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Churches of Christ draw their
beliefs entirely from biblical
teaching. One of the famous mantras
of the churches of Christ is: "Speak
where the Bible speaks; be silent
where the Bible is silent." Its
meaning is obvious. Whatever the
Bible clearly says and can be
clearly understood is what the
churches of Christ will uphold. It
also means that whatever the Bible
does not speak clearly of is open to
personal interpretation. This helps
maintain a solid unity on
indisputable core truths and a
position of liberty on matters of
personal understanding. The core
truths upon which we all agree
according to biblical teaching are
as follows:
- We believe in the one true
God existing in three persons:
the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the Bible as
the only authoritative,
infallible, and inerrant Word of
God.
- We believe in the deity of
Jesus Christ, his virgin birth,
his sinless life, his teachings
and miracles, his crucifixion
and resurrection.
- We believe in the Holy
Spirit as the indwelling
presence of God received by all
Christians upon baptism.
- We believe in salvation as
the free gift of God's grace.
- We believe that becoming a
Christian begins with an
absolute faith in Jesus Christ
as God's only Son and that such
strong faith motivates one to
confess his or her faith, repent
of sins, and be baptized for the
remission of sins. This is drawn
from: John 3:16,
Romans 10:9-10, Acts 3:19, Acts
2:38 and Mark 16:16. (There is
no verse anywhere in the entire
Bible that speaks of the
sinner's prayer as a means of
salvation.)
- We believe the church is
composed of all those who have
been born again according to
biblical teaching.
- We believe in the second
coming of Christ, at which time
all people from all time will be
judged by God. Upon that
judgment, the redeemed will
spend eternity in heaven and the
condemned will spend eternity in
hell.
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