Our Doctrine and Statement of Faith
The Awakening Church commits to the following essential teachings of the church. The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. We hold to this statement of essential truths without compromise and it is our core beliefs. They are intended to unite us as 1 Corinthians 1:10 states, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.” We believe what Saint Augustine once said, “In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials disunity, but in all things charity (or love).”
1. There is one God who is infinitely perfect and existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (commonly known as the Trinity) (Deut. 6:4; Luke 3:22; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Matt. 5:48; Matt. 11:25-27; John 1:18; John 17:11; John 5:32,37)
2. Jesus Christ is the true God and the true man. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Matt. 1:23), lived a sinless life (Heb. 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22), performed many miracles (Acts 10:38), died upon the cross and was the perfect substitute and sacrifice for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21) and therefore are justified on the ground of His shed blood (Rom. 3:23-24). He rose from the dead on the third day (Matt. 28:6; 1 Cor. 15:20), and is now exalted at the right hand of God (Acts 1:9, 11; 2:33; Phil. 2:9-11). He will come again to establish His kingdom, righteousness, and peace (Matt. 24:30; 26:64).
3. The Scriptures, consisting of both the Old and New Testaments, are inerrant as originally given, are verbally inspired of God, are infallible, are the authoritative rule of faith and conduct, and are the revelation of God to man of His will, design, and plan for the salvation of mankind (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
4. Though man was originally created in the image and likeness of God, he fell through willful disobedience which brought about both physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God. Now as a result all of mankind is born with a sinful nature, are separated from the life of God, and can be saved only through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. Those who choose to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus will spend an eternity in heaven with the Lord and those who are unrepentant and unbelieving will spend eternity in hell, a place of great torment and separation from God’s presence (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:17; 3:6; John 3:16-21; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:20-23; Rev. 21:1-4, 8).
5. Salvation and redemption has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men; and by God’s grace, those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ alone are justified, born again of the Holy Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life, and become the children of God (Luke 24:47; John 3:3, 16-21; Rom. 10:13-15: Eph. 2:8; Titus 2:11; Titus 3:4-7).
6. The evidence of salvation in Christ is the direct witness of the Spirit as one bears fruit unto God, lives a life of righteousness and true holiness unto the Lord, and preservers to the end. Sanctification initially occurs at salvation and one is declared holy before the Lord, but there is also a progressive process of lifelong sanctification that consists of Christians separating from evil and this world, resisting Satan, standing firm in the power of God, crucifying our sinful nature, taking every thought captive unto the obedience of Jesus Christ, and taking up our cross and denying ourselves daily as we choose to draw closer to God and make every effort to live a holy life and be obedient to all of Christ’s commands through Christ’s strength, by God’s grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Cor. 6:14-7:1; Rom. 8:9; Heb. 12:14; 13:12; Col. 1:22-23; Matt. 10:22; John 15:1-8; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Rom. 6:1-14; 8:1-2, 13; Gal. 2:20; Luke 9:23-24; Gal. 5:16, 19-25; 6:14; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Ps. 51:10; Ps. 101; 2 Cor. 10:5; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Eph. 6:10-18).
7. The Holy Spirit is a divine person sent to indwell, baptize, guide, control, teach, comfort, counsel, and empower the believer and convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is also God’s will that every believer should be continually filled with the Holy Spirit subsequent to conversion to receive power to witness, for effective service unto God, and for holy living (John 14:15-18; John 16:13; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4; 4:8, 31; Luke 4:1; John 16:7-11; Rom. 8:1-9; Eph. 5:18).
8. The church are those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as both savior and Lord, are redeemed through His blood, are born again of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, the Church, which has been called and commissioned by Him to go into the world as a witness, making disciples of all nations and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them. The local church is a body of believers in Christ who assemble together out of obedience to God to worship God, to be taught, trained, rebuked, and corrected through and by the Word of God, to hear the Gospel proclaimed, to give generously, to experience the power of God as evidenced by signs and wonders, for fellowship, for prayer, to be edified for maturity, to be equipped for ministry, to operate in various spiritual gifts, and to observe the ordinances of water baptism and the Lord’s supper (Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-47; 10:47-48; 1 Cor. 5:4; Luke 6:17-19; James 5:14-15; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 11:23-32; 2 Peter 1:4; Ps. 98:1; John 3:3; Rom. 3:22-26; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11; Heb. 10:25; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:6).
9. There shall be a bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; for the former there will be a resurrection unto eternal life where one will dwell in righteousness in the new heavens and the new earth, and for the latter, a resurrection unto the final judgment in which they will be consigned to eternal punishment in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death (2 Peter 3:13; Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:43-48; Rev. 19:20; 20:11-15; Rev. 21; Rev. 22).
10. As Christians, we wrestle with and struggle against the spiritual forces of evil (Satan and his evil angels who are also referred to as demons and evil spirits) in the heavenly realms and therefore must put on the full armor of God, be alert, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests (Eph. 6:10-18). We must resist Satan (or the devil who is supreme among evil spirits) and stand firm in the faith submitting ourselves wholeheartedly to God (1 Peter 5:8-9; James 4:7; John 12:31; Eph. 2:1-2). Satan is a usurper of God’s rule and known as the Father of lies, a murderer, the accuser of our brothers, and the tempter, and has established a counter-kingdom of darkness and evil on the earth (John 8:44; Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5; Rev. 12:7-9; 2 Cor. 11:14; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Col. 1:13-14; Eph. 6:12; Mark 3:22-26; Eph. 2:1-2; 1 John 5:19). The good news is that he has already been defeated (Matt. 12:29; Col. 2:15) and his final overthrow is certain (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 20:10). The Bible also declares that God’s Kingdom consists of a host of angels that serve as His messengers to do His will and purposes and who also minister to the saints of God and war against the kingdom of darkness (the devil and his demons) (Is. 6:1-7; Ez. 10; Rev. 4:6; 5:14; 12:7-9; Dan. 10:11-21; Mat. 1:20, 24; Matt. 22:30; Dan. 9:21-28; Heb. 1:14; Ps. 148:2; Ps. 103:20; Ps. 91:11; Acts 12:6-10).
11. Jesus will return again at His second coming for His saints, and will “come down from heaven with a loud command and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thess. 4:16-17 NIV). This is the believer’s blessed hope and is a truth which is an incentive to holy living, to encouraging one another, and to faithful service unto the Lord (Luke 21:27-28; Matt. 24; 1 Thess. 4:15-18; Heb. 10:37; Titus 2:11-14).