Table
of Contents (Click on each Topic)
Basic Doctrinal Statement for Windward Bible
Church and Last Chance Ministries
I. The Person and
Character of God -- God is perfect, [Matthew 5:48] holy, [1 Peter 1:15–17]
all powerful, [Matthew 28:18] and one [Deuteronomy 6:4, John 17:11, 21] existing in the
three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (lit. Holy Spirit). [Matt. 3:16–17,
Mark 1:9–11, Luke 3:21–22] (Back To Top)
II. The Fall and
Degeneracy of Mankind -- Adam and Eve, the first of Mankind, were created in the
image of God [Genesis 1:26–27] to walk with God. [Genesis 3:6–9] But sin, that
is disobedience to the Word of God, caused all mankind to fall from this place of walking
with God. [Genesis 3:23–24] Therefore, mankind now needs a perfect Savior, or
Redeemer, to restore each individual to that place of fellowship with God. [Romans 6:23,
1 Corinthians 15:22] (Back To Top)
III. Jesus Christ
-- The
Savior Redeemer is Jesus Christ, [Titus 2:13–14] the Son of God, born of a Virgin and
thus free from the nature of sin. [Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21] He is indeed God
who came to Earth in human flesh. [Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1, 1:14, 10:31–33, 20:28] He
also received worship as God [Matthew 8:2, 9:18, 14:33, 15:25, 28:9, 17] when God mandated
that all men and angels bow in worship only to God [Exodus 20:5, Hebrews 1:6]. All godly
men [Acts 10:25–26] and angels [Revelation 19:10, 22:8] are to refuse being
worshipped. He was unjustly condemned and put to death, [Acts 3:13–15] but was bodily
resurrected on the third day according to the Scriptures. [1 Corinthians 15:3–4]
He is now in heaven as the head and high priest of His body the Church. [Hebrews 4:14,
7:26–27] It is by His sinless sacrifice the sins of each individual has been paid.
[Romans 5:12–19, 6:23] (Back To Top)
IV. Salvation
-- is granted
freely apart from works [Galatians 2:16] and completely to those who trust the person,
work, and character of Jesus Christ. [Ephesians 2:8–9] To put one’s faith in
Christ means one both trusts and confesses Jesus as Lord and Saviour. [Romans
10:9–10] Even though the Christian has been saved apart from good works, he or she
has also been saved to do good works. [Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:14, James 2:14–20]
Thus, a person who has really been saved will began to practice
good works because of their love for God. [1 John 4:19] When such persons put their
trust in Jesus Christ they become a new creature in Him. [2 Corinthians 5:17] A new
creature in Christ is a "born-again Christian." [John 3:3,7] When a person is
"born-again" she or he then becomes part of the priesthood of all believers. [1
Peter 2:5,9] This person is given "everlasting life" which means they are kept
saved by the power of God for all eternity. [John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1
Peter 1:3–5] This person will also live and reign eternally with Jesus Christ in
heaven. [1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, Revelation 22:2–5]
(Back
To Top)
V. The Destiny of the
Non-believer -- Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior by
faith will go to hell when they die. [Luke 16:19–31] Then, when this world comes to
an end, hell, and those in it, will be put into the "lake of fire" where they
will be in torment for eternity. [Revelation 20:10–15] Once a person goes to hell,
they are separated from God for ever. [Matthew 25:41–46, 2 Thessalonians 1:9]
(Back To Top)
VI. The Christian Rituals
-- Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper, or communion, are the two rites given for Christians to
practice.
A. Baptism (i.e., baptismw
a "dipping") is to symbolically and publicly identify each new convert with the
death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. [Romans 6:3–4] Since one cannot be
buried by someone pouring or sprinkling dirt on a corpse, neither can one be properly
identified with the death, burial, and resurrection in being baptized by pouring or
sprinkling. Thus the proper mode for baptism is to be submerged in water. [Matthew
3:11–16, Mark 1:8–9]
B. Communion is to remember the Lord’s death and
coming, and it is to be practiced with broken unleavened bread and unleavened or
non-fermented nonalcoholic juice. [Luke 22:1–18, 1 Corinthians 5:7–8,
11:24–26] The juice is to be served in separate cups which have been filled and
previously passed out. The juice is to be drank after the bread has been eaten. [Luke
22:17–20, 1 Corinthians 11:33]
Baptism or communion does not help a person to be saved from sin
no more than circumcision or any other "rite" can make one righteous before God.
[Galatians 3:21, 5:2–4] In fact, if a person believes observing any particular rite
helped them to be originally saved, they are not saved by the grace of God because
salvation is by only trusting in Jesus Christ. [Galatians 5:4–5] Thus, if trust in
Christ is shared with any rite then one’s trust is not completely in Jesus.
Therefore, it is only by having one’s trust completely in Jesus Christ a person can
be saved. [Galatians 5:6–9] (Back To Top)
VII. The Holy Bible
-- The
Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God [2 Timothy 3:16], and the writing of it was
finished, completed, and closed with the last book to be written by an apostle.
[2 Peter 3:2] The last book is the Book of Revelation written through John on the
island of Patmos. [Revelation 1:1–9] We believe the Word of God to consist of the 66
Books of the Bible which have been recognized as being part of the inspired
"Canon," or rule of God’s word.
(Back To Top)
VIII. The Purpose
of the Local Church -- The believers are to meet in a local place for the
purposes of encouraging one another, fellowship, partaking of communion, receiving
biblical instruction, [Acts 2:42, Hebrews 10:24,25] and to help meet the needs of those
who are hurting in real tangible ways. [Galatians 6:10, 1 Timothy 5:3–5, James
2:15–16] The church is to equip or "perfect the saints," (i.e., the
living Christians) to carry out the work of the ministry and refute false doctrine.
[Ephesians 4:11–14] The work of the ministry is to evangelize [Matthew 28:19–20,
Luke 24:46–47] and spread the Gospel [the good news] of Jesus Christ, [Mark 16:15]
and to minister to the needs of those in the body of Christ first, and last to reach out
to and serve those in their community. [Galatians 6:10]
(Back To Top)
IX. Attitude Toward
Spiritual Gifts -- The Bible teaches that "spiritual gifts" have been
given to all believers. [1 Corinthians 12:7–10,28, Ephesians 4:11, 1 Peter
4:10–11] These "gifts" have been given by God to profit, or benefit, the
whole body of Christ. [1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10] However, they were not given
for the benefit, nor for the profit, nor for the edification of the individual, but
instead they are for the benefit and edification of others. [Romans 14:19, 15:2,
1 Corinthians 10:33, 12:21–22, 14:3–5, 12, 26, Ephesians 4:11–12] The
Bible teaches that there is not any particular gift which every believer will have,
[1 Corinthians 12:29–30] but each child of God has been given at least one.
[1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10] The Bible does not teach that one receives any
particular gift because they seek for it, but the gift is given as God determines for the
profit of the whole body. [1 Corinthians 12:11] The Bible also teaches that some
gifts have ceased operating today. (see next article)
(Back To Top)
X. The Cessation
of the Gifts of Prophecy, Tongues, and Knowledge -- The Bible teaches that the
three gifts which provided revelation of the Word of God directly from God ceased.
[1 Corinthians 13:8] The gifts which have ceased are prophecy, tongues, and the word
of knowledge. These particular gifts ceased when that which was in "part," and
also like a "dark glass," was completed and became clear. [1 Corinthians
13:9–12] That which was in "part" and like a "dark glass" was the
Word of God [James 1:23–25] which was still being revealed by God. The completion of
the Word of God occurred with the completion of the Book of Revelation penned by John who
was the last living apostle. (Back To Top)
XI. The
Imminency of the Lord’s Return -- Simply stated,
we hold to a 'pre-tribulational' rapture and 'pre-millennial' return of
the Lord Jesus Christ to earth in our eschatological beliefs. We believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ could
come at anytime to take His church. His church is His body made up of all those who have
put their faith in Him as their Savior. When Jesus comes to take His church this means He
will catch away or "catch up" all Christians to meet the Lord in the air.
[1 Thessalonians 4:15–18] This event could take place at anytime, thus believers
are to be watching for Him by living according to the Bible. [Luke 12:36–40,
1 Thessalonians 1:9–10] Such anticipation of the Lord’s momentary return
will have a purifying effect upon the Christian who is "watching." [1 John
3:2–3] After the church has been removed a terrible time of tribulation will come
upon the Earth. [Matthew 24:3–31, 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18, 5:1–11] In
addition, after this terrible time has run its course for seven years, Jesus will then
come to and set His feet on Earth to destroy the armies of the wicked [Zechariah
14:1–7, 12–15, Revelation 19:15–21] and cleanse the Earth of all other
wicked people. [Matthew 25:31–41] (Back To Top)
XII. The
Leadership of the Local Church -- The local church body is to have only one
head, who is Christ, who leads the church through the elder pastor/shepherd.
[1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:23] The elder pastor is to lead the local church by
way of example and in teaching. [1 Timothy 4:11–15, 1 Peter 5:1–3] The elder
pastor is to work to perfect and equip the lay people so they in turn can minister to each
other and those outside the church. [Ephesians 4:11–13] The elder pastor is to also
help prepare other men to serve as deacons and also elders or bishops. The terms
"elder" and "bishop" are both terms which stand for pastors or
assistant pastors. [Titus 1:5–9] The various leaders are to be ordained by others who
have first examined them to ensure they each hold to proper doctrine. [Galatians
2:7–9, 1 Timothy 1:3–4, 2:7, 3:10, Titus, 1:5]
(Back To Top)
XIII. Angels, Demons,
and Satan -- The Bible teaches that angels are spiritual [Hebrews 1:13–14]
and immortal [Luke 20:35–36] creatures which have been created by God [Psalm
148:2–5, Colossians 1:16]. However, these spiritual beings have a humanoid (i.e., anthropological
or manlike) appearance [Genesis 19:1–5]. The Bible also teaches that angels who have
rebelled against God are sometimes called evil spirits or demons. Satan (i.e., the
Serpent of Old, the Devil, and the Dragon [Revelation 12:9]) is the leader of all evil
angels [Matthew 12:24–26, Revelation 12:7], nevertheless, he is also merely an angel,
but very powerful [1 Peter 5:8]. Angels, good or evil, have numerous supernatural
abilities. (Back To Top)
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