Having received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we band ourselves together as a body of believers in Christ, and adopt the following as our standard for faith and practice.
NAME
Fellowship Bible Church of Greenville, Texas, duly originally chartered in the State of Texas, February 2, 1965. (Organized on December 4, 1964).
DOCTRINE and ORDINANCES
1. Every word in the original writings of the Holy Scriptures is inspired of God and without error (II Tim. 3:16; II Peter 1:21; I Corinthians 2:13).
2. The Godhead exists eternally in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God (Gen. 1:1; John 10:30; John 4:24; Deut.6:4; Matt.3:16—17; Matt.28:19; II Cor.13:14).
3. Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam all mankind fell into sin with the result that all men are sinners, hopelessly sinful in themselves, apart from the grace of God. (Gen.1:27; 9:6; Romans 5:12; 3:23; Eph. 2:1).
4. The eternal Son of God became incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man, having been born of the Virgin Mary (John 1:1, 14, 18; Matt. 1:21—23; Heb. 1:6, 8; I John 5:20; 1 Tim.2:5).
5. Salvation is received by faith alone in Christ, who died in substitutionary sacrifice for our sins and rose again (Acts 4:12; Acts 13:38, 39; I Corinthians 15:1—4; Romans 4:4, 5; 5:1).
6. Every true believer is promised positional, progressive, and ultimate sanctification (Heb. 10:10, 14; John 17:17; Eph. 5:26; I Thessalonians 4:3, 4; Eph 5:27; I John 3:2).
7. All who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ can have assurance of salvation and are eternally secure in Christ (Rom. 5:1; John 3:5, 6; I John 5:13; John 10:28, 29; John 17:12; II Tim. 1:12).
8. The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead, who regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals all true believers in Christ and fills those yielded to God (Matt. 28:19; John 1:13; John 3:3—6; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Rom. 8:9; I Corinthians 12:13; Eph. 4:30).
9. The Church, composed of all true believers is the body and bride of Christ, formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:22—23; 5:24, 25, 30; I Corinthians 12:12, 13, 27; Acts 2:41—47).
10. Christians are called to a holy life of service and testimony in the power of the Holy Spirit, which service includes the propagation of the Gospel message to the whole world. There is promised reward in heaven for faithfulness in such service (1 Pet. 1:15, 16; John 12:25, 26; Acts 1:8; I Corinthians 3:12—15).
11. The scriptural ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are for all true believers in Christ (Matt. 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 8:12, 36—38; Acts 9: 18; 10:47; I Corinthians 1:16; I Corinthians 11,23—26).
12. Angels were originally created holy, but now exist as unfallen and fallen, including Satan (Col. 1:16; Neh. 9:6; Psalms 148:2—5; Jude 6; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9; Eph. 6:11, 12).
13. God has revealed different dispensations or stewardships with corresponding rules of life, of which the present dispensation is the age of grace ( Eph. 3:2—6, 9—11; Col. 1:25—27; Rom. 6:14; Heb. 7:18, 19).
14. The imminent return of the Lord, which is the blessed hope of the Church, is to be followed in order by: the tribulation; the second coming of Christ to the earth after the tribulation; the establishment of the reign of Christ on earth for one thousand years; the eternal state of punishment for the unsaved and the eternal state of blessing for the saved (Titus 2:13; I Thess. 1:10; 4:13—18; 5:4—10; Rev. 3:10; Matt. 24:21, 29, 30; Matt. 25:31; Rev. 20:1—6; 20:11—15; Matt. 25:46).