The Doctrinal Statement of Windsor Avenue Bible Church

 

1. THE SCRIPTURES - We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
as verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings and they are of
supreme and final authority in doctrine, faith and life.
(II Timothy 3:16,17; II Peter 1:20,21)

2. THE TRINITY - We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons; Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three, one in essence and attributes, yet distinct in
office and activity.
(Matt. 28:19,20; John 1:1-4; Acts 5:3,4; II Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6)

3. JESUS CHRIST - We believe that Jesus Christ ever existed with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, and that in His incarnation was begotten by the Holy Spirit, born of
the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man.
(Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1,2,14; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:16,17)

4. THE HOLY SPIRIT - We believe in the personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit. That
He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; that He
regenerates the sinner by the Word of God and baptizes the believer into the
body of Christ at the moment of conversion; that He permanently seals and
indwells every believer until the day of redemption; that He is the sufficient
power for godly living, christian service and spiritual worship.
(John 3:5-7; John 14:16,17,26; John 16:7-15; Romans 8:14-27; II Cor. 13:14; 
Ephesians 4:30)

We believe that the Holy Spirit graces each believer with at least one spiritual
gift to edify the church; that the gift of tongues neither was, nor is, essential to
prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor is it indicative of a deeper spiritual
experience.
(I Corinthians 12:4-13; I Corinthians 13:8)

5. MAN - We believe that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and
thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death which is
separation from God; that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are
totally depraved; that upon reaching moral responsibility man continues to sin in
thought, word, and deed and is incapable of making himself acceptable to God. 
God's judgment rests upon him.
(Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:10; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:3; Revelation 20:15)

6. SALVATION - We believe that Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for the sins of all men;
and all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood and
have everlasting life; that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead in bodily
resurrection, ascended into heaven and is present there as High Priest and
Advocate with the Father. We believe that by His intercession in glory that
Jesus Christ has procured for every believer eternal redemption, eternal
salvation, and everlasting life.
(John 3:36; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:8,9; I Peter 
1:18,19)

7. ETERNAL STATE OF SAVED AND UNSAVED - We believe in the bodily
resurrection of the saved and the unsaved; the everlasting blessedness of the
saved; the everlasting conscious suffering and punishment of the unsaved in the
lake of fire.
(Matthew 24:21,29,30; 25:46; John 5:28,29; I Corinthians 15:42-44; I 
Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation 3:10)

8. SATAN - We believe that Satan is a personal being, a fallen angel, prince of
demons, the god of this age, the great enticer and deceiver, the adversary of
Christ and His people, the accuser of the brethren, whose end is the lake of fire.
(Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matthew 25:41; II Corinthians 4:3,4; I Peter 
5:8; Revelation 12:9,10; 20:10)

9. FUTURE EVENTS - We believe in the blessed hope, the personal premillenial,
pretribulation and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which is
known as the Rapture of the church. We also believe in His subsequent return
to the earth with His saints at the end of the Great Tribulation period. He will
reign with the saints for one thousand years. Following this believers shall reign
with Him forever.
(John 14:3; I Thessalonians 4:13-17; Titus 2:13; Revelation 19:11-21: 20:1-6: 
21:1-7)

10. THE CHURCH - We believe the Church to be the body and bride of Christ and
composed only of persons who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal
Savior; that the local church is a group of self-governing voluntarily associated
Christian believers united together in the bonds of faith and love.
(Acts 2:42; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22,23; 4:11,12; 5:23,24; Colossians 
1:18)
11. THE CHURCH'S PURPOSE - We believe that the local church exists for the
purpose of glorifying God, developing, exhorting, and edifying the saints, and is
God's agent for reaching people all over the world with the gospel of Jesus
Christ. We believe it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and word to
the truths of the Bible.
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8,9; Ephesians 4:11-13)

12. THE ORDINANCES - We believe that two ordinances are significant above any
others that Christians are commanded to observe, namely, water baptism and
the Lord's Supper. While recognizing that water baptism has no saving merit, it
is our conviction that after one is saved baptism is the next step in order to
portray to the world the believer's union with Christ in His death, burial, and
resurrection. It is also our conviction that the scriptural method of water baptism
is immersion. We believe that Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper to
commemorate His death till He comes. We further believe that water baptism by
immersion is observed but once, and is a sign of identification, and a testimony
to newness of life; but the Lord's Supper is commemorative and is to be
observed often as a memorial of the broken body and the shed blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
(Romans 6:4; I Corinthians 11:23-33; Colossians 2:9-13)

13. SANCTIFICATION - We believe that sanctification (to be "set apart") is the process
by which God makes us partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work
that is begun in regeneration and continued in our hearts by the work of the Holy
Spirit, in connection with Bible reading, self-examination, self-denial,
watchfulness, and prayer, and completed at the return of Christ for His own. 
(I Corinthians 6:11; I Thessalonians 3:13; II Peter 3:18; I John 3:2)