Church overview

The members of the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, in harmony with our historic position, believing the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible to be our infallible rule of faith and practice, and feeling our responsibility to make known the divine message of the Bible, present the following articles as a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are common to our Christian faith and practice:

The Bible

The Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21).

God

The One True God existing eternally as three persons–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

The Lord Jesus Christ

His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-13), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14; Matt. 1:18-23); sinless life (Heb. 4:15), substitutionary death (2 Cor. 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), ascension into heaven and present ministry (Heb. 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11).

The Holy Spirit

His personality (John 16:7-15); and deity (Acts 5:3-4); and His work in each believer: baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:9); and filling (Eph. 5:18) to empower for Christian life and service (Eph. 3:16; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23).

Man

His direct creation in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Gen. 3:1-24, Rom. 5:12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3:3-5).

Salvation

A complete and eternal salvation by God’s grace alone, received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

The Church

One true Church, the body and the bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (1 Cor. 12:12-13); and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for world-wide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4:11-16).

The Christian Life

A life of righteousness, good works, and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Rom. 12:1- 2), manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Eph. 5:22-6:4) settling differences between Christians in accordance with the Word of God (1 Cor. 6:1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward all men (Rom. 12:7-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and maintaining a life of prayer (Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6), including the privilege, when sick, of calling for the elders of the church to pray and to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:13-18).

Ordinances

The Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are:

1. baptism of believers by triune immersion (Matt. 28:19), and
2. the threefold communion service, consisting of the washing of the saints’ feet (John 13:1-17), the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34; Jude 12), and the communion of the bread and the cup (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Satan

His existence and personality as the great adversary of God and his people (Rev. 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Revelation).

Second Coming

The personal, visible and imminent return of Christ to remove His Church from the earth (1 Thess. 4:16- 17) before the Tribulation (1 Thess. 1:10; Rev. 3:10), and afterward to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Rev. 19:11-20:6).

Future Life

The conscious existence of the dead (Phil. 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 20:15).