Doctrinal Position | nwcommunitychurch

OUR DOCTRINAL POSITION

THE SCRIPTURES

We believe that all the Scriptures, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, are God breathed, inerrant and infallible in the original writings, and this Word of God is the supreme and final authority for faith and life.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:21 - For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:18 - For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

THE GODHEAD

We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and that these three are one God having precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections.

Luke 3:22 - And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Isaiah 48:16 - Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there. And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

a. God the Father

We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of man, that He hears and answers prayers, and that He saves from the penalty of sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 90:2 - Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Isaiah 65:24 - Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

b. God the Son

We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of a virgin, and is truly God and truly man joined in one person forever. He was sinless in His life, and made atonement for the sins of the world by His shed blood and substitutionary death. We believe in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension into heaven and His present life there for us, as high priest and advocate.

Matthew 1:23 - Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).

1 Peter 2:21-22 - For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.

Mark 10:45 - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 - For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

1 John 2:1 - My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Hebrews 4:14 - Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

c. God the Holy Spirit

We believe in God the Holy Spirit who came forth to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He regenerates, indwells, sanctifies, and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.

John 16:8-11 - And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Titus 3:5 - He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

John 14:26 - But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

MAN AND SIN

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but through the sin of Adam, all mankind inherited a sin nature, became alienated from God, and became totally depraved, resulting in both physical and spiritual death. Man is unable to alter his lost condition. Therefore, it is God’s grace that intervenes in the heart of man.

Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Ephesians 2:1-2 - And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and they were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. .

Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

SATAN

We believe that Satan, a fallen angel, is god of this age, adversary of Christ and His church, and that his destiny is eternal punishment in hell.

Luke 10:18 - And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

2 Corinthians 4:4 - In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Ephesians 6:12 - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Revelation 20:10 - And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

SALVATION

We believe that salvation is a gift from God, brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Man’s step of faith is a result of God’s sovereign work in man’s heart. Christ’s shed blood and substitutionary death on the cross of Calvary provided redemption and is the only basis for our justification. The primary purpose of man’s salvation is to glorify God. Once saved, believers are kept by God’s power and thus secure in Christ forever.

Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

John 6:65 - And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Romans 3:24 - …And are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 43:7 - Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 4:30 - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Hebrews 13:5 - Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

John 6:37-40 - All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

THE CHURCH

We are placed in the church (the body of Christ) by the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit when one trusts in the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross. We believe that God ordained the autonomous local church for worship, edification, fellowship, and evangelism. The local church has the right and responsibility to exercise discipline in a loving, biblical manner.

1 Corinthians 12:13 - For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 - But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for Him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

1 Corinthians 5 - The entire chapter

ORDINANCES

We believe that there are two ordinances: baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. Every believer is instructed by God to participate in both ordinances subsequent to their salvation. These ordinances provide no merit for salvation, but are an outward expression of faith regarding the believer’s identification and fellowship with Christ.

Matthew 28:19-20 - Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

1 Corinthians 11:23-24 - For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Romans 6:3-4 - Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

FUTURE THINGS

We believe in “that blessed hope,” the personal and imminent coming of our Lord in the air for His saints. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, and the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the lost.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Revelation 20:11-15 - Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 - …in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

1 Corinthians 15 - The entire chapter

MORAL ISSUES

a. Sexual Relations

We believe God’s plan for human sexuality, according to the Bible, is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, and that God has created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.

Genesis 2:24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:6 - So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.

Mark 10:6-9 - But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.

Romans 1:26-27 - For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality.

Based upon this definition, no portion of the church grounds or building of New Woodstock Community Church shall be utilized for the purpose of performing a marriage ceremony – civil, military, or otherwise – which purports to wed two individuals of the same sex. No portion of the church grounds or building of New Woodstock Community Church shall be used for the celebration or acknowledgment of such a union by the means of a reception or any other gathering. Finally, no marriage ceremony between two individuals of the same sex shall be performed by any member of the staff, elder, deacon or representative of New Woodstock Community Church.

The pastor(s) and other authorized persons of New Woodstock Community Church shall not perform any marital, baptism, or dedication ceremony for individuals who are committed to a non-biblical lifestyle (co-habitation, same-sex, LGBT, etc.), on the church grounds, in the building of New Woodstock Community Church, or at any other location requested.

b. Sanctity of Life

We believe that the Scripture teaches that all human life begins at conception and that God is fashioning that life throughout the period of pregnancy. The Bible places dignity upon the human life because man is created in the image of God and demands serious penalties of those who are guilty of killing the innocent. Therefore, we believe that abortion is a violation of the sanctity of life and the standard of God.

Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Luke 1:39-44 - Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

Exodus 20:13 - You shall not murder.

Exodus 21:22-23 - When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life …

Numbers 35:30-34 - If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.

Psalm 139 - The entire chapter

Note: While reconfirming our commitment to the teaching of the Bible regarding these moral issues, we are reminded of God’s love for all and His willingness to forgive the sin of any who truly repent, confess, and ask forgiveness of their sin on the gracious merits of Christ.

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.