Crawford First Congregational Church
A Non-Denominational Bible Church
What We Believe
Salvation Is By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone!
Bibliology:
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We believe the Bible is the Word of God, supernaturally and inerrantly revealed in its original documents, and is the supreme, final authority in faith and life.
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We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal in power and glory, identical in their essential nature, and worthy of precisely the same honor, confidence, obedience and love.
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We believe in the dispensational interpretation of the Word of God but reject any extreme teaching that opposes either the Lord’s Supper or water baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the local church in this dispensation of grace.
Soteriology:
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We believe the sole condition for receiving everlasting life is faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died a substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of the whole world and rose bodily from the grave. No act of obedience, such as commitment to obey, sorrow for sin, turning from one’s sin, baptism or submission to the Lordship of Christ, may be added to, or considered part of faith as a condition for receiving eternal life. This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the giving and receiving of a free gift.
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We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence in conscious blessedness, and that at Christ’s coming for the Church, their bodies will be raised and reunited with their souls to be associated with Him forever in glory, transformed into His likeness.
Theology Proper:
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We believe, that there is one, and only one, living and true God: an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in Holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Christology:
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We believe Jesus Christ was virgin-born, that He is both true God and true Man, that He died a sacrificial death for our sins and rose bodily from the dead.
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He died by crucifixion to pay the penalty for mankind’s sin. He was buried, rose bodily from the grave on the third day and ascended to Heaven where, at the Father’s right hand, interceding for the saints.
Pneumatology:
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We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit.
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We believe the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains Satan until the Father’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He is the agent in the New Birth
Anthropology:
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We believe all true believers are sons of God, and that He has made full provision for their sanctification, victory, and eternal security through faith in Jesus Christ.
Hamartiology:
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We believe man was created innocent, but in sinning he brought spiritual and physical death to himself and all his posterity.
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We believe all believers are responsible to walk in separation from all religious apostasy and worldly and sinful practices, witnessing by life and word to the saving power of Christ extended to all men.
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We believe that all those who do not accept God’s gracious offer of salvation in this life remain, after death, in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
Angelology:
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We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is doomed to eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
Ecclesiology:
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We believe the Church is composed of all truly born-again people, being the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head, that it had its earthly beginning on the day of Pentecost and that all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, from that day to the time when Christ comes in the Rapture for the Church, are united by the Holy Spirit in this one Body.
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We believe that believers are to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, fervently loving one another with a pure heart.
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We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly set forth and defined in the New Testament, and that fellowship in such churches is based on a common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
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We believe the sign gifts (Mark 16:17-18 — tongues, healings, etc.) were given for the foundational period of the church and ceased with the coming of the New Testament and the end of the age in which the apostles lived.
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We stand firmly and uncompromisingly on the Word of God, maintaining separation from any movement which seeks the organizational unity of all Christianity and ultimately of all religions.
Eschatology:
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We believe the hope of the Church is the gathering together of the saints unto Jesus Christ before the time of the Tribulation.
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We believe the Tribulation period will follow the Rapture or “catching away” of the Church; that this time of judgement will be consummated at the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ to earth to subdue all His enemies and to set up His earthly kingdom for one thousand years.