Lakeview Bible Church – Statement of Faith

  1. The Word of God.

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct, and it is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31,32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32, 1Thess. 2:13).

  1. The Trinity.

We believe there is one living and true God who is the infinite, personal, holy, sovereign being, the Creator and Governor of all things. This God exists eternally in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of creation and redemption. (Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 1 Timothy 6:16; Jude 24, 25)

  1. God the Father.

We believe in God the Father Almighty, who reigns with providential care over all of His creation and over the entirety of history. He is all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, and a relational God who hears and answers prayer. While He is fatherly in His attitude toward all humanity, He is a true Father to all who become His children through faith in Christ. His sovereign and loving purpose in redemption is realized through the sending of his Son and his Spirit for the salvation of the world. (Gen 21; Matthew 6:9; Exodus 6:3; Psalm 121:4; Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6; Acts 17:26; Exodus 34:6-7; Job 37:16; 1 John 3:20; Psalm 66:19-20; Matthew 6:6-8; Matthew 5:45; Luke 12:32; John 1:12; John 3:16; Galatians 4:4-6; Romans 5:5)

  1. Jesus Christ.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, who took on a full humanity so that He is fully God and fully man. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, fulfilling the law of God in its entirety, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death on the cross, bodily resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, where He now reigns with the Father over all and intercedes for His people as their High Priest. From heaven He will return to judge the living and the dead and establish the new creation over which He will reign forever as its undisputed Sovereign. (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 8:46; II Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9,10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Timothy 3:16)

  1. Christ’s Saving Work.

We believe that by His perfect obedience to God and by His suffering and death as the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ obtained forgiveness of sins and the gift of perfect righteousness for all who trust in God through Christ. We believe that Christ, through living a perfect life and dying in our place, the just for the unjust, absorbed our punishment and appeased the wrath of God against us.

We believe that this atonement of Christ for sin warrants and impels a universal offering of the gospel to all persons, so that to every person it may be truly said, “Whosoever will may come for cleansing at this fountain of life, and whoever does come, Jesus will not cast out.” We believe, moreover, that the death of Christ also obtained the omnipotent New Covenant mercy of repentance and faith for God’s people. (Romans 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; John 1:29; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:21-28; 8:1, 3; Galatians 3:13; Romans 5:9; Revelation 22:17; John 6:37; Hebrews 9:15; 2 Timothy 2:24-25; Philippians 1:29)

  1. The Holy Spirit.

We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide. (John 14:16,17,26; 15:26,27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26)

  1. Regeneration.

We believe that man was created by God in His own image; that the first man, Adam, sinned and thereby brought physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God, to all of his descendants; that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and sin by choice and are therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and have become new creatures, and so are delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life. (Genesis 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Ecclesiastes 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 19:3,20; 20:10;14,15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1)

  1. Justification.

We believe that God freely justifies the ungodly by faith alone apart from works, pardoning their sins, and reckoning them as righteous and acceptable in His presence. We believe that faith is thus the sole instrument by which we, as sinners, are united to Christ, whose perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sins is alone the ground of our acceptance with God. We believe that the righteousness by which we come into right standing with God is accomplished for us, outside ourselves, and is imputed to us.

We believe, nevertheless, that the faith, which alone receives the gift of justification, does not remain alone in the person so justified, but produces, by the Holy Spirit, the fruit of love and leads necessarily to sanctification. We believe that faith that does not yield the fruit of good works is dead, being no true faith. (Titus 3:5-7; Philippians 3:8-9; Romans 4:4-8; 3:21-22; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:28; 5:18-19; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 1:4-5; 1 John 4:8, 20; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Acts 26:18; Titus 2:11-14; James 2:17-20, 26; 1 John 2:3-4)

  1. Sanctification / Christian Conduct.

We believe that Sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means – especially, the word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.

We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of God and the well-being of his fellow men; that his conduct should be blameless before the world; that he should be a faithful steward of his possessions; and that he should seek to realize for himself and others the full stature of maturity in Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-3; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 14:15,23-24; 1 John 2:3-6; 2 Corinthians 9:6-9; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Colossians 1:9-10)

  1. The Perseverance of the Saints.

We believe that only real believers persevere in faith to the end, that their continuing attachment to Christ in this way is what distinguishes them from superficial professors of faith; and that a special Providence watches over their welfare. We humbly affirm that this preservation and perseverance through faith unto salvation is of God and not of ourselves, and trust in Him to bring to the completion the good work He has begun in us in Christ Jesus. (Matthew 13:1-9; Romans 5:1-5; 8:28; Philippians 1:6; James 1:12)

  1. The Church.

(The Church) – We believe that the church universal is comprised of all the redeemed and comes to visible expression in local congregations of believers. The church is called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, and exists primarily for the worship of God. It also exists for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the Church. The spiritual leaders of the local church are elders (pastors, overseers) who are called to lead by shepherding, governing, teaching and preaching and equipping the members of the church for the ministry. In addition to the office of elder the church is served by deacons whose give practical support and oversight to various areas of the church’s ministry. (Matthew 16:18, 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47, 6:1-6, 20:17; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 5:1-5; Ephesians 4:1-16; Philippians 1:1; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:1-16; 4:13; Titus 1:1-2:2; Revelation 2 and 3)

(Members of the Church) – We believe that all members of a local church form a spiritual priesthood and are equal in rights and responsibilities regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality or social class. As priests, members are to serve the household of faith and this involves a commitment to private and corporate prayer, a stewardship of time, spiritual gifts and financial resources to support the work of the gospel. (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10; Galatians 3:28; John 13:14-17; Galatians 5:13; Acts 2:42; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 Corinthians 9:14, 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians 8:7-11, 9:6-11; Philippians 4:14-19)

(Church Discipline) – We believe that the local church has the responsibility to exercise loving and redemptive discipline of her members who have strayed from the teaching of the Scriptures through their attitude, beliefs, or through the actions of their lives. If loving admonishment to restore an offending member to spiritual health has failed, discipline may involve the loss of membership rights and exclusion from the membership of the church until the disciplined person will be joyfully received back into the church on the basis of confession and repentance of sin. (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Galatians 6:1; 1 Timothy 1:19-20, 5:19-20; Titus 3:10-11; 3 John 8-10)

(The Mission of the Church) — We believe that it is the duty and privilege of every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ in the new covenant and of every local church of Christ to be involved in the Great Commission by making Christian disciples of the nations, both locally and globally. This is done through Spirit-empowered verbal witness and preaching, prayer and financial support, and is undergirded by a lifestyle of holiness, good deeds, and the pursuit of justice. (Matthew 4:19; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:1,4; Acts 11:19-24, 13:1-4; Acts 1:8, 4:31; Colossians 4:2-6; 1 Corinthians 9:7-14; Philippians 2:14-16; Matthew 5:13-16)

  1. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism, performed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, is the immersion in water of a believer. It is a public confession of our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour and Lord, of death to sin and resurrection to a new life as followers of Jesus Christ. Believer’s baptism is a prerequisite for entering into covenant (membership) relationship with the local church.  We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ to commemorate His death until His return, preceded always by solemn self-examination. It is the means through which believers regularly and thankfully remember the death of Christ for them, rededicate their lives to Him, receive spiritual nourishment, declare their unity in Christ and proclaim His second coming. (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-5, 10:8-13; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

  1. Worship.

We believe that, while Christians can and should worship God at all times and in all aspects of their lives, the first day of the week should be observed as the Lord’s Day, divinely appointed for corporate worship and instruction. The Lord Jesus calls on believers to worship in spirit/Spirit – that is, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit – and in truth, that is, consistent with God’s revelation of Himself and His purposes through the Scriptures. Scripture is to be studied by each believer, but it is best understood within the collective wisdom of the Christian community both past and present. (Psalm 95:1-7; John 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Hebrews 10:25)

  1. The Creation.

We believe that God created all things for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. As a benevolent and perfect creator, God providentially sustains, directs, and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least, to the end for which they were created. While God created humanity and the universe in a state of goodness and perfection, death and corruption entered into God’s creation through the sin of Adam and Eve; as a result, the whole creation is cursed and awaits the day of its redemption. We believe that God created the human race to have authority and stewardship over the earth. Consequently, humanity is responsible for protecting and tending the earth with the same love and care that God shows for all that He has made. (Genesis 1:1-31; Colossians 1:16; Romans 1:20; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 3:17-18; Romans 8:18-25; Revelation 22:3; Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:15; Psalm 8:6-8)

  1. The Last Things.

We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth and the establishment of His Kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal joy of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked. (Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6,11-15)