Countryside Bible Church

I.  God: He is Sovereign, Holy, and Righteous

     A. His Sovereignty: God is the creator and ruler of everything.

The Bible tells us that God created all things. Everything belongs to Him and He has the sole right and authority to do as He pleases with His creation. All of creation is ultimately dependent upon God and man, who is created in His image, is made to have a relationship with Him. That relationship should include honor, respect, obedience, and worship because all of humanity is responsible to God and each one will give an account of their life before Him.

Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Psa 103:19 “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.”

   B. His Character: God is holy.

Holiness means a separation from all that is sinful. God is perfectly holy and absolutely sinless in His character and His sovereign actions.

I Sam 2:2 “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.”

Rev 4:8 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. “

   C. His Standard: God requires perfect obedience to His law.

The God of the Bible who creates, owns and rules His creation requires perfect obedience to His commands. All individuals are accountable and responsible concerning His holy standard.      

Matt 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

I Pet 1:16 “Because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

II.   Man:  He is Guilty, Condemned, and Deceived 

     A. His Guilt: Everyone has broken God’s law.

God has given us His law to obey perfectly. But our thoughts, our words, our actions and our motives are sinful. Sin is simply disobedience to God’s standard.  We are all guilty sinners by nature and by choice, therefore no individual can escape the curse and guilt of sin.

Rom 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

      B. His Condemnation: The penalty for sin is eternal death.

Spiritual and physical death occurs because of sin.  Those who die in their sin will spend eternity in hell which is a place of daily punishment and eternal torment. Those who have been forgiven of their sin will spend eternity in heaven which is a place of joy, blessing, and the presence of God.

Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

      C. His Deception: Good works and sincere intentions cannot save anyone. 

The road to hell is paved with good works and sincere intentions. No one is good enough or self righteous enough before a holy God who demands perfect righteousness. No person can justify their sin with any amount of good works and expect a holy God to overlook their sincere intentions for the forgiveness of their sin. The ultimate deception is religious deception. Many individuals are sincere, but they are sincerely wrong because they have a god of their own imagination, not the God of the Bible.  Omelet ILL.

Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

III.   Christ: He is God, Savior, and Lord

        A. His Deity: Jesus is fully God and fully man.

God chose to reveal Himself to sinful humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, who became man in order to save sinners and glorify the Father.

John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory.”

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

        B. His Death: Jesus died on the cross for sinners.

Only the sinless Son of God can save sinners from the penalty of sin. Jesus voluntarily laid down His life as the substitute and offered Himself for sinners who will repent of their sin and put their faith in Him. The wrath of God was poured out upon Christ for sin, and at the cross He provided the gift of perfect righteousness and the only means of forgiveness of sin.

Rom 5:8 “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I Pet 3:18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.”

II Cor 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

     C. His Resurrection: Jesus is risen and is alive today.

Jesus Christ rose from the dead and thus conquered sin and death.  His physical resurrection guarantees our spiritual resurrection. 

Acts 2:23-24 “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

IV.  Salvation: Repent, Submit, and Believe                                                                 

A. His Command: The call to repent.

Repentance is marked by conviction, godly sorrow, and a turning away from sin. It is simply turning to Christ from sin in surrender of one’s life for the forgiveness of sin.

Acts 17:30 “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.”

Mark 1:14-15 “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel.”

B. His Terms: The call to submit.

Jesus offers salvation to every sinner who will repent of sin and believe upon Him for salvation. But the offer of salvation comes at His terms, not the sinners. One must confess their rebellious sin before a holy God, expose and forsake their sin, and submit all their life to Christ in complete obedience.

Luke 9:23-24 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

C. His Invitation: The call to believe.

The invitation to salvation for sinners begins and ends with the mercy of God. We must call upon the Lord to be saved.

Acts 16:31 .. ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, …

Doctrinal Statement

Proclaiming Christ …

For the Glory of God

We believe in and teach the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inerrant, inspired word of God (1 Corinthians 2:13; II Timothy 3:16-17; II Peter 1:21). 

We believe in and teach that there is one true living God, creator of all things, who is perfect, infinite, and eternal; and who co-exists in three persons (the Trinity), namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 28:19; John 1:3, 4:24; Colossians 1:16).

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who took upon himself human form by being born of the virgin Mary, in order to redeem us from sin through his substitutionary suffering and death on the cross. We believe that He was raised from the dead for our justification and is now at the right hand of God interceding for us (Matthew 28:6; Luke 1:35; John 1:1, 14:3; Hebrews 2:14, 4:15; I Peter 2:24).

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. His ministry is to convict of sin, regenerate the spirit, and indwell and empower the believer in order that he might be a witness of the glorious Gospel of Christ (Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 6:19, 12:11-13; Galatians 5:22-25).  We believe that the Holy Spirit gives gifts of ministry to each believer to build up and assist the body, that is, the church (Romans 12:3-8).  We further more believe that certain gifts of the Spirit, (i.e. sign gifts such as tongues, interpretations of tongues, healing) were foundational in purpose, and that consequently, such gifts, having filled their purpose, are no longer being given to the church (Hebrews 2:4; I Corinthians 13:8).

We believe that Satan (the devil) is a super-natural person, created by God but rebellious and opposed to God (Job 1:6-7; Luke 4:1-13).  He was condemned at the cross (John 16:11; Hebrews 2:14) and his ultimate destiny is to be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:7-10).  We further more believe that the Scriptures teach that in this present age he hinders, tempts, and accuses believers, with the goal of destroying the work of God.  He opposes God by causing many to fall into traps of unbelief or false religions.

We believe that man was directly created and given life by God, but since the sin of the first man, Adam, all men are born depraved, condemned to eternal punishment (Hell), and in need of a Divine Redeemer (Genesis 3:1-24; John 3:16-18; Romans 3:23, 5:12).

We believe that salvation is a free gift of God's grace, offered to us on the basis of Jesus Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. Each individual must receive this gift by repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift of salvation is in no way increased or obtained by human effort. This salvation, which renders a believer eternally secure (John 10:27-29), provides deliverance from the guilt and penalty of sin including escape from eternal hell, a perfectly righteous standing before God, the provisions for victory over the power of sin, and the promise of future glorification in God's presence (John 3:14-18; Acts 20:21; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 2:11-14).

Believing that salvation is entirely the work of God through Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7), and that the new birth spoken of by Christ in John 3 accomplishes this to the very fullest extent (Hebrews 7:25), we therefore hold the following positions about the two ordinances of the Church:

        We believe that the Lord's Supper (Communion) is a ceremony commanded by Christ.  The bread is a symbol of Christ's body given to provide eternal life and the cup is a symbol of Christ's blood, poured out to put into effect the new covenant which guarantees that God will forgive us and give us his Holy Spirit (Mathew 26:27-28; I Corinthians 11:25; Jeremiah 31:31).   The Lord's Supper is to be a reminder of the cost of our salvation, and a reminder that Jesus will return (I Corinthians 11:23-29; Luke 22:14-20).

        We believe that water baptism was commanded by Christ (Matthew 28:19) as a symbol of the believer's death to sin and resurrection to new life with God (Romans 6:1-4).  It is an outward sign of the changes God has made within a person.  We believe that the grace of God cannot be augmented in any way by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that water baptism thus does not contribute to an individual's salvation.  Baptism, as described in the Bible, involves the immersion of a person in water to symbolize burial and resurrection (Matthew 3:16; Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:4).

We believe that the universal church is the body of believers which God has called to salvation through Jesus Christ. The local church is a portion of that universal church in a given location which is organized to provide teaching, spiritual protection, fellowship, mutual prayer and assistance for its members.  The local church has the mission of leading its members to grow in Christ and to share the gospel with others. God has given each church leaders and servants and has given each member spiritual gifts to bring the church to maturity and to be active in works of service (Matthew 16:18; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 2:19-22, 4:4-16; I Timothy 3; Titus 1:5-9).

We believe in church discipline based upon the Word of God in order to preserve the good name, purity, and power of the church, and with the purpose of restoring the erring member (I Corinthians 5:1-8, 12-13; II Corinthians 2:6-11; Matthew 18:15-17; Galatians 6:1).

We believe that civil government is a divinely instituted authority which should be respected and submitted to by all, and that it is an instrument of God for the good of those that do well and for punishment of evil-doers (Romans 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-14).

We believe and teach that Christ will return at any time without warning in visible form to take both dead and living believers to his Father's house (Rapture). He will then begin to judge the earth (Tribulation) and prepare it for his Second Coming when he will reign as King over the earth for 1000 years (Millennium) (John 14:1-4; Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-18; 22:7, 12, 20).

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the everlasting joy of the saved, and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost (Revelation 20:6,11-15, 21:3-8; Matthew 25:31-46).