Mountain Bible Fellowship Statement of Faith

We believe the Scriptures, comprised of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, are the inspired words of God and inerrant when originally written. The Scriptures contain the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of man and are the final authority for all Christian faith, life, and conduct. The words of Scripture are living, active, and shall accomplish the purposes for which they were sent (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 55:11; Mark 13:31).

We believe there is only one God. He is the creator of all things, eternal, unchanging, perfect, holy, all powerful, loving, the source of all light and truth, and concerned with the affairs of His creation, especially mankind. He co-exists in the three persons of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Genesis 21:33; Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 18:30; 1 Corinthians 8:5-6; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; 1 John 1:5; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 4:4-6; Matthew 6:26).

We believe God the Father is the author of salvation and willingly saves from sin and death all those who come to Him through Jesus. He chose to do this before the creation of the world in accordance with His own pleasure and will, so that in Christ we might live for the praise of His glory. He alone knows the day and the hour of Christ’s return, continually works to subdue all enemies of Christ, and is abounding in patience and love – desiring that none should perish. He is all loving, all knowing, all powerful, unchanging, faithful, perfect in all His ways, and full of grace and mercy. No one has ever seen the Father, but Jesus Christ has made Him known. He loves His creation, especially mankind, and desires to be both known and loved in spirit and in truth. He longs to share His glory with us in an eternal Kingdom where there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain, where He will dwell with mankind forever (Ephesians 1:4-12; Romans 16:25; John 6:44; John 12:32; Psalm 121:3-4; Exodus 34:6; John 17:3; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 4:12; Revelation 21:3).

We believe that because of His great love for us, God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to atone for the sins of the world, enabling believers to not only have their sins “taken away,” but to be “baptized through the Holy Spirit.” The gift of salvation is available to all people through faith in Jesus Christ and is the only way to restore communion with God and receive eternal life. We believe Jesus Christ is the Word of God become flesh, also known as the Son of God. He is the source of eternal life and the light of man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, willingly paid for our sin through His shed blood on the cross, was bodily resurrected, and ascended to Heaven where he received the gift of the Holy Spirit to pour out upon all who believe in Him. Jesus currently sits at the right hand of the Father until the time of His personal return in power and glory (Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 1:1-4; 14; Matthew 1:18-25; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 9:15; 27-28; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 1:9-11; Acts 2:33; John 3:16; John 1:29; Matthew 3:11; Romans 10:9-10; John 5:24; Ephesians 2:8).

We believe the Holy Spirit to be the gift given by the Father to Jesus when He was exalted to His glorified state and then poured out upon all who put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, sealing them as God’s possession. The Holy Spirit enables Christians to have their consciences cleaned, to learn from Scripture, to recognize truth, to be victorious over sin, to know the will of God, to receive gifts of service to be used in power for the fulfillment of the great commission, and to enable them to worship God in the way He seeks to be worshiped – in spirit and truth. Increasing fullness of the Spirit is experienced by Christians as they yield their lives in obedience to God. With the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit also convicts all people of guilt regarding sin, righteousness, and the coming judgment (Acts 2:33; Hebrews 9:14; John 14:15-26; John 16:7-15; John 4:23; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 1:20).

We believe that Adam and Eve were created by God in His own image; that they sinned against God and incurred physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God. Therefore, all human beings are sinners by nature and choice and are under condemnation. We believe those who repent and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, forgiven of sin, delivered from condemnation and given eternal life. Being made in the image of God, we also believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end; that we must honor the physical and spiritual needs of all people; and treat every person with love, dignity and respect – especially those in the body of Christ (Genesis. 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Genesis 3; John 3:14-16; Psalm 139:13; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 22:37-39; Romans 12:20-21; Galatians 6:10).

We believe that a spiritual realm exists along with the physical realm. As Christians, our struggle is primarily in the spiritual realm and we should approach that struggle with the full armor of God. Christians can have victory in spiritual warfare through Jesus Christ. Angels were created by God to help carry out His will and minister to believers. We recognize Satan as a fallen angel who is the author of sin and the father of lies. He was the tempter in the fall of man and continues working, along with his demons, as an adversary of both God and all those who worship God. Satan is destined for eternal punishment in the lake of fire, along with all whose names are not found in the Book of Life (Ephesians 6:11-18; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 12:3-4; Psalm 103:20; Isaiah 14:12-15; Genesis 3:1-4; Matthew 4:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; James 4:7; 1 John 4:4; John 8:44; Revelation 20:10-15).

We believe that the Church is the united body of believers with Jesus Christ as the head. It includes all those who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated and are being conformed to His likeness by the Holy Spirit. All members are heirs to the promise of salvation, whether Jew or Gentile, male or female. We believe that God does not want anyone to perish and has laid upon the local church the primary task of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world (Philippians 2:1-4; Galatians 3:26-29; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Matthew 28:18-20).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ established two ordinances to the local church, water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not, however, to be regarded as a means of salvation (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 22:19-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

God instituted marriage between one man and one woman as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman. We believe God’s design for sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the context of marriage (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9).