DOCTRINAL STATEMENT OF BELIEFS AT CROSSROADS COMMUNITY CHURCH
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is without error and is fully complete. The Bible is the authority for faith and all of life.
God
We believe in one God, who is the Creator of all life and exists eternally in three persons – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus
We believe Jesus Christ, born to the Virgin Mary, is fully man and fully God. He lived without sin and offered Himself to be crucified on a cross to rescue us from our sins. He rose from the grave and now lives in Heaven, one day to return to us to establish His new and perfect heaven and earth for all eternity.
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts us of our sins. He regenerates the followers of Christ. He sanctifies, guides, teaches, and comforts the believer of Christ.
The Story
We believe that man, created in the image of God has, by his own choosing, fallen into sin. This choice has broken our relationship with God and each other. Through faith in Christ, we gain forgiveness, a restored relationship with God as His children, the ability to relate in love with each other, and assurance of a future life with Him in glory.
The fallen state of man
Due to the fall, man, who was created in God’s image, plunged himself into a state of enmity with God and placed creation under the effects of sin. Mankind now exists in a state of total separation from God, hopeless and powerless and utterly unable to remedy his lost condition apart from Christ. (Gen. 3:7-24; Rom. 3:22, 23; 5:12; 8:19-23; Eph. 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received through man’s individual response to Christ’s act of substitutionary atonement on Calvary. (Eph. 1:7; 2:8, 9; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Heb. 10:2; Rom. 10:12-17; Acts 16:30, 31; Mark 16:16)
Security of the believer
All the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:38, 39; 1 Peter 1:4, 5)
The priesthood of believers
Each individual offers the prayer of personal repentance leading to salvation or restoration directly to God through Jesus Christ, not through another man, thus acting as his own priest in offering spiritual sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. We further have the privilege of directly approaching the throne of God for prayer through the person of Jesus Christ and not through the office of another man. As a priest, each believer is then called to the responsibility of that office in that he must (1) reflect the holiness of God, (2) offer spiritual sacrifices, (3) intercede for man before God, and (4) represent man before God. (John 3:16; 14:6; Heb. 4:14-16; 5:1-10; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6)
Man’s eternal state
There will be a bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life with Christ in heaven and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13; Matt. 25:46)
Prayer
God hears every prayer offered in faith by a believer and answers those prayers according to His perfect knowledge, wisdom, love, sovereignty and omnipotence. The believer’s responsibility is to pray continually, faithfully and persistently in God’s will for all needs. God’s will assures that God will give us not necessarily what we ask for, but what is best. (Matt. 6:5-13; Acts 1:14; Eph. 6:18-20; Phil. 4:6, 7; 1 Tim. 2:1-14; 1 Thess. 5:17)
Holiness
At the moment of salvation, the believer receives imputed holiness through the redemptive work of Christ, allowing him to stand cleansed and perfected before God. The believer must, however, live out practical holiness through a life of applied discipline through obedience to God’s Word. (Rom. 8:29; 12:1, 2; Eph. 2:4-6; 1 Peter 1:13-15; Phil. 2:12)
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the moment of his conversion into eternal life through Jesus Christ, not through a second blessing or separate baptism of the Spirit. The Spirit alone administers the spiritual gifts to the church not to glorify Himself or the gifts or the user of the gifts, but to glorify Christ and implement His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the faith. (John 7:37-39; 16:13, 14; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:4-16; Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:3-5, 7-12; Heb. 2:1-4)
The believer’s responsibility to evangelize and disciple
It is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Matt. 28:19, 20; 2 Cor. 5:19, 20; Heb. 3:13; 10:24; 1 Peter 4:8-11; 1 Thess. 5:11; Col. 3:16; Titus 2)
The personality of Satan
Satan is a person, the author of sin and the tempter of man in the fall. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man and he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6, 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 3:10)
Sanctity of human life
Human life is sacred from the time of conception until natural death occurs. (Gen. 1:27; 5:2; Ps. 139:13; 119:73; Isaiah 44:24)
God’s design for sexuality
God’s will is for heterosexual union in the bond of a permanent marriage for the purpose of procreation and the intimate relationship of the spouses. (Gen. 1:27, 28; 2:24, 25; Lev. 18:6-23; 20:13; Matt. 19:3-12; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10; 1 Tim. 1:10)
Ordinances
The ordinances of the New Testament church are believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s supper. Baptism is to be administered to those who have individually professed their faith in Christ and His work of redemption for them and who do so publicly at the time of their baptism. It is symbolic of death to the old self and the resurrection of the new life in Christ. The Lord’s supper is a commemoration of His dying love, and symbolizes the fact that the believer is continually fed and nourished by Christ. Its observance must be preceded by an individual acceptance of the redemptive work of Christ. (Matt. 3:6; 13:17; 26:26-30; 28:19, 20; Mark 1:5, 9-11; 14:22-25; 16:16; John 3:5, 23; 6:51-18, 62; Acts 2:41, 42; 8:36-38; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Luke 22:19, 20; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2)
The Bible
We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is without error and is fully complete. The Bible is the authority for faith and all of life.
God
We believe in one God, who is the Creator of all life and exists eternally in three persons – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus
We believe Jesus Christ, born to the Virgin Mary, is fully man and fully God. He lived without sin and offered Himself to be crucified on a cross to rescue us from our sins. He rose from the grave and now lives in Heaven, one day to return to us to establish His new and perfect heaven and earth for all eternity.
Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts us of our sins. He regenerates the followers of Christ. He sanctifies, guides, teaches, and comforts the believer of Christ.
The Story
We believe that man, created in the image of God has, by his own choosing, fallen into sin. This choice has broken our relationship with God and each other. Through faith in Christ, we gain forgiveness, a restored relationship with God as His children, the ability to relate in love with each other, and assurance of a future life with Him in glory.
The fallen state of man
Due to the fall, man, who was created in God’s image, plunged himself into a state of enmity with God and placed creation under the effects of sin. Mankind now exists in a state of total separation from God, hopeless and powerless and utterly unable to remedy his lost condition apart from Christ. (Gen. 3:7-24; Rom. 3:22, 23; 5:12; 8:19-23; Eph. 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
Salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received through man’s individual response to Christ’s act of substitutionary atonement on Calvary. (Eph. 1:7; 2:8, 9; John 1:12; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Heb. 10:2; Rom. 10:12-17; Acts 16:30, 31; Mark 16:16)
Security of the believer
All the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever. (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:38, 39; 1 Peter 1:4, 5)
The priesthood of believers
Each individual offers the prayer of personal repentance leading to salvation or restoration directly to God through Jesus Christ, not through another man, thus acting as his own priest in offering spiritual sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. We further have the privilege of directly approaching the throne of God for prayer through the person of Jesus Christ and not through the office of another man. As a priest, each believer is then called to the responsibility of that office in that he must (1) reflect the holiness of God, (2) offer spiritual sacrifices, (3) intercede for man before God, and (4) represent man before God. (John 3:16; 14:6; Heb. 4:14-16; 5:1-10; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6)
Man’s eternal state
There will be a bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life with Christ in heaven and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. (John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13; Matt. 25:46)
Prayer
God hears every prayer offered in faith by a believer and answers those prayers according to His perfect knowledge, wisdom, love, sovereignty and omnipotence. The believer’s responsibility is to pray continually, faithfully and persistently in God’s will for all needs. God’s will assures that God will give us not necessarily what we ask for, but what is best. (Matt. 6:5-13; Acts 1:14; Eph. 6:18-20; Phil. 4:6, 7; 1 Tim. 2:1-14; 1 Thess. 5:17)
Holiness
At the moment of salvation, the believer receives imputed holiness through the redemptive work of Christ, allowing him to stand cleansed and perfected before God. The believer must, however, live out practical holiness through a life of applied discipline through obedience to God’s Word. (Rom. 8:29; 12:1, 2; Eph. 2:4-6; 1 Peter 1:13-15; Phil. 2:12)
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the moment of his conversion into eternal life through Jesus Christ, not through a second blessing or separate baptism of the Spirit. The Spirit alone administers the spiritual gifts to the church not to glorify Himself or the gifts or the user of the gifts, but to glorify Christ and implement His work of redeeming the lost and building up believers in the faith. (John 7:37-39; 16:13, 14; Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:4-16; Eph. 1:13, 14; 4:3-5, 7-12; Heb. 2:1-4)
The believer’s responsibility to evangelize and disciple
It is the obligation of the saved to witness by life and by word to the truths of the Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind. (Matt. 28:19, 20; 2 Cor. 5:19, 20; Heb. 3:13; 10:24; 1 Peter 4:8-11; 1 Thess. 5:11; Col. 3:16; Titus 2)
The personality of Satan
Satan is a person, the author of sin and the tempter of man in the fall. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man and he shall be eternally punished in the lake of fire. (Job 1:6, 7; Isaiah 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 3:10)
Sanctity of human life
Human life is sacred from the time of conception until natural death occurs. (Gen. 1:27; 5:2; Ps. 139:13; 119:73; Isaiah 44:24)
God’s design for sexuality
God’s will is for heterosexual union in the bond of a permanent marriage for the purpose of procreation and the intimate relationship of the spouses. (Gen. 1:27, 28; 2:24, 25; Lev. 18:6-23; 20:13; Matt. 19:3-12; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10; 1 Tim. 1:10)
Ordinances
The ordinances of the New Testament church are believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s supper. Baptism is to be administered to those who have individually professed their faith in Christ and His work of redemption for them and who do so publicly at the time of their baptism. It is symbolic of death to the old self and the resurrection of the new life in Christ. The Lord’s supper is a commemoration of His dying love, and symbolizes the fact that the believer is continually fed and nourished by Christ. Its observance must be preceded by an individual acceptance of the redemptive work of Christ. (Matt. 3:6; 13:17; 26:26-30; 28:19, 20; Mark 1:5, 9-11; 14:22-25; 16:16; John 3:5, 23; 6:51-18, 62; Acts 2:41, 42; 8:36-38; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Luke 22:19, 20; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2)
