Statement of Faith (adopted 2008)

Purpose of Our Statement

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we mere men attempt to establish the Marion Bible Fellowship.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Shepherd of this church and of our lives.  As fallible individuals, we establish this Statement with the full knowledge that our conclusions are subject to confirmation by comparing them to God’s written Word (Heb. 4:12)  His Bible is perfect and we are only correct insofar as our statements agree with those found in His written Word (Psalm 19:7-8).  We therefore submit the following as a reflection of how the Scriptures speak to us. 

The Bible is Infallible

We believe that the Hebrew Scriptures (“Old Testament”) and Writings of the Apostles (“New Testament) compose the whole Bible (Deut 29:29, 2Tim. 3:16).  Together they are the divinely inspired Word of God (2Pet. 1:21).  To properly interpret the meaning of the Bible, we must remember that it has a Jewish origin and was written by Jews.  This is especially true when reading the Writings of the Apostles (Matt. 5:17-20).

Mankind

We believe all humans are born with a sinful nature and are separated from God because they have broken His Commandments (Rom. 3:23).  All are in need of restoration (Gal 3:22). Our relationship with God can only be restored through faith in a blood sacrifice as commanded by God and not by making up for wrongs committed by doing righteous acts (Rom. 9:30-33, 10:4).  The system of sacrifices in the Hebrew Scriptures were means of illustrating what Jesus Christ would eventually come and do to save mankind from the penalty of sin, that is, death, and grant eternal life to all who put their faith in Him (Rom 3:24).

One God in Three Persons

We believe in one God, who eternally exists as: God the Father, Jesus the Messiah and the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22, Luke 9:35, John 17:21).  We believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel and the world (Acts 4:12).  He is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.  In Jesus, God become flesh but remained one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. (Isa. 7:14, John 10:30, Col. 2:9)

Jesus is the Messiah

We believe Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life and did not deserve to die (Ps. 22, Isa. 52:13-53:12).  He willingly and obediently became the blood sacrifice that paid for the sins of all mankind (John 1:29).  His perfectly sinless life and sacrifice makes Him the one and only qualified Savior for mankind (John 3:18, 3:36).  He was crucified, died and was buried (1Cor. 15:3-4, Luke 24:38).  He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and is coming again to rule and reign over all (Isa. 9:6-7, Matt. 24:29-31).  He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 10:30).  He is fully God and was fully man (Heb 1:1-3, John 1:1-14, John 17:5).

The Holy Spirit

We believe God has sent His Holy Spirit to indwell the believer for comfort, instruction and empowerment for Messiah's service (John 14:23-26, 16:5-15).  With the Father and the Son, He is to be worshipped and glorified.  He has spoken through the prophets in times of old (Judges 3:9-10, 11:29, Joel 1:1, Jonah 1:1, Zech. 1:1) and currently guides all believers into a knowledge and application of the Truth found in the Scriptures (John 14:16-17, John 17:17).

God’s People

We acknowledge that the body of believers is composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have received Jesus the Messiah as the promised Redeemer (Rom. 10:12-13). The "middle wall of partition" has been broken down and we worship the God of Israel together (Eph. 2:13-15, Gal 3:6).  We believe that the land of Israel belongs to God and He gave it to the Jewish people (the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) to live in and possess (Rom. 11:25-29).  He has recently returned Israel, as prophetically promised, to this land (Isa. 11:11-12).

How Christians are to Live 

God’s Commandments found throughout the Bible are not a means to salvation (Rom. 3:28, 4:1-8, Eph. 2:8-9).  A person does not need to come to obey any particular Commandment of God other than to come to Jesus Christ to be saved (Gal. 3:11, 5:4).  The Commandments are, however, the details of how God intended and still intends for all mankind to live (Eph. 2:10, Luke 6:46, John 14:15,23-24).  God’s grace and kindness in saving us through Jesus Christ does not do away with His expectation for believers in Christ to progressively learn and obey His Commandments (Matt. 5 17-20, John 17:17, Acts 15: 19-21, Rom 6, Phil. 1:6, 1Tim 3:16).  Any ability or desire we may have to rightly follow His ways, however, is a direct result of our salvation through Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:14, John 8:12, John 14:6).  We should both preach the good news of salvation to the entire world and teach the commandments of God to those who are saved (Isa. 61:1-2, Luke 4:18-19, Matt. 28:19-20, John 8:11).

People who come to Christ will naturally grow to obey more and more of the teachings of Scripture as they mature in their faith (Phil. 1:6, 2Pet. 3:14-18, 1John 5:2-3).  We believe that the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Writings are wise to follow for both non-Jewish and Jewish believers (Num. 15:14-16, Eph. 2:11-19).  We do not believe that the Bible was written in different sections for different types of people nor do we believe that the Hebrew Scriptures are opposed to the Writings of the Apostles (Num. 15:16, Deut. 4:1-2, 12:32).  All parts agree with the others, and all Scripture is valuable for all believers to learn and obey (John 10:35, 2Tim. 3:16).  Nothing written in the Bible has been cancelled until heaven and earth pass away (Matt. 5:17-18).  While there are portions of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Writings that cannot be applied in our current day (for example, we cannot make sacrifices at the Temple as the Apostle Paul did in Acts 21:26, since it does not exist), we contend that all Scripture, wherever found in the Bible, is God-breathed and is profitable for training in righteousness for every believer. 

Because our belief is that the whole Bible is a guide to the life of the Christian, rather than only selected parts of it, our teaching encourages the maintenance of some commandments thought obsolete or cancelled by other churches.  This will be evident as we uphold the Sabbath commandment (teaching that Saturday is the day for rest and worship), the celebration of the Feasts of the Lord (Passover, Pentecost and so on), and an encouragement to maintain the dietary guidelines found in Leviticus 11.  Obedience to these commandments is in no way a marker to determines one’s salvation status, nor is obedience to them a reason to include or exclude believers from fellowship, but we believe they are, along with all the other commandments found in Scripture, the correct and righteous way to live out our salvation, and they do carry with them a blessing from the Lord.