welcome to exchanged church – Beliefs
core beliefs
The doctrine of Exchanged Church. Foundational Doctrine are subjects that all members of Exchanged Church should agree upon. Structural Doctrine are subjects that clarify the position of Exchanged Church leadership, but need not be agreed to in all cases.
In addition to Foundational and Structural doctrine, we affirm the Nicene Creed.
FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINE
TRINITY
God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, and there is only one God. Each has existed for all eternity.
(Genisis 1:26; Isaiah 6:8; Isaiah 48:16, Mat 28:19, 1 Cor 12:4-6, 2 Cor 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2, Mat 3:16-17, John 1:1-4)
GOD
There is one true God (YHWH) who always was, who presently is, and who forever will be. He is knowable only because He has revealed Himself to mankind in a way that is comprehensible for our limited capacities. Both His written revelation (Holy Scripture) and His general revelation (creation) tell us of His eternal power, invisible attributes, and unfailing love. He is eternal, self-existent, immutable (unchanging), all-powerful, and perfect.
( Romans 1, Isa 45:5-6, Isa 45:21-22. 1 Tim 2:5)
JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ is the eternal only begotten son of God. He is fully man and fully God. Jesus was the agent of creation and the creator of all things. He was before all things and holds all things together. He is the visible image of the invisible God, who became like man in every respect except for sin. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect, obedient life and died on a cross as the penal substitute for mankind. Absorbing the complete righteous wrath of the Father towards sin, He simultaneously upheld God’s justice and love. Through His death, man can be freed of guilt and reconciled to God. After being dead and buried for three days, Jesus’ body was physically raised from the grave, overcoming death and its power. Through His resurrection, Jesus validated His deity, His life, and His mission. He ascended and now sits at the right hand of the Father and serves as the perfect mediator between God and man.
(John 1; 3:16, 20:30-31; Ephesians 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1; Romans 5:8; 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Timothy 2:5-6)
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is a helper, adviser, strengthener, encourager, ally, and advocate. He is a person, distinct from the Father and Son. He enlightens, regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers, transforms, and gifts all believers in Christ at the point of faith in Christ. He helps believers understand, interpret, and apply God’s Word to their lives. He is the proxy on earth for the resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ. He is the seal and the down payment for the believer’s future inheritance. He indwells believers, convicts them of sin, and enables them to be conformed to the image of Christ
(Matthew 28:19; John 3:3-7; John 16:7-15; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 6:19; Romans 8:9, 15-17; I Corinthians 2:12; 3:16-17; 12:13; Ephesians 1:13- 18; 4:30; 5:18; Galatians 3:14; Galatians 5:16)
THE SCRIPTURES
The Scriptures (comprised of 66 books: 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament) are the inspired Word of God. In their original form they are without error in all they proclaim. They are completely sufficient and authoritative because of the Spirit who breathed them out and because of the true story they tell. They are to be read, studied, proclaimed, and applied by the Church as a foundation and guide in all of life. They are the canon “rule” by which all theology, wisdom, mission, and vision should be measured. We are to neither add or subtract from Scripture.
(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Psalm 119; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Deuteronomy 4:2, 8:3; Revelations 22:18-19 )
MAN
God made humans, both male and female, in His own image with the purpose of glorifying Himself through enjoyment and fellowship with man. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God and fell from his sinless state. Being severed from the Creator and subject to His divine wrath, man finds himself depraved and utterly hopeless with no remedy to help himself. The depravity of man finds every human alienated, from his God and from his fellow man, and unable to be restored to his original state without a divinely initiated, radical intervention by the Triune God.
(Genesis 1:27, 5:1-2; Isaiha 43:7; Romans 2:2-3, 5; Ephesians 2:8-9; 9:6; Romans 3:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1)
SALVATION
Salvation is the free gift of God, by grace alone and through faith alone in the person of Jesus Christ and His work on behalf of mankind. All who believe are declared righteous in Christ, completely forgiven of the debt of their sin, adopted as children of God, and made co-heirs with Christ for all eternity. Biblical faith is marked by repentance and a changed life. Union with God initiates a reorientation of one’s affections away from self and toward God and others.
(Romans 10:13-17; Acts 4:12; Ephesians 2:1- 10; Romans 5:15; 6:23; 8:30-31; Hebrews 9:15-20; Galatians 3:15-4:7)
CHURCH
The church is the community of all true believers for all time. The church is not a religion, institution or building. Rather it is God’s redeemed people whom He protects, guides, and nurtures. God created His church by calling sinful people into a relationship with Himself, and into unity with Christ and each other. The church is the family and flock of God, the body and bride of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. In the world, this one church exists in two aspects: universal and local. The universal church is the full elect company of believers, baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body, whereas the local church is seen in gatherings of believers who join together in love to worship God with praise and thanksgiving. In one sense, the church is visible, as we see it on earth as those who profess Christ and display the evidence of God’s grace; yet, in another sense, the true church is invisible because only God can see the hearts of men and know who has genuine faith. The church exists to worship God, build up the body of Christ and to proclaim the gospel in word and deed to the entire world. Its mission is to bear witness to its Head, Jesus Christ, preaching the Gospel among all nations, and to glorify Jesus Christ through an aggressive effort to disciple others through the preaching of the Gospel and the exercise of spiritual gifts. The church should always be committed to teaching, fellowship, prayer and the Lord’s Supper.
(Eph. 1:22-23, 2:18-23, 3:15; 4:6; Eph. 5:24-30; 2 Tim. 2:19; Col. 1:28, 3:16; Matt. 28:19; John 10:16; 1 Pet. 5:2-4; Rev. 19:7; 1 Cor. 3:16; 12:4-13, 27)
STRUCTURAL DOCTRINE
Structural Doctrine Statement coming soon.