STATEMENT OF FAITH
of the
Grace Brethren Church of Chico, CA.

We believe the Bible to be the infallible Word of God and is our rule of faith and of practice.  The Bible makes it clear that we are responsible to God to make known the its’ Devine message and we do this by presenting the following articles as a statement of those basic truths taught in the Bible which are common to our Christian faith and practice.

THE BIBLE: The Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, verbally inspired in all parts, and therefore wholly without error as originally given of God (II Tim. 3:16, II Peter 1:21).
THE ONE TRUE GOD: existing eternally as three persons-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:22, Matt. 28:19, II Cor. 13:14).
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: His preexistence and deity (John 1:1-3), incarnation by virgin birth (John 1:14, Matt. 18-23), sinless life (Heb. 4:15), substitutionary death (II Cor. 5:21), bodily resurrection (Luke 24:36-43), ascension into heaven and present ministry (Heb. 4:14-16), and coming again (Acts 1:11).
THE HOLY SPIRIT: His personality (John 16: 7-15), deity (Acts 5:3&4), His work in each believer; baptism and indwelling at the moment of regeneration (I Cor. 12:13, Rom. 8: 9), filling (Eph. 5:18), and to empower for Christian life and service (Eph. 3:16, Acts 1:8, Gal. 5:22&23).
MAN: his direct creation in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26-28), his subsequent fall into sin resulting in spiritual death (Gen. 3: 1-24), Rom. 5: 12), and the necessity of the new birth for his salvation (John 3: 3-5).
SALVATION: a complete and eternal salvation by God’s grace alone received as the gift of God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work (Eph. 2: 8&9, Titus 3: 5-7, Gal. 5 22& 23).
THE CHURCH: one true Church, the body and bride of Christ (Eph, 1: 22 & 23, 5: 25-32), composed of all true believers of the present age (I Cor. 12:12&13), and the organization of its members in local churches for worship, for edification of believers, for world-wide gospel witness with each local church being autonomous but cooperating in fellowship and work (Eph. 4: 11-16).
CHRISTIAN LIFE: a life of righteousness, good works, and separation unto God from the evil ways of the world (Rom. 12: 1&2), manifested by speaking the truth (James 5:12), maintaining the sanctity of the home (Eph. 5:22-6:4), settling differences between Christians in accordance with the Word of God (I Cor. 6: 1-8), not engaging in carnal strife but showing a Christ-like attitude toward men (Rom. 12: 17-21), exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5  22-23), maintaining a life of prayer (Eph. 6: 18, Phil. 4: 6), and including the privilege, when sick, of calling for the elders of the church to pray for and to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5: 13-18).
*ORDINANCES: the Christian should observe the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are (1) baptism of believers by triune-immersion (Matt. 28: 19) and (2) the threefold communion service, consisting of the washing of the saints’ feet (John 13: 1-17), Lord’s Supper (I Cor. 11:20-22, 33-34, Jude 12),  the bread and the cup (I Cor. 11: 23-26).

SATAN: his existence and personality as the great adversary of God and His people (Rev. 1-10), His judgment (John 12:31), and final doom (Rev. 20:10).
**SECOND COMING: the personal, visible, and imminent return of Christ to remove His church from the earth (I Thess. 4: 16&17) before the tribulation (I Thess 1: 10, Rev. 3:10), and afterward to descend with the Church to establish His millennial kingdom upon the earth (Rev. 19: 11-20: 6).
FUTURE LIFE: the conscious existence of the dead (Phil. 1: 21-23, Luke 16: 19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5: 28&29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom. 14: 10-12, II Cor. 5:10, the judgement and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev. 20: 11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt. 25:46, Rev. 20:15).

• Baptism: Baptism must be of believers and we practice immersion.  If someone who request to become a member of GBC and has been baptized as a believer he/she does not have to be baptized again.   Threefold communion is practiced once a year and each month we celebrate the Lord’s Table by the breaking of bread and the cup.

**        Second Coming: We realize that men of great  faith,over the years, have debated, Pre-Mid-Post Trib - the call out of the Saints from this world.  One must be persuaded in his/her own mind on this subject, however:  this subject should not divide the household of faith.

As a church family we believe that the above Statement of Faith is our commitment to our responsibility to God and to one another and to His great commission.