We at Lifessong Christian Church are guided by the word of God, and the word of God alone determines what we believe. And we, as a church, stand united, firmly grounded, and in complete agreement with the teachings listed below.
God (The Father)
We believe God the Father has always and will always maintain the first-person role of the Trinity. We can see His Fathership status being displayed within the Trinity itself, as the Father of Jesus Christ, who was born of His seed through the Virgin Mary, by the work of the Holy Spirit. We can also see this demonstrated through His relationship with mankind. For as Creator, He is Father to all mankind. But with that, it is important to remember that He is the spiritual Father ONLY to believers, adopting them into His family. The Father initiates this relationship with us through Jesus Christ.
God (The Son)
We believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. Meaning born from the actual seed of God, and was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin, Mary. We believe that He is fully human and fully God. That He exists eternally with no beginning and no end. That He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by suffering and dying on the cross. We believe that He is the only Savior and Mediator between God and man. And that He has been proven to be the Son of Father God by His deeds, fulfillment of the law and prophecy, crucifixion, bodily resurrection, and ascension. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding and advocating for His people. And will return to the earth on a day and time known only to the Father to bring about the completion of His kingdom. Even though God, Jesus maintains obedience to God the Father as a good and perfect Son.
God (The Holy Spirit)
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and truly divine in all His attributes. He was and is active and working, bringing into being God’s will. He was sent into the world by the Father and the Son to apply to mankind the saving work of Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the work of regeneration and sanctification in the believer. At the point of salvation, He permanently indwells every believer and is their source of assurance, strength, and wisdom, guiding and empowering them for Christ-like living. He uniquely endows each believer with gifts for the building up of the church body. The Holy Spirit guides believers in understanding and applying the Scripture, which He inspired. We are called to walk in the Spirit to bring about the obedience of faith, bearing fruit to the glory of the Father.
The Trinity (The Godhead)
Upon the testimony of both the Old and New Testaments and the Christian Church at large, we believe that the three members of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit make up one God even though they are three separate and distinct individuals.
Mankind
We believe God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. God created mankind in His image and likeness, male and female, to walk in relationship with Him and to glorify, love, worship, and obey Him. God declared that all of His creation was very good in its original form before the fall of mankind due to sin. God ordained mankind with the responsibility and accountability of exercising dominion over creation by taking care of this temporary home. We are also to bring order to the earth through the development and maintenance of family, work, government, and culture. We are to do all this based on the model the Father left us with found within the pages of the Bible. Additionally, we are to live our lives in a way that reflects His character, nature, and love for others and the rest of creation to please Him, the very one who gave us life, by being obedient to Him, and good stewards of what He has given us.
The Fall (Sin)
We believe that Adam and Eve, due to Satan’s deception, freely chose to disobey God by eating from the fruit of the tree of, “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”. By doing this, they broke relationship with God. This brought physical and spiritual death and decay into all God’s perfect creation. Causing all of creation to suffer the consequences of their disobedience. As a result, mankind is corrupt by nature. Just as sin was a choice back in the days of Adam and Eve. And just as it was then; we still suffer the consequences of sin today (both theirs through the curse and ours because of our choices. – You see just as it was then and still is today. Sin never affects just one person, but many, no matter how private or innocent we “think” it is. We still sin today, both because of our choice and because we carry the nature of sin within us as the offspring of Adam and Eve. Because each of us are sinners, we are condemned to die in our sin, sealing our eternal destiny. But Jesus, died in our place to take away that judgment to give us eternal life instead of damnation. Of course, we have to consciously make that decision and turn away from sin to receive this gift. However, we, ourselves, can NEVER be good enough on our own to achieve this. ONLY through Jesus Christ can this be accomplished and is the very reason He died in our place. For without Him, we would all stand condemned, but through Him, we receive pardon.
The Bible
We believe Scripture, composed of the 66 books of the New and Old Testaments of the Holy Bible, is God-breathed. He has accurately preserved His word from the original manuscripts. The Bible is God’s inerrant, infallible, authoritative, and final word of truth, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Scripture contains the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of mankind.
Redemption (The Cross)
We believe the central purpose of God’s revelation is to call all people into fellowship with Him through repentance of sin. Despite mankind’s sinful nature, God continued to love them and desired to restore the relationship which they forfeited with Him by their sin. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to be the atoning sacrifice on the cross, by shedding His blood for the forgiveness of our sins and being resurrected for our redemption to be Lord and Savior for all who believe in and receive Him. Therefore, those who receive Christ, are in Christ, and Christ in them, and are no longer under the condemnation they deserve. When we accept and choose to follow Jesus we are set apart to walk in the newness of life as adopted children of God being given the righteousness of Christ and the promised Holy Spirit, with the hope of eternity with Him. This salvation is entirely a work of God’s free grace, not the result, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness, but received by faith alone, which itself is a gift from God.
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We believe that baptism is to be performed through complete immersion in water. We believe that baptism is an ordinance that all believers should undertake to be obedient to Christ and to follow His example. We believe baptism into Christ is “symbolic” of our union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. We believe baptism is “symbolic” of the washing away of sins as well. We DO NOT believe that baptism leads to salvation. But rather a profession of faith to the Lord and to other believers.
Sanctification
We believe God calls us to be holy because He is holy. The process of becoming holy, known as sanctification, is God’s will for every believer. This is a work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit and Scripture, rooted in a relationship with the local church body, making the believer more and more Christ-like. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the moment of their conversion and regeneration. He then begins the progressive work of bringing the believer to total commitment and dedication to holiness and Christ-like character and living, a process that is completed upon our glorification. Isaiah 64:8 gives us a beautiful example of how we should view God molding us and making us into vessels worthy of Him. It reads: "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."
The Lords Supper
We believe the Lord’s Supper is the remembrance that Christ’s body was sacrificed and His blood of the new covenant was shed for the remission of our sins, and it proclaims the Lord’s death until He returns. This remembrance can only be partaken of by believers of the faith. It is equally important the elements be taken in a worthy and reverent manner. During this sober time, it is also required that believers examine and judge themselves soberly as stated in scripture. Recognizing the sacrifice that Christ made for us and not walking in hypocrisy.
The Church
We believe the church is the bride of Christ. Jesus has ordained His church as the representative of His kingdom here on earth. We, as the people of His church, are of course in the world but we are called not to be of the world. As His church, we are called to gather together regularly for the purpose of building up and preserving each other as a body of believers. We are also called to carry out God’s plan of redemption. For example, as believers, we are called to make disciples, to love one another, to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, and to teach and admonish one another with the wisdom that comes from the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly. The church is both the family of God, with members being adopted as children by the Father and living as brothers and sisters of Christ, and also the body of Christ. This means Christ is the head and each member makes up a part of His body; fulfilling their individual function. Just as the physical body has many parts all having a special function. So it is with the body of Christ, in this case, the church. Additionally, the local body is to be shepherded through the Holy Spirit by the elders collectively. This, when done according to the Biblical model is all done under the authority and accountability of Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. Elders are to exercise judgment, in love and not pride, concerning matters of doctrine, faith, practice, and yes, even the discipline of believers.
End Times
We believe that at a time known only to the Father, Jesus Christ will return to the earth in His glorified body, an event for which we are called to be continually ready. He will return in fulfillment of prophecy to judge all people of all time, and to reign over all creation as King of kings and Lord of lords. Until that time, death seals the eternal destiny of each person, with believers immediately entering into the presence of God. For all mankind, there will be a physical resurrection and a judgment that will determine the eternal fate of each individual. For all believers, there will be a complete redemption of the body for the new heavens and the new earth. Satan, sin, and death will suffer their ultimate defeat. Believers will be with God in the fullness of peace and joy as God intended in the Garden of Eden, no longer hindered in our worship by the limitations of our present situation, and will be rewarded for works done in this life. Unbelievers will be separated from God into the eternal condemnation of hell. The new heavens, and earth, and hell, are real places of eternal existence.