Grace Chapel Bible Church Statement of Faith

What we believe

1.The Holy Scriptures

The Holy Scriptures are the inspired word of God, authoritative, inerrant, and God breathed(2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13).

2.The Godhead

There is one triune God, existing in three persons - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit - eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

3.The total depravity of man

Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that when Adam sinned the human race fell, as a result all man, being progenies of Adam, inherited a fallen nature, became alienated from God, and unable by his own efforts to mend that broken relationship with God (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 5:12; Ephesians 2:12).

4.The person and work of Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that he might reveal God and redeem sinful man; that He accomplished our redemption through His spiritual death on the cross as a substitution sacrifice; that our redemption is made sure to us by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24, 25; 4:25; 1 Peter 1:3-5); that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven exulted at the right hand of God, where as the high priest for His people, He fulfills the Ministry of representative, intercessor, an advocate (Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1, 2).

5. The personality and work of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, indwells all believers in the present age, baptizes them into the body of Christ, seals them on to the day of redemption, and that it is the duty of every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13, 14; 5:18).

6. Salvation

Salvation in every dispensation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose efficacious death on the cross provided man's reconciliation to God (Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; John 1:12).

7. The eternal security of believers

All believers are kept secure forever (Romans 8:1, 38, 39; John 10:27-30; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8).

8. The Church

The Church, which is now the body and shall be the bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this age irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14).

9. The personality of Satan

We believe in the personality of Satan who is the open and declared enemy of God and man (he Job 1:6, 7; Matthew 4: 2-11; Isaiah 14:12-17). 

10. The blessed hope

The next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ and believers who are alive at His coming, otherwise known as the rapture or translation of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14).

 11. The tribulation

The rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel's 70th week, the latter half of which is the time of Jacobs trouble, the great tribulation (Daniel 9:27; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 6-19).

12. The second coming of Christ

The great tribulation will be climaxed by the (pre-millennial) return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom (Zachariah 14:4-11; Matthew 24:15-25; second Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:6).

13. The eternal state

We believe that the soul and human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do, at death, immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in the conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at his coming, when soul, human spirit, and by 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 (he 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. The responsibility of believers

To "grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ," to the end that his life is consistent with the Lord's plan, those bringing both blessing to the believer and honor to the Lord (2 Peter 3:18).

15. Church ordinances

Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's supper to be observed until His return (he Matthew 28:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

16. Sovereignty

God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign and exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of and consistent with the essence and attributes of deity (one Chronicles 29:11, 12; Daniel for: 35; Psalm 24:1; Ephesians 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:15).

17. Spirituality

Spirituality is an absolute condition of the believer whose walk is in obedience with divine mandates. We believe that when the believer sins that he does not lose his salvation but does walk in the darkness of carnality. We believe that to recover from the carnal state that we name our sins to God, who on the bases of the work of the Son on the cross is "faithful and Just to forgive us our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness," restoring us to a right relationship with God. (John 15:7, eight; 2 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18; Romans 6:11-13; 1 John 1:5, nine; 2:2; 1 Corinthians 11: 30, 31, 1 John 1:9).

18. Spiritual gifts

God the Holy Spirit in grace and apart from human merit sovereignty bestows spiritual gifts to believers in this dispensation. Some of the permanent spiritual gifts which exist today are pastor-teacher, evangelists and administrator helps and comforts, we further believe that a temporary spiritual gifts cease with the completion of the canon of Scripture, and these were apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, (1 Corinthians 12, 13; Ephesians 4:7-12; Romans 12: 4-8).