Statement of Faith

The Alvaton Church of Christ Statement of Faith

We believe these things about God…

There is only one true God. He is the Creator of all life and the Supreme Ruler of the universe. He has always been (He is eternal) and co-exists equally in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. We learn about God through His creation, His Word, and His Son. God loves us more than we can imagine.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Deuteronomy 6:4; Job 38:1-41:34; Matthew 3:13-17; John 3:16; Romans 1:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:6)

We believe these things about Jesus Christ…

Jesus Christ is the one and only Son of God. Co-equal with God the Father and God the Spirit, He came to earth and became man. He was completely God while at the same time being fully man. He revealed to us who God is. His miraculous acts, sinless life, and life-changing teachings all confirm the fact that He is God’s Son. His purpose for coming to Earth was to show God’s love by dying on a cross, thus taking the sins of all mankind upon Himself, and paying the penalty that our sins deserve. His bodily resurrection from the grave and His promise to return someday are testimonies to the fact that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus desires the deepest of relationship with every person.
(Matthew 1:22-23; John 1:1,14,18; Acts 10:37-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Ephesians 2:4- 8; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-21; Hebrews 1:1-3)

We believe these things about the Bible…

The Bible is God’s written Word. The process that God used to give us His Word is called inspiration, which means God-breathed. The Word of God is infallible, without error and is truth. It tells us who God is, why He loves us, and what His plans are for us. The Bible is the standard for living our lives according to God’s will for us and is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice.
(Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:105, 160; John 17:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

We believe these things about Man…

We are created in the spiritual likeness or image of God. God gave us free will: we have the ability to choose to love as God loves, to choose to do right in the likeness of God’s righteousness, and to choose to value what God values. God created us because He wants a family who will love Him because we want to love Him, and not because we have to love Him. The first man, Adam, chose to sin, and now every person lives in a marred creation with a marred spiritual nature. As a result, every person will eventually choose to sin and subsequently become separated from God.
(Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 8:3-6; John 4:24; Ephesians 1:4-6; Romans 3:23)

We believe these things about Salvation…

We need salvation because we have sinned. Sin separates us from God who desires relationship with us. It is impossible for any man to restore that broken relationship with God by any amount of personal goodness, religious deeds, or by belonging to a church. We cannot earn, merit or achieve a right relationship with God by our own efforts. The death of Jesus was not an accident. It was God’s plan from the beginning to save us from our sins through the death of Jesus Christ. The Bible calls God’s act of love, grace. His grace is His gift to us. The way we receive His gift is by entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus.
(Isaiah 59:2; John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 3:10,11,23; Romans 6:3-4; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-8)

The biblical conditions for salvation are as follows:

– One must hear the word of God. (Rom. 10:14-17; Matt. 7:24-27; Acts 18:8; Jn. 5:24).
– One must believe the word of God. (Jn. 3:16; 8:24; 20:31; Acts 10:43; Heb. 11:16).
– One must repent of past personal sins. (Lk. 13:3; Acts 2:38; 17:30).
– One must confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. (Rom. 10:9-10; Phil. 2:9:11; Acts 8:37).
– One must be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 28:19; Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38).
– Baptism is by immersion and is a burial. (Rom. 6:1-6; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:21; Acts 22:16).
– One must walk faithful before God until death to receive the crown of life. (1 Jn. 1:7; Rev.
2:10, 25-26).

We believe these things about the Church…

The church as it is revealed in the scripture is the church Jesus promised he would establish in Matthew 16:18 and the church the apostles write about in their various epistles. We believe the church is not a denomination, but is made up of all those who have heard and believed the word of God, repented of their sins, confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior, have been buried with him in baptism, and strive to live lives of holiness. As a local congregation we merely seek to be a faithful part of the church that Jesus said he would build.

The Church is not a building or a place but rather is God’s spiritual family. To belong to the Church, is to belong to Jesus. It is not comprised of “perfect” people but of sinners saved by grace who are in continual need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. The Bible uses the analogy that Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is His body. God’s will is for the Church to gather regularly to worship its Head, Jesus, to use its various gifts and abilities to serve its Head, to love and encourage those who are in the body, and to work diligently to maintain the unity of the body. As the members of His Church love one another and maintain unity of purpose and relationship, the world around us will recognize that we belong to Jesus. The Church or body is to seek to do the will of God, which also includes loving and saving the world through Jesus Christ.
(Matthew 16:15-18; Matthew 28:19-20; John 17:20-23; John 13:34-35; Acts 2:42-47; 1Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 2:8-10, 19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10)

We believe these things about Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality…

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Genesis 1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.

We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:18-25.) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4.)

We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.)

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.)

We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the Alvaton Church of Christ.

We believe these things about marriage as a lifetime commitment…

Marriage is a lifetime commitment and a man and a woman united in matrimony are bound to each other as long as they both live. The breaking of the marriage covenant by fornication (adultery) is the only scriptural reason for divorce and remarriage. If the marriage covenant is broken by adultery, the innocent part has a scriptural right to remarry if they choose to do so.
The one put away for sexual immorality (adultery) does not have the same right to remarry as the innocent party. If a marriage is dissolved for a reason other than adultery, neither have a scriptural right to remarry another. They are to reconcile or remain unmarried. A person does not have the scriptural right to marry one put away for adultery.
(Matthew 5:32, 19:9; Romans 7:2-3; 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, 10-11)

We believe these things about the sanctity of human life…

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.
(Psalms 22: 9-10; Psalms 139, Isaiah 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 4:1-5; Matthew 1:20-21; Luke 1:15-17; Galatians 1:15)

We believe these things about Eternity…

When God created you and me, He created us with a soul which will never cease to exist. Those who choose to follow Jesus as Lord, and have a growing relationship with Him, will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Those who reject Jesus by refusing to follow Him will spend eternity in Hell. Heaven, like salvation and grace, is a gift of God. Hell is the due consequence for those who have not accepted God’s offer of forgiveness. Heaven and Hell are real places.
(Ezekiel 18:20; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; John 14:1- 6; Romans 6:23; Philippians 3:17-21; Revelation 20:15)

We believe these things about the final interpretative authority on the Bible’s meaning and application for matters of belief and conduct…

This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of the Alvaton Church of Christ’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, the elders are the Alvaton Church of Christ’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.
(Acts 15:6, 20:28; 1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Peter 5:1-3; Titus 1:7)

The membership of this Church shall be composed of individuals who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and affirm the tenets of this Statement of Faith, and who offer evidence, by their confession and their conduct, that they are living in accord with their affirmations and are actively pursuing and continuing in a vital fellowship with the Lord, Jesus Christ. The elders of the Alvaton Church of Christ shall have final authority in all matters of church discipline, as set forth and described in the scripture.
(Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2:7-8; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; Titus 3:10-11; 2 John 7-11)