STATEMENT OF FAITH:
- The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbal and plenary inspired Word of God. Jesus Christ is the original living Word and the Scriptures written are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical, contextual, historical, and Biblical meaning. The Authorized King James Version of the Bible is the preserved Scriptures for our end-time generation and shall be the official and only translation used by CBC for the English-speaking people and the 1960 Revision Reina Valera for the Spanish speaking people. (Ps 12:6,7; 138:2; John 1:1,14; II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:19-21; I John 5:7; Rev. 19:13).
(B) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scripture interpreted in its natural, literal sense reveals divinely determined dispensations of rules for life that define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not the way of salvation, but rather are divinely ordered stewardship by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these dispensations-the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the kingdom-are the subject of detailed revelation in Scripture (Gen. 1:28; Eze. 40-48; I Cor. 9:17; II Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24-25,27; Rev. 20:2-6).
(C) The Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three parts—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; Is. 45:5,20-23; 48:16-17; Matt. 28:19; John 1:1, 10:30,33, 14:10,26; Acts 4:12; II Cor. 13:14; I Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:8; I John 5:7).
(D) The Person and Work of Christ
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful mankind and by so doing reconciling him to Himself (Isa. 7:14, 9:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-2, 14:7; II Cor. 5:18-19; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8; Col. 1:19-21).
- We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption purchasing our salvation through His blood by dying on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (John 19:28-30; Acts 2:18-36; 20:28; Rom. 3:24-25; Eph 1:7,13,14; I Pet. 1:3-5, 2:24).
(3) 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 1:9-10, Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25, 9:24; I John 2:1-2).
(E) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
(1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment and that He is the Supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:9; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 3:6; Eph. 1:13-14; Titus 3:5).
(2) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who assists believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all saved people to be filled with the Spirit (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13; Acts 5:32; Eph. 1:17-18, 5:18; I John 2:20,27; 4:15).
(3) We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer for the administration and the operation of the work of the ministry to profit withal. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry (Rom. 12:3-8; I Cor. 12:4-11; Eph. 4:7-12).
(4) We believe that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit, healings, prophecies, speaking with other tongues, and knowledge, were for the propagation of the Gospel and the Word of God. When the Bible was completed, these sign gifts diminished as demonstrated in the New Testament. We have no need of these gifts except only in vocational abilities. We believe the ultimate deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, though God frequently chooses to answer the prayers of believers for physical healing according to James chapter 5. That prophecies were foretelling but now are forth telling. The Word of God and the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. We believe that speaking with tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit but Biblically defined as speaking with other languages. Lastly, we believe that the knowledge of God’s Word was a special enduement of power for the purpose and propagation of the Word of God which is now developed through the study of the Word of God given in its complete form from beginning to end in Scriptures so that the power of the Holy Ghost is given that we can be witnesses unto the world (Acts 2; I Cor. 1:22, 12:1-8; 13:8-10; 14:21-22; II Tim. 2:15; James 5:13-16; Rev. 19:10).
(F) The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created a triune being (soul, spirit, and body) in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. Human evil is generated by the lust in mankind and self-absorption sparked by selfishness, greed, and the love of money. Wickedness is not having God in all your thoughts. Because evil has no innate desire to glorify God the only tool of combat that evil has against righteousness is to assassinate the life or character of the righteous. The only hope mankind has is to be born again with the new nature of God’s divine Holy Spirit through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Gen. 1:26-27; Psalm 2; 10:4; Rom. 3:22-23, 5:12, 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3, 4:17-19; I Thess. 5:23; I Tim. 6:10; James 1:14-15; II Pet. 1:3-4)
(G) Salvation
(1) We believe that salvation is the gift of God once delivered to the saints, brought to man by God’s grace imparted, and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins and that there is only one dispensation for the salvation of souls, ie., “By grace through faith; and that not of yourselves” (John 1:12; Acts 4:10-12; Rom. 5:15-18, 6:23; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-10; I Pet. 1:18-19; I John 1:5-10; Jude 3).
(2) We believe that once a person receives this gift he is born again and then has the help of the Lord Jesus Christ to overcome sins as the believer learns about Jesus and learns to obey Him. Salvation thus becomes twofold. First, salvation is being saved from eternal damnation by being born again. Second, salvation is being saved from sinful acts by conversion as one turns from his own lifestyle to live in obedience to the lifestyle of Jesus Christ (Matt. 11:20-30; John 1:12-13; 3:3-6; Rom 8:4-16, 28-37; I Pet. 1:23).
(3) Repentance is an internal act that denotes a change from that which condemns a person to hellfire in unbelief to that which saves a person from hellfire in belief. Repentance is also an internal act that denotes a change from that which defeats the born-again Christian by disobedience in unbelief to that which produces the victorious Christian life by obedience in belief. Therefore, Christ has rightly said, “Repent ye and believe the gospel,” (Mk. 1:15; Rom. 6:16; 10:8-17).
(H) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
(1) We believe that all the redeemed are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40, 10:27-30; Rom. 8:38-39; I Cor. 1:4-8; Eph. 1:13-14; I Pet. 1:4-5).
(2) We believe it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to serve and indulge the flesh (Rom. 8:1; 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
(I) The Church
(1) We believe that the local church, which is the body of believers assembled together until we meet Christ in Heaven, is solely made up of born-again persons and that the universal church by definition is only written in Heaven and not yet assembled. (I Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 1:22-23, 5:23-27; Heb.12:23).
(2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches are clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Matt. 16:18; Acts 14:27, 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-15; Titus 1:5-11).
(3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control specifically from denominational and religious systems or governmental powers. We do not condone or exercise forced religion and do not expect the Government to condone or exercise forced religion (Matt. 28:18; Acts 5:34-42; 13:1-4, 15:19-31, 20:28; Rom. 16:1, 4; I Cor. 3:9-10, 12:4-7, 13-20; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:10-15; 5:23; Col. 1:16-19; I Pet. 5:1-4).
(4) We recognize water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, tithing, soul winning, preaching, and by love serving one another, striving together for the faith as the Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the Church in this age (Prov. 11:30; Mal. 3:7-8; Matt. 23:23; 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 11:42; John 15:16; Acts 2:41-42, 8:36-37; 9:18; 10:47; 16:30-33; Rom. 10:13-17; 12:12; 1 Cor. 1:17-18; 11:23-26; Gal. 5:13; I Thess. 5:27; I Tim. 2:1-2,4:13; II Tim. 2:15; 4:1-2; Heb. 10:25; I Pet. 4:7; Rev. 1:3).
(J) Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord and that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations are commanded of God (Rom. 12:1-2, 14:13; II Cor. 6:14, 7:1; II Tim. 3:1-5; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11).