Introduction
Statements of faith for churches can be tricky for a number of reasons. First of all, it is difficult to write about important beliefs within faith without feeling like you are somehow reducing faith down to a checklist. There is also the difficulty of coming to an agreement as a leadership on each pillar or major point of faith. And of course, there is the knowledge that we are always growing and maturing in our understanding of who God is, his word, and his plan for the world.
Burleson Church of Christ Beliefs
We believe that there is one, true God who created the heavens, the earth, and everything that exists. We believe that God is Father, Son, and Spirit in perfect unity and that all have been present since before the creation of the universe. We believe that Satan has been in opposition towards God since the first humans walked the earth. We believe Satan introduced the world to sin when he tempted man and woman with a decision that would separate all of humanity from God. God has always desired to be in full relationship with his creation. When the first man and woman sinned, this relationship was fractured and man and woman became separated from God. Since that decision of disobedience and sin, man has been prone to sin and has been in need of grace and mercy. The effects of sin left the world and humanity separated from God and in need of redemption. We believe that only through Jesus Christ can redemption be found and God’s intended relationship with humanity be restored.
We believe that Jesus is the Son of the one, true God. It is because of his perfection as a human, that he was able to become the perfect atoning sacrifice for the world. We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and was resurrected to life three days later.
It is through the sacrifice of himself that he has brought redemption to the world and humanity. It is through his sacrifice that atonement was provided for the sins of the world. It is through his sacrifice that he gave humanity access to this salvation. And it is by his resurrection that he proved that he had power over sin and death.
We believe that as humans, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We believe that the penalty of sin is death. We see this in our own lives and in the world around us. Because of this, we are in need of a Savior. We need someone who has conquered sin and death to conquer those realities in our own lives in order to bring us back into relationship with God. We believe that in order to be saved from sin and death and to be brought back into relationship with God, we must be justified and sanctified. We believe that when we confess Jesus as Lord, we relinquish control and power to the Son of God who conquered sin and death and he then conquers those realities in our own lives. We believe that in this confession, we are justified before the Lord through faith. We believe that as a part of this confession, we are to be baptized. Just as the Lord took the Israelites through the waters from a life of slavery and death to a new life of freedom to become a new people, He takes the believer from a life of slavery to sin and death through the waters into a new life to become a new creature. When we submit to the Lord in this way, we are sanctified by the blood of Jesus which washes us clean of all sin and guilt. We believe that through baptism we are buried with Christ, becoming one with Him in his death, and raised to walk a new life. Baptism is not something that we do as a believer, but it is rather something that is done to us. We submit our lives to the Lord, and in so doing, we are brought into a new life of freedom to live in relationship with the Lord. We believe that in this way we are justified and sanctified before the Lord.
Upon our confession and submission in these ways, Jesus also promised that we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit is given to us to guide us and help us as we live as Christians in this world. We believe that the Holy Spirit empowers us and gives us gifts to minister to those around us and participate in the mission of God to bring redemption to this world.
We believe that the Lord has also given us the Holy Bible as a guide and a means to know His desires for our lives and the world. We believe the Holy Bible is the word of our God given to men through the work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and that it is sufficient to lead us to faith and obedience. We believe that it is the role of every believer and the church, by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others as the body of Christ in this world. We believe that the Lord has called us into partnership with Him to bring healing to the world and to proclaim the good news of the gospel until Jesus returns. We believe that one day Jesus will return to fully reconcile the world unto himself. We believe that when this occurs, the Lord will honor the choice each one has made to confess Jesus as Lord and live with Him forever or to deny Him and be separated from Him for all eternity.