doctrinal statement

STATEMENT OF FAITH & CHURCH DISCIPLINE 

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

HOSANNA CHAPEL OF BELLFLOWER IS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH CALVARY CHAPEL BOTH IN PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES

 

We believe that the local church is God's ordained instrument in this age. We stand wholly in support of the local church.


We believe that all Christians (Hebrew or Gentile) should be discipled and brought into contact with a sound Bible-believing church.


We believe there are no short cuts to spiritual maturity. Spiritual growth requires time, testing and triumph through the Holy Spirit.


We believe the daily life of a Christian should be lived as if Christ were returning each day of his life. In addition, the Christian's life should be a positive testimony for God in a desperately needy world where the Lord Jesus Christ is the only answer.


We believe God's work should be done decently and in order, and it should be open and above reproach, without questionable moral ethics, so that no dishonor can be brought against the Lord, whom we serve.


We believe in church discipline as set forth in God's word and summarized in Hosanna's Articles of Faith and Church Discipline.


We believe we are called to preach Christ to the world. Therefore, we go and we send and we support missions.


We believe we love God because He first loved us. (1 John 4:10)

We believe the Bible (consisting of 66 books) is the inspired Word of God, and every part is fully and equally inspired, and every single word of scripture was produced under the control of the Holy Spirit


(2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16).


We also accept the scriptures in their entirety as being inerrant (in the original writings and infallible. For this reason, we are committed to the Bible as being our final authority in all matters of doctrine (faith) and practice

We believe there is only one true, eternal, living God, and He is sovereign over all things. God can be known through the many absolute and relative attributes revealed in the scriptures

(Deuteronomy 6:4, Exodus 3:14, Colossians 1:15-17, Romans 1:19 & 20).


God is the source and sustainer of all life. He, according to the council of His own will, decreed whatsoever comes to pass

(Isaiah 14:24,26,27; Ephesians 1).

We believe, although there is only one true God, God consists of three distinct Persons each of whom is co-eternal and co-equal.


We believe the Father is God, and the Son (Jesus, the Christ-Messiah) is God and that the Holy Spirit is God

(Deuteronomy 6:4, John 1:1,14; John 5:23, John 6:27, John 10:30, Acts 5:3,4).

We believe the Lord Jesus to be absolute deity, the eternal Son of God, who became man without ceasing to be God. In the incarnation, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary

(Matthew 1:18-25, John 3:16, Hebrews 1:8, Isaiah 9:6 & 7).


We believe Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man at the same time

(Philippians 2:5-11).


We believe that He was totally holy by virtue of His miraculous birth and sinless life

(Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21).


We believe Jesus Christ voluntarily laid down His life, the Just dying for the unjust, making it possible for man to be saved

(John 10:17, Hebrews 9:14&28, 1 Peter 3:18).


We believe He rose bodily from the dead on the third day after death, and He ascended into Heaven to the right hand of the Father

(John 2:19-22, Acts 1:9-11, Hebrews 1:3).


We believe that, presently, He is our intercessor and Advocate, the only true Mediator between God and man

(Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 4:14, 1 John 2:1, 1 Timothy 2:5).

We believe the Holy Spirit is deity, a divine person of the Godhead. He is not a force but is truly a person and is equal with the Father and the Son

(Acts 5:3,4, Matthew 28:19).

 

We believe the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every believer at the moment he is regenerated, and that these gifts are to be used for the edification and perfecting of the believers in the church.


We believe that the miracle and sign gifts were given for a unique purpose to the first-century church, and that they continue till the 2nd coming

(Hebrews 8:13, Acts 1:5-8, 1 Corinthians 13:9 & 10).


We believe the Holy Spirit is with you to convict of sin, in you when you believe and upon you when you ask and fills you when you submit to His will

(John 14:17, Luke 11:13, Ephesians 5:18, Acts 1:8). 

We believe God created man directly and instantaneously from the dust of the ground. Man was created in the image of God and was able to have intimate fellowship with God

(Genesis 1:26&27, 2:7).

 

We believe all of humanity fell away from God when Adam first sinned and that the fall resulted in both physical and spiritual death for man. In this fallen condition, man was left totally depraved and unable to remedy his own situation

(Genesis 3:6-13, Romans 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians 15:21&22, Ephesians 2).

We believe that sin is the breaking of the commandments of God or anything that does not conform to the character and nature of God

(1 John 3:4).


We believe all of mankind sinned in Adam, the head of the human race, and that each human being has a sin nature and also has committed personal sin

(Romans 5:12, 1:18, 3:20, 1 John 1:8-10).

We believe salvation is the act of God whereby man is brought into a proper relationship with God. It is that act where spiritually dead man is made spiritually alive

(Psalms 3:8, John 3:16-18, Ephesians 2:1,2).


We believe this is accomplished by the grace of God through man's faith in the death (shed blood), burial and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

(Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 1 Timothy 3:16).


We believe salvation involves three things for the believer: deliverance from the penalty of sin at the moment of regeneration, victory over the power of sin during the Christian life, and deliverance from the presence of sin at glorification.


We believe that salvation positionally sanctifies the believer, but that the believer needs to experience, in his daily life, progressive sanctification

(2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 6:14, Philippians 3:20, 21).

We believe in the existence of the person of Satan. He was created by God as the greatest of angels, but later rebelled against God. After he fell, he organized his own kingdom which consists of both evil angels and also unregenerate man. He is currently the ruler-god of this age. Satan's ultimate goal is to overthrow God. He seeks to keep 'the unsaved from becoming saved. He seeks to hinder and destroy the Christian's testimony and ministry for God.


We believe both Satan and his evil angels will be consigned to the eternal Lake of Fire after the Millennium

(Matthew 25:41, John 8:44, Isaiah 14:12-17, Ezekiel 28:11-19, Revelation 20:7-10).

We believe the true church is a living organism and it is the„ body of Christ”, who is Himself the head of this body. The church is made up of regenerate, redeemed believers only

(Ephesians 1:22&23, 5:23, Colossians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 12:13).


We believe the Church began on the day of Pentecost, that every believer was baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body of Christ which is the church

(Acts 2:1-4, 1:4-5, John 14:16-17, 1 Corinthians 12:13).


We believe the scriptures teach there are to be local churches. These churches are to be the visible representation of the "body of Christ" in the local community. Local churches are to observe the ordinances of Christ and to seek to do the will of God.

(Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Matthew 28:19,20, 1 Corinthians 1:23-28).


We believe the local church should be totally committed to the edifying (developing to maturity) of the believers and also should have an active outreach in evangelism

(Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 14).

We believe all who believe in Jesus must repent and be baptized. (Acts 2:38). However, we believe one is saved by the cleansing blood of Christ alone

(Colossians 2:11&12, Romans 2:28&29).

We believe the law is a schoolmaster to drive one to Christ. We are not justified by the law, but we are proven guilty and in need of the savior

(Gal. 2:16, 3:24).

We believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church through which all believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and be taken out of the world prior to the Tribulation that will then come upon the earth. We believe therefore that the Church will be spared His wrath. However, we do not believe this issue should cause division or quarrels among believers nor prevent fellowship together.

(Isaiah 26:20; Matthew 24:29-31; Luke 21:36; Romans 1:18, 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:13-16 and 5:9; 2 Peter 2:7-9; Revelation 3:10, 5:7-10 and 7:13-14).

Marriage is a union ordained by God. It was first instituted by God in the early chapters of Genesis, codified in the Levitical law, the Old Testament prophets compared it to a relationship between God and His people, examples of it are in the historical narratives, and, the wisdom literature discusses the unique unity of this relationship. Jesus explained the original intention and core elements of marriage, and several New Testament Epistles give explicit instructions on this union. Marriage is a typology of Christ and the Church. As such, the Church views marriage as a profound spiritual institution established by God. Marriage has been ordained by God. This church defines “marriage” as the exclusive covenantal union of one man and one woman in which such union is a lifetime commitment. A civil government’s sanction of a union will be recognized as a legitimate marriage by the church only to the extent that is is consistent with the definition of “marriage” found in these Articles.