WHAT WE BELIEVE
Scripture
We affirm our confidence in God’s inerrant Word. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and written by chosen men of God. The Bible is without error in its original manuscripts, is completely reliable as the final authority in all matters of doctrine and practice, and is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is fully true in all that it teaches and affirms (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; and 2 Peter 1:20-21).
The Trinity
We believe that there is one living God, and that He has revealed Himself in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God’s being is perfectly unified and of one essence. The three Persons are co-substantial, co-inherent, co-equal and co-eternal in the Godhead (Titus 3:4-6; Deuteronomy 6:4, 20:2-3; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 6:1-3, 9:6; Hebrews 1:1-13; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; John 1:18; Philippians 2:11; Matthew 3:16-17; Acts 5:3-4; Revelation 1:8, 4:8).
The Father
We acknowledge the Creator-God as our heavenly Father, infinitely perfect and intimately acquainted with all our ways. As the first person of the Trinity, the Father is the source and ruler of all things and is fatherly in His relationship with creation in general and believers in particular. He is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, just, loving, long suffering, true, and unchangeable. He is also merciful and saves all from sin and death that come to Him through Jesus Christ (Psalm 103:19; Matthew 28:19; and 1 Peter 1:2).
Jesus Christ
According to the Father’s plan, the eternal Son humbled Himself and became incarnate, inseparably uniting undiminished deity with true humanity, and fully revealing the Father to the world. As fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit to be born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross to pay, in full, the penalty for our sin, rose bodily and miraculously from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come again to earth in His glory. We rejoice in Him as our Lord and King. We believe in His miracles and teachings; His perpetual intercession for His people; that He is the propitiation for our sins; and that His shed blood is fully atoning (John 1:1-3, 14; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 1:1-3; 1 John 2:2, 5:11-12).
Holy Spirit
We recognize the Holy Spirit as the presence of God who is Himself co-equal with God and unique in his function. He is incessantly at work convicting, convincing, and comforting. We affirm that He came forth from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment and to regenerate, seal, sanctify, and empower believers for ministry. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ and that He is an abiding Helper, Teacher, and Guide. We believe in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all biblical gifts of the Spirit as reflected through the fruit of that same Spirit (John 14:26; Acts 1:5, 8; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5-6; Galatians 5:22-23).
The Depravity of Humanity
We confess that Adam’s fall into sin left humanity separated from God and dead in their trespasses. As a result of Adam’s rebellion, all people have fallen under the curse of death. They are unable to please God, and are undeserving of His blessings, blinded to His truth, and dead in their sins - spiritually and, ultimately, physically. This state of judgment before the just and holy God is a condition that permeates every facet of human life and cannot be cured apart from the grace of God through Jesus Christ. (Genesis 3; and Romans 3:10-18, 23, 5:12)
Salvation
Humans are unable to save themselves through any meritorious work. Due to the fall of Adam and Eve, all humans are born spiritually dead and in need of salvation. This salvation only occurs through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. God mercifully acts to draw people to His Son and to save those who come to Jesus by faith. Through repenting and believing the gospel that Jesus Christ died for his or her sins and then rose from the dead, a person will be forgiven of all sin, declared righteous by God, reborn into new life, and guaranteed eternal life with God (John 1:12, 3:16; Romans 5:6-8, 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5; and Ephesians 1:4-12, 2:8-9).
The Return of Jesus Christ
We anticipate our Lord’s promised, imminent return. According to the Father’s plan, Jesus Christ will one day return in power to bring the completion of salvation, and rewards to believers and judgment and wrath to unbelievers. The Bible teaches that the actual time of the Christ’s return is unknown, but the reality of His return is certain, and all believers are called to live faithfully in anticipation of His coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Hebrews 9:28; and Revelation 19:11-16).
Resurrection of Humanity
We are convinced that all who have died will be brought back from beyond; believers to everlasting communion with God and unbelievers to everlasting separation from God. Though a believer’s spirit is ushered into the Lord’s presence immediately upon physical death, the fullness of salvation awaits Christ’s return, when He will resurrect believers in glorified bodies like His own immortal body that can never die. While all believers throughout history will enjoy eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth, unbelievers will be resurrected to suffer eternal conscious punishment for their sins (John 11:23-27; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; and Revelation 20:4-21:5).
The Church
The church exists to live and proclaim God’s truth, to stimulate growth toward maturity, and to bring glory to God. Believers are called to faithful fellowship and community in a visible, local congregation for the purpose of mutual encouragement, edification and spiritual growth. As the family of God, a healthy local church is marked by God-glorifying worship, Scripture-centered teaching, intimate fellowship, and vivid expressions of the Church’s faith, hope, and love through evangelism, disciple-making, financial support, and service (Acts 2:41-47; Philippians 2:1-4; and Hebrews 10:24-25).
Christian Ordinances
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that baptism is an expression of faith in Jesus and a testimony of being buried with Him in death and being raised with Him to new life. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ’s death. The bread and the cup is a partaking symbolically of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The supper is also a symbol of the love and unity that Christians have among one another (Mark 14:22-24; John 6:53-58; I Corinthians 5:7- 8, 10:16, 11:20, 23-29; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:41; Romans 6:1-4; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
Human Dignity
We believe that every person is created in the image of God and therefore must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity as affirmed in the Scriptures (Gen. 1:27; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual in or outside of the church are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Scriptures.
Stance on Gender
We believe that God creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Based on our biblical convictions, we will recognize men and women based on their biological form at birth, whether male or female.
Stance on Marriage
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning; the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25; Malachi 2). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4). We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including, but not limited to, adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
We believe marriage is a union ordained by God, as defined in Scripture, to be one man and one woman for life. We also believe it is a biblical picture of Jesus Christ and His Church; His bride (Genesis 2:18-24; Ephesians 5:22-23). Therefore, the parameters which must be met for a MSCS pastor to perform the marriage ceremony in a MSCS facility are as follows:
1. The couple must biologically complement one another; one male and one female.
2. The couple desiring to wed must first have gone through pre-marital counseling either with a MSCS pastor or with a pastor approved by the elders.
3. A marriage between a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and an unbeliever will not be performed by a MSCS pastor or in a MSCS facility.
4. A marriage between two unbelievers will not be performed by a MSCS pastor or in a MSCS facility unless approved by the BOE under special circumstances.
5. A valid Idaho Marriage License is required for a MSCS pastor to officiate at a marriage unless approved by the BOE.
Complementarian Relationships
We believe in the fundamental spiritual and moral equality of male and female. We believe men and women are created in the image of God and possess equal dignity, value and worth; and have equal access to God through faith in Christ. Men and women are together the recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the local church and beyond. Therefore, both men and women are to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to use their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ, and through teaching in ways that are consistent with the Word of God.
Both husbands and wives are responsible to God for spiritual nurture and vitality in the home, but God has given to the man primary responsibility to lead his wife and family in accordance with the servant-leadership and sacrificial love modeled by Jesus Christ. This principle of male headship should not be confused with, nor give any hint of, domineering control. Rather, it is to be the loving, tender and nurturing care of a godly man who is himself under the kind and gentle authority of Jesus Christ.
The Elders/Pastors of each local church have been granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to shepherd the flock of God in the local context. This includes providing oversight, protecting the flock doctrinally, administering church discipline, appointing leaders, providing counsel, praying, and teaching/preaching the Word of God in corporate assembly for the building up of the body. The office of Elder/Pastor is restricted to men. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:18; Acts 18:24-26; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 3:1-7; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-7)
In addition to these doctrinal stances, we realize that there are a number of variant nuances of interpretation and denominational emphases that can polarize the body of Christ. In this regard we affirm the general statement as originated in the early church by St. Augustine, "In Essentials, Unity; in Non- essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity."
Statement on Divorce and Remarriage
We believe the following:
1. We believe that God hates divorce (Malachi 2:14-17) and intends marriage to last until the death of one spouse (Romans 7:1-3).
2. Marriage consists of one man and one woman entering a covenant and becoming one flesh (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31).
3. The bond of marriage can be scripturally broken in one of the following three ways:
a. It shall be dissolved by the death of a spouse (Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39).
b. It can be, but does not have to be, dissolved because of adultery (Matthew 19:9).
c. It can be, but does not have to be, dissolved when an unbelieving spouse departs (1 Corinthians 7:15).
4. Because of the teaching of Jesus that divorce and remarriage for reasons other than that described in 3. of this Article constitutes adultery (Matthew 5:31-32; 19:3-12; Mark 10:2-12; Luke 16:18); and because marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:22-33) and is to be held in high esteem (Hebrews 13:4), divorce and remarriage, for reasons outside of what the New Testament allows, is not to be among God’s people.
5. We believe that although divorce before becoming a Christian is sin, upon true repentance and salvation, such divorce does not constitute disqualification from consideration for offices of elder or deacon. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
6. We believe that those divorced as Christians, for reasons other than explained in 3. of this Article, who have repented may hold positions of service in the Church and be greatly used of God for Christian service. However, they may not be considered for the offices of elder or deacon (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).
Statement on Abortion
We believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the taking of unborn human life. We do not believe that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable or justified (Job 3:16; Psalm 51:5; 139:14-16; Isaiah 44:24; 49:1, 5; Jeremiah 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44).
Christian Identity, Character and Virtue
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity as affirmed in the Scriptures (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual in or outside of the church are to be repudiated and are not in accord with the Scriptures.
In addition to these doctrinal stances, we realize that there are a number of variant nuances of interpretation and denominational emphases that can polarize the body of Christ. In this regard we affirm the general statement as originated in the early church by St. Augustine: "In Essentials, Unity; in Non-essentials, Liberty; in All Things, Charity."