THE BIBLE
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.
Ps. 19:7-10, Is. 40:8, Rom. 15:4, 2 Tim. 3:15-17, Heb. 4:12, 2 Pet. 1:19-21
GOD
There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
God as Father reigns with providential care over all of creation and all of history. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise.
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God. He was both fully God and fully man, yet without sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired men to write the Scriptures. He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts" by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption.
Is. 64:8, Mark 1:9-11, John 4:24, 1 Cor. 8:6, Mark 1:1, Rom. 3:23-26, Rom. 5:6-21, 1 Thess. 4:14-18, Heb. 4:14-15, John 14:16-17. 1 Cor. 12:3-11, 1 John 5:6-7
MAN AND SIN
Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race.
Gen. 1:26-30, Gen. 3, Rom. 1:19-32, Rom. 8:14-18
SALVATION
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
GRACE
Grace is the virtue of God according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.
THE CHURCH
New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ. This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
ORDINANCES
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior. It is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
Matt. 3:13-17, Mark 14:22-26, Acts 2:41-42, 1 Cor. 11:23-29
SECOND COMING
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth.
STEWARDSHIP
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.
Luke 12:16-21, 2 Cor. 8:1-9:15
SOCIAL ISSUES
Christians should seek to make the will of Christ supreme in their individual lives and in human society. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, greed, selfishness, vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. Christians should care for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the elderly, the helpless, and the sick. Christians should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.
Matt. 5:13-16, Rom. 12:1-14:23, James 1:27, James 2:8
THE FAMILY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
Hunters Glen affirms the BF&M 1963. To read the complete version of that document, click here.