We at Grace Church believe all saints should read and study the entire Bible. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness… (2 Timothy 3:16). We are instructed to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). To fully understand the Bible and come to the knowledge of the truth, we must learn how to rightly divide the Bible. The Word says, “…Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5b).
In Acts 17, the Bereans were said to be more noble in that they both received the Word and searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they had heard was true. God’s desire is for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). We do this by preaching how Jesus died, His burial, and His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1- ) and teaching right division (2 Timothy 2:15). We are committed to teach faithful men who will teach others God’s wonderful message of grace to all (2 Timothy 2:2).
The Gospel of the grace of God and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, as revealed by Jesus to Paul, is the foundation of who we are and what we believe. Our final authority is the KJV Scriptures and not a denominational creed, a doctrinal statement, a man’s opinion, or some system of theology. What follows is a summary of our key beliefs.
We believe the entire Bible is inspired of God. (2 Timothy 3:16) It is without error and is the final authority. It has been preserved and exists today for English speaking people in the Authorized King James Version commonly called the KJV (Psalm 12:6-7, Isaiah 40:8). We believe the KJV is without error and do not approve of any attempts to “correct” or modernize the text. We interpret the Bible literally in our study by “rightly dividing” the Bible dispensationally (2 Timothy 2:15). This literal, dispensational approach is the only way to truly understand the different ways God has dealt with mankind since the beginning of the creation. We recognize that Apostle Paul’s thirteen epistles (Romans thru Philemon) reveal the mystery program that is our doctrine during our current dispensation of grace.
We believe there is only one true God. He is eternal and existing in three persons. The Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 29:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 John 5:7).
Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and is 100% man and 100% God (Luke 1:34-35). He was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). He never sinned in thought, word or deed and was the perfect sacrificial lamb of God for all mankind (1 Peter 2:22, Hebrews 4:15, John 1:29). Jesus was crucified, buried and three days later rose from the dead and is currently seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven making intercession for us.
Satan was a created cherub who because of pride rebelled against God (his creator) and became the originator of sin (Ezekiel 28:13-15).
All mankind are sinners by nature (Romans 3:23). Sin entered into mankind by Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12). All sin must be paid for (Romans 6:23) and we all have two options. Either we pay for it ourselves or we trust Jesus’ blood to pay for it. If we pay for it ourselves, we will spend eternity in hell. If we put our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we will spend eternity in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). All saints still possess the old sin nature and the ability to sin. We do not believe that the old sin nature is ever eradicated during this life (Romans 7:15-25). As believers, Christ has forgiven all our sins past, present and future. (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 2:13-14).
There is only one way for man to be saved from eternal punishment and that is by the grace of God. Only when we put our trust and faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Chris are we saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Ephesians 2:8-9). It is only through Jesus’ shed blood on His cross at Calvary, as the perfect sacrificial lamb of God (John 1:29), that He paid for every and all sin (Romans 3:24-25, 1 John 1:7). During the current dispensation of grace our salvation is a completely undeserved free gift for all who simply believe. It involves no work whatsoever on our own. Jesus did all the work for us. We believe all saved people during the current dispensation of grace are eternally saved. It is impossible for anyone who has trusted in Christ to ever be lost again. At our salvation we were sealed by God (Holy Spirit) and we are no longer our own – we were bought with a price (Romans 8:30-39, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We believe in the eternal security of all believers (Ephesians 1:13-14, Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 8:29-39,) and the eternal damnation of the lost (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8). Salvation is the work of God and not the work of man.
In this dispensation of grace, there is only one church made up of saved people all over the world. This one church is called the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13, Ephesians 1:22-23). Denominations are merely man-made divisions in the Body of Christ based on differing doctrinal views. We do not believe the Body of Christ has replaced Israel in any way. God’s prophetic promises to Israel will come to pass. We believe in a local church where believers assemble to worship, study, fellowship, be trained and support one another. Our primary task as the members of the local church (assembly of believers) is to preach and teach the gospel of grace to a lost and dying world.
All saved people during the dispensation of grace have been made members of the Body of Christ by one baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). This one baptism is what identifies us as Christians (Ephesians 4:5). Water baptism is not needed for salvation and has no place in God’s program in our present dispensation of grace.
Tithing is not a requirement of believers today. We are, however, instructed to give cheerfully as we have purposed in our hearts as God has prospered us (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7). Tithing was required under Mosaic Law, and we are not under the law. We are under grace.
We believe that in this present dispensation of grace (Ephesians 3:2) the mystery that was hid from ages and generations from the beginning of the world was revealed by the resurrected Jesus over a period of three years to the Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:11-18, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Colossians 1:25-26, Ephesians 3:2-9). We believe that the Body of Christ began in mid-Acts at Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). The Body of Christ has a heavenly purpose that is distinct and separate from God’s earthly purpose for the nation of Israel.
We believe that the church, the Body of Christ, will be caught up in the clouds by Jesus Christ Himself, when He descends from heaven at the end of the Dispensation of Grace (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This event was kept secret (mystery) by God and is a distinctive part of the new and special revelation given to the Apostle Paul for the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51) with Jesus being the Head. We believe this blessed hope (Titus 2:13) is found only in Paul’s epistles and concerns only the Body of Christ. This event will take place before the prophesied tribulation period begins (Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9). The second coming of Christ will follow the seven-year tribulation period where He sets up His earthly millennial kingdom in which He will rule and reign with His chosen people, the nation of Israel.
We believe God has instructed us to study to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Timothy 2:15). We believe Paul was our Apostle appointed by God to the gentiles (Romans 11:13). We find our specific doctrine in Paul’s thirteen epistles (Romans thru Philemon). We acknowledge all the Bible is FOR us. But not all the Bible is TO us. We realize that God has progressively revealed His instructions for man’s obedience throughout history. These distinct programs of instruction and responsibility are called dispensations. We study God’s Word in light of these different dispensations of which we are now in the Dispensation of Grace. Our main tool of study is the right division of God’s Word. One main area is to recognize the division between Israel and the gentiles as people groups. The other major area to rightly divide are God’s prophetic program and God’s mystery program as was revealed by the resurrected Jesus to Paul. Once we understand how to rightly divide the Scriptures, we will no longer be confused with what appears to be contradictions in God’s Word. His Word is truth. There are no contradictions or errors in the authorized KJV.