WHAT WE BELIEVE
THE BIBLE
We believe the 66 books of the Bible are the inspired, error-free Word of God. The Holy Spirit inspired various men to write in their own style and language His errorless revelation to all mankind. Today, The Spirit helps us to properly interpret that Word. We have available several excellent translations in English that can be used to study and know God’s revealed will. We believe the Bible is provided to equip, direct and instruct us as well as give us the very wisdom of God Himself. The Bible is the ultimate standard and authority in all aspects of our beliefs and life. All believers need to be actively reading and studying the Bible. We feel it is necessary to literally interpret the Bible whenever possible.
(2 Timothy 3:16.17; 2 Peter 1:20,21, 3:15,16; John 16:12,13; Joshua 1:8).
THE NATURE OF GOD
We believe God is one God, yet three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—called the Trinity. He is the creator and sovereignly in control of all things.
God is Spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. God is infinite in: love, being, holiness, glory, blessings, perfection, wisdom and truth. He is all sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, present everywhere, and almighty. He is all knowing. He is perfectly just, merciful, and gracious. He is perfect in patience. He also possesses all authority. God is love and at the same time perfect in wrath. It is His plan to one day righteously judge the world. It is God and only God that initiates our salvation.
(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16,17,28:19; Luke 6:36; John 3:35,36, 4:24; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John 4:16-19; Romans 3:5,6).
THE FATHER
We believe the Father of Scripture is God and the first person of the Trinity. He is the supreme ruler and authority. He is called: the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Father of the nation of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of all believers. He is the only one with supreme unlimited knowledge. He is Spirit and believers are to worship the Father in spirit and truth. It is the Father that directs the Son in everything. He and the Son both have control of life itself.
The Father is the person that sent the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit for ministry in our lives. He also chooses and sends believers to His Son. He is the one that blesses us with every spiritual blessing.
He is the one to whom our Lord prayed, and it is to Him that we should pray. It was to the Father that Jesus commended His spirit while on the cross.
As the Father sent His Son, the Son sends us into the world to make disciples.
(Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 9:6, 63:16, 64:8; Matthew 5:16,45,48, 6:8, 10:33, 11:25, 16:17, 24:36, 26:39, 28:19; Mark 9:7; Luke 10:21, 11:2, 23:46; John 1:12, 3:16, 4:23,24, 5:19,23,26, 6:44, 15:26; Acts 17:29, Romans 15:6; Ephesians 1:3-6, 4:6).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, is the Messiah and eternal Son of God. He descended from the glory of heaven and became a man without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born onto the virgin Mary for two primary purposes. First, to reveal God the Father to sinful man. Second, so that He could redeem all humanity.
We believe that as the perfect God and Man, He accomplished redemption for humanity by paying the price (death) that God demanded for our sins. He was crucified and by the shedding of His blood on the cross became our substitute sacrifice. The Father considers His sacrificial death as all sufficient and no further sacrifice will ever be necessary. Our redemption is made sure by the fact of His literal physical resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted at the right hand of His Father. He now acts from that glorious position as our High Priest. There He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate.
(Luke 1:35; John 1:1,2,14; Romans 3:24,26; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Hebrews 2:17, 4:15-17, 9:24; 1 John 2:1,2).
THE SON / OUR LORD JESUS
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He dwells or permanently resides in every believer-saint at the moment he or she trust’s Jesus Christ as Savior.
His ministry is to: bring glory to Jesus Christ, He convicts the unbelieving world of sin, He restrains all of us from doing evil, He leads us, seals us, baptizes and inspires us. He is the one that has inspired the writing of the Bible, and reveals its true meaning to us.
If we are in God’s will, we will display the fruit of Galatians 5:22,23 that only He can produce in us. We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are superhuman, unlearned abilities that He gives to believers as He chooses. Unfortunately, those gifts today are often overemphasized and are not to be our emphasis.
(Mark 1:8; John 14:16,17, 16:7-15; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 12:13, 13:8; Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:22,23; Ephesians 1:13, 5:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:6,7).
THE HOLY SPIRIT
OUR FAITH
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and a conviction of things not seen. It is the belief and assurance of our salvation and a conviction or trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ revealed by God through His Word. We believe that because of man’s depraved condition all mankind is in need of salvation and being in a right relationship with God Himself.
Salvation is the term we use to describe being born again, receiving eternal life or becoming a child of God. We do not deserve nor could we ever earn salvation. Due to His grace and mercy we believe God gives this salvation to us freely. All we must do to receive it is to personally place our faith in the revealed truth of the Word and work of Jesus Christ. Christ came to earth in the flesh to restore us to fellowship with the Father. He died in our place to pay our death penalty. He also shed His blood, which provides forgiveness and a covering for our sins. His sacrificial blood allows the Father to justify us or declare us righteous. We are declared just as righteous as Christ Himself. Christ paid our death penalty and provided us with forgiveness but also overcame death and was resurrected to eternal life. We are partakers of both His death and resurrection, and have God’s forgiveness and eternal life.
We believe that all those who have received salvation by faith are kept secure forever and shall never come into condemnation for sin.
(John 1:12, 10:17-30; Romans 3:24, 8:1,38,39: 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; Philippians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:12; Jude 24; Hebrews 11:1; James 1:18).
THE CHURCH
We believe Jesus Christ unites all who believe in Him in what is known as the universal church (also called His “body”). We are united by our faith in His death,
burial and resurrection, regardless of membership in a local church. It is the Holy Spirit who places all believers into the body of Christ. As its members, we are expected to love one another with a pure heart, clear conscience, sincere faith and keep the spirit of unity and bond of peace.
We also believe that today God is using the local church to accomplish His purposes. The local church is made up of members of the universal church that regularly met together under some form of leadership and established purpose. As a local church we of Paipala are to follow the New Testament patterns and seek God’s direction from Scripture. It is within the local church that believers are to be equipped for their work and service, edified, encouraged and share Christ’s love with one another.
We believe Scripture gives those of the local church freedom in the form of leadership. We of Paipala have chosen to have an elder’s board and a deacon’s board. The elders are responsible for the spiritual direction and guidance of Paipala, while the deacons are responsible for the functions and day to day operation of the church.
(Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 2:41-47. 6:2-7; Romans 10:12, 12:5,9-21; 1 Corinthians 11:24,25, 12:12-27; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 1:20-23, 4:3-10; Colossians 1:18, 3:14,15; 1 Timothy 1:3,5; Hebrews 13:7,17).
BAPTISIM
The Lord commanded the apostles to baptize all those that believed and became disciples. They were to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe immersion is the mode of baptism described in Scripture and is preferred today.
Baptism depicts Christ’s death burial, and resurrection. Although baptism has nothing to do with a believer’s salvation or eternal position in Christ, all members of the church should be baptized because Christ commanded it. In following Christ’s directive we publicly demonstrate our faith and identification with the person and message of Jesus Christ.
(Matthew 3:11, 28:19,20; John 3:26, 4:1; Acts 2:38-41, 8:12,13, 9:18, 10:47, 16:15,33, 18:8, 19:3; 1 Corinthians 1:16,17; Galatians 3:27).
COMMUNION
The second ordinance is the Celebration of Communion. Jesus on the night He was betrayed initiated this celebration during His final Passover Meal. He told us to continue the practice of taking the two elements of communion which represent His body and blood. We are to continue taking communion until He returns. It provides us the opportunity to remember Him and what He has done on our behalf.
We feel you must be a believer in Jesus Christ in order to properly participate in this symbolic meal. It is also important for the one taking these elements to prepare himself or herself by confessing all known sin.
This is a simple yet very special celebration not just for Paipala but the entire body of Christ.
(Luke 22:19,20; Acts 2:46, 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:20-25).