CHURCH
We believe that THE church of Christ is a congregation of
born-again and baptized believers; that the church is associated by a covenant of faith
and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the Ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws and
exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its’
officers of ordination are God-called men who serve as pastors and deacons and whose
qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in 1 Timothy Ch. 3. (The office of
bishop, pastor and elder is the same.) We believe the true mission of the church is found
in the Great Commission. First, and foremost, to make individual disciples, to baptize
them, and to teach and instruct them as He commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of
this order. We hold that the Local Church has the absolute right of self government free
from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations, The one and only
superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches
to cooperated with each other in contending for the faith and for the propagation of the
Gospel. Every church is its sole and only judge of the measure and method of its
cooperation in all matters of membership, policy, government, discipline, and benevolence;
the will of the Local Church is final in its’ structure of authority under Christ,
its’ Head.
BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that Christian baptism is the TOTAL
IMMERSION IN WATER of a believer in the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; with the authority of the Local Church and we
recognize no other form. It is to be manifested as a solemn and beautiful emblem of our
faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, and pictures our death to sin and
resurrection to a new life. Baptism is THE prerequisite to the privileges of a Local
Church relation and to participation in the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is
the ordinance in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of the unleavened
bread and the unfermented fruit of the vine, are to commemorate together the dying love of
Christ, until He returns, and preceded always by solemn self-examination and
self-judgment.
THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED
We believe that there is a radical essential difference between
the righteous and the wicked; that only those who through faith are justified in the Name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in
His esteem. All such others as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight
wicked, and under the curse of the wrath of God. This distinction holds among men both in
and after death, in the everlasting bliss of the saved and the everlasting conscious
suffering of the lost.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the
interests and good order of human society. All magistrates are to be prayed for,
conscientiously honored and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will and the Word of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Lord of the conscience, the coming Prince of the
kings of earth, and the High Potentate of heaven and earth and all that are to be found
therein.
THE RESURRECTION AND RETURN OF CHRIST AND RELATED
EVENTS
We believe in and accept the Sacred Scriptures at their face
value and full literacy. As to the resurrection, we believe that Christ arose bodily
"the third day according to the scriptures"; that He ascended "to the right
hand of the throne of God"; that He alone is our "merciful and faithful High
Priest in things pertaining to God"; "That this same Jesus which is taken up
from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven"
(bodily, personally, and visibly); that the "dead in Christ shall rise first,";
that the living saints "shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump"; "that the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father
David" and that "Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He
hath put all enemies under His feet."
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS
We believe that only the true believers endure unto the end; that
their persevering attachment in Christ is the grand mark that distinguishes them from
those who profess, but do not possess, salvation; that a very special Providence watches
over their being and their welfare; and that they are kept by the Power of God through
their faith unto eternal salvation.
THE SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER
We believe that those who are truly Born Again are not
only saved, but secure for all eternity. They are kept by the
Power of the Blood of Christ, by the sealing of the Holy Spirit and by the power of the
hand of God as they commit their heart unto the saving grace of God. When sinners,
convicted by the Holy Ghost of their sins, repent, they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit
and secured unto eternal salvation so that they can neither totally nor finally fall and
be lost again.
MISSIONS
We believe that the Great Commission is the command to give the
Gospel to the world and is clear and unmistakable. This commission is given to churches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They are obligated to go forth to take or to send the good news of
the Gospel to every creature. Every saved person is to share and to do their part to see
that the Great Commission is carried out. Missions is the main heart-beat of the Local
Church, and it MUST NOT be neglected. The church is to increase its’ efforts in
missions to win the lost, at any cost.
THE GRACE OF GIVING
We believe that God’s method of financing His earthly work
of spreading the Gospel to all nations, the care of His churches and the support of its’
ministries, is by the tithes and freewill offerings of His people. The tithe being a tenth
of the first-fruits of ones’ increase and the freewill offering being anything given
above the tithe. Tithing comes before giving and no amount given is an offering until the
tithe requirement is met. All tithes and offerings are to be given to the treasury of the
Local New Testament Church, (storehouse), of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the first day of
the week. Each local New Testament Church is responsible to God for the distribution of
these funds, as led by the Holy Spirit.
GOD’S INFALLIBLE WORD
Trinity Valley Baptist Seminary and College believes that the
only true Word of God for the English speaking nations is the 1611 King James Bible; that
all other versions are perversions containing errors, contradictions, and/or missing
passages of scripture. Therefore, because of this truth, it is required that any person
holding any office, any professor teaching any class, any student engaged in any
assignment, attending any class, participating in Chapel services, fellowship, or
graduation service, or any school related activity, must use only the 1611 KJV. Any
violation will be brought to the violators attention and appropriate measures will be
taken as deemed necessary by the proper authority.
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