Statement of Faith

What we Believe…

We hold the following truths as fundamentals of the Christian faith. For any and all who want to know our core beliefs and the basis for the content of what is shared on Renovation Project, we have listed it below with scriptural references. By fundamental, we mean the following statements form the necessary foundation and core structure for constructing a biblical Christian worldview.

We believe that the Bible is inspired by God in its entirety, and is without error in the original autographs; it is the final and authoritative written revelation from God. Nothing can be added or subtracted from it…unless you are part of the Godhead (Timothy 3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:21). No other “holy” book speaks God’s pure and authoritative revelation…not the Quran, the Upanishads, The Book of Mormon, the poorly translated Jehovah’s Witness Bible…or any other supposedly God breathed writings…the Mishnah and Talmud included!

We believe that there is only one God, who is eternal (without beginning or end…uncreated) and immutable (doesn’t change in character). He manifests Himself in three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1;1, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19. John 10:30). He is Spirit and dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16); no one has ever seen God but fortunately for all of humanity…He has revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, to see Jesus is to see God (John 14:9).

We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah (John 1:36-42); born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:34-35); and totally without sin (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 7:26). He is God in human flesh (John 1;1 & 14, John 20:28); the one who died on the cross for sins (1Corinthians 15:3, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 2:9). He was buried (John19:40-42); rose again from the dead in three days (John 2:19); and ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now intercedes for us who believe in Him (Romans 8:34). There is no other savior for humanity; Jesus is God’s only provision for the forgiveness of sins and for restoring our broken relationship with God (Acts 4:12).

We believe that all of humanity is born into a sinful world. Each new life develops their own personal sinful nature as a result of chosen rebellion (Isaiah 53:6); and the result is spiritual death (Isaiah 59:1-2; Eph. 2:1) and eternal separation from God (John 3:16,18). The only remedy for a restored relationship with God is through the selfless atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. To be saved from eternal death, each person, on their own, must respond to God’s gift by acknowledging their sin and rebellion; asking for forgiveness and then receiving the gift of eternal life with God as a result (1 John 1:9). This is called faith or placing one’s trust in Jesus Christ. When you do this, it makes you a redeemed child of God; your sins are remembered no more, nor are they held against you. There is absolutely nothing you can do to merit this gift or make any attempt to earn it. We deserve hell not heaven, but because of His great love, He has reached out to us and welcomed us back into His fellowship. Though this is a free gift it was extremely costly to God…it cost Him the death of His Son. But Jesus gladly went through it all because of His great love for you and me! (John 3:16-19, John 5:24, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)

We believe in a real/literal devil, called Satan, who, along with all his fallen angels, demons, and evil spirits, are destined to spend eternity in hell, and now seek to deceive the world, defeat the believers, and destroy the work of God. Though we are mortal, as Christians, we are empowered through the indwelling Spirit resulting in our authority over the demons of hell…they can and should be resisted by believers (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8). (Genesis 3:1, Job 1:6-12, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 22:31-32, 1 John 4:4, Revelation 20:10).

We believe that heaven is a real place where the saved will dwell forever; and that hell is a literal place of torment where Satan and his demonic minions will all spend eternity. Hell was never intended for humanity! If anyone willfully refuses God’s generous gift of salvation…at the same time they are choosing to spend eternity away from God. Unfortunately there is only one other place to go besides heaven…so unbelievers will suffer forever in a place that was never designed for them (John 14:1-3, Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:8, Revelation 22:5).

We believe that genuine believers are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and are indwelt, baptized into the body of Christ, the true church, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and thus, unable to be separated from the love of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:39). However, though it is not possible to be separated from God’s love or to lose your salvation; it is possible to divorce God. God will always respect your choices…so if you choose to walk away from Him you are walking away from your eternal salvation (John 6:60,66; 1 Timothy 1:19-20)…that’s not a smart decision! (John 3:1-6, Acts 1:4-5, Romans 8:35-39, Ephesians 1:13-14). We are not saved through any works added to the salvation Jesus has provided. It is Jesus plus nothing and Jesus minus nothing. In other words…the pure Gospel is God reaching out to us and providing a way home. You cannot earn it, pay for it or do anything to show yourself worthy of it. We live lives of obedience to His will and Word as the result of our salvation, not to pay for it. Conversely, taking away from the gift Jesus provided on the cross by making Him just another pathway to God when He clearly said he was the way, truth and life (John 14:6), is denying the exclusive requirement of humanity to bow at the cross and the cross only (Acts 4:12).

We believe that all believers need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a godly life and to be bold in our witness for the Lord. (Romans 8:13-14, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Ephesians 4:30, Ephesians 5:18). We are called to a lifelong walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) that puts God’s amazing character on display; at the same time we are to put to death the works of the flesh that rise up and are in opposition to the things of God (Galatians 5:17).

We believe in the spiritual unity of all genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ which is manifested by the spiritual gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence through His love. (I Corinthians 12:12-13, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 4:8-12). We believe in the priesthood of all believers…which means that each and every disciple of Jesus Christ is gifted and filled with the Spirit in order to minister life to others in the body of Christ—as well as the responsibility to be a witness and positive testimony of the hope that is within all of us (1 Peter 3:15; Acts 6:1-5). In that the Holy Spirit indwelling us is God’s fulfilled promise, we believe His goal is to empower us, gift us and utilize each member of the Body of Christ to display not only the character of Christ in front of our lost world, but to bring His healing, deliverance and restoration to the sick, the oppressed and the broken (1 Corinthians 12:9;28; James 5:15-16).

We believe that God created two genders: Male and Female…period! The human race was created by a direct act of God to fully reveal His image. (Genesis 1:26-28). Both the male and female genders represent the wonder of God’s image built within us. We were not invited into the discussion prior to our birth as to which gender we wanted to be…it was God’s decision, not ours. We are to live responsibly within the body God gave us as temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

We believe marriage is a freely entered into covenantal union between a man and a woman that limits sexual relations to monogamous, heterosexual marriage. (Genesis 2:24). The works of the flesh, which are opposed to the Spirit, include sexual immorality, moral impurity, and promiscuity (random sexual encounters) (Galatians 5:19), all of which has to do with sexual perversions of the God-given sacrament of marriage (Romans 1:26-28). Therefore it is sinful and contrary to God’s Word to have sex outside of Marriage. The solemnizing of a marriage between men and women of the same sex is contrary to the Word of God and is a sin before God. (Romans 1:21-27).

We believe that Jesus Christ is going to return for His church: That’s a fact! However, when that will take place is a matter of interpretation. Some scholars believe in a pretribulation taking, or rapture, of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:16). There are those who believe it will take place sometime in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period; while others believe, based on passages such as Matthew 24:30, that the rapture of the saints will occur after the tribulation and combined with the second coming of Christ to the earth. What’s my opinion you ask? Jesus is coming back and all of those who have put their trust in Him will be with Him forever. Whether we are removed prior to or after really makes little difference to our ultimate eternal location. We will rule and reign with Him forever with new bodies that will never grow old or suffer decay. Whether we pass into eternity in this life; or, we are fortunate to be taken by Him at His coming…the results are the same. Our job is to occupy until he comes and proclaim the goodness of our God until our last breath here and our first breath there!

And lastly…we believe it is not a sin, a crime, or un-Christian to be patriotic (Romans 13:1-7). It is, and will always be, God first. He has called us all to seek the welfare of the Nation, State and Community we are living within (Jeremiah 29:7). For some, that means an active role in governmental processes, perhaps like Joseph, Daniel or Nehemiah. For the rest of us, it is our obligation as representatives of God’s Kingdom to stand up for the oppressed, the poor and the needy (Isaiah 58:5-7). We are Christ’s hands, feet and mouthpieces of truth…and by the way…all truth is God’s truth. There is no secular or sacred truth…God is light and within Him there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). The idea of separation of church and state means the government has no place establishing a religion; it is not meant to bar Christians from becoming involved in the political arena. Christians need to take a stand for righteousness. So basically, now would be a great time to stand up!