Statement of Faith

The Mission Central Christian Society adopts and subscribes to the following statements.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God, a revelation from God to mankind, the infallible rule of faith and conduct. We believe the Bible is inerrant and wonderful. Consequently, the scriptures in their entirety are trustworthy and the supreme authority. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. The Bible is the written word of God which propels us into a relational journey of life and godliness in following a Person (John 5:39). As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples to follow a person, Jesus Christ, and as witnesses to His gospel and the Kingdom of Heaven (2 Timothy 3:15-16; 1 Peter 2:2, 1 Corinthians 2:13).

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. The one true God has revealed Himself as the eternally self-existent “I AM,” the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind. He has further revealed Himself as embodying the principles of relationship and association as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22).

The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. The Scriptures declare His virgin birth (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:31; Luke 1:35), His sinless life (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22), His miracles (Acts 2:22; Acts 10:38), His substitutionary work on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21), His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:39; 1 Corinthians 15:4), His exaltation to the right hand of God (Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Acts 2:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:3).

That man was created good and upright, for God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” But man, by voluntary transgression, fell, and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God (Genesis 1:26-31: 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21). We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe.

Thus, man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God, according to the hope of eternal life (Luke 24:47; John 3:3; Romans 10:13-15; Ephesians 2:8; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:5-7). The inward evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24; Titus 2:12).

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. He is co-equal, co-eternal and co-existent with the Father and with the Son. His ministry upon the earth is to convict and convert man as well as be the great paraclete (comforter, counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate, strengthener and standby) to the Church. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are also evidence of this experience. Whereas there is one initial baptism, there are many subsequent infillings of the Spirit. The ultimate purpose of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is so that we, the believers, may have power to be witnesses (Matthew 3:11; John 14:16-17; Acts 1:8; Acts 2). The Holy Spirit is a person who’s present to bring us into Jesus life, guidance and worship.

The Lord Jesus Christ, Head of the Church, established two ordinances for the Church to follow: Water Baptism and Communion. Baptism in water, by full immersion, is a direct commandment of our Lord. It is for all believers. This holy sacrament identifies the believer with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 28:19; Acts 10:47-48; Romans 6:4; Acts 20:21; Hebrews 10:22).

The ordinance of Communion is also a commandment of the Lord Jesus that must be received consistently until His return. Only believers can come to the Table of the Lord, which consists of the bread and the cup. The bread – His body, which was broken for us. The cup – His blood that was shed for us. Both elements are witnesses of the New Covenant believers now enjoy while prophetically declaring His soon return (2 Peter 1:4; 1 Corinthians 11:26).

The Scripture teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation at Christ’s return (1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:12-14).

The church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit with divine appointments for the fulfillment of the great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:22; Hebrews 12:33).

Our Lord has provided a divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry for the threefold purpose of leading the Church in: Evangelization of the world (Mark 16:15-20); worship of God (John 4:23-24); edification of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). We believe in the sovereign autonomous government of each local Church.

Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement and is the privilege of all believers (Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17).

The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation, together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, is the imminent and blessed hope of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Titus 2:12; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Romans 8:23).

We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace. (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10-15; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21, 22)

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.