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Berean
Church
welcomes everyone who desires to worship God and fellowship with
our church family, regardless of their personal religious
beliefs. However, as every other church, we have certain
beliefs to which we are committed.
The following
is the first half of the Doctrinal Statement of Berean Church.
The second half, which is covered in a separate publication,
identifies several doctrines that distinguish us from other
evangelical churches in the community. You may receive a
copy of the complete Doctrinal Statement by contacting the
church office. To safeguard the beliefs upon which Berean
Church was founded it is required that the members of the
governing Board, the Sr. Pastor and the Associate Pastor be in
agreement with both halves of the Doctrinal Statement.
But, other than for those holding these leadership positions,
agreement with the second half of the Doctrinal Statement is not
required for membership at Berean Church. However, the beliefs discussed below are
foundational truths and/or essential to salvation, therefore
agreement and commitment to these truths is required
of every person.
THE BIBLE
THE WORD OF GOD
By His Holy Spirit God
worked through the human authors of Scripture to ensure that when
they wrote was exactly as He desired. He did not dictate the
Bible to them, but from their various languages and vocabularies
guided them to choose the exact words by which they expressed His
truth (11 Peter 1:21). In this way God insured that even
though they were fallible men, what they wrote was completely
without error. Although none of their original manuscripts
exist, there is so little variation among ancient copies, we can
be confidant that in a good English translation we possess the
very Word of God. Because this is so, we need to receive the
written Word of God as having the same authority as if we were to
hear God audibly speak it (11Timothy 3:16a). We accept it as
revealing the only way of salvation, and as being the basis of all
faith and practice for both our individual lives and for Berean
Church (11 Timothy 3:16b-17).
THE NATURE OF GOD
ONE GOD IN THREE PERSONS
We believe in
one God, eternally existing in three persons, a Tri-unity
(Trinity) comprised of God the Father, God the Son and God the
Holy Spirit. We believe that each is a person distinct
from the others, but inseparable, coequal and coeternal.
We are not polytheists (those who believe in more than one god),
and we are not Unitarians (who believe in one god, but deny the
deity of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit), neither are we
modalists (those who believe in one god who has revealed himself
in three different ways). We do not profess to be
able to explain the Trinity, but find it taught clearly in
Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30-33;
II Corinthians 13:14). That the nature of God is beyond
the ability of our human intellects to fully grasp does not
bother us. As someone has written, “A god small enough
for our minds would not be big enough for our needs.”
THE PERSON OF
JESUS CHRIST
GOD
MADE FLESH
We believe that
before His entrance into the world, Jesus Christ existed in
heaven from eternity past, in full equality with God the Father
and God the Holy Spirit. It was in that distant past that the
members of the Godhead determined among themselves, that God the
Son would enter the world, becoming human, to provide a way for
us to be saved from the guilt and penalty of our sins. To
facilitate His birth, the Holy Spirit miraculously conceived His
physical body in the womb of the Virgin Mary. By coming
into the world God the Son did not set aside His deity, but
added humanity to it. He was and is the most unique person
of all time, the God-man, true deity and true humanity combined
in one person. Only someone who is both God and man could
bridge the rift that sin has created between God and us.
(Luke 1:35; John 1:1,14; Philippians 2:6-9; Romans 1:3-4)
THE PERSON OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT
GOD
WITH US
We believe that
the Holy Spirit is a divine person existing as co-equal and
co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son. His
function is to convict unbelievers of their sin and condemnation
before God, and to convince them that they need Christ to save
them. It is only as He regenerates the spirits of unsaved
people that they are able to understand the Gospel and trust in
Christ. In those He does regenerate the Spirit produces
saving faith; He baptizes them into eternal union with Christ;
seals them in that relationship for time and eternity; indwells
them; equips them for service; and empowers them to live a godly
life. (Acts 5:3-4; John 16:7-8; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 12:13;
Ephesians 1-14; 3:16-19; Galatians 5:5; II Corinthians 3:18)
HUMANITY
SPIRITUALLY
DEAD IN SIN
We believe that
God created the first man and woman in His own spiritual image
and likeness. They were created to know Him, to enjoy His
friendship, experience His love and His wisdom, and to serve
Him. But as a consequence of disobedience to God our
parents lost their relationship with Him. They lost it not only
for themselves but also for their descendants. We have all
inherited from our parents a nature of rebellion against God.
The Bible calls this nature and it’s works “spiritual
death”. Spiritual death is complete estrangement from
God. It is our total inability to approach God or to
please Him in any way. Just as physical death makes
it impossible to have a relationship with someone, spiritual
death separates us totally and completely from the life of God.
As spiritually dead men and women, we can do nothing to earn
God’s favor. This is the spiritual “birth defect”
with which each of us entered the world, estranged from God by
our very nature, which fact we have long since confirmed by
committing sins of our own. We are sinners both by nature
and by choice, and unable to do anything to improve our standing
before God.
SALVATION
BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE,
IN CHRIST
ALONE
Because our
position relative to God is one of spiritual death, it follows
both logically and Biblically that if we are to be saved from
the penalty due our sins, it must be entirely a work of God.
Therefore the basis of salvation is entirely God’s
Grace, love we don’t deserve (Ephesians 2:8-8; Titus 3:4-6).
The means of salvation is faith, trust in God and not our
own efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-6). And the object
of faith is Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and resurrection. Romans 3:23-25).
ETERNAL
SECURITY
IT’S NOT “ETERNAL LIFE”
IF YOU CAN LOSE IT
While
it is possible to be saved and not understand the Biblical
teaching of eternal security to deny the doctrine is a
corruption of the Gospel because it means that salvation is
ultimately dependent upon some work of man. To deny the
security of the believer is a denial of salvation by “grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone.” The
fact is that we did not deserve salvation the day we received
it, and since then there has not been a single day that we have
deserved to keep it. The continuance of salvation has
nothing more to do with any work of ours than our receiving it
did. If salvation is received as a gift by faith, but only
maintained by either good works or avoiding certain sins, then
we would only arrive in heaven through our own efforts, and
would have something to boast about, “but not before God.”
(Romans 8:1; 28-39; John 10:28-29; I John 5:11-13).
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