The Scriptures
We believe in the Holy Scriptures, accepting fully the writings of the Old and New Testaments as the very Word of God, verbally inspired (God breathed) in all parts and therefore without error as originally given by God, altogether sufficient in themselves as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. (Mark 12:26,36; 13:11; Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16; 17:2-3; 18:28; 26:22-23; 28:23; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 10:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Peter 1:21)
The Godhead
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, identical in nature, equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience. (Deut. 6:4; Isaiah 48:16; 59:20-21; Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6)
The Total Depravity (sinfulness) of Man
We believe that man was created in the same image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, became subject to physical and spiritual death, became alienated from God and is totally unable to remedy its lost condition. (Genesis 1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Psalms 14:1-3; 51:5; Romans 3:22-23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-2,12)
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became a man, without ceasing to be fully God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order to reveal God to man and redeem sinful men. We believe that He accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice dying in our place. We believe that our redemption is made sure for us by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead. (John 1:1-2; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24-25; 4:25; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Hebrews 10:5-14)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven and was accepted by His Father and that His Acceptance is a final assurance to us that His redeeming work was perfectly accomplished. He is now 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 1:3; Acts 1:9-10; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 9:24; 7:25; Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 John 2:1-2)
Salvation
We believe that, because of universal death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; that no degree of reformation, no attainments in morality, no culture, no baptism, or other ordinances, however administered, can help the sinner to take one step toward heaven; but a new life implanted by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to salvation, and only those thus saved are sons of God. We believe that our redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin for us; and that no repentance, no feeling, no faith, no good resolutions, no sincere efforts, no submissions to the rules and regulations of any church can add in the very least degree to the value of the blood or the merit of the finished work of redemption accomplished for us by Jesus Christ. (Lev. 17:11; Isaiah 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 3:7-18; Romans 5:6-9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 1:7; Phil. 3:4-9; Galatians 3:12; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:18-19,23)
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that repentance is a vital part of believing, and is in no way in itself a separate and independent condition of salvation. (John 1:12; 3:16; 18:36; 5:24; Acts 16:31; Romans 1:16-17; 3:22-26; 4:5; 10:4; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:8-10)
We believe that when a person places his personal trust in Christ that he becomes a child of God, that he passes immediately out of spiritual death into spiritual life; that having thus, a right relationship with God, he is accepted before the Father, just like Christ His Son is accepted, loved as Christ is loved, linked to Him, and one with Him forever. Though the saved one grows in his experience of his spiritual possessions “in Christ” he is as soon as he is saved absolutely complete in Christ and is, therefore in no way, required or instructed by God to seek a so-called “second blessing,” or “second work of grace.” (John 5:24; 17:23; Acts 13:39; Romans 5:1; 1 Cor. 3:21-23; Ephesians 1:3; Col. 2:10; 1 John 4:17; 5:11-12)
We believe that all true believers, once saved, are kept secure forever and can never be lost. (John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 8:1, 29-30, 38-39; 1 Cor. 1:4-8; 1 Peter 1:5) We believe that it is the privilege of Christians to rejoice in their security, but that our security and liberty is never to be turned into an occasion to indulge in the sin of the flesh. (Luke 10:20; Romans 13:13-14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11-15; Hebrews 10:22; 1 John 5:11-13)
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, regenerates and indwells all believers in the present age, baptizes them into the Body of Christ, seals them unto the day of redemption and distributes spiritual abilities for service in the Body and that it is the duty of every Christian to be filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:4; 1 Cor.12: 2-14; Eph. 1:13-14; 5:18; John 16:8-11; 1 John 2:20-27)
The Church
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ began on the Day of Pentecost and is composed of all born again believers regardless of membership or nonmembership in the organized churches of the earth. We believe that all genuine believers are unified by their common life and bond in Christ formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that the saved are to keep the unity formed by the Spirit in humility, love, and peace toward all genuine Christians. (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:20-23; 4:3-10; Colossians 3:14-15)
We believe that the two ordinances of the Church are water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The participation in these does not give merit or grace to the believer.
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the sign of the New Covenant which Christ instituted. It is not a sacrament that gives grace and therefore necessary for salvation but is a memorial through which the believer testifies to and celebrates his redemption from slavery to sin. (Matthew 28:19; Luke 22:19-20; Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8; 1 Cor. 11:26; John 3:22-25; 1 Cor. 12:13; Romans 6:1-6)
The Personality of Satan
We believe that Satan is a real Person who is the open and declared enemy of God, all men, and especially Christians; (Job 1:6-7; Matt. 4:2-11; Is. 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Ephesians 6:10-17; 1 Peter 5:8-9) and whose destiny is everlasting punishment. (Revelation 20:10)
The Blessed Hope
We believe in the “Blessed Hope”, the personal, the pre-millennial and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His redeemed ones; and in His subsequent return to earth with His saints to establish His millennial kingdom. (John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14)
The Eternal State
We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection to the glorified body when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory; but the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgement of the Great White Throne at the close of the millennium, when soul and body reunite and shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (Luke 16:19-26; 23:42; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15)
Men and Women in the Church and Home
Paul Congregational Church adopts the Danvers Statement as its official policy regarding the role of men and women in the church and home. Copies of the Danvers Statement are available upon request.