Maryville Church of Christ

"WHAT DOES YOUR CHURCH BELIEVE?"

By Dan Chambers, Preaching Minister (Maryville church of Christ)

From time to time people ask me, "What does your church believe?"  Here is a brief summary of a few of our basic convictions.

1.   God.  There is only one living and true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:28-29) who exists as three distinct persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).  In six days God created all things out of nothing and rules the universe (Genesis 1:1-31; Exodus 20:11; Colossians 1:16-17).  He created mankind in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), loves all mankind (John 3:16), and wants all mankind to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).  To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience (Luke 10:27; 1 John 5:2-3).

2.   Jesus.  Jesus was miraculously conceived and born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25).  He is fully God and fully man (John 1:1,14; 1 Timothy 2:5-6).  He lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) and performed many miracles which confirmed His identity as the Son of God (John 20:30-31).  He was put to death on a cross to pay the debt for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24).  He was then buried in a tomb (Matthew 27:57-66), and on the first day of the week after His crucifixion God raised Him from the dead (Matthew 28:1-7; Acts 2:32).  He is now at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33) serving as our mediator, or go-between (1 Timothy 2:5-6).  Jesus is not a way to be saved, but rather He is the only way to be saved (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

3.   The Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is given to every person when he or she is baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; Acts 19:1-6).  His presence in us serves as a "down payment" which guarantees that God has a glorious future in store for us (Ephesians 1:13-14).  The Spirit, in some way, also helps empower us in our struggle against temptation and in our quest to live holy lives (Romans 8:13).  The Holy Spirit also miraculously supervised the writing of the Scriptures to ensure that the Bible writers wrote what God wanted written (2 Peter 1:20-21; John 14:26; John 16:12-15), and it is only through the Bible that the Spirit does His work of instructing us in divine truth and correcting us when we stray from that truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  That is why the Bible is called "the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) -- because it is a product of the Holy Spirit's supernatural work, and it is through the Bible that He does His work.

4.   The Bible.  God supernaturally supervised the writing of the Scriptures, and He intends for it to be our final authority in life and doctrine (2 Timothy 3:15-16).  In other words, the Bible is God's book (1 Thessalonians 2:13), and in it He tells us how to live and please Him in all things (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2).  Since God is the ultimate author of the Bible, every word of it is true (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15; Titus 1:2).  In other words, the original documents of the Bible were without error, mistake, or contradiction.

5.   The Church.  The church is made up of everyone whom God has saved (Acts 2:47).  This group of saved people belongs to Jesus (Matthew 16:18); He is their head (Colossians 1:18)  It is God's family (Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 2:15).  The New Testament contains a general pattern for how the God’s saved people should live, work, worship, and be organized (e.g., Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; 1 Corinthians 14:26-38; 1 Timothy 3:1-13).  Guided by the Bible, we regularly gather in Jesus' name (Hebrews 10:25) to worship God, be instructed in His Word, and fellowship with one another (Acts 2:42).  Our work and mission is to preach the good news of salvation through Christ to the lost (Mark 16:15-16), and to help one another grow in our knowledge of and devotion to God, and in our service toward one another and all mankind in love (Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:1-16).

6.   Salvation. Salvation is by God's grace.  We do not deserve salvation, nor can we earn it.  It is a free gift (Romans 6:23) which can only be received by faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1-2).  We show our faith in Christ by obeying everything that God tells us to do in order to have our sins forgiven.  First, He tells us that we must believe that Jesus is the crucified, risen Lord (John 8:24; Mark 16:15-16).  He also tells us that we must confess, or verbally acknowledge, this conviction (Romans 10:9-10).  A third thing He tells us to do is repent, or turn away from our sins and start following His will (Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19).  Finally, He tells us to be baptized (immersed) in the name of Jesus in order to have our sins forgiven (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16).

7.   Worship.  Worship is something we "do," not just something we "watch."   It is an occasion to offer praise and thanks to God, not an occasion for us to be entertained.  In other words, worship is about God, not about us.  The goal of worship, then,  is to please God, not ourselves (Hebrews 13:15-16).  Our worship must be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).  To ensure that God is pleased with our worship and accepts it we must (1) come before Him with humble, penitent hearts (Psalm 51:16-17; Luke 18:9-14); (2) believe that He is the only true God and the only one worthy of worship (Exodus 20:3-5; Matthew 4:8-10); (3) be trying to reflect His character in our behavior (Isaiah 1:11-17; 1 Peter 3:7); (4) be genuinely committed to doing His will (Proverbs 28:9; Matthew 15:1-9); and (5) offer Him only those expressions/acts of worship which He has commanded (Leviticus 10:1-2).

8.   Holy Living.  When a person becomes a disciple of Christ his or her life must change.  Changing how we live is an obligation, not an option.  The Bible says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Peter 1:13).  Being "holy . . . in your behavior" simply means that we must strive to conform our behavior to God's character.  See also Romans 6:12-14; Romans 8:12-14; Galatians 5:16-26; Colossians 3:5-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; and 2 Peter 3:1-13.

9.   The Second Coming.  Jesus will return some day (Acts 1:9-11), and since no one knows when that will happen, it could happen at any moment (Matthew 24:36-42).  When He comes there will be a resurrection of the dead.  The dead will rise first and then those who are alive will rise to meet them and Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 13-18).  Following this resurrection of the dead, there will be a final judgment of all people (Matthew 25:31-33).  Those who have not obeyed the gospel of Jesus will face eternal punishment in hell (2 Thessalonians 3:10; Matthew 25:41-46) while those who have obeyed the gospel and faithfully served Christ will spend eternity in heaven (Matthew 25:34-40).