Section 8. Salvation

The Church believes:

a. that salvation is the gift of God brought to sinful man by grace and received solely by personal faith in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ who accomplished complete redemption by His substitutionary death and shedding of His precious blood  (Romans 4:16;  John 3:18; Galatians 2:16;  Ephesians 1:7;  2:8,  Philippians 3:4-9;  Titus 3:5;  1 Peter 1:18,).

b. that the Bible teaches two distinct lines of truth regarding the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. No one can tell where these two lines meet.  We believe that the entire Bible is an urgent call for sinful man to receive salvation.  “Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth”  (Isaiah 45:22). This is our emphasis.  Yet we also acknowledge that there is the family secret (to use the words of Harry Ironside) of: “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).  We do not believe that either Arminianism or Calvinism are in accordance with the letter and spirit of the full Word of God on this matter. We reject the idea of “limited atonement”.

c. that all the redeemed once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever, and that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which, however, clearly forbids the use of the Christian liberty, as an occasion to the flesh (John 3:16;  5:24;  6:37-40;  10:27-30;  Romans 8:1, 38-39; 13:13, 14;  1 Corinthians 1:4-8;  Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:30; Philippians 1:6;  2 Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-15;  Hebrews 7:25;  1 Peter 1:5;  1 John 5:13).

d. that to every person who truly trusts Jesus Christ for eternal salvation is given a new nature which is in constant conflict with his old sinful nature, and that provision has been made  for individual believers to be dominated by this new nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and thereby to live a holy Christian life.

We believe that any teaching of the eradication of the old sinful' nature is unscriptural  (Romans 6:13; 8:11-13;  12:1-3;  Galatians 5:16-25;  Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:10;  1 Peter 1; 4-16;  2 Peter 1:3-8; 1 John 3:5-9).