The Doctrinal Distinctives of CBC

The following doctrinal distinctives are what we at CBC teach and adhere to:

The Word Of God

We believe that the Bible is the complete written Word of God, fully inspired in every word without error as given by God. We believe that the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is the final and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (Joshua 1:8; Matthew 4:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Ma thew 5:18)

The Trinity

We believe there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), that they are equal in Divine perfection, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:1-2)

God the Father—We believe in God the Father, perfect in holiness, infinite in wisdom, measureless in power. He is the Sovereign ruler in creation, providence, and redemption. We rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all that come to Him through faith in Christ Jesus. (Psalm 89:11; Matthew 3:17; John 15:7; Ephesians 1:3-6)
God the Son—We believe in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Triune God, the Eternal Word and Only Begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth; not being created, nor as being inferior to God the Father. He is the same nature, the same essence of God in all His character and attributes. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the grave, His ascension into heaven, His perpetual intercession for His people, and His visible return to set up His kingdom upon this earth. (John 1:1-4; 3:16; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:3; 7:25; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
God the Holy Spirit—We believe that the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. We believe He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates, baptizes, seals, indwells, and anoints all who become children of God through Christ. He guides, teaches, sanctifies, and fills believers who, moment by moment surrender to Him. While the baptism and the sealing of the Holy Spirit take place at the moment of salvation, all believers are exhorted to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:13-14, 5:18)

Man

We believe that all mankind is the direct creation of God, being made in His image and likeness. By personal disobedience to the revealed will of God, mankind became a sinful creature and a fallen race, which is universally and personally sinful in both nature and practice. Thus, mankind is alienated from the life and family of God, is placed under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, and have, within themselves, no possible means of salvation. (Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 1:1-23)

Salvation

We believe that the only escape from the condemnation of sin is through the redemption brought by Jesus Christ. God says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of His glory and the righteous requirements for salvation. Our sin, which can never be erased by good deeds, condemns us to hell. All people, from the moment of birth, are alienated from God and are enemies of Him, lost and without hope in what the Bible calls a “crooked and depraved generation.” Paying the price for sin, Jesus Christ died in our place. He demonstrated His great love for us, even when sin removed us far from Him. Everyone who repents and believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life; and that life, which is eternal, can never be lost. (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:8; John 3:16; 1 John 5:11-13)

Angels, Demons, and Satan

We believe in the existence of heavenly beings called angels. They are innumerable and superior to mankind in intelligence and strength. Most are good, but some are evil. The angels who are good and righteous, carry out God’s plan as His special messengers and serve those who will inherit salvation.

We believe Satan is a created angel who through pride and ambition rebelled against God, thus becoming utterly depraved in character and the great adversary of God and His people. Satan introduced sin into the world by his temptation of Adam and Eve; he is the author of sin and the openly declared enemy of God and man. Satan is the leader of all evil angels, the deceiver and god of this present world. His powers are superior to humanity, but strictly limited by the permissive will of God.

We believe he has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and will be eternally punished in the lake of fire. Christians are able to resist and overcome him only by the blood of the Lamb, with the full armor of God, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 3:1-15; Ezekiel 28:14-19; Isaiah 14:12-14; Hebrews 1:14; Jude 6; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:10; Ephesians 6:10-17)

The Church

We believe in the church, Christ’s body and bride, expressed universally as a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated believers are members. We believe, furthermore, in the local church, consisting in a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith and associated together for worship, work and fellowship. The church has the right and responsibility of self-government by the direction of the Holy Spirit under the laws of God and the headship of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:1-47; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 2:11—3:6; Colossians 1:18)

There are two ordinances which the Lord Jesus left for every believer to practice until His return—baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism: We believe in Christian baptism by immersion. It is the testimony of a believer, showing in a solemn and beautiful symbol one’s faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savoir. It symbolizes union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life. (Romans 6:1-11; Acts 8:36-39; Matthew 28:18-20)
Lord’s Supper: We believe that the Lord’s Supper (also called Communion) is the remembrance, commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should be preceded always by solemn self examination. While Christ’s flesh and blood are not actually present in the elements, the Lord’s Supper is an actual communion with the risen Christ who is present in a unique way, fellowshipping with His people. (1 Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-38)

The Last Things

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all people: the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where, in conscious rest, they await the first resurrection when spirit, soul and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord. We believe the souls of unbelievers remain after death in a conscious misery until the second resurrection when the spirit, soul and body are reunited. They shall appear at the Great White Throne for judgment and, being found to have rejected Christ as Lord and Savior, shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment. (Romans 8:38-39; Matthew 25:4-26; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Revelation 20:1-6)

Christian Conduct

We believe that all Christians are instructed to live for the glory of God! We seek to realize for ourselves and other believers the full stature of maturity in Christ by serving one another as Christ modeled for us. We believe that our conduct needs to be blameless before the world, and as Christ’s ambassadors, we appeal to the unbelieving to be reconciled to God. We believe further that we are to be faithful stewards of all our possessions and finances, giving to God from a Cheerful Heart. (John 14:21; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 7:1; 1 John 2:15-17)

Spiritual Gifts

We believe the effectiveness of a church cannot be realized by the pastor and elders alone, but rather through the expression of all God’s people in a local church. The Holy Spirit works within and through the Word of God and never independently of it. He came to glorify Jesus Christ and make Him preeminent in the Church. To accomplish that end, the Holy Spirit equips every believer with a unique gift, so that the work of the ministry may be conducted by all the believers as they share in the ministry, through exercising those gifts GRACIOUSLY given by Him. (Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:10; Romans 12:608; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

The Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-7) to be used in a variety of ways that have a variety of results. Primarily, when we utilize our gifts we are:

Bringing honor and glory to God,
Influencing other believers toward unity and maturity,
Contributing to the growth of the body, and
Enabling the church to withstand the subtle deceitfulness of the world. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

“Notice that the Holy Spirit’s distribution of spiritual gifts is just as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11)! This means that we don’t need to pray, plead, or wait for our gift. We should be wary of anyone who teaches that we can acquire spiritual gifts through self effort. In fact, the opposite is true, for the Holy Spirit matches us with our gifts without any effort on our part. And it is always a perfect fit.”( Swindoll, Charles. He Gave Gifts p.4).

Doctrinal Distinctives