DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF MAKARIOS BIBLE CHURCH, INC.
Original Issue Date: May 7, 2007
We believe the following with respect to:
A.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, authoritative, inerrant, and God-breathed. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13; Hebrews 4:12)
B.THE GODHEAD
We believe in one triune God, existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deuteronomy 6:4; II Corinthians 13:14)
C. THE ESSENCE OF GOD
We believe the essence of God to consist of the following attributes:
1. Sovereignty (Psalm 47:7-9)
2. Righteousness (Psalm 11:7)
3. Justice (Isaiah 30:18)
4. Eternal life (Deuteronomy 33:27; I John 1:2)
5. Love (I John 4:16)
6. Omniscience (I John 3:20)
7. Omnipresence (Proverbs 15:3)
8. Omnipotence (Revelation 4:8)
9. Veracity (Psalm 31:5; Isaiah 65:16)
10. Immutability (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8)
D.THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND FREE WILL
We believe that God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign, and exercises supreme rule over all creation as a part of and consistent with the essence and attributes of Deity. (I Chronicles 29:11-12; Daniel 4:35; I Timothy 6:15) Furthermore, the sovereignty of God allows for the existence of free will in angels and mankind, with no respect of persons and no coercion of that free will. (Isaiah 14:13-14; I Samuel 24:12)
E.THE PERSON AND WORK OF CHRIST
We believe that the eternal Son of God (the Second Person of the Trinity), became man, without ceasing to be God (John 1:1-2, 14); that His sinless humanity was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (Luke 1:35; John 1:18; I Timothy 2:5-6); that he had no sin nature and never committed a personal sin of any kind (Luke 1:35; I John 3:5); That He accomplished our redemption through His spiritual death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice (Romans 3:24-25, 5:8); that our redemption is made sure to us by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 4:25; I Peter 1:3-5); that the Lord Jesus Christ is now in Heaven, seated at the right hand of God, where, as the High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Roman 8:34; Hebrews 7:25, 9:24; I John 2:1)
F.THE PERSONALITY AND WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person Who convicts the world of sin, indwells all believers in the present age, baptizes them into the body of Christ, and seals them until the day of redemption. (John 16:8; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14)
G.THE PERSONALITY OF SATAN
We recognize the personality of Satan, who is the open and declared enemy of God and man. We believe Lucifer, who was created perfect and sinless by God, revolted against God by manufacturing the sin of pride from his free will, and that one third of the angels chose to follow him. We believe that Satan will be defeated by Christ and will be forever consigned to the Lake of Fire. (Job 2:1-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:15-17; Revelation 12:4, 20:10)
H.THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MAN
We believe that God created man in His image, but due to Adam’s sin, all his descendants inherited a sinful nature, which is transmitted genetically at birth. We further believe that the sin nature indwells all men from birth to death. Because of the fall, man is alienated from God and is powerless to procure salvation by his own efforts. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 5:12, 3:23; Ephesians 2:12; Galatians. 2:16)
I.SALVATION
We believe that salvation in every dispensation is the gift of God by grace and is received by personal faith in the Messiah, apart from any other action of man. (John 1:12; Ephesians 2:8-9)
J.ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that all believers are secure forever. Neither God, nor any creature, can annul a believer’s salvation. (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:38-39; Ephesians 4:30)
K.THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that all believers should grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ in order to live in such a manner as to glorify God and not bring reproach upon their Lord and Savior. (II Peter 3:18; I Corinthians 6:20)
L.THE CHURCH
We believe that the local church is an assembly of believers in a specific geographic locale. The local church is the only biblically authorized organization for spiritual growth in the Church Age. Further, it is the responsibility of each believer to assemble under a pastor-teacher so he can be equipped to properly apply in the ministry of his local church. (I Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 4:11-13; Colossians 3:16-17; Hebrews 10:25)
M.CHURCH ORDINANCES
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted the ordinances of baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Table, both of which should be observed by all believers until His return. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; I Corinthians 11:23-26)
N.SPIRITUALITY AND MATURITY
We believe that spirituality in this dispensation is an absolute condition in the life of a believer, wherein he is in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that spirituality is distinct from carnality, and that a believer becomes carnal through any act of mental, verbal, or overt sin. Fellowship with Christ is restored solely by personal confession of the sin to God the Father. (I John 1:9) Maturity, on the other hand, is a relative state a believer attains as a result of learning and applying the Word of God over a period of time. (Ephesians 4:11-13; James 1:2-4; II Peter 3:18)
O.SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe that the Holy Spirit, through grace and apart from human merit, sovereignly bestows one spiritual gift on every believer at the point of salvation. (Romans 12:4-8; I Peter 4:10) The list of permanent gifts, which exist today, is found in Romans 12:6-8. Temporary gifts for the transitional period are found in I Corinthians 12:7-10 and were done away with during the Apostolic Age. (I Corinthians 13:8-11) Any attempt to practice any of the temporary gifts today in the assembly shall be grounds for expulsion from the assembly.
P.DISPENSATIONS
We believe that human history is divided into four dispensations known as the age of the Gentiles, the Age of Israel, the Church Age (current) and the Millennium.
Q.THE RAPTURE
We believe that the Lord Jesus will return in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ and believers who are alive at His coming--we refer to this as the rapture. (I Corinthians 15:51-52; I Thes-salonians 4:13-18)
R.DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK
We believe that the Rapture will be followed by the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week, a period of seven years, as taught in the book of Daniel. The latter half of this period is known as the time of Jacob’s distress, or the Great Tribulation. (Daniel 9:27; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:15,21)
S.THE SECOND ADVENT
We believe that the Great Tribulation will be climaxed by the premillennial, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His earthly kingdom in Jerusalem. (Zechariah 14:4,9; II Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 20:6)
T.THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe that, at physical death, the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation immediately pass into His presence and remain there, in conscious bliss, until the resurrection of their bodies at His coming. The soul is then united with the resurrection body, which shall be associated with Him forever in glory (Revelation 21:3-5). The souls of all unbelievers remain in conscious misery after death until the final judgment before the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium. The soul is then united with a resurrection body, which shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord. (Luke 16:19-26; II Corinthians 5:8; II Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15)
