Grace Church has been in Zion for over 100 years freely and unapologetically sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. We, the members of Grace Church, acknowledge that Christ is the Head of this church and willingly and without reservation subscribe to the following articles of faith. We believe…
…in THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: Accepting fully the writings of the Old and New Testaments as the authoritative Word of God, verbally inspired in all parts and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God, altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; John 12:42; John 17:17; 2nd Timothy 3:16, 17; 2nd Peter 1:21)
…in THE ONE TRIUNE GOD: Eternally existent in three distinct Persons — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; each of whom is to be honored and worshipped equally as God. (John 4:24; Psalm 135:6; Psalm 147:5; Psalm 104; Matthew 28:19; 2nd Corinthians 13:14; John 5:23; Acts 5:3,4; Hebrews 1:8)
…in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: The Second Person of the triune God, in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His atoning death as the sacrifice for our sins, His bodily resurrection, His present ministry as advocate and intercessor and His second coming to rule and to reign in power and glory. (John 1:1; Titus 2:13; John 1:14; Matthew 1:23; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 4:15; Isaiah 53:5, 6; John 1:29; John 20:25-28; 1st John 2:1; Revelation 19, 20)
…in THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Third Person of the Triune God; the Divine Agent in revelation and redemption; that He convicts the world of sin; regenerates those who believe and indwells, empowers, guides, bestows gifts upon and sanctifies all who become children of God through Christ. We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every Christian to be filled with the Spirit, the evidence of which is a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in life and conduct. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3,4; Psalm 104:30; 2nd Corinthians 3:18; John 16:8-11; John 3:5; 1st Corinthians 6:19; 1st Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:30; John 14:26; Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:22,23)
…in THE CREATION AND FALL OF MAN: That man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, become sinners in thought, word and deed, alienated from the life and family of God, under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and have within themselves no possible means of recovery or salvation. (Genesis 1:26-28; 1st Thessalonians 5:23; Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:3; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 4:18; Romans 3:19; Romans 7:18; John 3:17, 18)
…in SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH: That salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all believers have as a present possession the gift of eternal life, a perfect righteousness, sonship in the family of God, deliverance and security from all condemnation, every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness, and the divine guarantee that they shall never perish; and that apart from Christ there is no possible salvation. (Romans 3:24; Romans 6:23; Titus 3:5; John 3:16-18; Ephesians 2:8, 9; John 5:24; John 10:27-30; John 14:6)
…in RIGHTEOUS LIVING AND GOOD WORKS: Not as the procuring cause of salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence and fruit; that, out of gratitude for the infinite and undeserved mercies of God, each believer should present himself wholly and unreservedly to the Lord for His service; that each believer has the solemn responsibility and duty to show the love of Christ and bear the gospel to a lost world, to manifest a sincere love for God’s people, and to walk in separation from this present world having no fellowship with its evil ways, but demonstrating exemplary citizenship through prayer for and obedience to its constituted civil authority except in those matters specifically opposed to the will of God. (1st John 3:9-11; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:14; 2nd Corinthians 5:19; Romans 12:1, 2; 1st John 2:15-17; 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:1-12; 1st Timothy 2:1-4; Romans 13)
…in THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST: That His return is personal, visible and imminent. (Acts 1:11; Titus 2:11-13; John 14:1-3; 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 19:1-20:6; 1st Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 21:1-22:6)
…in FUTURE LIFE, BODILY RESURRECTION AND ETERNAL JUDGMENT: In the everlasting conscious blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost. (Philippians 1:21-23; 2nd Corinthians 5:8; 1st Corinthians 15:35-58; 1st John 3:2; 1st Corinthians 3:8-15; 2nd Corinthians 5:10; Luke 16:19-31; 2nd Peter 2:9; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8; Matthew 18:8; Philippians 3:18,19)
…in the ONE TRUE CHURCH: The mystical body and bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He began to build on the Day of Pentecost and will complete at His second coming when the church is forever united with her visible Head; that all true believers of this present age are baptized immediately by the Holy Spirit into the One True Church; that the members of this one spiritual body should assemble themselves together in local churches for the purpose of worship, prayer, fellowship, teaching, united testimony and the observance of the ordinances of our Lord: Believer’s Baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. (Ephesians 4:4; Ephesians 5:25-32; Acts 2:47; 1st Thessalonians 1:14-17; Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:41-47; 1st Corinthians 11:17-22)
…the LORD’S DAY IS OF DIVINE ORIGIN: The first day of the week has been set aside as the Lord’s Day for rest, worship and Christian service. It is our responsibility that with great care and Godly fear we should honor the Lord’s Day. (Exodus 20:8-11; Acts 20:7)
…that the scriptures do teach the DIVINE CONCERN FOR THE WELL BEING OF LITTLE CHILDREN AND THEIR COMMITMENT TO GOD: We encourage the formal dedication of little children in a public service of the church. (Matthew 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17; Proverbs 22:6)
We understand that the above articles of faith in no way exhaust the content of our faith that is the entire Word of God. However, we do believe that these articles are a true representation of the sound doctrine taught in the Scriptures.