Grace Orthodox Fellowship Statement of Faith

God

We believe that there is but one true and living God , eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all having the same attributes and qualities, yet so as there are not three gods, but one . God is invisible , omnipresent , eternal , dependent on none, unchanging, truthful, faithful, almighty, sovereign, all knowing, righteous, holy, good, and loving, merciful, patient or long-sufferings, and gracious to His elect.

The Bible

We believe that God has revealed all that is necessary for life and salvation in the sixty-six books of Holy Scripture which are the written and living word of God ; that all Scripture was given by the inspiration of God , is infallible and inerrant in the original writings, and is the final arbiter in all disputes -- its authority being derived from its Author and not from the opinions of men .

man's creation and fall

We believe that God, by His powerful word, freely created the universe out of nothing in six days and continues to sustain and rule over it even now; that as the pinnacle of His creation, He made the first man Adam in His own image, upright. He appointed Adam head and representative of the whole human race; thereby, making all Adam's offspring liable to the effects of Adam's disobedience to His commandment. The Lord formed Eve from the rib of Adam as a helper fit for him.

We believe that Adam disobeyed God's commandment, fell from his original righteousness into sin, and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation, and corruption.

We believe that it is, therefore, utterly beyond the power and the desire of fallen man to understand the things of God, to seek Him, to keep His commandments, to embrace the Gospel, or repent of sin, and that these are, nevertheless, the very things God justly requires of him.

election

We believe that God, in Christ, before the foundation of the world and for His own glory, did elect an innumerable host of men and women to eternal life as an act of His grace and an expression of His love; and that this election was in no way dependent upon His foresight of their faith, decision, works, but by his choice alone.

The person and work of christ

We believe that Christ was sent into the world by His heavenly Father; that He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her. He lived a sinless life, being obedient to the will of the Father He became fully man and is fully God having two distinct natures, in one Person. As man, he is first born among many brethren and High Priest, representing us to God the Father; and that as God, He is the visible image of the invisible Father, representing God to us.

We believe that as Prophet and Teacher, Christ reveals to the elect, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for their salvation.

We believe that as High Priest, Christ once offered Himself up to God on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for the elect, thereby propitiating (appeasing)God's wrath which was upon them, procuring their reconciliation with God, and redeeming them according to the riches of His Grace; and that He continually intercedes for them in the 5 presence of His Father in Heaven, thereby assuring their perseverance in faith unto the end.

We believe that as King, Christ was declared the Son of God with power by His bodily resurrection from the dead, having in this way conquered His enemies, He ascended to the right hand of the Father and was enthroned in glory, thus inaugurating His Kingdom; that He poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost to carry forward His work on earth; that He rules in the hearts of His people, instructing us to deny ungodliness and enabling them to love and obey Him; and that He rules over all creation, visible and invisible, for their sake and for His own Glory.

The holy spirit

We believe the work of the Holy Spirit under the Old Covenant was different from His work in the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant the Spirit was not given to all the righteous, but to those specially anointed by God, for a limited time. Under the New Covenant, the Spirit was poured out upon the church, beginning at Pentecost. We believe that God sent the Holy Spirit to elect Jews and Gentiles and that without the indwelling Spirit one cannot enter God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit is a gift of the Father, through Christ, given at regeneration, and is a helper, teacher, comforter, and a pledge and seal of grace for the elect. The Spirit brings assurance and unity to the elect and gives gifts to be used in the ministry one to another.

god's Covenants and the law

We believe that God has purposed to save His people in Christ and has expressed this purpose in the form of covenants. Prominent among these are the Old Covenant (also known as the Mosaic or First Covenant) and the New Covenant. The former, confined to the people of Israel alone, was established while that nation was assembled before Mt. Sinai and was later made obsolete through its fulfillment by Jesus the Messiah. It was comprised wholly of shadows pointing ultimately to Jesus and His body, the Church; and that, therefore, the age in which it remained operative was at all times a period of immaturity as compared to the age of fulfillment which was inaugurated in the cross.

We believe that the Old Covenant, containing statutes, ordinances, and commandments, was a legal, conditional covenant requiring obedience of those under it. It promised life to all who obeyed it, and pronounced a curse upon its transgressors. It brought death to all who sought to be justified by it not because of a deficiency in the law (itself "holy, just, and good"), but because of the sinful inability of those under its charge and the inability of the law to impart life; and that, for this reason, it is variously described as a "killing letter," a "ministry of death," and a "ministry of condemnation"-- its distinct purpose being to illumine sin so as to make manifest the Israelites' need for a redeemer.

We believe that, in contrast to the Old Covenant, the New Covenant by virtue of Christ's obedience to the Father’s will by His bearing the curse of the Law and the sins of His people promises only blessing to all those who belong to it; and that this second covenant, the "everlasting covenant" enacted upon better promises, has thus brought to realization all that was anticipated in the covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David.

We believe that the Jews were set free from the tutelage and bondage of the Old Covenant law code written upon tablets of stone and both Jews and Gentiles have entered the age of fulfillment, and now stand as mature sons. Under the New Covenant, they have been placed under the Spirit's management, having the new and greater Lawgiver's own law now written upon their hearts.

We believe that since the Old Covenant consisted of types and shadows, the 10 commandments represent only elementary responsibilities to a Christian under the New Covenant. God's people are now totally free from the Old Covenant. The usefulness of the Law is not therefore to be denied, only that these are now understood through Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant. With the obsolescence of the Old Covenant, the fourth commandment, the seventh day Sabbath observance, is no longer obligatory--- its relevance pointing to that rest enjoyed by all those in Christ.

israel today

We believe that God brought to pass His final judgment against Israel when He destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD in fulfillment of His prophecies of judgment against Israel. As a nation redeemed from bondage in Egypt by the hand of God, Israel of old served to foreshadow the new Israel of God redeemed from sin's bondage by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. Any theological significance which the nation of Israel once had has now ended and in its place stands the Church, which receives the blessings promised throughout the Old Testament by virtue of its relation to Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, in whom all the promises of God are yes and amen.

We believe that those Jews who, in the providence of God, believe in Jesus as the Messiah both now and in the future shall be ingrafted into the Church rather than established as a separate people of God.

The church

We believe that the Church was established at the cross and that it consists only of those who have been justified by faith and is rightfully designated the body of Christ, the pure and spotless Bride, a chosen race, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and a people for God's own possession; and that it shall flourish despite persecution and strife unto the end of the age.

We believe that the local church is under the authority of Christ alone; that its purpose is to obey Christ’s commandment to love one another, and in so doing to use our gifts to teach truth, encourage, exhort, admonish, pray for, comfort, and serve one-another in the fellowship and unity of the Spirit. The church is to be light and salt in the world, preaching the gospel and enduring all things for the sake of the elect. The church is to be served by a plurality of elders (when possible) who share an equality of authority; and that it is, consistent with the communion of the saints, to recognize and fellowship with all members of Christ's Body.

We believe that, though there are many gifts in the Body of Christ, there is one Spirit who bestows them all, and that they are therefore to be used for the building up of the Church and not for personal gratification. The Church, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, is no longer dependent upon the miraculous and revelatory gifts which were present at its inception; that, though God is capable of intervening today with a miraculous event, the miraculous gifts, as gifts, have passed away, their significance having now ceased. With the completion of the New Testament canon, revelatory gifts have also ceased. Of these, tongues (known languages foreign to their speaker) signaled the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies foretelling the divine judgment against Israel in the transition from the Old era to the New.

We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are gospel ordinances that are to be observed by the church. Baptism is only for those who profess faith in Christ and signifies the recipient's cleansing from sin by Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, though it neither guarantees nor accomplishes such cleansing. The Lord's Supper is a proclamation and memorial, wherein the death of Christ for His people is proclaimed visually as a comfort to the elect until His return in glory.

christ's return

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again at the end of this age in order to consummate His Kingdom and execute judgment on all men. The living and the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, shall be raised together. The righteous will be raised up to immortality in the likeness of Christ's resurrection body and will dwell forever in His presence, enjoying everlasting communion with their God, to the glory of His grace. The unrighteous will be raised to suffer God's wrath in hell, separated from the Lord Jesus Christ and the beauty of His presence, to the glory of His justice. This truth, though derided by men, forms the basis of our hope and consolation, knowing that Christ will cast all His enemies and ours into everlasting condemnation, but shall take us, together with all His elect, to Himself into heavenly joy and glory. Amen.