STATEMENT
OF FAITH
FOR
PARMA
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
1.
Regarding God:
1.A We believe in one God who is supreme over all creation. He is perfect
in every way, and infinite in presence, knowledge and power. God eternally
exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
1.B We believe that God the Father is the intentional and intelligent
creator of all that exists. He is the sustainer of all life and the final judge
of all that He has made.
1.C We believe that God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the completely divine
person in a completely human body. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born
of a virgin, Mary. He died innocent of personal sin on a cross, was buried and
rose again bodily by the power of God on the third day. He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God, from which place He will return physically to
the earth at the conclusion of the current age.
1.D We believe that God the Holy Spirit influences the seeker and
indwells the believer as the personal presence of God, to glorify Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit inspires, transforms and enables the believer for life within a
right relationship with God, that being to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ
and sanctified by the Holy Spirit for wholehearted obedience to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit equips and empowers the believer for witness and ministry within
the body of Christ and in the world.
2.
Regarding Scripture:
2.A We believe that the Bible is the inspired, accurate and reliable Word
of God, composed in the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The
Holy Spirit can and does reveal God's truth through any version commonly
accepted by the general Christian church. The Bible contains the complete and
permanent revelation of God's will for salvation and spiritual, godly living.
The Bible is the final authority for the Christian faith and life.
2.B We believe the Old Testament is the foundation for spiritual and
doctrinal truth, which is completed in Jesus Christ. Its moral instructions will
never cease to be an accurate and truthful revelation of the will of God for
mankind. The Old Testament is comprised of the 39 canonical books of Genesis to
Malachi.
2.C We believe the New Testament is the final written foundation for
spiritual and doctrinal truth, which is revealed in Jesus Christ. Its moral and
spiritual instructions will never cease to be the standard of the Christian
faith and life for all mankind. It is comprised of the 27 canonical books of
Matthew to Revelation.
3.
Regarding Mankind:
3.A We believe God intentionally created mankind as a moral, intelligent
and responsible personal being, formed as both male and female in the image of
God. As such, mankind is given the moral authority of free will, with both its
privileges and responsibilities.
3.B We believe that mankind knowingly and intentionally entered into sin,
breaking a right relationship with God by personal disobedience. Therefore,
mankind became spiritually dead and subject to both temporal and eternal
separation from God.
3.C We believe that mankind may enter into a living, right relationship
with God through personal faith in the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ
and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. On the basis of the shed blood of
Jesus Christ, God forgives those who believe and cleanses them from all
spiritual impact of sin. The primary evidence of faith in Jesus Christ in a
believer's life is repentance from sin and devotion to God. Through the Holy
Spirit, God empowers believers to live rightly in holiness and complete love for
God and man. The primary evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a
believer's life is the fruit of the Spirit.
3.D We believe that unity in the body of Christ is
based on our common faith in the person of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The
common essentials of the Great Commandment (to love the Lord your God with all
your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself), the
Great Commission (to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all
Christ taught) and matters which are clearly taught in Scripture provide the
basis for Christian unity. Other matters are discretionary, and may be studied,
discussed and decided as a matter of personal conviction, and therefore godly
and competent people may have some variation in such matters, while maintaining
true unity in Christ.
3.E We believe that mankind
may communicate with God through prayer and the study of the Scriptures. Prayer
may be of adoration and worship, confession and contrition, thanksgiving and
praise, supplication and request, and intercession and advocacy. The means of
prayer may be in silent thought, words, songs and music, writing, meditation,
symbolic action, silence or other means of communication. Effective prayer is
based simply in faith, and is not dependent upon style or means, but upon the
character of God. God communicates through inspiration by the Scriptures as well
as through His Spirit to the individual or to His body.
4.
Regarding the Church:
4.A We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who have
entered into a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ and
indwelling by the Holy Spirit.
4.B We believe that the universal spiritual sacraments of the Church in
the present age are baptism as an expression of faith in Jesus Christ, and
communion in the Lord's Supper, as a continual remembrance of His sacrifice,
death and resurrection until He returns. Marriage, membership, burial and other
rituals may also be vital expressions of faith and obedience to the will of God,
but without universal application.
4.C We believe that membership in the visible church is a privilege and
responsibility granted to any person who testifies to such a right relationship
with God, and who is willing and able to maintain their commitments to the body
of believers who are connected together in a temporal and/or corporate identity.
5.
Regarding the End of the Current Age:
5.A We believe that all mankind will experience a bodily resurrection at
the conclusion of the present age, the lost to eternal punishment and conscious
separation from God and the saved to eternal blessing and conscious presence
with God.
5.B We believe that God's final judgment of mankind is based on the
gracious and complete work of Jesus Christ, and each person's relationship Him,
and not on an evaluation of human performance or on an incidental decision
concerning spiritual matters.