 As
stated under paragraph VI of the original Charter, it is
one of the essential purposes of Grace “To carry on
the educational activities of this corporation in complete
harmony with the articles of the following ‘Covenant
of Faith,’ which cannot be changed or diminished,” and
to which each member of the faculty and board of trustees
is required to “subscribe annually in writing.”
We
believe in THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: accepting fully the writings
of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God,
verbally inspired in all parts and therefore wholly without
error as originally given of God, altogether sufficient
in themselves as our only infallible rule of faith and
practice (Matt. 5:18; John 10:35, 16:13, 17:17, 2 Tim.
3:16, 2 Peter 1:21).
We believe in THE ONE TRIUNE GOD: who is personal, spirit,
and sovereign (Mark 12:29;John 4:24, 14:9; Ps. 135:6);
perfect, infinite, and eternal in His being, holiness,
love, wisdom, and power (Ps. 18:30, 1147:5; Deut. 33:27);
absolutely separate and above the world as its Creator;
yet everywhere present in the world as the Upholder of
all things (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 104); self-existent and self-revealing
in three distinct Persons— the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit (John 5:26; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14),
each of whom is to be honored and worshiped equally as
true God (John 5:23;Acts 5:3-4).
We believe in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: who is the Second
Person of the Triune God, the eternal Word and Only Begotten
Son, our great God and Savior (John 1:1, 3:16; Titus 2:13;
Rom. 9:5); that, without any essential change in His divine
Person (Heb. 13:8), He became man by the miracle of Virgin
Birth (John 1:14; Matt. 1:23), thus to continue forever
as both true God Man, one Person with two natures (Col.
2:9, Rev. 22:16); that as Man, He was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15; John 8:46):
that as the perfect Lamb of God He gave himself in death
upon the Cross bearing the sin of the world, and suffering
its full penalty of divine wrath in our stead (Isa. 53:5-6;
Matt. 20:28; Gal. 3:13; John 1:29); that He arose again
from the dead and was glorified in the same body in which
He suffered and died (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:25-28); that
as our great High Priest He ascended into heaven, there
to appear before the face of God as our Advocate and Intercessor
(Heb. 4:14, 9:24; 1 John 2:1).
We believe in THE HOLY SPIRIT: who is the Third Person
of the Triune God (Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4), the divine
Agent in nature, revelation, and redemption (Gen. 1:2;
Ps 104:30; 1 Cor. 2:10; 2 Cor. 3:18); that He convicts
the world of sin (John 16:8-11), regenerates those who
believe (John 3:5), and indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers,
guides, teaches, and sanctifies all who become children
of God through Christ (1 Cor. 6:19, 12:13; Eph. 4:30, 3:16;
Rom 8:14; John 14:26; 1 Cor. 6:11).
We believe in THE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN: that he was
the direct creation of God, spirit and soul and body, not
in any sense the product of an animal ancestry, but made
in the divine image (Gen. 1:26-29, 2:7 and 18-24; Matt.
19:4, 1 Thess. 5:23); that by personal disobedience to
the revealed will of God, man became a sinful creature
and the progenitor of a fallen race (Gen. 3:1-24, 5:3),
who are universally sinful in both nature and practice
(Eph. 2:3; Rom. 3:23, 5:12), alienated from the life and
family of God (Eph. 4:18; John 8:42-44), under the righteous
judgement and wrath of God (Rom. 1:18, 3:19), and have
within themselves no possible means of recovery or salvation
(Mark 7:21-23; Matt. 19:26; Rom 7:18).
We believe in SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH: that salvation
is the free gift of God (Rom. 3:24, 6:23), neither merited
nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of
man (Titus 3:5; Rom. 4:4-5, 11:16), but received only by
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16, 6:28-29;
Acts 16:30-31; Eph. 2:8-9), in whom all true believers
have as a present possession the gift of eternal life,
a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God,
deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual
resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine
guarantee that they shall never perish (1 John 5:13; Rom.
3:22; Gal. 3:26; John 5:24; Eph. 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3; John
10:27-30); that this salvation includes the whole man,
spirit and soul and body (1 Thess. 5:23-24); and apart
from Christ there is no possible salvation (John 14:6;
Acts 4:12).
We believe in RIGHTEOUS LIVING AND GOOD WORKS: not as
the procuring causer of salvation in any sense, but as
its proper evidence and fruit (1 John 3:9-11, 4:19, 5:4;
Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 2:14; Matt. 7:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:10);
and therefore as Christians we should keep the word of
our Lord (John 14:23), seek the things which are above
(Col. 3:1), walk as He walked (1 John 2:6), be careful
to maintain good works (Titus 3:8), and especially accept
as our solemn responsibility the duty and privilege of
bearing the Gospel to a lost world in order that we may
bear much fruit (Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:19; John 14:16); remembering
that a victorious and fruitful Christian life is possible
only for those who learned they are not under law but under
grace (Rom. 6:14), and who in gratitude for the infinite
and undeserved mercies of God have presented themselves
wholly to Him for His service (Rom. 12:1-2).
We believe in THE EXISTENCE OF SATAN: who originally was
created a holy and perfect being, but through pride and
unlawful ambition rebelled against God (Ezek. 18:13-17;
Isa. 14:13-14; 1 Tim. 3:7); thus becoming utterly depraved
in character (John 8:44), the great Adversary of God and
His people (Matt. 4:1-11; Rev. 12:10), leader of all other
evil angels and spirits (Matt. 12:24-26, 25:41), the deceiver
and god of this present world (Rev. 12:9; 2 Cor. 4:4);
that his powers are supernaturally great, but strictly
limited by the permissive will of God, who overrules all
his wicked devices for good (Job 1:1-22; Luke 22:331-32);
that he was defeated and judged at the Cross, and therefore
his final doom is certain (John 12:31-32, 16:11; Rev. 20:10);
that we are able to resist and overcome him only in the
armor of God and by the Blood of the Lamb (Eph. 6:12-18;
Rev. 12:11).
We believe in THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST: that His return
from Heaven will be personal, visible, and glorious—a
Blessed Hope for which we should constantly watch and pray,
the time being unrevealed but always imminent (Acts 1:11;
Rev. 1:7; Mark 13:33-37; Titus 2:11-13; Rev. 22:20); that
when he comes He will first by resurrection and translation
remove from the earth His waiting Church (1 Thess. 4:16-18),
then pour out the righteous judgements of God upon the
unbelieving world (Rev. 6:1-18:24), afterward descend with
His church and establish His glorious and literal kingdom
over all the nations for a thousand years (Rev. 19:1-20:6;
Matt. 13:41-43), at the close of which He will rise and
judge the unsaved dead (Rev. 20:11-15), and finally as
the Son of David deliver up His Messianic Kingdom to God
the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-28), in order that as the Eternal
Son He may reign forever with the Father in the New Heaven
and the New Earth (Luke 1:32-33; Rev. 21:1-22:6).
We believe in FUTURE LIFE, BODILY RESURRECTION, AND ETERNAL
JUDGMENT: that the spirits of the saved at death go immediately
to be with Christ in heaven (Phil. 1:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:8),
where they abide in joyful fellowship with Him until His
second coming, when their bodies shall be raised from the
grave and changed into the likeness of His own glorious
body (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:35-58; 1 John 3:2), at which
time their works shall be brought before the Judgment Seat
of Christ for the determination of rewards, a judgment
which may issue in the loss of rewards, but not in the
loss of the soul (1 Cor. 3:8-15); that the spirits of the
unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they
are kept under punishment until the final day of judgement
(Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:9 ASV), at which time their bodies
shall be raised from the grave, they shall be judged according
to their works, and cast into the place of final and everlasting
punishment (Rev. 20:11-15, 21:8; Mark 9:43-48; Jude 13).
We believe in THE ONE TRUE CHURCH: the mystical Body and
Bride of the Lord Jesus (Eph. 4:4; 5:25-32), which He began
to build on the day of Pentecost (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47),
and will complete at His second coming (1 Thess. 4:16-17);
and into which all true believers of the present age are
baptized immediately by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12-13
with 1:2); that all the various members of this one spiritual
Body should assemble themselves together in local churches
for worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, united testimony;
and the observance of the ordinances of our Lord (Heb.
10:25; Acts 2:41-47), among which are the following: the
Baptism of believers by Triune Immersion (Matt. 28:20),
the Laying on of Hands (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6), the Washing
of the Saints’ Feet (John 13:1-17), the Lord’s
Supper or Lovefeast (1 Cor. 11:17-22; Jude 12 ASV), the
Communion of the Bread and Cup (1 Cor. 11:23-24), and Prayer
and Anointing for the Sick (James 5:13-18).
We believe in SEPARATION FROM THE WORLD: that since our
Christian citizenship is in heaven, as the children of
God we should walk in separation from this present world,
having no fellowship with its evil ways (Phil. 3:20 ASV;
2 Cor. 6:14-18; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:11), abstaining from
all worldly amusements and unclean habits which defile
mind and body (Luke 8:14; 1 Thess. 5:22; 1 Tim. 5:6; 1
Peter 2:11; Eph. 5:3-11, 18; Col. 3:17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20),
from the sin of divorce and remarriage as forbidden by
our Lord (Matt. 19:9), from the swearing of any oath (James
5:12), from the use of unbelieving courts for the settlements
of disputes between Christians (1 Cor. 6:1-9), and from
taking personal vengeance in carnal strife (Rom. 12:18-21;
2 Cor. 10:3-4).
We understand that the above Articles do not by any means
exhaust the content of our creed which is the whole Word
of God, and they are not intended to set a limit beyond
which faith cannot go within this Word; but we do believe
that in so far as these Articles extend they are a true
presentation of the sound doctrine taught in the Scriptures,
and therefore binding upon us as Christian believers.
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