The Life Center Church

Our Statement of Faith

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the pure Word of God (Ps. 12:6), totally true (John 17:17), from which nothing can be subtracted and to which nothing can be added.

We believe in the plenary, verbal inspiration of the Scriptures in their original manuscripts (2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Tim. 3:16-1 7).

GOD

We believe in one God (Gen. 1:1; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:5-6; 46:9) eternally existing in three persons: God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit; yet being only one God (Matt. 3:16-17; 28:18-20; John 10:30; 15:26; 2 Cor. 13:14; James 2:19).

CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM

We believe in Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with God (John 1:1; 8:58), God’s unique Son (John 1:14; 3:16), as the God-man born of a virgin (Matt. 1:18-25), sinless in His life (Heb. 4:15); that He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a substitutionary sacrifice for us (I Cor. 15:3-8; John 11:49-51; 18:14; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 5:6-8; I Thess. 5:10; 1 Peter 3:18); that all who believe in Him are justified on the grounds of His shed blood and reconciled by His death (Rom. 3:21-30; 5:9-110; that He not only died on the cross for our sins, but that He resurrected bodily for our justification (Rom. 4:25); that He is now at the right hand of God the Father (I Peter 3:22; Heb. 10:12); acting as our High Priest (Heb. 3:1, 14-16; 5:6, 10; 8:1-2; 9:11-27) and our Advocate (I John 2:1-2) before the Father~ that He is coming again in power at any time to rapture His church by raising the dead and translating the living believers (I Thess. 4:1 3-18). After the Great Tribulation on this earth, He will come again to establish His millennial kingdom upon earth (Rev. 20:4-6), to judge the world (Rev. 20:11-15) and to establish His eternal kingdom (Rev. 21:1-27; 22:1-5) with commensurate rewards for the believers and punishment for the unbelievers (I Cor. 3:12-1 5; John 5:28-29).

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the person of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead (John 14:16-17; 15:26; Acts 2:32-33), co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son (2 Cor. 13:14) and who exists in the world today to reveal the fullness of Christ (John 15:26), convicting the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment (John 16:8-11), regenerating (John 3:3-8; Titus 3:5-7), sanctifying (I Peter 1:2) and sealing forever (Eph. 1:13-14) those who have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). We believe that no one can be saved from sin or be born again without a supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit in his life. We believe that no one can attach himself to the Body of Christ unless the Holy Spirit energizes that attachment (I Cor. 12:13; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).

SALVATION

We believe that each individual is born in sin, and therefore is a sinner by nature, having nothing whereby he might justify himself before God the Father (Rom. 3:9-18; 5:12); that each individual must therefore receive the death of Jesus Christ and the shedding of His blood on the cross as for himself (John 1:12; Rom. 3:21-26; 4:16-25; 5:1-2), and in repentance must ask God’s forgiveness for his sins (Matt. 3:2; Mark 1:5; Acts 2:38; 17:30; 26:20); that having received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord by faith, he is spiritually saved or born again (John 1:12; 3:3-4; Rom. 10:9-10, 13); that in regeneration the Holy Spirit is sent to permanently indwell, enable and empower the believer to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:1-10). Each believer is thereby a child of God and a member of the family of God for time and eternity (Rom. 8:1-39).

THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST

The Universal Church of Jesus Christ consists of those who have personally believed on the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:13-14), who are born again, and baptized into His Body by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:13). These believers constitute the Body or the Bride of Christ (I Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7-10; 21:2).

This universal church consists of individual believers meeting and worshipping as groups of believers anywhere in the world (Heb. 10:25; Rev. 5:9-10). No one belongs to the church of Jesus Christ universal simply by virtue of belonging to a local Bible-believing and Bible-preaching church.

In spite of minor doctrinal differences and practices existing among local churches, members of the body of Christ are to love, appreciate and bear the burdens of other Christians (John 15:12; I Thess. 4:9-10; Rom. 15:1-7).

THE LOCAL CHURCH

In the New Testament there were churches made up of individual believers who lived in certain areas which constituted the church at Corinth, at Berea, at Philippi, etc. It is in this sense that The Life Center Church, Inc. exists and is known as such.

The local church is composed of born-again believers who have voluntarily united together for the purpose of worshiping God, ministering to the saints (fellow believers), evangelizing the world, and discipleship of new believers (Acts 2:42; I Thess. 1:2-10).

It provides an opportunity for those who are of the same mind in Christ to meet together for the study of God’s Word, common prayer, social contact and mutual uplifting (Heb. 10:25).

The Life Center Church, Inc. will never seek to exclude from its more general fellowship other believers who may belong to other churches or other denominations or who may differ from us in minor matters but nevertheless belong to the Body of Christ.