PRINCIPAL BELIEFS
Faith Christian Fellowship holds these doctrines in common with Evangelical Christians
- We believe that the Bible is the word of God, divinely inspired in all parts and free from error in the original writings. We believe that the Bible is the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21)
- We believe in one God who exists eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; John 15:26)
- We believe in Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, who became a man by being born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a life of perfect obedience, died for our sins in our place, rose bodily from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. He is now in a position of authority over all things and is our only advocate before God. We believe in His personal visible, sudden return from heaven as Lord and Judge of all. (Philippians 2:3-11; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-16)
- We believe that the Holy Spirit applies the work of God to people—that He renews our hearts, persuades us to repent of our sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, and empowers us to live lives pleasing to God. (Titus 3:4-6; Romans 5:5)
- We believe that human beings were created in the image of God. Tempted by Satan, they rebelled against God and became tragically estranged from their Creator. Now all people are sinners by nature and by choice, and are incapable of returning to God apart from faith in Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1-3; Ephesians 2:1-10)
- We believe that both the just and the unjust will be raised bodily at the end of the age, some to everlasting blessedness and some to everlasting punishment. (1 Corinthians 15, 24-28; Revelation 20:11-15)
- We believe that the church is the living body of Christ and is made up of all who are united to Him by faith. Christ calls His church to offer acceptable worship to God, to love and care for one another, to make disciples of all nations by going, baptizing, and teaching them to obey all Christ's commands. (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:9; Matthew 28:18-20)
A fuller treatment of these and other key doctrines is contained in The Westminster Confession of Faith.
Unity Declaration
By the Reconciliation Task Force of Faith Christian Fellowship
May 20, 2000
Unity Declaration Statement 1: Our Fundamental Identity
We declare that God our Father, in His great love, has redeemed us by sending His Son Jesus Christ and united us as people from diverse cultures into one family through the Holy Spirit committing to us the message of reconciliation.
John 17:20–24; 20:17; Ephesians 2:19–22; Colossians 3:11; Galatians 3:26–29; Ephesians 4:4, 5; Acts 2:5–12; 2 Corinthians 5:19
Unity Declaration Statement 2: Cultural Affirmation
We declare that God’s truth transcends culture and speaks to all cultures. We affirm the Biblical value, dignity and distinctions of our varying cultures because God uses culture to communicate His truth and grace and receives glory from our cultural expressions. Yet we acknowledge that God declares the fallen condition of all people and their cultures. We claim a personal and corporate responsibility to evaluate and bring Christ-centered reformation to our cultures and society by the Word of God in dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 1:26, 28; Genesis 2:15, 19; Romans 8:18–25; Romans 1:18–32; Romans 3:9–20; Revelation 21:24; 1 Corinthians 9:19–23; Acts 17:16, 22–31; John 17:15–19; Matthew 5:27–43
Unity Declaration Statement 3: Repentance and Forgiveness
We acknowledge that great transgressions based on race, gender, class and faith have tragically marked our life together as a human family throughout the history of the world and this nation. While the Church has pursued justice and reconciliation, regrettably it has often participated in this sin through active support or indifference. We join with those believers who confess that true reconciliation cannot be realized without a commitment to repentance, forgiveness and the pursuit of justice.
Nehemiah 1:4–11; Daniel 9:4–19; Ephesians 4:1–6, 32; Philippians 2:1–11; Acts 6:1–7
Unity Declaration Statement 4: Necessity Of Grace and Dependency on the Holy Spirit
We seek to apply God’s grace to our lives. His grace enables us to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. God’s grace provides the only means to conquer our fears, remove our guilt, resolve our anger and give us the strength to persevere as one family where Jesus Christ is Lord. We declare that the Holy Spirit is our only source of power for true unity in the Body, and that He strengthens us through daily repentance, prayer and the cleansing power of the Word.
Matthew 22:37–40; Ephesians 3:14–19; Ephesians 4:1–5; Ephesians 5:1, 2, 15–21; Ephesians 6:10, 11; Hebrews 2:14, 15; 1 Peter 4:19
Unity Declaration Statement 5: Cultural Awareness
We commit ourselves to acquiring greater cultural awareness and sensitivity, starting first with our own cultural bias and prejudices, recognizing that we live in a multicultural city and world. We believe that cultural awareness is foundational to the way in which we develop leaders, conduct worship, equip the body for evangelism and discipleship, and promote justice and community development.
1 Corinthians 9:19–23; Acts 15:19–21; Acts 17:16–34; Acts 26:28, 29; Romans 15:1–4
Unity Declaration Statement 6: Leadership
We commit ourselves to modeling the reconciliation of culturally diverse believers before the world in our church and ministry leadership. We promote reconciled leadership which understands and values church membership, the unity of the Church, spiritual accountability, the benefit of cultural diversity, shared servant leadership, cross cultural skills, strategic service, sound theology, godly character, spiritual renewal, and discipling emerging leaders.
Luke 6:12–16; Acts 6:1–7; 13:1–3; Galatians 2:2; Isaiah 56:1–8; Revelation 21:24
Unity Declaration Statement 7: Worship
We declare that as a reconciled community in Christ we work in our worship services to represent God’s Kingdom in our local context. We work to offer God our most precious and valuable expressions of devotion from our varying cultures. Such worship requires the pursuit of excellence as we glorify God in a Christ-centered, believer-edifying and seeker-welcoming service.
Romans 15:5–11; Isaiah 19:23; Zephaniah 3:9; Psalm 22:27; Revelation 7:9, 10; Revelation 21:24
Unity Declaration Statement 8: Evangelism
We commit ourselves to work together as a multicultural body to proclaim Good News that communicates Christ to people in their particular cultures with Biblical integrity through culturally sensitive means.
1 Corinthians 9:19–23; 10:33; Matthew 20:26–28; Romans 1:14; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Proverbs 11:30; Romans 11:14; 1 Peter 3:1
Unity Declaration Statement 9: Discipleship
We declare that as we disciple one another towards Christian maturity, we must obey Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. We do this by keeping the unity of the Spirit, who indwells believers of diverse and historically separated cultures, in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 2:11–22; Ephesians 4:1–4, 11–16; Philippians 2:1–5; Colossians 3:5–14; John 17:23; Romans 14:17–19; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:11
Unity Declaration Statement 10: Justice and Community Development
We declare that the church is called to be the redemptive presence of Christ by proclaiming Good News, which is demonstrated through concrete deeds of mercy and justice. This Good News affirms dignity, cultivates an environment of hope, and restores people to God through Christ and to service in God’s kingdom.
Micah 6:8; Luke 4:18, 19; Acts 6:1–7; Galatians 2:10; James 2:1–9