Scott Depot Christ Fellowship-Statement of Faith

a. We believe that the one and only true God is Spirit: self-existent, infinite, personal, unchangeable, and eternal in His being; perfect in holiness, love, justice, goodness, wisdom and truth--, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; Creator and Sustainer of all things, visible and invisible; both immanent and transcendent to creation; eternally existent in three persons, one in substance and co-equal in power and glory--Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

b. We believe that the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Author of salvation; the Father of all who are begotten into newness of life through faith in Christ.

c. We believe in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ; in His eternal generation from the Father; in His incarnation by which He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, thus uniting the divine and human natures in their completeness into one unique person of Jesus Christ; in His sinless life and miraculous works, in His vicarious death to make atonement for the sins of the world; in His bodily resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father; in His sovereign power and lordship; in His present mediatorial ministry as the believer's Advocate; in His imminent coming in power and glory.

d. We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God, proceeding from the Father and sent by the Son, is of one substance, majesty and glory with the Father and Son, very and eternally God. His office and work is to reprove or convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; to regenerate such as repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; to sanctify, endue with power, teach, guide, witness to and comfort the believer.

The scriptures reveal the work of the Holy Spirit in the church to be that of uniting believers into the body of Christ at Pentecost; possessing it as the temple of God; equipping it with gifts and graces for service; giving to it the body of inspired truth; imparting to it the spirit of illumination and guidance into all truth, to the end that we all may come in the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; presiding over and building the Church into all the will of God; completing the body of the Church by calling out a people for the name of Christ.

Section 2. The Bible

a. We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, was given by divine inspiration and is the authoritative Word of God.

b. The Bible is the revelation of God, of man--his origin, state and destiny--and of the only means of his salvation. It constitutes the general rule of authority in all matters pertaining to faith and practice, and sets forth the principles by which all men be judged.

Section 3. Man

a. His Creation. We believe that man was created by an act of God. He was created in the image and likeness of God, possessing personality and holiness; in his original state man enjoyed sweet fellowship with God, the purpose in his creation being that he might glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Man having been created in the likeness of God is a self-conscious personality capable of free and rational choice.

b. His Fall. We believe that our first parents did not remain in the happy state of their original creation, but, being deluded through the subtlety of Satan, voluntarily disobeyed the positive command of God, and thus were alienated from God and incurred upon themselves and their posterity the sentence of death both physical and spiritual. Even the earth was cursed because of man's sin. In consequence of this act of disobedience, the entire human race has become so corrupted that in every heart there is by nature that evil disposition which eventually leads to responsible acts of sin and to just condemnation. Also through the fall of Adam man has become so completely ruined that he has neither will nor power to turn to God and if left to himself would remain in sin forever.

c. His Redemption. We believe that God has provided redemption for all men through the mediatorial work of Christ, who voluntarily offered Himself on Calvary as a perfect ;sacrifice for sin, the just suffering for the unjust, bearing sin's curse and tasting death for every man.

d. His Purpose. To glorify God and to fully enjoy Him forever.

Section 4. Salvation.

Since all men are sinners and guilty before God and are dead in trespasses and sins, and therefore unable to save themselves, God out of His infinite love has given His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become man's Saviour.

a. Repentance. We believe that genuine repentance is a necessary attitude and act of man that makes it possible for a holy and just God to forgive man's sins. As an attitude it involves a knowledge of, a change of mind toward, and a godly sorrow for sin; a proper reverence of God's holiness; and a surrender to God. As an act it means confessing and forsaking sin. Repentance is man's appropriate response to the grace of God in conviction. As a fruit of repentance, insofar as possible where sin has been committed against man, restitution should be made.

b. Faith. Faith must follow repentance and is the act of the will whereby man embraces the promises of God and appropriates to himself personally the provisions of God's grace. It is resting in the completeness and adequacy of the atoning merit of Christ's sacrifice as the sole ground and hope of salvation. Faith must be active throughout the life of the believer and must manifest itself in obedience and good works.

c. Justification and Regeneration. We believe that when the requirements of repentance and faith have been met, God justifies and regenerates the sinner. Justification is a judicial act absolving from guilt and punishment and restoring to divine favor. Justification has to do with the change of the sinner's standing before God. Regeneration has to do with the changing of the sinner's nature through the impartation of divine life. Regeneration is a spiritual quickening, a new birth. This experience is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit and produces in the heart a desire to do the will of God.

d. Sanctification and Reception of the Holy Spirit. We believe that sanctification is the work of God in making men holy. It is the will of God. It is provided in the atonement, and is experienced through faith by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God and the Blood of Jesus Christ. Sanctification can and often does come as a subsequent crisis experience, where the believer enters into a continuing, deeper cleansing experience, remaking him in the image of God.

e. Divine Healing. Since all sickness is fundamentally the result of the fall of man, we believe that healing for the body is provided in the atonement of Christ. This benefit may be realized by God's children as they express faith and desire and meet the conditions set forth in God's Word. We believe that God does not necessarily limit His healing to believers but may apply His healing stripes wheresoever He may choose.

Section 5. The Church

a. We believe that the individual and universal church is an organism composed of all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have been called out from the world, separated from sin, and vitally united by faith to Christ, who is the believing head and sovereign Lord.

b. We believe that the visible and local church is a body of believers in Christ who are voluntarily joined together, and who meet at regular times for teaching in the Word, fellowship of the saints, observance of the ordinances, administration of discipline, exercise in prayer, and participation in public worship and evangelism.

c. The characteristic marks of true believers are faith in Jesus as the Son of God, love for God and for all men, obedience to God's Word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and victory over sin.

d. The primary duties of the church consist of loving the Lord with all the heart, soul, mind and strength, glorifying and exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, coming to one accord, denying self, of building itself up in the most holy faith, and of preaching the gospel in all the world as a witness to all men.

e. We believe that the Lord of the church has equipped the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. We believe that these offices represent a regular and permanent ministry and are in no way extraordinary or transitional in nature. Therefore, the church is to submit to the spiritual authority of these offices in the spirit of lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, love and unity.

Section 6. Second Coming of Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that is we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.

Section 7. Resurrection, Judgment and Destiny

a. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies of the just and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirit--"they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

b. We believe in future judgment in which every man shall appear before God to be judged according to his deeds in this life.

c. We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in and follow Jesus Christ our Lord, and that the final impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.

Section 8. The Witness of the Holy Spirit

We believe that God is "the same, yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Since God has sought communion with man from the beginning, we believe He still desires to reveal His mind (will) to man (I Cor. 2:16). Jesus said, the Comforter (Holy Spirit) shall teach you all things. . ." Therefore, we believe this same God of the Old and New Testaments still desires to lead men today. We believe in the witness of the Holy Spirit, and the direct leadership of God in the lives of the individual Christians as to assurance and guidance. We believe in the witness of the Holy Spirit as John Wesley preached it.

B. Articles of Practice

Section 1. Baptism

We believe that water baptism is the symbol of one's union by faith with Christ in death, burial and resurrection. This act of obedience aids the believer in his fulfillment of the great commission to the world and is the answer of a good conscience toward God. Those who partake of this ordinance of the church are those who have been born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and who give evidence of the genuineness of their salvation.

Section 2. The Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ Himself on the eve of His betrayal. We believe that is to be a memorial of Christ's death, a center of communion and fellowship, a testimony to saving faith and a visible seal of Christ's redemptive covenant.

Section 3. Christian Stewardship

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1 1). That God owns all things creatively and redemptively is unquestioned in the scriptures. Inasmuch as we have been saved by the grace of God and the death of Christ has provided our ransom, we, as Christians, are expected to give our whole being, soul, body, mind and spirit to the reasonable service of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to give our time, talents and temporal goods to Him to be used according to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Believers are encouraged to adopt the system of tithing as a minimum expression of their stewardship.

Section 4. Marriage and the Home

Marriage is a sacred relationship of one man and one woman instituted and ordained of God for the purpose of companionship, procreation and sexual fulfillment. It is the foundation of the family, and the home, which is a major basis for the existence of a society. Therefore, the marriage relationship is not to be entered into lightly, but discreetly, reverently and in the fear and will of God.

The home is a divinely ordained institution in which the husband is the head but serves its members by the law of love. Filial obedience is to be rendered by children in the spirit of mutual respect and love. Parents are urged to exercise loving, Biblical discipline in the raising of their children.

Section 5. Qualifications For and Choice of Church Leadership

God Himself, is the judge of each heart in regard to salvation. God's children should reach in fellowship to everyone who is born from above by the saving grace and work of Christ. However, because the role of Christian leaders and those in Christian service positions is so important in modeling the life of Christ to other Christians and the world, the senior pastor and Board of Trustees shall carry out their own spiritual leadership responsibilities by setting a standard of holy and Christlike living. This shall be done by the examples of their own lives and by establishing certain qualifications for holding any office or position of leadership or employment or service in the church. These qualifications shall be in line with biblical teachings and the general purpose, doctrines and beliefs of the congregation as stated in the Preamble, Purpose and Articles of Faith and Practice. These qualifications will not be set up as a means to judge one another in our Christian walk, for this is the work of God. However, that those in leadership positions in the church should be accountable to certain standards of Christian behavior is appropriate and scriptural. (I Timothy 3:1-12; Titus 1:5-9; etc.) Officers, leaders, employees or others in church positions may be released or dismissed by the senior pastor or Board of Trustees if these qualifications are, in a fair and loving way, determined not to be met. This action of dismissal should be carried out in the Spirit of Christ and only to the end of maintaining the standard and witness of Christlike living for the glory of God and for the sake of the spiritual purity and preparation of Christs' bride, the church.

Not only shall official church leaders be expected to live according to Biblical standards, but it is important that God's specific will be sought in the filling of all positions for the church. God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge has a specific blessing and plan for His church and for each local body of believers. He knows what is best for His people and the specific course they should take. He knows which leaders and spiritual servants would best fulfill His purposes. His choice, based on His divine wisdom, is the best choice. The true church has always sought her direction and claimed Her leaders by the choice of God through the Holy Spirit. The senior pastor, Board of Trustees and congregation should seek prayerfully and earnestly for the choice of the Holy Spirit for each officer, board member, leader, or employment or service position of the church. The senior pastor as spiritual leader of the church should make his proposals for officers or positions only after prayerful seeking of God's will. The pastor and nominating committee should then together seek and confirm this direction. The congregation should then genuinely and prayerfully join the pastor and nominating committee in this seeking of God's leadership as they make their choice to approve or select the people for the various positions of church leadership and service for which they are responsible (Officers, Board of Trustees, Board of Christian Education and Benevolent Committee).