Our Beliefs
EASTLAND CHRISTIAN CHURCH STATEMENT OF BELIEFS
Our statement of beliefs is not meant to be an exhaustive statement of all doctrine, but rather a summary of some essential elements of the Christian faith laid out in Scripture. It is the affirmation of this statement that holds our fellowship in unity and guards the purity of our church. While a full understanding and the ability to adequately articulate these beliefs is not required, the explicit rejection of any one of these particular beliefs disqualifies one from membership.
I. THE BIBLE
We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, alone is the Word of God, being fully written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore is without error in the original manuscripts and has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
Psalm 19:7; Isaiah 40:8; Mark 13:31; John 20:31; Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21
II. GOD
We believe that there is one living and true God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself all perfections and being infinite in them all. To Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence, trust, and obedience.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 145:3; John 1:3; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 10:31; Colossians 1:16-17; 1 Timothy 1:17
III. THE TRINITY
We believe that God eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that these are without division of nature, essence, or being and equal in every divine perfection.
Genesis 1:1, 26; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; John 1:1, 3; John 4:24; Romans 1:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:5-6
IV. GOD THE FATHER
We believe that God the Father, a personal spirit, infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, including the future free choices of all humans and other moral beings, that He concerns himself mercifully in the affairs of humanity, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to him through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 23:9; Luke 10:21-22; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 2:5-6; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:6
V. JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son and is fully God and fully man. We believe in His virgin conception by the Holy Spirit, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal, visible return to earth. We believe that he is the divinely appointed and only mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, King of the Church, and Sovereign of the universe.
Isaiah 53:10-12; Matthew 1:18-25; 20:28; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 14, 18; 10:30, 17:3; 20:28, 30-31; Acts 1:9-11; 20:28; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9, 10; 8:34; 9:5; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:4; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:1-3; 7:25; 9:28; 1 Peter 2:21-23; Revelation 12:10
VI. HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ and that He is an
abiding helper, teacher, and guide.
John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:9-14; Romans 8:9, 14-17; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26; Ephesians 1:13-14
VII. PROVIDENCE
We believe that God from eternity decrees or permits all things that come to pass and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events, yet so as not in any way to be author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of moral beings.
Proverbs 16:33; Isaiah 46:9-11; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; James 1:13-15
VIII. THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that God originally created man and woman in His own image and free from sin, but they willfully sinned against God and thereby incurred physical, spiritual, and eternal death, which is separation from God, and that, as a consequence, all human beings are born with a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are sinners by choice, and are under condemnation.
Genesis 1:26-27; 2:17; 3:1-7, 19; 6:5, 12; 8:21; Jeremiah 17:9; John 5:24; Romans 3:9-23; 5:12-19; 6:21, 23; 7:13; 8:6-7; 9:22; Ephesians 2:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; James 1:14-15; 1 John 3:14; Revelation 21:8
IX. REGENERATION
We believe regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and renewing
their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness.
Ezekiel 36:25-26; John 1:13; 3:3, 5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:1-6; Titus 3:5; 1 John 5:1
X. REPENTANCE & FAITH
We believe that salvation is conditioned upon genuine repentance and faith, which follow upon God’s gracious drawing of sinners through the gospel. Repentance occurs when a person, being made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, detests and forsakes it, submitting to God through the obedience of baptism, humbling himself, and endeavors to walk before God so as to please him in all things. Making Disciples that Delight in the Supremacy of Jesus Christ.
Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatever is revealed in his word concerning Christ and accepting and resting upon him alone for justification and eternal life. It is accompanied by all other saving graces and leads to a life of holiness.
Proverbs 28:13; Matthew 3:8-10; Mark 1:15; John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:40, 44, 65; Acts 2:37-38; 11:18; 13:38-39; 17:30; 20:21; Romans 2:4-5; 3:21-28; 4:1-5; 4:17- 25; 8:1; 10:3-4, 14, 17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 7:10-11; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 1:29; 3:9; Hebrews 11:6; James 2:14-26
XI. JUSTIFICATION
We believe justification is God's gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made, not by anything done by them, but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receive His righteousness by grace alone through faith alone.
John 1:16; Acts 10:43; 13:39; Romans 3:24-26; 4:23-25; 5:1-21; 8:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 3:7-9; Titus 3:5-6; 1 John 2:12
XII. SANCTIFICATION
We believe that those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God’s Word and the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of divine strength, which all people seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in delightful obedience to all of Christ's commands.
John 17:17, 19; Romans 12:1-2; 15:16; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:4; Philippians 1:9-11; 2:12-13; 3:12-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23; Hebrews 2:11; 6:1; 7:1; 10:10; 12:10; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 1:5-8; 1 John 2:29
XIII. THE CHURCH
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the autonomous local church, consisting of baptized believers in Jesus Christ, who have given a profession of faith and have covenanted together for worship, edification, discipline, fellowship, and spreading of the gospel. We believe that the scriptural offices are pastors/elders and deacons.
John 10:16; Acts 1:8; 2:42-47; 6:1-6; 20:17, 28; Ephesians 1:22; 2:19-22; 4:11-16; 5:19-21, 23; Colossians 1:18; 3:16; 1 Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25
XIV. THE ORDINANCES
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is obligatory upon every believer, wherein a person is immersed in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of their fellowship with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and of remission of sins. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is in no sense a sacrifice, but was instituted by Christ to commemorate his death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a pledge and renewal of their communion with Him and with each other. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:26-29; 28:18-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:23-31; 12:13
XVI. THE LAST THINGS
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of his kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy of the righteous, and the endless suffering of the wicked.
Matthew 16:27; 25:31-46; Mark 14:62; John 5:28-29; 14:3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 2:6-11; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:12-28; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; Revelation 20:4-6,11-15