SALVATION
We believe that in order for sinners to be saved from the consequences of their sin, they must be born again; that the new birth is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in sin is made partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life--the free gift of God. The means of obtaining this salvation is strictly by repentance and faith. We reject the doctrine commonly known as Calvinism, which teaches that God has chosen a limited number of people to be saved and that they alone can and will be saved. Our understanding of the doctrine of election is based on the notion that once God places us in Christ at the moment of salvation, He chooses us for a life of service and predestinates us to a life of sanctification.
Similarly, we repudiate the doctrine known as Arminianism, which places undo emphasis on man’s part in salvation, and holds that once a person is saved, he or she can lose their salvation. Arminianism’s works-oriented teaching finds no support in Scripture.
At the moment of salvation, each of the Persons of the Godhead takes up residency in the believer to empower him for a life of sanctification and service for God’s glory; that the new birth is wrought solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the truth of the Gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose the third day; that from the moment of salvation, the believer is eternally secured and kept by the power of God and cannot lose his salvation; that at the moment of salvation, the new believer is permanently baptized into the Body of Christ; and that the proper evidence of salvation manifests itself in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life.
(John 3:6, 7, 16; Acts 16: 30-33; Ephesians 1:1-5; 2:1, 8-9; 2 Peter 1:4)
We believe that in order for sinners to be saved from the consequences of their sin, they must be born again; that the new birth is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit and not a process; that in the new birth the one dead in sin is made partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life--the free gift of God. The means of obtaining this salvation is strictly by repentance and faith. We reject the doctrine commonly known as Calvinism, which teaches that God has chosen a limited number of people to be saved and that they alone can and will be saved. Our understanding of the doctrine of election is based on the notion that once God places us in Christ at the moment of salvation, He chooses us for a life of service and predestinates us to a life of sanctification.
Similarly, we repudiate the doctrine known as Arminianism, which places undo emphasis on man’s part in salvation, and holds that once a person is saved, he or she can lose their salvation. Arminianism’s works-oriented teaching finds no support in Scripture.
At the moment of salvation, each of the Persons of the Godhead takes up residency in the believer to empower him for a life of sanctification and service for God’s glory; that the new birth is wrought solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the truth of the Gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose the third day; that from the moment of salvation, the believer is eternally secured and kept by the power of God and cannot lose his salvation; that at the moment of salvation, the new believer is permanently baptized into the Body of Christ; and that the proper evidence of salvation manifests itself in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life.
(John 3:6, 7, 16; Acts 16: 30-33; Ephesians 1:1-5; 2:1, 8-9; 2 Peter 1:4)
