Casting the Net - What We Believe

What We Believe

1)	Holy Scriptures By ‘Holy Scriptures' we refer to the 66 books of both the Old and New Testaments. The Holy Scriptures were written by men divinely inspired by God the Father, through His Holy Spirit. The Holy Scriptures are inerrant in the original manuscripts and reveal the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, faith, and Christian living.
2)	Triune God There is one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of the universe; existing eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
3)	Man's sinful nature Man is born with a fallen sin nature, and is, therefore, inclined to evil, and separated from God who is Holy by nature and cannot be in the presence of sinful man. Therefore, unless we accept God's unmerited gift of salvation through faith in the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of His son, Jesus the Christ, man is hopelessly lost and our future is one of eternal separation from God.
4)	Salvation Man can have a personal relationship with God through salvation, God's free gift to man. It is not a result of what we do, but is only available through God's unearned favor. Jesus the Christ, by His sufferings, shedding of His blood, His death on the Cross, and His resurrection, made a full atonement for all human sin. This atonement is the only grounds of salvation, and it is sufficient for every individual. By understanding and admitting we have sinned, believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and accepting Him as Lord, we can spend eternity with God. But this atonement is dependent on man's complete and continual belief in the person and sacrifice of Jesus. In its broadest sense salvation includes justification, regeneration, and sanctification.
5)	Justification & Regeneration Justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous, to all who believe on Jesus the Christ. Regeneration, or the 'new birth', is that gracious work of God where the sinful nature of the repentant believer is replaced by the nature of Christ. The believer is given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Once a person is ‘born again' they are a new creature in Christ; however, the old sinful tendencies of the flesh still linger. Regeneration is an ongoing act through the process of Sanctification. The combined acts of Justification and Regeneration are often referred to as the ‘Adoption' of the believer as a child of God. Justification and Regeneration are simultaneous in the experience of believers in Christ and are obtained upon the condition of faith, preceded by repentance. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers is evidence of this work of grace.
6)	Sanctification The new nature received at regeneration includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to our spiritual growth. Without intentionally growing one's faith a believer's witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost. Sanctification is the ongoing process of our character becoming God's character. Believers are to be sanctified wholly, subsequent to regeneration, through faith in Lord Jesus the Christ. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the new birth, and also to the sanctification of believers. All believers, though in the possession of the experience of justification, regeneration and sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, risk the possibility of grieving the Holy Spirit that lives within them to the point He leaves and they become hopelessly and eternally lost.
7)	Baptism Baptism is a sacrament – an outward sign of our relationship with Christ and a renewal of our covenant commitment to follow Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, as taught and demonstrated by Jesus, as the way for believers to identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's death to sin, the burial of the life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
8)	Lord's Supper The Lord's Supper, also know as communion, is a sacrament – an outward sign of our relationship with Christ and a renewal of our covenant commitment to follow Jesus the Christ as our Lord and Saviour. It is to be used to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made for us in shedding His blood and the death of His body. Whenever we participate in the Lord's Supper, it is a very solemn occasion and not to be taken lightly. We are told to make sure that we have reviewed our lives and our hearts are right with God. We are to make sure we have confessed all sins prior to partaking of the Lord's Supper. We are further warned that if we partake of the Lord's Supper unworthily, that is with an evil heart, unconfessed sins, as an unbeliever, etc., we are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. This means that we are literally making ourselves responsible for the death of Christ as if we had personally been there at the cross yelling crucify him!
9)	Christ's Death, Burial, and Resurrection Our Lord Jesus the Christ physically died on the cross, was buried and raised again after 3 days and 3 nights. We further believe that Christ's crucifixion was most likely on a Wednesday just before sundown, he was buried and then raised again on Saturday just before sundown, thereby making 3 literal 24 hour periods. He was presented to his disciples on Sunday, the Feast of First Fruits as the sheave offering of the first of the resurrected. Although it depends on how the years are calculated due to the various changes in the calendar, it was most likely the year 31 A.D. (C.E. if you wish to be politically correct - but we take it to mean the Christian Era!)
10)	Second Coming of Christ Lord Jesus the Christ will return personally, physically, and visibly; we who are alive at His coming will not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but, if we are abiding in Him, we will be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air. At the resurrection of the dead, the bodies of both the just and the unjust shall be raised to life and every person shall appear before God to be judged. Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. The righteous will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord Jesus, worshiping God the Father.
11)	Church The Church is the body of Christ and is composed of all those who confesses Jesus Christ came in the flesh and is Lord. They have been spiritually regenerated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The mission of the church is first and foremost to spread the gospel message and second to disciple and fellowship with other Christians.
12)	Sabbath The Sabbath was instituted by God, during the creation week, as the literal 7th day of the week. God subsequently memorialized this in the 10 commandments as given by God the Father. Christ and His disciples affirmed this by observing the Sabbath through out the new testament. Jesus further reaffirmed this by indicating his is Lord of the Sabbath.
13)	Hell Hell is a real place as described in the Bible. It was made for Satan and the fallen angels that rebeled against God. It is a place of suffering and a place of permanent separation from God and will be shared by those who die without accepting God's gift of salvation through the atoning sacrifice of His son Jesus the Christ. God's desire is that no one be separated from Him for eternity, which is why He sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to atone for our sins through His death, burial, and resurrection..
14)	Family God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. Marriage is the unity of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. However, man is to be the ‘servant leader' of the family. The wife is the helpmate of the man and is to submit to him in matters of faith as lead by God the Father. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
15)	Creation The creation event occurred in 6 literal 24 hour days just as described in the account of Genesis. Further, a non-biased review of the scientific data available indicates this as well. Evolution exists only on a micro scale, but does not exist on a macro scale. This is also indicated by the scientific evidence.