16-25 * Ephesians 4:22-24 * Colossians 3:10 * 1 Peter 1:14-16).
- Separation and Sanctification of the Believer:
- We believe that the Scriptures clearly teach non-conformity to the world for every believer, that every believer must be separated from the world and unto Christ, and that it is clearly commanded of God to all believers to live lives of holiness (1 John 2:15-17 * 1 Peter 1:16).
- We believe that positional sanctification occurs at the moment of salvation and that practical sanctification is to be progressive throughout the entire life of the believer here on earth. God’s provision for holy living is in the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, in the indwelling Holy Spirit and His power and in the Word of God (John 17:17 * Romans 6:1-14 * 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 * 2 Corinthians 3:18; 6:14-17; 7:1 * Galatians 5:16-23 * Ephesians 1:15; 2:6 * Colossians 1:13; 3:1-4 * Titus 2:14 * Hebrews 4:12 * 1 Peter 1:14-16).
- The Nature of the Church:
- We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ was begun at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven and came into the Church and that the Church is composed only of those people who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior (Acts 1:8; 2 * John 6:47 * 1 Corinthians 6:11).
- We believe that Christ glorified in Heaven is the Head of the Church, and the Holy Spirit on earth is the active agent within the Church (Ephesians 5:23-24 * 1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
- We believe that the purpose of the Church is to evangelize to the lost of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to edify the believer in the Word of God (Mark 16:15 * Ephesians 4:11-15).
- Spiritual Gifts:
- We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of all His special enablements to His children that the gifts of evangelists, pastors, and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the saints today. Also those gifts of speaking in a foreign language without first learning it, the interpretation of said foreign language, faith healing through a healer and prophetic pronouncements by the Church prophets are not necessary nor given today. They gradually decreased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed during the first century A.D (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-12 * 2 Corinthians 12:12 * Ephesians 4:7-12).
- We believe that God hears and answers the prayer of faith for the sick and afflicted and answers according to His sovereign will (John 15:7 * 1 John 5:14-15).
- Dispensationalism:
- We believe that there are seven dispensations found in Scripture. A dispensation is an economy and stewardship instituted by God for a given period of time during which a man is tested in respect to his obedience to the specific revelation given to him by God.
- 1. Gen. 1:3; 3:13 - Innocence
2. Gen. 3:23; 8:19 - Conscience
3. Gen. 8:20; 11:32 - Government
4. Gen. 12:1 & Ex.20:1 - Promise
5. Ex. 19:8 * Jn. 19:30 - Law
6. Acts 2:1 * Rev. 19:21 - Grace
7. Rev. 20:4 - Kingdom
- The Personality of Satan:
- We believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen Cherub, the prince of demons, the
God of this age, the great accuser and deceiver, and the adversary of Jesus Christ and
His followers whose end is the eternal Lake of Fire (Isaiah 14:12-15 * Ezekiel 28:12-19 *
Matthew 25:41 * 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 * 1 Peter 5:8 * Revelation 12:9-10; 20:10).
- The Second Advent of Jesus Christ:
- We believe in the Blessed Hope, the personal, premillennial, pretribulational, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ to gather His Church and take her back to Heaven (John 14:3 * 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 * 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 * Titus 2:13).
- We believe in the personal, visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ to earth with His saints at the end of the Great Tribulation at which time He will inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-6).
- The Eternal State:
- We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to everlasting punishment in hell (John 11:25-26 * 1 Corinthians 15:20-25 * Matthew 25:46 * Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).
- We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul, and body are re-united to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43 * 2 Corinthians 5:8 * Philippians 1:23; 3:21 * 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 * Revelation 20:4-6).
- We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain in a conscious state of misery. They will be re-united with their bodies and be judged at the Great White Throne Judgement shortly after the closing of the Millennium. They will then be cast into the Lake of Fire to spend eternity in torment (Matthew 25:41-46 * Luke 16:9-26 * 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 * Jude 6-7 * Revelation 20:11-15).
- Ordinances of the Church:
- We believe that there are only two ordinances which believers are commanded to observe:
- Baptism:
While recognizing that water Baptism has no saving merit, it is our conviction that after a person is saved, baptism is the next step in order to portray to everyone the believer’s union with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Scriptural method of baptism is immersion (Matthew 28:19 * Romans 6:4 * Colossians 2:9-13 * Matthew 3:16).
- Lord’s Supper:
We believe that Jesus Christ instituted Communion to commemorate His death until He returns for His followers (1 Corinthians 11:23-33).
We believe that baptism is to be done only once.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is to be done continuously.
- Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality:
- We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5 * Hebrews 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
- We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Pure Word Bible Church.