Pathway Community Church

Statement of Faith

Scripture: We believe God authored the Bible in complete union with human writers, so that using their own personalities and styles God enabled them to record exactly what He wanted written in the sixty-six books of the Bible (John 14:46; 16:12-13; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Timothy 3:16-17).  We believe the Bible is utterly authoritative in all it says and affirms, so that to obey or disobey the Bible is to obey or disobey God (Matthew 5:17-19; 1 Corinthians 14:37-38; Jeremiah 36:28-31; 2 Peter 3:1-2).  We believe the Bible sufficiently contains all the words necessary for salvation and perfect obedience to God, and that it is timelessly relevant to mankind (Matthew 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 17:17; Psalm 1; Romans 15:4). 

 God: We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:29; John 1:1-4; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 4:3-4).

Jesus: We believe in the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ; that He became man without ceasing to be God (John 1:1, 1:14, 1:18).  We believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order to reveal God and save sinful people through His death on the cross (Matthew 1:18-25).  We believe Jesus physically rose from the dead (John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) and ascended into heaven, where He is now our High Priest and Advocate at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:33-34; Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:1-2). We believe Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead (2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1).

 The Holy Spirit: We Believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ (John 16:14).  The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of God's righteousness and of coming judgment (John 16:8-11).  The Holy Spirit makes believing sinner spiritually alive in Jesus (Titus 3:5-6).  He baptizes them into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).  He indwells, guides, and empowers believers for living and serving God (Romans 8:9; John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11).  We believe all Christians have the Holy Spirit within them (Romans 8:9-11).   

Mankind: We believe mankind was created in the image of God and lived in an initial state of innocence (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2).  But through the voluntary sin of our first ancestor, Adam, the human race fell from its happy state (Genesis 3).  Consequently, all mankind is sinful—not only by inheritance from Adam, but also by our own choice (Romans 5:12).  The result of sin is that all people are alienated from God and are under His just condemnation.  We believe that every person shares this bleak state and therefore needs a Savior (Romans 1:28-32; 3:9-19; 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3).

Salvation: We believe Jesus died on a cross as the sacrifice for sinners, and that the shed blood of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead are the only grounds for making people right with God (Romans 4:25; 5:8; 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).  We believe every person who by faith receives Jesus as their Savior is forgiven of their sins and made right with God (John 3:16-18; Romans 4:5; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9).  All who receive Jesus by faith, are born of the Holy Spirit and become God’s children (John 1:10-13; 3:3-6).   

 Church: We believe upon receiving Jesus as Savior, an individual becomes part of the body of Christ, called the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).  The local church is God’s people organized ­under the oversight of elders and other supportive leadership (1 Peter 5:1-2; Acts 20:28; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; Hebrews 13:17).  It is God’s people banded together, in light of God’s commands for Christians to regularly meet for corporate worship, prayer, Bible teaching, ordinances (baptism and communion), community, accountability and service to one another (Acts 2:41-42; Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:23-25; Galatians 6:1-2; 5:13-14).  The church is to work together in love and unity, intent on the mission of making disciples for Jesus in the world, and absorbed in the ultimate goal of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 4:1-3; 4:15-16; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

 Resurrection: We believe in the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ and that this hope has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of believers (Matthew 24:44; Acts 1:11; Hebrew 9:28; Revelation 1:7).  We believe God will ultimately raise both believers and unbelievers from the dead.  Believers will be raised to eternal bliss with the Lord (John 14:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:1-3; Revelation 2:7) and unbelievers to judgment and separation from God (Matthew 13:49-50; John 3:16-18; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).

  In essentials unity.  In nonessential charity. 

In all things Jesus Christ.

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