WHAT WE BELIEVE
IN THE CHURCH OF GOD

1. We believe the Bible to be the Holy, inspired, and infallible Word of God.

2. We believe that while mankind was created in the image of God, he now stands in a fallen condition and is in need of redemption and restoration.

3. We believe that God loved mankind with such devotion and determination that He sent none other than Himself to redeem us. And so it was that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." They called His name Jesus, born of a virgin and the very image of the Father. "In Him was the life and the life was the light of all men." This Jesus suffered and died on the cross and on the third day rose again, conquering death for all mankind that through Him all might come to eternal life.

4. We believe through Christ has come the Holy Spirit to bring the very presence of Jesus to each heart. It is through the Spirit of Jesus that hearts are touched, convicted, mended and redeemed. This salvation involves the confession of our sin and Christ's forgiveness and cleansing of our lives.

5. We believe that the Spirit of God continues its work in our lives that we may come to the experience of "perfect love" or sanctification as it is commonly termed. This work is the sealing of our love for Christ through the surrender of our wills, in dying to selfishness and living a life of devotion unto our Lord.

6. We believe that the Church is a part of God's ordained plan of redemption for the world. We believe that its structure is ordered in heaven and that Christ builds HIS church in a way that pleases Him (Matthew 16). This church is a spiritual organism that reveals itself physically in the world through the lives of men and women that respond to the call of the Spirit and are saved. We also believe that there is only one church and that all believers regardless of their denominational affiliation are a part of the universal church of God. As a result of this conviction, we further believe that membership in the church is not through congregational voting or receiving of members, but through the Lord adding daily to the church (or number), those who are saved. Jesus builds His church through the confession of Him as Christ and through our receiving Him into our hearts. The church then is a body of believers over which Christ in the Head.

7. We believe that Jesus will return one day to take us to a place that is being prepared by Him. And when He returns as a thief in the night, the elements will be dissolved and the earth will pass away with a great noise (II Peter 3:10). We believe that the kingdom of Christ was established through the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:29-33), that Christ now reigns in the hearts of His believers, and that when He returns, He shall deliver up the kingdom to His Father.

8. We believe in, and practice, the ordinances of Baptism (through immersion after salvation), Communion (which represents Christ's body and blood), and Servanthood through Footwashing (which follows the example Christ set for us in John 13).