Doctrine
Section 1. Statement of Doctrine
(1) The Holy Scriptures: We believe the Holy Scriptures to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, and our guide to faith and practice. (See II Timothy 3:16,17; Isaiah 40:8; John 17:17; and II Peter 1:20,21.)
(2) The Godhead: We believe in one God, existing in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections, yet executing distinct but harmonious offices. (Genesis 1:26,27; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 3:13-17; 28:18,19.)
(3) The Person and Work of Christ: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became Man, being conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross, His blood being the purchase price, and that He secured that redemption forever by His literal resurrection from the dead. (John 1:1,2,14,18; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24,25 and 4:25.)
(4) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit, the Third person of the Trinity, though omnipresent from all eternity, took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost, according to the divine promise and now indwells every believer, and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body, and as the Indwelling One, is the source of all power and acceptable worship and service.
We believe that the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the world is that of conviction respecting sin, righteousness, judgment, and comforting the believer. (John 14:16,17; 16:7-11 and I Corinthians 12:13.)
(5) Creation and Fall of Man: We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, for the divine purpose of glorifying Him, but that in the transgression of Adam the whole race of mankind fell, and thereby inherited a sinful nature, becoming alienated from God and totally unable to retrieve his lost condition, apart from salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:26,27; 3:6,7; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:12.)
(6) Salvation: We believe that God has provided for the salvation of man by the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, and that we are justified by the blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. This way of salvation is brought to man by grace and received by repenting of our sins and receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts by faith. This experience is referred to as the born-again life. (John 3:3,16; Romans 5:1; 10:9,10,17; Ephesians 2:8-10; Acts 2:38.)
(7) The Eternal Security of the Believer: We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure forever. (John 10:27-30; Romans 8:38,39.)
(8) The Church: We believe that the Church is a spiritual organism composed of all born again persons of this present age irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations, (Acts 2:47b) and as such, is both the body and bride of Christ. (Ephesians 1:22,23 and 5:25-27.) We believe that a local church is a body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, congregated for worship, service, and fellowship.
(9) Satan: We believe in the person of Satan, who is the open and declared enemy of our Lord Jesus Christ and thereby, the enemy of all who believe in God. (Job 1:6,7; Matthew 4:2-11; and I Peter 5:8.)
(10) The Return of Christ: We believe in the imminent, personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own, and His subsequent premillenial return to the earth to set up His kingdom. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Acts 15:16,17.)
(11) The Eternal State: 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, and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His coming, whereupon soul and body will be reunited to enjoy the glories and blessings of heaven forever. We believe also that the souls of those who have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne, when body and soul reunited will be cast into the lake of fire to be punished with everlasting destruction and from the presence of the Lord. (II Corinthians 5:6,8; Luke 16:19-26; Revelation 20:11-15)
(12) Church Ordinances: We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of the church and that they are the scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age.
We believe that baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, setting forth the essential facts in redemption – the death burial and resurrection of Christ, also the essential facts in the experience of the believer – death to sin and resurrection to newness of life.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of His death until He comes and is to be celebrated at certain intervals by all believers upon personal examination. (Matthew 3:13-17; I Corinthians 11:23-26.)
Section 2. Church Covenant
We therefore promise, in dependence upon the grace of God which helps our infirmities, to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints, to do good unto all men, especially those who are of the household of faith, to sanctify the Lord’s day by diligent and devoted attendance upon the public worship of God in this church, to support the work of the church as God prospers us, to keep the ordinances as they have been delivered unto us, to pray faithfully for those (Pastor and officers) who have rule over us, who speak the Word of God, and to preserve the good name of this church by a consistent walk so that no reproach shall be brought upon the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Cody Bible Church 