WHAT WE BELIEVE

What we believe about:
THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible is God’s Word. It is accurate, authoritative and applicable to our everyday lives.

The Scriptures of the entire Bible are inspired of God. It was not just the ideas that were inspired; even the choice of the words were inspired as the original writers were moved by God to write what He wanted them to say.

The Bible is composed of 66 books by 40 authors written over 1500 yet contain the same central theme; that God loves us and enacted a plan to save us from our sin through His son Jesus.

We therefore believe that:
1. The Scriptures are God’s revelation of himself to mankind
2. They are infallible (never wrong)
3. They are the divinely authoritative guide for our faith and the way we should live.

GOD’S PERSON
We believe in one eternal God who is the Creator of all things. He exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is totally loving and completely holy. The Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man and is the only one who can reconcile us to God. Each time we partake of communion we remember Jesus lived a sinless and exemplary life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again to prove His victory and empower us for life.

GOD’S PLAN FOR MAN
SIN
We believe sin has separated each of us from God and His purpose for our lives.Mankind was created good and upright; for God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” However, mankind by willful choice, ignored God’s instructions choosing to engage in what they knew was wrong and evil. As a result, mankind fell from innocence and goodness and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.Even though sin separates us from God, it does not separate us from His love or His plan to forgive us and bring us into right relationship with Him.

SALVATION
We believe that salvation is deliverance and forgiveness of our sins.God provides salvation for all who believe and accept His free offer of forgiveness. Mankind’s only hope of redemption from the fallen sinful state is through Jesus Christ, God’s Son.   Jesus came to earth to live a sinless life, teach, died on the cross, and be rise from the dead to provide salvation for us. He made it as simple as:
Admit you are a sinner and take responsibility for your own sinful actionsRomans 3:10,23 There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.Ask God to forgive you.
Romans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Believe in Jesus, that He is God’s son and that He was raised from the deadJohn 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Confess that Jesus is Lord and that you believe in Him as Lord of your life.

Romans 10:9-10 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

At the moment of salvation, a person becomes heir to God’s promised hope for eternal life.

The inner evidence of salvation is the direct witness of the Holy Spirit giving one the assurance that God has accepted him (Romans 8:16).
The outward evidence, visible to others, is a life of righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24; Titus 2:12).

The next steps after salvation are to be baptized in water and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

SANCTIFICATION
We believe that sanctification is an act of separating ourselves from sinful practices.  In the Bible the words sanctification and holiness are interchangeable. At the time a person receives Christ, he is sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11), which means he has been separated from his past life of sin and is now dedicated to God. From Scripture we find that the Holy Spirit is the One who sanctifies (2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 1:2).

We believe the Bible is clear in teaching that Christians should continue living a life separated from sin and dedicated to God because, as the apostle Paul tells us, this is His will for them (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:3). We call this the progressive aspect of sanctification. The Scriptures speak of it in a variety of ways, such as growing in grace (2 Peter 3:14) and being gradually transformed spiritually (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The purpose of the sanctification process is that believers might become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though Christians may not attain absolute perfection in this life, they are expected to make every effort to live a holy life, because “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Living in holiness is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE CHURCH
We believe God has individually equipped us and corporately gathered us as His living body so that we can successfully achieve His purpose for our lives, which is to worship God, strengthen the Church, and share the Gospel with the community in which we live.

GOD’S PLAN FOR THE END TIMES
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back again as He promised and will rule and reign on this earth. History will conclude as the wicked are judged and the righteous enter a new heaven and a new earth.

7750 Spring Cypress, Spring TX 77379
281-376-8787 | info@northwoodspring.com