Coatesville Bible Fellowship Beliefs

A: Holy Scriptures:

1. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed, the final authority for faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12-13).

 
B:  The Godhead:

1. We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections. (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

 
C:  The Person and Work of Jesus Christ:

1. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceive by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God, and redeem sinful men, forever continues true God and true man. (John 1:1, 2, 14; Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:35).
2. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, substitutionary sacrifice; and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (Rom. 3:24, 25; 4:24, 25; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 15:3-4).
3. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God; where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate. (Acts 1:9,10; Heb.1:3, 9:24, 7:25, Rom.8:34, I John 1-2).

 
D: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit:

1. We believe the Holy Spirit is that Person of the Godhead who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the supernatural agent of regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption. (John 16:8-11; 3:6-8; 2 Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14; 1 Cor. 6:19).
2. We believe He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth; and that it is the privilege and duty of all the saved to be filled with the Spirit. (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20-27; Eph. 5:18).
3. We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts, for the edification of the Body of Christ.  The gift of evangelism, pastors, teachers, are given for the perfecting of the saints today.  Gifts, such as faith, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, and mercy are also functional in the Church.  Each individual believer should look to the Lord to bestow and develop his gifts.  As the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their final authority became established, sign miracles gradually ceased. (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; 27-31; 1 Cor. 13:8-10; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph.4:7-12; Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:3-4).
4. Concerning the sick and afflicted, we believe that God does hear and answer prayer of faith in accord with His own will.  (James 5:14,15; John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15).

 
E: Man:

1. We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and that man is totally depraved and, of himself, utterly unable to remedy his lost condition. (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Eph. 2:1-3, 12).

 
F: Salvation:

1. We believe that salvation is the work and gift of God, brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His precious blood on Calvary and rose again bodily that our sins might be forgiven, and that we might have eternal life. (Eph. 1:7; 2:1-10; 2 Tim. 2:8; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; John 3:16).
2. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-47; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:12).

 
G: The Church:

1. We believe that the church, which is the body and the espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born again persons of this present age. (Eph. 1:19-23; 5:25-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; 2 Cor. 11:2).
2. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free from any ecclesiastical authority or control.  (Acts. 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Romans 16:1, 4; 1 Cor. 3:9, 16; 5:4-7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
3. We recognize the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age. (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
4. The mission of the universal Church is manifold, including the following: 
   1. To glorify God (Romans 15:6, 9; Eph. 1:5, 6, 12, 14, 18; 3:31; 2 Thess. 1:12).
   2. To edify itself (Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 2:7; 1Cor. 14:26).
   3. To purify itself (Eph. 5:26, 27; 1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Cor. 7:1; 1 John 3:2).
   4. To educate its members and friends (Eph. 4:11, 12; Matt. 28:19).
   5. To evangelize the world (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).

 
H:  The Personality of Satan and Demons:

1. We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire. (Job 1:6, 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10; Ezekiel 28:12-19).
2. We recognize the reality and personality of demons.  They are spirits, emissaries of Satan, who may obsess and possess both men and beasts.  (Matt. 7:22; 12:43, 45; Mark 5:2-5, 11-13; 5:15-16, 18; Acts 8:7; 16:16).

 
I:  The End Times:

1. We believe in the imminent, personal return of Jesus Christ (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).

 
J:  The Eternal State:

1. We believe in the bodily resurrections of all men, the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29; 11:25, 26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13).
2. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss, they await the first resurrection, when the spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; 2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:20, 21; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17).
3. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the resurrection, when with soul and body reunited, they shall appear at the Great White Throne of Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Luke 16:19-16; Matt. 25:41-46; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 6:7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).