WHAT WE BELIEVE AT AIMING FOR JESUS MINISTRIES:

Summary of Beliefs

· One True God: Belief in the eternal, uncreated God existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

· Jesus Christ: Eternal Creator, true God and true man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

· The Bible: The inspired, authoritative Word of God and guide for faith and life.

· Humanity and Sin: Created in God’s image, humanity fell into sin, resulting in physical and spiritual death.

· Salvation: By grace through faith in Jesus alone, secured by belief in His death, burial, and resurrection.

· Christ’s Resurrection: Belief in His resurrection, ascension, and role as High Priest and Advocate.

· Return of Christ: Anticipation of His personal return and reign following the Great Tribulation.

· Eternal Destiny: Belief in the resurrection of all, with eternal joy for the saved and suffering for the lost.

· Sanctification: Three-fold process: positional, progressive, and ultimate sanctification.

· The Church: The Body of Christ, gathering to observe ordinances and exercise spiritual gifts.

· Marriage and Sexuality: Marriage is between one man and one woman, with sexual intimacy reserved for this union.

· Redemption and Compassion: Redemption offered to repentant sinners; call to love and respect others.

· The Great Commission: The duty of all Christians to share the Gospel.

FULL STATEMENT OF BELIEFS

ETERNAL UNCREATED GOD WHO HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND FOREVER SHALL BE -ONE TRUE GOD ETERNALLY EXISTING AS FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT – ONE GOD

We believe in the one and only true God (Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29), eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:21-22), and referred to as the Holy Trinity. Jesus is God and has always been God; Jesus is not created but rather the Creator of all this universe and all it contains. Eternal Existence: According to Christian doctrine, Jesus existed eternally with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is not a created being but is part of the Divine Trinity. John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This emphasizes that Jesus (the Word) existed before creation. John 1:3: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” This highlights His active involvement in the act of creation. As the Son of God, Jesus possesses a divine nature, fully God and fully man after His incarnation. Colossians 1:16-17: “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… and in Him all things hold together.” This further attests to His divine authority and pre-existence. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy

Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and is true God and true man (Luke 1:30 – 35, 3:16; Philippians 2:5-11)

WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE TO BE THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD AND OUR GUIDE IN FAITH AND LIFE

We believe the Bible to be verbally inspired by God, and inerrant in the original writings, and that it is the supreme and final authority in faith and life. (2 Timothy 3:16 – 17; 2 Peter 1:20 – 21; Jude 3; Hebrews 4:12)

FALL OF MAN

We believe man was created innocent in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death (Genesis 2:16-17; Romans 6:23), which is separation from God. Hence, totally depraved, man has inherited and possesses a sinful nature (Romans 3:10-23; 7:18)

JESUS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE PAID FOR OUR SIN

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of all men according to the Scriptures as a perfect and substitutionary sacrifice, and that all who believe on Him are reconciled to God, justified before God, and are secure in God on the basis of His shed blood on the cross, his death, burial, and resurrection. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8-11; 1 Timothy 2:4-6; Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 2:1-2).

JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND ASCENDED TO HEAVEN

We believe in the resurrection of our Lord (John 20:1-29); in His ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9 – 11); that He is seated at the Father’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20 – 23), and that His present life there for us is as High Priest, Advocate, and Head of the Church (Hebrews 1:3).

JESUS IS COMING BACK SOON

We believe in the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ prior to the Tribulation to receive the church (1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 18; Zechariah 14:1-21; 1 Corinthians 15:51 – 58; 2 Peter 3:1-13). And, following the literal fulfillment of the Great Tribulation, He will return visibly to the earth with his saints to reign during the millennial Kingdom (Revelation 19:11 – 15, 20:1-6).

ALL WILL BE RAISED BODILY

We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting joy of the saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-50), and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost (Revelation 20:1-6, 21:22).

SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE, IN JESUS ALONE

We believe salvation is by grace alone, a gift from God, through faith alone, in Jesus alone. (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:0-10). Specifically, we believe that a person is born again only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:4 – 28, 10:9 – 10) Furthermore, we believe that, at regeneration, all believers in this church age are instantaneously indwell by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11), baptized

by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12:13), and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). We believe that the validation of a believer’s saving faith comes by asking and affirming the question, “Am I trusting in Christ alone for my eternal life?” (John 6:47, 20:31)

SANCTIFICATION

We believe that sanctification is separation unto God and is three-fold:

• Positionally, the believer was justified at conversion by virtue of union with Christ. (John 17:17)
• Progressively, the believer is continually being sanctified through the Word by obedience to that Word by walking in the Spirit (Ephesians 5:26), thereby controlling the lust of the flesh, producing the fruit of the Spirit (Colossians 3:1-4) and exercising their gift(s) of the Spirit. The evidence of a believer’s ongoing progressive sanctification and fellowship with Christ comes by the works and fruit of the Spirit that is produced in his life (John 15:4-5; Titus 2:7; Galatians 5:22-23)
• Ultimately, the believer will be glorified and completely conformed to the image of Christ when meeting the Savior face to face (Hebrews 10:14; 1 John 3:1-3)

BODY OF CHRIST IS THE CHURCH

We believe the Church is the Body of Christ, composed of all who are born again during this age of Grace which began in Acts 2, and that the local Church is to gather together for the purpose of observing the ordinances of Christ governed by His laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in believers by His Word for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ (Acts 2:1-47; Romans 12:1-8; and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31)

LORD’S SUPPER AND BAPTISM

We believe in the ordnance of the Lord’s Supper and it is the commemoration of His death until he comes, and that it should be preceded by self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:23 – 31). We believe in the ordnance of water baptism as a symbol of the believer’s death burial, and resurrection with Christ. (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:1-4)

SALVATION IS IN CHRIST JESUS AND IT IS SECURE

We believe that all believers are kept secure forever in that they cannot lose their salvation. (Romans 8:1, 38 -39; John 10:27 – 30; 1 Corinthians 1: ; 1 John 5:11-13)

SATAN IS REAL

We believe in the personality of Satan (Job 1:6-7), and that Satan is a fallen angel who is the open and declared enemy of God (Isaiah 14:12 – 17) and man (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; 1 Peter 5:8).

HOLY SPIRIT INDWELLS ALL BELIEVERS FROM NEW BIRTH

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells the believer (Romans 8:9-11) and baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation (1 Corinthians 12:13), and that evidence of this indwelling of the Spirit is the “fruit of the Spirit” spoken of in Galatians 5:22-23.

MARRIAGE IS INSTITUTED BY GOD BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN

We believe that, according to the scriptures, marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church, and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means of procreation of the human race.

GOD CREATED THE GIFT OF SEXUAL INTIMACY FOR MARRIAGE ONLY

We believe that sexual intimacy is a wonderful gift of God that is only to be expressed between one man and one woman (as genetically defined (, within the love and bonds of marriage. (Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:21 – 33; 1 Corinthians 7:3-5; and Hebrews 13:4)

We believe that any form of sexual intimacy outside of marriage is both immoral and a perversion of God’s gift (Leviticus

18:1-30; Proverbs 6:32; 1 Corinthians 6:18; Romans 1:26 – 27; and 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).

We believe that any form of sexual immorality such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography, cohabitation (regardless of the age of the individuals involved) , or any attempt to change one’s gender in disagreement with one’s genetically defined gender, is sinful and offensive to God (Leviticus 18:1-30 and Romans 1).

SALVATION IS AVAILABLE TO ALL / WE EXTEND LOVE TO ALL

We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Romans 8). We also believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior, attitudes or speech directed towards any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accordance with Scripture nor the doctrines of Mandeville Bible Church (1 Peter 2:13 – 25, and 1 Thessalonians 4:11 – 12).

THE GREAT COMMISSION

We believe by command of Scripture (Matthew 28:18 – 20; Acts 1:8) and by the example of the New Testament Christians (Acts 3, 4) the Great Commission was given to the church collectively and to each Christian. Thus, all believers have the privilege and responsibility of telling others about Christ as the opportunity is presented.