Statement of faith

Preamble

The Fellowship of Christian Congregations (FCC) receives and confesses the following Statement of Faith as a summary of the fundamental doctrines plainly taught in the Holy Scriptures. These articles do not replace the Holy Bible, which alone is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and final authority for faith and practice, but faithfully express the biblical convictions upon which the Fellowship is founded and united in Jesus Christ.

1. The Holy Scriptures
We believe and accept the Holy Bible, in its entirety, as the infallible Word of God. The Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, without error in their original writings. They were given to “holy men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”. They are the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of mankind, and the final authority and perfect order for all Christian faith and form of living to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be taken away; in them is revealed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation to every believer. (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

2. The One True God

We believe there is only one living and true God, eternal, with infinite power, Creator of all things; and in the unity of Him there are three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:18; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 4:6) 

3. The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the Word made flesh, Who assumed human nature through the virgin Mary. He being true God and true Man, having two natures in one Person, the divine and the human, is therefore the only Savior. He suffered condemnation and death on the cross for the guilt of all men and resurrected for our justification. (Luke 1:27, 35; John 1:14; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2)

4. The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in every true believer; guiding, convicting, sanctifying, comforting, and empowering them to follow Jesus Christ, and be transformed into His image. He equips the Church for worship, ministry, service and the proclamation of the Gospel. (John 14:16-17, 26; John 16:7-15; Romans 8:9-16, 26-27; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30; Titus 3:5-6)

5. The Creation of Mankind

We believe that God created mankind in His own image, male and female, with equal dignity and worth, to live for His glory and to exercise a blessed stewardship over His creation under His sovereign authority. (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8:3-8; Romans 11:36; Colossians 3:10)

6. The Fall of Mankind 

We believe that through the fall of Adam, sin entered the world and corrupted all humanity and earthly creation. As a result, every person is born under sin and is unable, by their own righteousness, works, or merit, to restore a right relationship with God apart from God’s Grace, received through faith in the atoning sacrificial death on the cross and bodily resurrection, which is the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Genesis 3:1-24; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:10-12, 23; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-9; Titus 3:5)

7. The Victory of Christ Over Evil

We believe that the Lord Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, who, together with his angels, shall be punished in everlasting fire. (Matthew 25:41; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14; I John 3:8; Revelation 20:10)

8. Salvation by Grace through Faith 

We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is received only through faith in Christ Jesus; that we are justified freely by the grace of God through faith, and not by works or human merit; and that salvation rests entirely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ, Who shed His blood, died on the cross for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. They who are in Christ Jesus, being cleansed through His blood, are new creatures, and have Him for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. (John 3:3-7; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 4:25; Romans 5:1; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:8-9)

9. The Christian Life and Spiritual Growth 

We believe that believers are called to abide in Jesus and grow in spiritual maturity through lives shaped by the Holy Scripture, prayer, worship, repentance, sanctification, fellowship, generosity, obedience, and the work of the Holy Spirit. (John 15:4-8; Acts 2:42; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:6-8; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 2:6-7; Colossians 3:16-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 10:24-25; 2 Peter 3:18)

10. The Filling of the Holy Spirit

We believe that believers are called to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, Who empowers them for holy living, faithful service, Christian witness, and obedience to the will of God. (Acts 1:8, 4:31; Galatians 5:16-25; Ephesians 5:18) 

11. Spiritual Gifts

We believe in the diversity of spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes to every believer for the edification of the Church, the work of the ministry, the unity of faith and the glory of God, according to His perfect will. (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians 12:4-11; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Peter 4:10-11)

12. Water Baptism

We believe in water baptism, performed with the authority given by the Lord Jesus Christ, with a single full-body immersion, according to Christ's commission, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:38-39; Romans 6:3-4)

13. The Baptism into the Body of Christ

We believe that every true believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one Body of Christ upon receiving saving grace through faith and thus becomes a member of the Church of the Living God throughout the world, over the ages. (Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:4-6; 1 Timothy 3:15)

14. The Lord's Supper 

We believe in commemorating the Lord's Supper, according to the words of the Lord Jesus: "This do in remembrance of me." The bread and the cup are received in remembrance of His body given for us and His blood of the New Testament shed for us. (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

15. Apostolic Decree at the General Assembly in Jerusalem

We believe that salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and not by the works of the law or by any ordinance of man. Those who are justified by faith are called to walk in holiness and obedience before God. Therefore, we receive the apostolic decree given by the Holy Ghost through the assembly at Jerusalem, that believers should abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. These things are to be rejected by the Church as contrary to Christian holiness, fellowship, and obedience, and not as a means of justification before God. (Acts 15:20, 28-29; Acts 16:4; Acts 21:25; Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9)

16. The Prayer of Faith and Anointing with Oil 

We believe in the prayer of faith. As it is written: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (James 5:14-15)

17. The Return of Our Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven at the time determined by God the Father,  "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:7; I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

18. The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment

We believe that there shall be a bodily resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 20:11-15)