What We Teach

Mission Road Bible Church is totally dedicated to preaching and teaching biblical truth and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. It is my desire that you would not leave this site without knowing that we are concerned about your relationship with God. According to Scripture, we were all born sinners and alienated from God. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” [Ephesians 2:4-5] If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, rejoice! On the other hand if you have questions or doubts about the Lord Jesus Christ and your position with Him, please feel free to contact us from this Web site.

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Doctrinal Statement

Philosophy of Ministry

 Elder Qualifications


Doctrinal Statement

The following is a basic doctrinal statement summarizing our beliefs. If you desire a more complete doctrinal statement with scriptural documentation, we will happily furnish it to you upon request.

In subscribing to these articles of faith, we by no means set aside or undervalue any of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, but we deem the knowledge, belief and acceptance of the truth as set forth in our Doctrinal Statement to be essential to sound faith and fruitful practice, and, therefore, requisite for Christian fellowship.
The Godhead

We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three Persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit – co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, co-equal in power and glory, and having the same attributes and perfections (Deut. 6:4; II Cor. 13:14).

The Person and Work of Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice; and, that our justification is made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:24; I Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; I Pet. 1:3-5).

We believe the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 20; Heb. 9:24; 7:25; Rom. 8:34; I John 2:1, 2).

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Person Who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and, that He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8-11; II Cor. 3:6; I Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13, 14).

We believe that He is the Divine Teacher Who guides believers into all truth; and, that it is the privilege and duty of all those saved to be filled with the Spirit (John 16:13; I John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18).

The Holy Scriptures

We believe the holy Scripture–both the Old and New Testaments– to be the verbally inspired Word of God, written by men under God’s control, God-breathed, inerrant and infallible in the original manuscripts and the final authority in faith and life (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12, 13; Ps. 19:7-9).

The Total Depravity of Man

We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; and, that man is totally depraved and, of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Gen. 1:26, 27; Rom. 3:22, 23; 5:12; Eph. 2:13, 12).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is the gift of God’s grace and received by personal faith alone, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and His finished work on the cross where His blood was shed as He died as a propitiatory sacrifice for the forgive-ness of sins (Eph. 2:8-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; I Peter 1:18, 19).

Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that all those truly saved and redeemed are kept by God’s power and thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Rom. 8:1, 38, 39; I Cor. 1:4-8; I Peter 1:5).

We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word which, how-ever, clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion to the flesh (Rom. 13:13-14; Gal. 5:13; Tit. 2:11-15).

Sanctification

We believe that every saved person possesses two natures, with provision made for victory of the new nature over the old nature through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and that all claims to the eradication of the old nature in this life are unscriptural (Rom. 6:13; 8:12, 13; Gal. 5:16-25; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:10; I Peter 1:14-16; I John 3:5-9).

Separation

We believe that all those saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Savior and their Lord; and, that separation from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices and associations is commanded of God (II Tim. 3:1-5; Rom. 12:1, 2; 14:13; I John 2:15-17; II John 9-11; II Cor. 6:14-18).

Evangelism

We believe it is the obligation of those saved to witness by life and word to the truths of Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the Gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; II Cor. 5:19, 20).

The Ministry and Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowal of spiritual gifts; that each believer is divinely bestowed with one or more gifts for the edification of the body of Christ and, that the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient for the equip-ping of the saints for the work of ser-vice. Finally, that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (Rom. 12:3-8;I Cor. 12:14; II Cor. 3:12; Eph. 4:7-12).

We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accord with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15).

The Church

We believe that the Church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism comprising all born-again persons of this present age (Eph. 1:22, 23; 5:25-27; I Cor. 12:12-14; II Cor. 11:2).

We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 20:17, 28-32; I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-11).

Dispensationalism

We believe that the Scriptures interpreted in their natural, literal sense reveal divinely determined dispensations or rules of life which define man’s responsibilities in successive ages. These dispensations are not ways of salvation but divinely ordered steward-ships by which God directs man according to His purpose. Three of these–the age of Law, the age of the Church, and the age of the Millennial Kingdom–are the subjects of detailed revelation in Scripture. (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 9:17; 2 Cor. 3:9-18; Gal. 3:13-25; Eph. 1:10; 3:2-10; Col. 1:24, 25; Heb. 7:19; Rev. 20:2-6)

We believe in the dispensational view of Bible interpretation but reject the extreme teaching known as “Hyper-Dispensationalism,” such as that teaching which opposes either the Lord’s Table or Water Baptism as a Scriptural means of testimony for the church of this age (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; 18:8; I Cor. 11:23-26).

The Personality of Satan

We believe that Satan is a person, the author of sin and cause of the fall; that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man; and, that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6, 7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

The Second Advent of Christ

We believe in that “Blessed Hope,” the personal, imminent, pre-tribulational and pre-millennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones and in His subsequent return to earth, with His saints, to establish His Millennial Kingdom (I Thes. 4:13-18; Zech. 14:4-11; Rev. 19:11-16; I Thes. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10).

The Eternal State

We believe in the bodily resurrection of all men, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:46; John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26; Rev. 20:5, 6, 12, 13).

We believe that the souls of the redeemed are, at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when spirit, soul, and body are reunited to be glorified forever with the Lord (Luke 23:43; Rev. 20:4-6; II Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23; 3:21; I Thes. 4:16, 17).

We believe that the souls of unbelievers remain, after death, in conscious misery until the second resurrection, when with soul and body reunited they shall appear at the Great White Throne Judgment, and shall be cast into the Lake of Fire; not to be annihilated, but to suffer everlasting conscious punishment (Luke 16:19-26; Matt. 25:41-46; II Thes. 1:7-9; Jude vv. 6, 7; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 20:11-15).