Our Beliefs
GOD. We believe in one God, in three distinct and yet equally divine “Persons,” co-eternal in existence, co-identical in nature, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the “Holy Trinity”), the only True and Living Sovereign God, who is perfectly holy, perfectly just and perfectly loving. We believe God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them. (Key ref. John 4:24; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:5-7; 2 Cor. 13:14; John 10:30; Psa. 103:19; Gen. 1:1; Col. 1:15-17)
A. God the Father. We believe in God, the Father, who is the Lord of the universe, the Heavenly Father of all believers (Christians). (Isa. 64:8; 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 1:12; Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:15-16; Matt 6:25-33; Heb. 12:10)
B. God the Son. We believe in God, the Son, Jesus Christ, who came in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully human at the same time. We believe He was without sin. When Jesus was nailed on the cross and shed His blood for the sins of humankind, He became the Savior of sinners, having substituted for humankind in bearing God’s wrath and judgment on the cross for all the sins of humankind. We believe Jesus was buried and on the third day, He rose again bodily. He ascended to heaven and is the Mediator between God and humankind. He shall return to judge the living and the dead. (Heb. 1:12; John 1:14; Phil. 2:5-7; Luke 1:35; Col. 2:9; Heb. 4:15; Rom. 5:8-9; 1 Pet. 2:24, 3:18; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 15: 3-4; Heb. 7:25; 1 Tim. 2:5; John 5:22)
C. God the Holy Spirit. We believe in God, the Holy Spirit, who is able to teach and guide humankind to the Truth, and to convict them of sin. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the moment of conversion (“baptism of the Holy Spirit,” joining the new believer with all other believers in the Body of Christ, the universal church). Indwelt in the believer, the Holy Spirit isgiven as a mark of redemption and while may be quenched, will not leave the believer. The Holy Spirit intercedes for the believers before the Father. We believe as the believer continually yields his/her life to be controlled by the Holy Spirit (“being filled with the Holy Spirit”), the Holy Spirit empowers the believer to live a holy life, to evangelize and to serve. He is the giver of spiritual gifts to enable the believer to serve and to build up the Body of Christ. We believe the spiritual gift of tongues, the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues, the spiritual gift of working miracles, the spiritual gift of healing were for use during a special transitional time and are not the norm in the present age. We also believe the offices of Apostles and Prophets have now ceased to function in the ways of the early church. (John 14:26, 16:8,12-13; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13, 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19; Rom. 8:26-27; Eph. 5:18-20; Gal. 5:16-25; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 12:11; 1 Cor. 13:1-2)
BIBLE. We believe the Bible, everything within the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, is the fully inspired Word of God, inspired verbally (every word was God-breathed) and inspired plenary (all parts of Bible are equally of divine origin). We believe the Bible is without any error in the original manuscripts. We believe the Bible to be the complete and sufficient revelation of God. We believe God speaks to us through the Bible. We believe everything else must be subjected to the test of the Bible as the final authority. We believe the Bible is the standard by which all believers conduct their lives, and the measure by which God judges the world. (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:20-21; Matt. 24:35; Matt. 4:4; Psa. 119:105; Col. 3:16; Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18-19)
HUMANKIND. We believe that humankind is created in the image of God, and given a free will. Humankind was originally sinless but was tempted by Satan, and fell into sin. Humankind thus inherited a sinful nature, became transgressors, lost, and separated from God. All human beings are born sinners before our Holy, Perfect God and unable to save themselves from God’s judgment of their sins—eternal condemnation. It is through the saving grace of Jesus Christ alone and the response by faith alone that humankind is saved, forgiven of past, present, future sins. (Gen 1:27, 2:16-17, 3:6-7, 16-19, 23-24; Rom. 3:9-12,23, 5:9-12; 1 John 1:8; Eph. 2:8-10; John 5:24)
SALVATION. We believe the free gift of eternal salvation God offers to everyone is for the salvation of the totalperson. Everyone who genuinely repents of his/her sins and receives Jesus Christ by faith as his/herpersonal Savior and Lord is eternally saved by His shedding of blood on the cross. We believe salvationincludes regeneration/justification, sanctification, glorification. All true believers are accepted by Christ, eternally kept by the power of God, and shall not lose their salvation. ( Rom. 6:23; Mark 1:15; Isa. 53: 5-6,11; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; Col. 2:14; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:22; Titus 3:4-7; Acts 4:12; Rom. 10: 9-10; 1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 8:29-30; John 6:37,10:27-30; Rom. 8:38-39)
LOCAL CHURCH. We believe the local church is established based on the teachings of the New Testament. We believe the local church is the physical or visible manifestation of the universal Body of Christ by an assembled spiritual family of baptized believers in a particular locality under appointed shepherd(s), with Christ, the Chief Shepherd, as her Head. We believe the local church is established by Christ for the worship of God, for prayer, for the preaching of the Gospel, for the teaching of the Bible, for the giving of tithes/offerings to God, for mutual edification, correction, encouragement, love and for the keeping of the ordinances. (1 Cor. 12:12-13; 1 Pet. 2: 4-5, 9-10; Col. 1:18; Acts 2:38-47; Eph. 4:1-6, 11-16)
We believe there are only two Scriptural offices in the church, the office of the pastor and the office of the deacon/deaconess. We believe the term “pastor” is synonymous with the terms “elder” and “overseer or bishop,” i.e. only an ordained “pastor” can have the title of “elder” or “overseer” in the Church. (Phil. 1:1; Acts 20:17,28; 1 Peter 5:1-5; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Acts 6:1-7; Rom. 16:1)
We believe under the Headship of Christ, the Church shall be autonomous, self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating. We believe in the congregational form of church government, in which the Active Members of the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, are to render final decisions regarding Church matters, except in the cases as outlined in these Bylaws. (Acts 6:2,5, 13:1-3,15:22)
LORD’s DAY. We believe all Christians shall observe the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, setting aside a time to at least gather together as one Body to worship our God. (Eph. 1: 6,12,14; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Heb. 10:24-25)
ORDINANCES. We believe there are only two ordinances that the New Testament teaches that we shall observe: Believers’ Baptism and Lord’s Supper, as more fully described below.
We believe both ordinances are symbolic in nature and have no bearings on saving grace whatsoever.
We believe both ordinances are to be observed in the context of physical gathering of believers and are not to be conducted as personal or family affairs.
We believe both ordinances shall be administered by an ordained staff minister as acts of worship. If an ordained staff minister is not available, then the Board of Deacons shall seek an outside ordained Baptist minister to conduct the ordinance. And if no suitable ordained Baptist minister is available, then the Board of Deacons may authorize in the following order: a CIBCSF Deacon or Deaconess (ordained) or a non-ordained CIBCSF staff minister to conduct the ordinance.
A. Baptism: This shall be observed by those who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are willing to follow the teachings of Christ all their lives. We believe and practice baptism by immersion only, whereby the entire body of the believer is to be submerged into the water. Through immersion, the believer bears public witness pictorially to God and to people that he/she identifies with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 1:10; Acts 8:39; Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:12)
B. The Lord's Supper: We believe this is commanded by Christ to be observed often (at CIBCSF, once a month). We believe the Lord’s Supper is to be observed together with other gathered believers in remembrance of the great sacrifice Jesus Christ made through His broken body and His shed bloodfor the salvation of humankind and is to be observed in anticipation of His return. The bread symbolizesChrist's body. The fruit of the vine in the cup symbolizes the blood of Christ. Only the believers who have already obeyed the commandment to be baptized and who are not being disciplined by the Church can partake of the Lord’s Supper. (Matt. 26: 26-30; 1 Cor. 11:17-33)
SATAN. We believe God also created angels, spiritual beings, to serve Him. But some chose to rebel and have since become fallen angels, who are now called Satan (the devil) and demons. We believe one of Satan’s main objectives is to tempt nonbelievers and believers to sin against God, to deceive nonbelievers and believers to trust/love self or world rather than God. Therefore, we believe all of us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, are to resist the devil and to be on guard against his various schemes, including the deceptive schemes through the present world systems, since Satan is “the ruler of the world.” (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18; Gen. 3:1-5; Rev. 12:7-12; John 12:31; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Cor. 11:14-15; John 8:44; James 4:7)
END TIMES. We believe God in His time will bring an end to this world and to Satan. Jesus Christ shallcome again in a visible glorified body as He has promised and will judge all peoples according to His righteousness. We believe in the future bodily resurrection of the dead. The just (those declared righteous by God upon their repentance of sins and confession of faith in Jesus Christ--in His finished work on the cross, when they were alive) shall resurrect to eternal life in heaven, and the unjust shall resurrect to eternal punishment in hell. (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15: 35-44, 50-54; John 5:28-29; Luke 16:19-26; Rev. 20:1, 3, 10-15)
MARRIAGE. We believe in the sacredness of marriage, that marriage is ordained by God and not to be entered into lightly. We believe that God has ordained marriage as the covenant relationship between a man and a woman and God Himself, when the man and the woman are united together as husband and wife. By “man” and “woman,” we refer to that gender revealed by God at birth. (Gen. 1: 26-31; Gen. 2:18-25).
We believe sex is God’s gift for married couples as defined above, that is, sexual intimacy is to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (Gen. 2:24; 1 Cor. 6:9-11,16-20; 1 Cor. 7:3-5).
We believe marriage is to be a life-long, exclusive and singularly devoted (monogamous and faithful) commitment. We believe marriage is to be a portrayal or reflection of the loving relationship between Christ and the church. (Gen. 2:18-25; Matt.19: 3-9; 1 Cor. 7:2; Heb. 13:4; Eph. 5:22-33). For other beliefs and practices regarding marriage, refer to CIBCSF Marriage Policy (e.g. Marriage Policy states that "CIBCSF will not officiate a wedding between a Christian and a non-Christian, 1 Cor. 7:39; 2 Cor. 6:14-18).
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE. We believe in the sanctity of human life. We believe that all human life is sacred and of equal worth in the sight of God, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, from conception through death. (Gen. 1:26-27, 9:6; Psa. 139:13-16; Prov.31:8-9; Exod. 1:15-17, 20:13)
LEADERSHIP ROLES IN HOME AND CHURCH. We believe man and woman are both equal before God as persons, but are different/distinct in their gender-based roles in the home and in the church. We believe just as God has assigned the male to assume the role of spiritual leader in the home, God has assigned the male to assume the role of spiritual leader of the spiritual family, the local church. Therefore, CIBCSF has historically only ordained men to be pastors of the Church. (1 Cor. 11:3; Titus 2:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-2)
Rev. 8-28-2022