Our Statement of Faith
The congregation of the Grace Brethren Church of Norwalk accepts the following statement of faith as an expression of a never-ending effort to clarify our understanding of the Word of God:
1. THE BIBLE. The Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore without error as originally given of God (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21).
2. THE ONE TRUE GOD. Existing eternally as three persons–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22; Matthew 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14).
3. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. His pre-existence and deity (John 1:1-3), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14; Matthew 1:18-23), sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), substitutionary death (II Corinthians 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), ascension into heaven and present ministry (Hebrews 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11).
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT. His personality (John 16:7-15) and deity (Acts 5:3-4), and His work in each believer; baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (I Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:9), and filling (Ephesians 5:18) to empower the Christian for life and service (Ephesians 3:16; Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:22-23).
5. MAN. His direct creation in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 5:12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3:3-5).
6. SALVATION. A complete and eternal salvation by God’s grace alone received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 1:18-19).
7. THE CHURCH. One true church, the body and the bride of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Corinthians 12:12-13), and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, and for worldwide gospel witness, each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Ephesians 4:11-16).
8. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. A life of righteousness, good works, and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Romans 12:1-2), manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Ephesians 5:22-6:4), settling differences between Christians in accordance with the Word of God (I Corinthians 6:1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward all men (Romans 12:17-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and maintaining a life of prayer (Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4-6), including the privilege, when sick, to call for the elders of the church, to pray and anoint with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14).
9. ORDINANCES. The Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are (1) baptism of believers by triune immersion (Matthew 28:19) and (2) the threefold communion service, consisting of the washing of the saints’ feet (John 13:1-17), the love feast (I Corinthians 11:20-22,33-34; Jude 12), and the communion of the bread and the cup (I Corinthians 11:23-26).
10. SATAN. His existence and personality as the great adversary of God and His people (Revelation 12:1-10), his judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Revelation 20:10).
11. SECOND COMING. The personal, visible, and imminent return of Christ to remove His church from the earth (I Thessalonians 4:16-17) before the tribulation (I Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 3:10), and afterward to descend with the church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Revelation 19:11; 20:6).
12. FUTURE LIFE. The conscious existence of the dead (Philippians 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Romans 14:10-12; II Corinthians 5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Revelation 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:15).
