What We Believe:
Statement of Faith and Doctrinal Statement

Statement of Faith

1) Heaven is a free gift provided by the grace of God.  It cannot be earned and is not deserved.

2) Man is a sinner, hopelessly lost, and cannot save himself.

3) God is loving and merciful.  He is also just and must punish sin.

4) God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross of Calvary for our sin and thus purchased heaven for those who come to Him by faith.

5) Saving faith is not mere intellectual assent, but trusting in Jesus Christ as personal Savior, turning from sin to Christ.

6) The Holy Spirit is a divine person who convicts the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment.  He indwells every believer from the moment of salvation.

7) We believe in the eternal security of the believer.

8) The Blessed Hope is the Personal, Visible, Pretribulational, Premillennial and Imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, commonly referred to as the "RAPTURE."

 

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The Holy Scriptures

We Believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments alone to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed.

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2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Peter 1:20-21

Matthew 5:18

John 16:12-13

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The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections.

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Deuteronomy 6:4

2 Corinthians 13:14

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The Person and Work of Christ

1) 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.

John 1:1-2, 14

Luke 1:35

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2) 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.

Romans 3:24-25

1 Peter 1:3-5 & 2:24

Ephesians 1:7

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3) We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into 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.

Acts 1:9-10

Hebrews 7:25 & 9:24

Romans 8:34

1 John 2:1-2

 

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The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

1) We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; 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.

John 16:8-11

2 Corinthians 3:6

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Romans 8:9

Ephesians 1:13-14

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2) We believe that He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit.

John 16:13

1 John 2:20 & 27

Ephesians 5:18

 

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The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam's sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that Man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.

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Genesis 1:26-27

Romans 3:22-23 & 5:12

Ephesians 2:1-3 & 12

 

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Salvation

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.

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Ephesians 2:8-10

John 1:12

Ephesians 1:7

1 Peter 1:18-19

 

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The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers

1) We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power, and are thus secure in Christ forever.

John 6:37-40 & 10:27-30

Romans 8:1 & 38-39

1 Corinthians 1:4-8

1 Peter 1:5

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2)We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh.

Romans 13:13-14

Galatians 5:13

Titus 2:11-15

 

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The Two Natures of the Believer

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural.

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Romans 6:13 & 8:12-13

Galatians 5:16-25

Ephesians 4:22-24

Colossians 3:10

1 Peter 1:14-16

1 John 3:5-9

 

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Separation

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 association is commanded of God.

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2 Timothy 3:1-5

Romans 12:1-2 & 14:13

1 John 2:15-17

2 John vs 9-11

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

 

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Missions

We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures, and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind.

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Mark 16:15

Acts 1:8

Corinthians 5:19-20

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The Ministry of Spiritual Gifts

1) We believe that every Christian receives by God's sovereign bestowal one or more spiritual gifts, which are divine enablements for service, and are to be used in love for the edifying of the Body of Christ.

Romans 12:3-8

1 Corinthians 12:1-13 & Ch 3

Ephesians 4:7-16

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2) We believe that some gifts of the Spirit, such as speaking in tongues and sign miracles, were temporary, and gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established, and that speaking in tongues was never the common or necessary sign of the baptism or the filling of the Spirit.

Acts 4:8 & 31

1 Corinthians 13:8-13

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3)We believe that, while the final deliverance of the body from sickness or death awaits the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection, God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, according to His own will, for the sick and afflicted.

John 15:7

Romans 8:18-25

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 & 35-57

James 5:13-16

1 John 5:14-15

 

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The Church

1) We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this present age.

Ephesians 1:22-23 & 5:25-27

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

2 Corinthians 11:2

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2) We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures.

Acts 14:27 & 20:17 & 28-32

1 Timothy 3:1-13

Titus 1:5-11

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3) We believe in the autonomy of the local church, free of any external authority or control.

Acts 13:1-4 & 15:19-31 & 20:28

Romans 16:1-4

1 Corinthians 3:9 &16 & 5:4-7 &13

1 Peter 5:1-4

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4) We recognize the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord's Supper as a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age.

Matthew 28:19-20

Acts 2:41-42 & 18:8

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

 

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Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations, or rules, of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages.  These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to His purpose.  Three of these - the age of law, the age of the church, and the age of the millennial kingdom - are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture.

John 1:17

1 Corinthians 9:17

2 Corinthians 3:9-18

Galatians 3:13-25

Ephesians 1:10 & 3:2-10

Colossians 1:25

Hebrews 7:19

Revelation 20:2-6

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We do not accept the extreme position of hyper-dispensationalism that divides the Bible into many parts, assigning certain passages only to Israel, and others only to the church.  Although some passages certainly are addressed to Israel and prophesy of Israel's future, yet we believe All Scripture (from Genesis through The Revelation) is given by inspiration of God, and all of it is profitable to the church for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect (brought to maturity), and furnished (equipped) unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

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The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire.

Job 1:6-7

Isaiah 14:12-17

Matthew 4:2-11 & 25:41

Revelation 20:10

 

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The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that "Blessed Hope", the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 & 4:13-18 & 5:9

Zechariah 14:4-11

Revelation 3:10 & 19:11-16 & 20:1-6

 

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The Eternal State

1) We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

Matthew 25:46

John 5:28-29 & 11:25-26

Revelation 20:5-6 & 12-13

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2) 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 spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord.

Luke 23:43

Revelation 20:4-6

2 Corinthians 5:8

Philippians 1:23 & 3:21

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

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3) We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery 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.

Luke 16:19-26

Matthew 25:41-46

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9

Jude vs.6-7

Mark 9:43-48

Revelation 20:11-15

 

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Movements Contrary to the Faith

From the beginning of the church age to our present time, Satan has attempted to confuse, weaken and divide Christ's Church, using movements from outside the church.  He has also worked in the hearts of Christians to stir up hatred and distrust from within the Church.  Paul warned about this in Acts 20:29-30.  Satan's purpose in all of this is to keep the church focused on false doctrine and internal problems, so that we are demoralized and distracted from our responsibility to fulfill Christ's Great Commission.

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It is one of the responsibilities of the pastor and elders to teach God's people to learn from the destructive influences of past movements, and to expose and warn people of current destructive men and movements.  It is the responsibility of church members to "Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you."  Hebrews 13:17

 

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Human Sexuality

1) 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 homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God's gift of sex.  We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one's gender by surgery or appearance.

Genesis 2:24 & 19:5 & 13 & 26:8-9

Leviticus 18:1-30

Deuteronomy 22:5

Romans 1:26-29

1 Corinthians 5:1 & 6:9

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Hebrews 13:4

 

2) We believe that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman.

Genesis 2:24

Romans 7:2

1 Corinthians 7:10

Ephesians 5:22-23

 

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Final Authority for Matters of Belief and Conduct

The Doctrinal Statement 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 Alameda Bible Church's faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, our Elder Board is Alameda Bible Church's final interpretive authority on the Bible's meaning and application.