GOD  

We believe in one true God, the Creator, Sovereign, Ruler, Redeemer, and Preserver of all things. God is an infinite, perfect, holy, intelligent, spiritual, loving, and personal Being. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future. To Him we owe complete love, trust, obedience, reverence, and worship. The eternal triune God manifests Himself to us as Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:1, 26; Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Chronicles 29:11,12; Job 38-41; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 6:9; Matthew 28:19; John 10:30; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2

GOD THE FATHER

We believe in God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, who reigns with providential care over creation, and orders all things according to His own perfect will and grace. His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with mankind. As Creator, He is Father to all, but He is the Spiritual Father only to believers. 

Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

GOD THE SON

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, eternally begotten from the Father. We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His conception by the Holy Spirit and birth by the virgin Mary, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood on the cross, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, as our Advocate, and in His personal return in power and glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. 

Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:31-33; John 1:1-18; 1:29; Acts 1:9-11; 2:22-24; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4; 4:15; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who is fully divine and proceeds from the Father and the Son. We believe the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to exalt God, convict mankind of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, and their need for Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He illuminates the Scriptures by teaching, comforting, and enabling men through the Word of God. Through regeneration, He baptizes and seals every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character along with equipping every believer with spiritual gifts for service in the Church and in evangelism of the world.

Matthew 1:18; 12:28-32; 28:19; John 4:24; 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 1 Peter 4:10; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the divinely inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God, revealing the love and will of God to the world. God is its author, salvation is its end, and it is true without any mixture of error. The Bible is the sole authority for Christian Living, the supreme source and standard of truth for what we believe and by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.

Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.

MANKIND

We believe that man is made in the image of God, to be like Him in character. Male and female were created to worship God, to glorify Him and to have dominion over the earth. We believe that human life is sacred at all stages of life; that we must honor the physical and spiritual needs of all people; following Christ’s example, and that every person should be treated with love, dignity, and respect.

Genesis 1:26-30; Psalm 8:3-6; Matthew 22:37-39; Luke 24:46-47; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 3:10-18, 23; Romans 12:20-21; Galatians 6:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7.

SIN

We believe that Adam, the first man, along with his wife Eve, sinned by disobeying God. This act resulted in the fall of mankind, meaning that all people are born as sinners separated from God for eternity unless he is reborn through the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit through salvation.

Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 3:10-23, 5:12-21, 6:23.

SALVATION

We believe that God the Father, by His grace, has provided the way of redemption and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Salvation is not earned or merited. Each person must individually accept and receive this free gift of atonement and adoption through the regenerative second birth by the Holy Spirit as children into the family of God.

Exodus 6:2-8; Matthew 16:21-26; John 3:15-16; 17:3; Romans 3:23; 5:1; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9.

THE CHURCH

We believe the Church is the Body and Bride of Christ in the family of God. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. The purpose of the Church is to carry out His mission in the world and is best lived out in local, autonomous churches. It comprises saved and baptized believers, who celebrate God’s presence (worship), demonstrate God’s love (ministry), communicate God’s Word (evangelism), incorporate God’s family (fellowship), and educate God’s people (discipleship). As the Church, we must dedicate ourselves to prayer, to the service of our Lord, to His authority over our lives, and to the ministry of evangelism.

Matthew 9:35-38, 16:15-19; 22:37-39, 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 2:41-42, 47; Romans 10:9-15; 12:4-8; 12:20-21; 1 Corinthians 12; Galatians 6:10; Colossians 2:6-10; 1 Peter 3:15; Ephesians 4:10-16; Revelation 2; 3.

The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. Hoping not to alienate believers of various denominations, we have limited our Statement of Faith to Essential Christian Doctrines. The Bible itself is the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of humanity, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For the Disciple Education Network, our leadership communicates and administrates our policies and actions regarding faith, doctrine, and practice.