In order to identify this Church as conservative in theology, we set forth this statement of beliefs:
Section l. Articles of Biblical Faith
(1) The Holy Scriptures
a. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13).
b. We believe that the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We reject all worldly counterfeit systems of counsel and instruction for dealing with matters of faith and matters that pertain to our walk with Christ (Matthew 5:18; 24:35; John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12).
c. We believe that, even though there may be several applications of any passage of Scripture, there is only one true interpretation. The correct meaning and interpretation of Scripture is found by applying the literal historical-grammatical method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20).
(2) The Godhead
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 (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
(3) The Person and Work of Christ
a. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men (John 1:1-2,14; Luke 1:35).
b. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that the sufficiency of this atoning sacrifice to accomplish the redemption and justification of all who trust in Him is assured by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24-25; Romans 4:25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 Peter 2:24 and 2 Peter 2:1).
c. 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; Hebrews 9:24; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2).
(4) The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
a. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 1:13-14).
b. We believe that He is the divine teacher who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege of all the redeemed to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Ephesians 5:18).
(5) Creation
We believe the Biblical account of the creation of the physical universe, angels and man; that this account is neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct, immediate creative acts of God without any evolutionary process; that man was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; and that all men are descended from the historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race (Genesis 1:2; Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3).
(6) The Total Depravity of Man
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; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3,12).
(7) Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
(8) The Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
a. We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God's power and are thus secure in Christ forever. As a guarantee of this eternal life, believers are given the Holy Spirit to indwell them permanently from the point of justification (John 6:37-40; John 10:27-30; Romans 8:1,38-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5; Ephesians 1:13-14).
b. We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God's Word; which, however, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15).
(9) The New Nature of the Believer
We believe that every unredeemed person is completely controlled and dominated by indwelling sin, and has no provision for victory over sin or ability to meet the righteous standard of God, and thus will experience perpetual defeat in an effort to justify himself (Romans 3:10-12; Psalm 14:1, 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 7:14-25). On the contrary, we believe that every redeemed person has died to and been freed from the controlling and dominating power of sin (Romans 6:1-11). Furthermore, we believe that every redeemed person is a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the old man has been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10). Therefore, the believer is obligated to the Spirit not the flesh (Romans 8:12-13), and it is the believer's reasonable service to present his body as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1, 6:12-13). Nevertheless, we believe that every redeemed person continues to be limited by the flesh, and hence continues to struggle with sin (Galatians 5:13-25; 1 John 1:8-10). Yet, we believe that it is the distinct privilege of every redeemed person to be indwelt by the Spirit of God, and to enjoy the victory which God's Spirit provides over the flesh and its sinful disposition, but that such victory is experienced only to the extent that each believer walks in accord with God's Spirit and regularly lays aside the vices of the old life and puts on the virtues of the new life (Romans 7:4-6; 8:1-13; Galatians 5:13-25; Ephesians 4:17-5:4; 5:18; Colossians 3:5-17).
(10) Separation
We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Romans 12:1-2; Romans 14:13; John 2:15-17; 2 John 1:9-11; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).
(11) Missions
We believe that it is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of Holy Scripture and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
(12) The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
a. Northwoods Bible Church does not endorse the modern tongues-speaking movement for the following reasons:
1. It usually gives an undue prominence to a gift that had only limited value even in New Testament times (1 Corinthians 12-14).
2. It often suggests that tongues-speaking is the necessary evidence of the special work of the Spirit when in fact the New Testament does not say this.
3. It tends to place more emphasis on tongues-speaking as an external manifestation of the Spirit than on the work of the Spirit within to produce character and behavior.
4. It claims that “ecstatic utterance” is also tongues-speaking when there seems to be good reason for believing that the gift in New Testament times was that of speaking in previously unlearned foreign languages.
5. It often fails to see that God sovereignly gives His gifts, not on demand, and that no one gift is for everyone.
b. We do not deny that God sovereignly gives His gifts, including tongues; we do, however, doubt that most of the emphasis of the modern tongues-speaking movement is Biblically sound. In stating our position on the modern tongues-speaking movement, we do not mean to detract from the sincerity or Christian character of many within the movement.
c. In accordance with our policy against propagating within our fellowship any doctrines not in agreement with our position, we must ask that no one propagate the teaching and emphasis of the modern tongues-speaking movement within our fellowship. We should rather seek the more excellent way of love and be zealous about the more useful and edifying gifts (1 Corinthians 12:13-14:1).
d. We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with his own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15).
(13) The Church
a. 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 (Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:2).
b. We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17, 28-32; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).
c. We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; Acts 15:19-31; Acts 20:28; Romans 16:1,4; 1 Corinthians 3:9,16; 1 Corinthians 5:4-7,13; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
d. We believe in the ordinances of believers' water baptism and the Lord's Supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church age (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
(14) The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church; baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by Christ for the commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 4:1, 2; Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 8:36-39; Luke 22:15-20; Matthew 26:26-29; John 3:23; 1 Corinthians 11:23-33).
(15) Dispensationalism
We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man's responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation, but rather divinely ordered stewardships by which God directs man according to his purpose. Three of these - the age of law, the age of the Church, and the age of the millennial kingdom are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture (John 1:17; 1 Corinthians 9:17; 2 Corinthians 3:9-18; Galatians 3:13-25; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:2-10; Colossians 1:24-25; Hebrews 7:19; Revelation 20:2-6).
(16) The Personality of Satan
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; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matthew 4:2-11; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).
(17) The Second Advent of Christ
We believe in that "Blessed Hope," the personal, imminent, pretribulation and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for his redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His millennial kingdom (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Zechariah 14:4-11; Revelation 19:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).
(18) The Eternal State
a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; John 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).
b. 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 spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Revelation 20:4-6; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
c. We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matthew 25:41-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 1:6-7; Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).
(19) The Family
We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in a covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide, for the man and the woman, the framework for intimate companionship, the channel for sexual expression according to Biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on Biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1: 26-28; Psalm 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6; 15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15; 17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5;19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8, 14;
2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7).
Section 2. Movements Contrary to the Faith
1. Ecumenism
Ecumenism is that movement which seeks the organizational unity of all Christianity and ultimately of all religions. Its principal advocates are the World Council of Churches and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
2. Ecumenical Evangelism
Ecumenical Evangelism is that effort to promote the gospel by bringing fundamentalists into an unequal yoke with theological liberals and/or Roman Catholics and other divergent groups.
3. NeoOrthodoxy
NeoOrthodoxy is that theological movement which affirms: the transcendence of God, the finiteness and sinfulness of man, and the necessity of supernatural divine revelation of truth; but, while using evangelical terminology, seriously departs from orthodoxy: in accepting the views of destructive higher criticism, in denying the inerrancy of the Bible as historic revelation, in accepting religious experience as the criterion of truth, and in abandoning important fundamentals of the Christian faith.
4. New Evangelicalism
(NeoEvangelicalism, New Conservatism)
These terms refer to that movement within evangelicalism characterized by a toleration of and a dialogue with theological liberalism. Its essence is seen in an emphasis upon the social application of the gospel and weak or unclear doctrines of: the inspiration of Scripture, biblical creationism, eschatology, dispensationalism, and separation. It is further characterized by an attempt to accommodate biblical Christianity and make it acceptable to the modern mind. We believe that these movements are out of harmony with the Word of God and are inimical to the work of God.
Section 3. Covenant of Faith
In subscribing to these articles of faith, we by no means set aside, or undervalue, any of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; but we deem the knowledge, belief and acceptance of the truth as set forth in our doctrinal statement, to be essential to sound faith and fruitful practice.
