OUR BELIEFS

CLOVERDALE ARTICLES OF FAITH

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction and that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error, for its matter; it reveals the principles by which God will judge us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions will be tried.
We believe there is but one true and living God, infinite in being and perfection, and that in the unity of the Godhead, there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each possessing the divine essence and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the work of redemption.
We believe that God created man holy. Had he remained free and unhindered in his relationship to God, eternal life would have been secured unto him; but by voluntary disobedience, he fell from this holy state and, in consequence, spiritual, temporal, and eternal death has been entailed upon the human race, and that, while there is no way to escape temporal death unless the return of Christ occurs first, there is deliverance from spiritual and eternal death through the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that salvation is wholly of grace through faith procured in no part by any works or merits of man, but solely by the atonement and righteousness of Christ.
We believe in personal and eternal election according to the everlasting love and purpose of God.
We believe that justification is by faith alone in the blood of Jesus without any merit of the man and that by virtue of this faith, the perfect righteousness of the Redeemer is freely imputed by God to believers and reinstates them to divine favor as completely justified.
We believe that none is saved without regeneration; that regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Word of God and that it consists of creating spiritual life within the soul and manifests itself in faith, repentance, and holiness of conduct.
We believe that sanctification is the work of the Spirit of God carried on by means of the truth imparted to the hearts of His people which makes them partakers of His holiness and that this work is progressive and is begun in regeneration, securing for believers final victory over sin and death and perfect fitness for eternal inheritance with God.
We believe in the final perseverance of all saints.
We believe that a visible church is a congregation of baptized believers united for the purpose of worshiping God and promoting the cause of true Christianity in accordance with the revealed laws and ordinances of the gospel.
We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit by a scripturally authorized administrator.
We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted in Holy remembrance of Christ 'to show the Lord's death till He comes' and that it is purely a church ordinance in which none should participate who has not been admitted into the church by Christian baptism.
We believe that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust.
We believe that at the end of the world, there will be judgment for all and that all will appear before the tribunal of Christ and that the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment and the righteous to everlasting joy.