The Scriptural Doctrines to which we ask assent of all applicants for membership contain the Niagara Bible Conference Articles of Faith and are as follows:
1. We believe that “ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD,” and which we understand the whole of the book called the Bible; nor do we take the statement in the sense in which it is sometimes foolishly said, that the works of human genius are inspired, but in the sense that the Holy Ghost gave the very words of the sacred writings to holy men of old, and extends equally and fully to all parts of these writings – historical, poetical, doctrinal, and prophetical, and to the smallest word and inflection of a word, provided such is found in the original manuscripts. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Acts 1:16, 2:4).
2. We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, having the same homage, confidence, and obedience. (Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3,4; 2 Corinthians 2:13; Acts 1:16, 2:4).
3. We believe that man, originally created in the image and after the likeness of God, fell from his high and holy estate by eating the forbidden fruit, and as the consequence of his disobedience, the threatened penalty of death was then and there inflicted, so that his moral nature was not grievously injured by the fall but he is totally lost, all spiritual life becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and subject to the power of the Devil. (Genesis 1:26, 2:17; John 5:40, 6:53; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 5:6; 1 John 3:8).
4. We believe that this spiritual death, or total corruption of human nature, has been transmitted to the entire race of man, the man Christ Jesus alone excepted; and hence that every child of Adam is born into the world with a nature which not only possesses no spark of divine life, but is essentially and unchangeably bad, being enmity against God, and incapable by any educational process whatever of subjection to His law. (Genesis 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3, 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:6; Romans 5:12-19, 8:6,7).
5. We believe that, owing to this universal depravity and death in sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; and that no degree of reformation, however great; nor attainment in morality, however high; no culture, however attractive; no humanitarian and philanthropic schemes and societies, however useful; no baptism or other ordinance, however administered; can help the sinner to take even one step toward heaven; but a new nature imported from above, a new life implanted by the Holy Ghost through the Word is absolutely essential to salvation. (Isaiah 64:6; John 3:5, 18; Galatians 6:15; Philippians 3:4-9; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23).
6. We believe in the Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, that His birth was the chosen means of His entrance into the world, being the seed of the woman and not the seed of man; being free from Adam’s fallen and sinful nature; being the Lamb of God without spot and blemish; and because of His own sinless nature, able to bear our sins in His own body as the innocent and all sufficient sacrifice. (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Genesis 3:15; 1 Peter 1:18,19; Luke 1:35; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
7. We believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin, and made a curse for us, dying in our room and stead; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submission to the rules and regulations of any church or of all the churches that have existed since the days of the Apostles, can add in the very least to the value of that precious blood or to the merit of that finished work, wrought for us by Him who united in His person true and proper divinity with the perfect sinless humanity. (Leviticus 17:11; Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:6-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19).
8. We believe that Christ, in the fullness of the blessings He has secured by His obedience unto death, is received by faith alone; and that the moment we trust Him as our Savior, we pass out of death into everlasting life, being justified from all sins, accepted before the Father, according to the measure of His acceptance, loved as He is loved, and having His place and portion, as linked to Him, and one with Him forever. ( John 5:24, 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:4-6, 2:13; 1 John 4:17; 5:11,12).
9. We believe that it is the privilege, not only of some but of all who are born again by the Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of their salvation from the very day they take Him to be their Savior; and that this assurance is not founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness, but wholly upon the testimony of God in his written Word, exciting within His children filial love, gratitude, and obedience. (Luke 10:20, 12:32; John 6:47; Romans 8:33-39; 2 Corinthians 5:1,6,7,8; 2 Timothy 1:12; 1 John 5:13).
10. We believe that all Scriptures, from the first to the last, center about our Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work, in His first and second coming; and hence, that no chapter, even of the Old Testament, is properly read or understood until it leads to Him; and moreover, that all the Scriptures, from the first to the last, including every chapter even of the Old Testament, were designed for our practical instruction. (Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; Acts 17:2-3, 18:28, 26:22-23, 28:23; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).
11. We believe that the Church is composed of all who are united by the Holy Spirit to the risen and ascended Son of God, that by the same Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles: and thus being members one of another, we are responsible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rising above all sectarian prejudices and denominational bigotry, and loving one another fervently with a pure heart.(John 7:38,39; 14:16,17; 15:26; 16:13,14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9).
12. We believe that the Holy Spirit, not as an influence but as a Divine Person, the source and power of all acceptable worship and service, is our abiding Comforter and Helper; that He never takes His departure from the church, nor from the feeblest of the saints, but is ever present to testify of Christ, seeking to occupy us with Him, and not ourselves nor with our experiences. (Romans 8:12,13; 13:14; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:1-10; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 John 3:5-9).
13. We believe that we are called with a holy calling to walk, not after the flesh but after the Spirit, and so to live in the Spirit that we should not fulfil the lusts of the flesh; but the flesh, being still in us to the end of our earthly pilgrimage, needs to be kept constantly in subjection to Christ, or it will surely manifest its presence to the dishonor of His name. (Luke 16:19-26, 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6,7; Revelation 20:11-15).
14. We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do, at death, immediately pass into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, when soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Luke 12:35-40, 17:26-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:28; 2 Timothy 4:8; Zechariah 14:4; Acts 1:11; Colossians 3:4; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7).
15. We believe in the personal, premillennial, and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ FOR His own, described as “that blessed hope,” when He shall come to translate out of this world His ransomed Church, to be followed after by seven years of Tribulation, such as never experienced in the earth, after which He shall come TO the earth WITH His saints to rule and reign in the thousand year Kingdom of righteousness and peace. The coming of Christ FOR His own is a dateless, signless event for which the child of God is waiting and looking, and for which he should be loving. (Acts 1:1; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1:9; Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1; Revelation 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10; Isaiah 11:1-12; Luke 1:31-33; Matthew 24:29,30; Revelation 5:9,10; 2 Timothy 4:7,8).
16. We believe that the ordinances of the church are two-fold; namely, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are memorial and typical rather than sacraments by which grace is administered to the soul; that immersion is the only Scriptural mode of baptism, thus symbolizing the identity of the believer with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and setting forth the essential facts in our Christian experience, that is, death to sin and resurrection to newness of life; that the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of the death of Christ until He comes, the emblems of which typify His broken body and His shed blood, and one of the primary functions of its regular observance being for the purpose of self-examination. (Matthew 3:13-17, 26:17-30, 28:19,20; Mark 1:5, 16:15-16; John 3:23; Acts 2:37-47, 8:26-40, 10:44-48, 16:25-34, 20:7; Romans 6:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:16-22, 11:17-34; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:18-22).
17. We are opposed as a church body to the Charismatic Movement involving the unscriptural emphasis on seeking to speak in tongues and the unscriptural teaching of healing in the atonement and undue emphasis on faith healing. None who are involved in these practices and beliefs shall be permitted to teach or be an officer of this church. The promoting of these things throughout the church shall be sufficient cause for church discipline and such may be dismissed from church membership. The Scriptural basis for our belief is found in a proper understanding of 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the book of Acts for tongues; also 2 Timothy 4:20 (and other passages) on healing. (1 Corinthians 12:1-10, 12:18-31, 14:22).
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