The teachings found on this site are based on the following foundations of orthodox doctrine.
1. The Holy Scriptures. The canon of the Holy Scriptures, with its 66 books, is the Word of God, inspired by God Himself, the unique and maximum authority, inerrant, and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13).
2. The Godhead. God is One in essence and Three in persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—eternal in being, identical in nature, equal in power and glory and having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
3. The Total Depravity of Man. Man was created in the image and likeness of God but in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became alienated from God, and is totally unable to retrieve his lost condition (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:12).
4. The Person and Work of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man; He accomplished our redemption through His spiritual death on the Cross as a substitutionary sacrifice; our redemption was made sure by His literal physical resurrection from the dead (John 1:1, 2, 14; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24, 25, 4:25; 1 Peter 1:3-5); and now the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven, exalted at the right hand of God, where, as the High Priest for His people, He fulfills the ministry of Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Hebrews 9:24, 7:25; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1, 2).
5. The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person who convicts the world of the sin of not believing in Christ, indwells all believers in the present age, baptizes them into the Body of Christ, seals them unto the day of redemption, and it is the duty of every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 1:13, 14, 5:18).
6. Salvation. Salvation in every dispensation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by faith and only personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose efficacious death on the Cross provided man’s reconciliation to God (Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-10; John 1:12).
7. The Eternal Security of Believers. The salvation of all believers is secure forever (Romans 8:1, 38, 39; John 10:27-30; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8).
8. The Church. The Church, which is now the Body and shall be the Bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons of this age irrespective of their affiliation with Christian organizations (Ephesians 1:22, 23, 5:25-27; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
9. The Person of Satan. Satan exists and has openly declared himself the enemy of God and man (Job 1:6, 7; Matthew 4:2-11; Isaiah 14:12-17).
10. The Blessed Hope. The next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ and believers who are alive at His coming, also known as the Rapture and Translation of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14).
11. The Tribulation. The Rapture of the Church will be followed by the fulfillment of Israel’s seventieth week, the latter half of which is the time of Jacob’s trouble, the great Tribulation (Daniel 9:27; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation 6-19).
12. The Second Coming of Christ. The great Tribulation will be climaxed by the (premillennial) return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom (Zechariah 14:4-11; Matthew 24:15-25; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:6).
13. The Eternal State. At the point of death, the soul and human spirit of those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in the conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at the Rapture, when soul, human spirit, and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in the glory; but the souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction, isolated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (Luke 16:19-26, 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 1:6, 7; Revelation 20:11-15)
14. The Responsibility of Believers. To “grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,” to the end that the believer’s life is consistent with the Lord’s plan, thus bringing both blessing to the believer and honor to the Lord (2 Peter 3:18).
15. Church Ordinance. The Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, as a commemoration of His Work on the cross, to be observed until His return (Matthew 28:19, 20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
16. Sovereignty. God, existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is sovereign and exercises supreme and absolute rule over all creation as a part of and consistent with the essence and attributes of Deity (1 Chronicles 29:11,12; Daniel 4:35; Psalm 24:1; Ephesians 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:15).
17. Spirituality. Spirituality is an absolute condition in the life of a believer in this dispensation wherein he is filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit, walking in love and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Spirituality is distinct from growth and maturity. A believer becomes carnal, losing his fellowship with Christ, through any act of mental, verbal, or overt sin, and spirituality (fellowship with Christ) is restored solely by personal confession of that sin to God the Father (John 15:7,8; 2 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18; Romans 6:11-13; 1 John 1:5, 9, 2:2; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 31).
18. Spiritual Gifts. God the Holy Spirit, in grace and apart from human merit, sovereignly bestows spiritual gifts to believers in this dispensation. Some of the permanent spiritual gifts, which exist today, are pastor-teacher, evangelist, and administrator. The temporary spiritual gifts ceased to exist with the completion of the canon of Scripture, and these were apostleship, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, healing, and working of miracles (1 Corinthians 12, 13; Ephesians 4:7-12; Romans 12:4-8). Any believer supposing to practice these temporary gifts should be removed from a congregation.
Based on the Doctrinal Statement of Berachah Church, Houston, Texas, U.S.A., © R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries.