Detailed Statement of Faith

1. The Scriptures

• The Bible, comprising 66 books, is God’s unalterable revelation to all mankind.
• The Bible is divinely inspired [breathed out by God], infallible, inerrant, supreme, and therefore is the final authority for faith and life.

Scripture References: 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17

2. Trinity

• There is only One true and living God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect and flawless in all his attributes; One in essence, eternally existing in three Persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each uncreated and distinct.
• Each of the three Persons is equally deserving of our worship and obedience.

Scripture References: Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14

a. God the Father

• God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, as the Creator, is the Father of all people but is the spiritual Father of believers only.
• God the Father chose from eternity past to send his Son to be a sacrifice for sins.

Scripture References: Ephesians 4:6; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:20

b. God the Son

• Jesus Christ is God, the second Person of the Trinity, who became a Man, born of a virgin and lived a sinless life.
• He performed all the miracles described in the Bible and willingly, sacrificially, and, as a substitute, went to the cross to die for sins.
• He physically rose from the dead on the third day as the guarantee of our justification, ascended to the Father’s right hand, and is currently mediating as the Advocate and High Priest for his people.

Scripture References: Matthew 1:22; John 14:9; Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Peter 2:22; Isaiah 53:4; John 10:15; Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:16-20; Acts 1:9; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1

c. God the Holy Spirit

• The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Trinity, who convicts the world of sin, regenerates, draws the sinner to Christ, and baptizes the repentant sinner into the body of Christ at the time of conversion.
• The Holy Spirit indwells, sanctifies, instructs, comforts, guides, empowers, and seals all believers until the day of redemption.
• The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer. These gifts are solely meant to glorify Christ and build up the Church and are to be exercised for the profit of all.
• Sign gifts, such as tongues, were given for temporary purposes and passed away after the apostles.

Note: We realize genuine believers differ in their views on the sign gifts, meaning whether they ceased or continue to be in operation. We feel differences in this area do not exclude an individual from membership.

Scripture References: John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5; John 16:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 14:16; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 1 John 2:20; 1 Corinthians 12:18; 1 Peter 4:10; John 16:14; 1 Corinthians 14:12; 1 Corinthians 12:7; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:3-4

3. Angels

• Angels are created beings and, hence, are not to be worshiped.
• Satan is a created angel, originally created holy, but became evil by rebelling against God with several other angels and thereby incurred God’s judgment.
• Satan, the unholy god of this age, presently deceiving people with his demons, has been defeated through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and, in the future, will be eternally punished in the lake of fire along with his demons.

Scripture References: Matthew 4:10; Colossians 2:18; Revelation 19:10; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Colossians 2:13-15; 1 John 3:8; Romans 16:20; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:7-10

4. Creation

• The creation details as given in Genesis about the universe, including human beings are accurate.
• Human beings are a direct creation of God and not a product of evolution.

Scripture References: Genesis 1-2; John 1:3; Acts 17:24-26; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3; Matthew 19:4-5

5. Fall of Man

• Man was created in the image of God, holy and free of sin with intelligence and moral responsibility; he willfully sinned, lost his innocence, and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.
• Since the Fall, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and spiritually dead. And in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, they are also guilty of sin in terms of sinful thoughts, words and deeds.

Scripture References: Genesis 1:26-27, 3:6, 24; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:10-19, 5:12; Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 7:15-16; Jonah 4:11

6. Salvation

• A person’s salvation is completely by God’s grace and is solely based on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
• Salvation is in no way contributed to nor accomplished by any merit or work of the individual.
• Regeneration, or the new birth, is instantaneous and solely a work of God’s grace whereby sinners become new creatures in Christ Jesus. This new birth, where a person receives a new heart, is brought about by the Holy Spirit, who, through the word of God, brings conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The converted or born-again person naturally bears fruit in keeping with the new birth.
• Salvation is a free offer made to all mankind, and nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth except the personal willful rejection of the gospel.
• Since salvation is completely the work of the Lord, those saved are eternally kept by God’s power, secure in Christ forever, and will persevere in faith till the very end.
• This assurance of salvation is not a license for the believer to lead a sinful life; on the contrary, it motivates the believer to pursue a life of holiness with an attitude of love and gratitude toward the Lord and avoid all kinds of sinful practices and associations.

Scripture References: Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:18-19; John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:22-23; Acts 3:19, 11:18; Romans 10:9-10; Philippians 2:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Matthew 3:8, 7:17-23; Ephesians 2:10; Matthew 11:28; John 3:16, 6:37; Romans 1:18-20; 1 Peter 1:5; John 6:40, 10:28-29; Romans 8:1, 31-39; Hebrews 10:39; 2 Timothy 2:19; 1 John 2:19; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5

7. Church

• Jesus Christ established his church, which is comprised of all who have placed their faith in him.
• The church, also called the body and bride of Christ, has Christ only as its head and obeys his word as found in the Bible.
• The Scriptures teach the establishment of local churches and that each believer should be actively involved in such a fellowship.
• The teaching and functioning of the local church is to be free from any external human authority or control.
• The church is to be led by biblically qualified elders (men, also known as pastors, bishops, and overseers). They are to be assisted by biblically qualified deacons with appropriate input/involvement from members of the church to ensure accountability and the safety that comes from a multitude of counselors.

In that sense, GBC’s church polity or structure could be described as being Elder-Led, Deacon-Assisted, Congregation-Involved assembly.

Elder-Led: Passages such as 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9; Acts 20:28; Hebrews 13:17, 1 Timothy 5:17, and 1 Peter 5:1-3 call for qualified men to lead or direct the affairs of the church.

Deacon-Assisted: Passages such as 1 Timothy 3:8-13, Romans 16:1, and Acts 6:1-6 describe the need for qualified deacons to assist the elders and the congregation in various areas.

Congregation-Involved: Passages such as Matthew 18:17 and Acts 6:5-6 stress the vital importance of congregation involvement and input in various decisions related to the church’s well-being.

• It is biblical for like-minded churches to work together to spread the gospel.
• The purpose of the church is to worship God through Christ, and this includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Preach and teach the whole counsel of God
  • Communicate the gospel to the entire world
  • Build up one another
  • Practice the ordinance of water baptism of new disciples by immersion, which is the outward sign of the inward new birth
  • Partake in the Lord’s supper (after serious self-examination) as a continual reminder of Christ’s death and his imminent return
  • Practice church discipline to protect the sinning Christian from pursuing a lifestyle of sin as well as to maintain the purity of the church

Scripture References: Matthew 16:18; Colossians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7; Acts 14:23, 20:28; Philippians 1:1; Ephesians 4:12; Hebrews 10:25; Ephesians 3:21; Matthew 28:20; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 20:27; Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 4:13-16; Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-5; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5; Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:19-20

8. Resurrection of Believers and Unbelievers

• Souls of believers after death immediately go into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and remain there in conscious bliss awaiting a future bodily resurrection when the Lord returns. At that time, their soul and body will be reunited to live with the Lord for all eternity in glory.
• Souls of unbelievers after death immediately go into Hades, a place of conscious torment and remain there until the final judgment before the Great White Throne. At that time, their soul and body will be reunited before being cast into the lake of fire, not to face annihilation, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.

Scripture References: Luke 16:19-26; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23;  Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:34, 41; John 5:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15

9. Second Coming and Judgment

• The physical bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ as occurring in two phases:
  • The first phase of his return, which can occur at any moment, is to take his church to heaven.
  • After this event, there will be a seven-year period called the Tribulation, during which God will pour out his judgment on the earth.
  • The second phase of his return will occur following this period of Tribulation when Christ physically comes to earth with all his people to destroy all unbelievers and establish his kingdom on the earth for a thousand years.
• At the end of the thousand years, Satan and his demons will be cast into the eternal lake of fire called hell; all who have not believed in Christ will stand before him in judgment, called the Great White Throne Judgment, and as a result of their unforgiven sins will be committed forever to hell, which is a real, conscious and eternal place of torment.
• After this judgment, the entire universe, including this earth, will be destroyed by fire and replaced with a new earth completely free of any sin or curse and a new heavenly city that will be a part of this new earth.
• Only those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation will live forever in this new heaven and new earth under the protection and care of the One God, eternally existing in three Persons.

Scripture References: John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 6-18; 1 Corinthians 6:2; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 19:1-20:6, 20:7-15; John 5:22, 28-29; Matthew 25:41; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 21-22

Note: We realize genuine believers differ in their views on the second coming. Some may hold onto views other than what’s presented above, such as, but not limited to, the following: Not seeing the church being raptured before the Tribulation, not seeing the presence of a future millennial kingdom, etc. We feel differences in this area do not exclude an individual from membership. As long as one believes in the bodily return of the Lord Jesus in the future and that all his people will be with him in the future in the new heavens and the new earth, we can joyfully fellowship together as members of one body.

10. Government

• God establishes the local government, and we are to honor, pray for, and submit to it except in those things that are opposed to God’s will, as stated in the Scriptures.

Scripture References: Acts 4:19, 5:29; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-17