The Church of Living Water

The Scriptures

We believe the Bible is God’s written message to people, inspired by God and without error in the original manuscripts. It tells us who God is, who we are, what we are to believe, and how we are to live as followers of Jesus Christ.

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.

The Trinity

We believe that our God is triune, that is, three-in-one. Not three gods, but one God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit.

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, who is all-powerful, infinite in wisdom, Creator and sustainer of the universe. We believe he knows everything that does and will occur, that he is intimately and mercifully involved in all of humankind’s dealings, that he hears and answers prayer, that he desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth, and that he rescues from sin and death everyone who comes to him through Jesus Christ.

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-Jesus Christ

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who existed with God in the beginning, who Himself was, is, and will always be, God, who came to earth as fully man, born of a virgin, yet he was fully divine; he lived a perfect life of submission to God’s law for us; he died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, and he was raised to life again to sit beside the Father in heaven. He stands in the gap on behalf of those who believe and he is coming again to earth to save and to judge all humankind.

Genesis 18:1ff; Psalm 2:7ff; 110:1ff; Isaiah 7:14, 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16, 27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6, 19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18, 29; 10:30, 38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16, 28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20, 28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5, 20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6-21; 8:1-3, 34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8, 24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15, 24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7-9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of sin, comforts, prays for, guides and teaches us. The Holy Spirit works to make the believer more like Christ, to perfect God’s work in us and to present us complete before God on the last day.

Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalm 51:11; 139:7ff; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1, 18-19; 11-13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17, 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; 2 Peter 1:21;1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

Humanity and Sin

We believe God created humans as completely good creatures, forming them in his own likeness; yet, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we have all fallen into sin with them, inheriting sin like a genetic disease, it both being hereditary and voluntary. The only cure for sin is to believe in Jesus Christ, in his atoning work for us on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. We believe that through Christ, in his atoning work for us on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. We believe that through Christ, God desires to restore the relationship with himself that had been severed by original sin.

Genesis 1:26-30, 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5;51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19, 21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

Salvation

We believe that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, apart from any righteous action we might accomplish. We believe that everyone who trusts Jesus as the Savior is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and is put in a right relationship with God. In Christ, we are made into new creatures, having been cleansed from the old nature of sin and corruption, and now we are raised to walk in the way of Jesus Christ. It is by grace we are saved, and it is by grace we stand in Christ, and by grace we will stand complete in Christ at the last day.

Genesis 3:15; Exodus 3:14-17; 6:2-8; Matthew 1:21; 4:17; 16:21-26; 27:22-28:6; Luke 1:68-69; 2:28-32; John 1:11-14,29; 3:3-21,36; 5:24; 10:9,28-29; 15:1-16; 17:17; Acts 2:21; 4:12; 15:11; 16:30-31; 17:30-31; 20:32; Romans 1:16-18; 2:4; 3:23-25; 4:3ff;5:8-10; 6:1-23; 8:1-18,29-39; 10:9-10,13; 13:11-14; 1Corinthians 1:18,30; 6:19-20; 15:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20; Galatians 2:20; 3:13; 5:22-25; 6:15; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-22; 4:11-16; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-22; 3:1ff; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2Timothy 1:12; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3; 5:8-9; 9:24-28; 11:1-12:8,14; James 2:14-26; 1 Peter 1:2-23; 1 John 1:6-2:11; Revelation 3:20; 21:1-22:5.

Ordinances

We believe God in Scripture has established two ordinances to be a continued practice of His Church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism

We believe baptism is a symbol of the believer’s death to sin and resurrection to live in Christ. Though baptism is not necessary for salvation, we believe it is vitally important to the believer’s confession of his or her conversion; thus, to dismiss baptism is to go against the Lord’s mandate for us in his Word. We also believe that the best expression (though not the only expression) of this death to sin and resurrection to Christ is by complete immersion in to the baptismal waters.

The Lord’s Supper

We believe the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper for his church to proclaim his death until he comes again. As an ordinance, we do not believe it is a requirement for salvation, but remembering the death of our Lord together is essential to the life and fellowship of the Church.

Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:41-42; 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16,21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12.

The Family

In a culture such as ours, we believe it is vital to affirm God’s design for the human family. A family may consist of anyone related biologically, by adoption, or by marriage. Marriage, as God designed it, consists of one man and one woman, who indeed become one flesh, one heart, one life, to live to the glory of God, and whatever God has joined in holy matrimony, let no one try and separate. God designed marriage not just for the sake of humans, but to exemplify his desire for his relationship to his people. Therefore, marriage is a necessary and wonderful institution.

The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church, to present her as purified before God on the last day. The wife is to submit to her husband as her earthly authority, as the church is to submit to the headship of Christ. In order for this to work, there must be mutual submission to God’s authority and gracious submission to each other in loving service. Failure for either person to submit to God causes disunity, chaos, and is contrary to God’s design for the family.

Addendum: Concerning Spiritual Gifts

We believe that the Holy Spirit has endowed believers with spiritual gifts for the purpose of glorifying Christ in the world. If any spiritual gifting is used for any other purpose than for the edifying of the saints or the salvation of the lost, we must conclude that the person is overcome by the flesh, and ignorant of the biblical guidelines for how spiritual gifts are to be administered in the church.

Of the spiritual gifts, we concur with the apostle Paul that love is to be pursued above all the rest. Love is the foundation from which every other gift of the Spirit must spring.

Refer to 1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4