WHAT WE BELIEVE
Moss Bluff Bible Church's Doctrinal Statement
A. the Scriptures: We believe the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments to be verbally and fully inspired by God, inerrant in the original writings, and of supreme and final authority in faith and life. (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Peter 1:20-21;
I Cor. 2:13; John 10:35; Matt. 5:18).
B. the Godhead: We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are One God, having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections. (Mark 12:29; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19;
II Cor. 13:14; John 10:30; John 4:24).
C. The Lord Jesus Christ: We believe in (1) His eternal existence as God (John 1:1-3); (2) His incarnation by means of the Virgin Birth (John 1:14; Matt. 1:21-23; Heb. 1:6-8); (3) his perfect life on earth (John 8:46); (4) His death on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for sin (Rom. 3:24- 25; I John 2:2); (5) His literal, bodily resurrection from the dead (John 20:1-29; I Cor. 15:3-8); (6) His present ministry of intercession and advocacy in Heaven (I John 2:1; Heb. 7:25; 9:24); (7) His future personal visible and premillennial return to Earth (John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-12).
D. The Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead (Acts 5:3,4) convicts men of sin (John 16:8-11), regenerates (John 3:5,6; Titus 3:5), baptizes (I Cor. 12:13); indwells (Rom. 8:9), seals (Eph. 4:30), and fills or controls believers (Eph. 5:18) that He keeps and empowers day by day; and that He is the Teacher of the Word of God and guide for our daily life (Rom. 8:14, 16; John 14:16-17).
E. Man: We believe that man, because of sin, is corrupt and totally depraved, and is therefore in need of redemption. (Rom. 5:12; 3:23; Eccl. 7:20).
F. Salvation: We believe (1) it is by grace, a free gift of God apart from works (Eph. 2:8-9); (2) It is received by personally believing in Jesus Christ as Savior (John 1:12); (3) All who receive Him are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thereby become Children of God (John 3:3-6); (4) All who are truly saved will be kept forever (John 10:27-39); (However, God cannot overlook sin in His children, and will therefore chasten and correct them in love. Hebrews 12:5-8); (5) We believe that as Christians we should maintain good works, not to be saved, but because we are saved. True faith in Christ is therefore evidenced by a fruitful, obedient and God-pleasing life. (James 2:20)
G. The Church: We believe concerning the church (1) that the true church or the invisible church referred to in Scripture as the Body of Christ, is a Spiritual organism, into which every person who has trusted Jesus Christ for salvation in this dispensation has been baptized by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:22-23; I Cor. 12:13); (2) Its visible or local form is composed of believers who assemble themselves together according to God’s Word for the purpose of worship, edification, fellowship, prayer, spiritual growth, observing the ordinances, and service. (Acts 13:1-2; 14:27; 20:17).
H. the Ordinances: We believe that our Lord Jesus instituted two ordinances to be observed by all believers until His return; baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are never to be regarded as a means of salvation by obtaining merit with God. We believe the practice of baptism by immersion best fulfills the Biblical intent of its observance. We believe communion should be open to all who profess personal faith in Christ as Savior when it is observed. (Matt. 28:19, I Cor. 11:23-26; I Cor. 1:14-17, Acts 8:35-39).
I. Spiritual Gifts: We believe the Holy Spirit has given to every believer certain God-given gifts for service, to be used and developed. (I Cor. 12:1-8, Eph. 4:7-12). However, we believe that certain miraculous gifts (specifically tongues, healing, and the gift of miracles) were for a specific, temporary and limited ‘sign purpose’ at the outset of the church-age; and are thus not to be sought or stressed in any way as normative for this age of grace. (I Cor. 13:8-9; 12:28-31; 14:1-5, 22, 32, 40).
J. Angels: We believe in the existence of an innumerable company of Spiritual beings created by God to serve and praise Him and to minister to His saints. (Gen. 2:1; Luke 15:10; Heb. 1:13-14; Rev. 7:11-12). We believe in two classes of angels, unfallen - those who have “kept their first estate”; and fallen - those who followed Satan and rebelled against God (II Pet 2:4; Jude 6).
K. Satan: We believe that Satan, who was once Lucifer, the chief angel, is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the Fall, and that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and that he shall be ultimately and eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Ezek. 28:11-19; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11, 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
L. the Future: We believe in the personal, imminent, pre-tribulation and pre-millennial return of the Lord Jesus for His church and in His subsequent return to earth after the tribulation, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom.
(I Thess. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; 20:1-6; I Thess. 1:10). We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men - the saved to eternal life and the lost to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25-26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13).
M. Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality: We believe that God wonderfully and immutably made each person as male or female. We also believe that attempts to change God’s imputed birth gender, physiologically or behaviorally, is disobedient to His revealed Word.
We believe that marriage is sanctioned by God and joins one biological male and one biological female in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. We also believe that sexual intimacy is to only occur between a male and a female who are married to each other. (Genesis 2:18, 21-24; 19:5, 13; Matthew 19:4-5; Acts 15:20; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; 7:2; 10:8; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Jude 7)