Emmanuel Wesleyan Church
Statement of Faith
1. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the verbally and plenary inspired Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith and life. The sixty-six books of the old and New Testament are the complete and divine revelation of God to Man. The Scriptures shall be interpreted according to their normal grammatical-historical meaning.
2. We believein one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, coequal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.
3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.
4. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through his death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead.
5. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate.
6. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgement; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.
7. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher who assist believers to understand and appropriate the Scriptures and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be sanctified wholly and their whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts to every believer. God uniquely uses evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip believers in the assembly in order that they can do the work of the ministry.
9. We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the human race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved, and of himself, apart from grace, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.
10. We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins.
11. We believe that the Church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, and is solely made up of born-again persons.
12. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament.
13. We believe water baptism and the Lord's Supper to be Scriptural ordinances of obedience for the church in this age.
14. We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God.
15. We believe in that "blessed hope," the personal, imminent return of Christ.
16. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting punishment.
17. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirt, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.
18. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious punishment and torment until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment and torment.
19. We believe in thesecurity of the believer upon one’s continuance in the faith. We do not believe in the unconditional security of the believer. As long as one continues to hear Christ’s voice and follows His leadership, he remains Christ’s sheep. The Father cuts off every vine in Christ that does not bear fruit and casts it into the lake of fire. One who continues in the willful practice of sin is not a believer.