What We Teach
1. The Bible is our rule of faith and sets forth our standard of living.
2. The Church is the pillar, and ground of truth. (I Timothy 3:15)
- All authority is given to the leadership of the local fellowship by God. (Acts 14:23), (I Peter 5:1-3), (Matthew 16:19),
(John 20:19-23) - The leadership of the church consists of qualified elders (I Timothy 3) filling the offices of Bishop, Presbytery, and Deacons.
- We also believe that the five fold ministry of the church given in (Ephesians 4:11-13) is still very much needed today, and for the same reasons.
- We also believe that God still gives the spiritual gifts to the church as we have need of them. (I Corinthians 12), (Romans 12)
- We find also the Altar of God in the church. In which a man must not separate himself from this Altar, nor should he do anything that would cause the leadership of the church to bring forth disciplinary action to cause his separation from the Altar of God. (Hebrews 13:10)
3. We teach the plan of salvation as follows:
- One must hear the Word of God. (Romans 10:14)
- One must believe the Word of God. (Romans 10:9-10)
- One must repent of his sins. (Luke 13:3), (Acts 17:30), (Acts 2:38)
- One must be baptized for the remission of his sins. (Acts 2:38)
- Baptism also adds one to the church. (Acts 2:41)
- Baptism also is for regeneration. (John 3:5), (Titus 3:5)
- Baptism also places one into Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
- One must strive, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live a holy and sanctified life. (II Corinthians 7:1), (Hebrews 12:14), (II Thessalonians 2:14)
4. The Receiving of the Holy Spirit
- The living Spirit of God was promised to come. (John 7:37-39)
- The Holy Spirit was first received on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-4)
- The Holy Spirit is given to all who hear and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. (Luke 11:13), (Acts 5:12),
(Acts 8:14-17), (Acts 10:44-45) - The Holy Spirit is a seal or guarantee that we possess eternal life through Christ, and helps us walk a life aligned with the Word of God, His Holy Bible. The Holy Spirit separates his Church from the world, empowering Christians to live according to the leading of that Holy Spirit. (II Corinthians 1:20-22), (Ephesians 1:13-14), (Romans 8:6-11)
5. Our pattern of worship for each first day of the week is as follows:
- Singing (with instrumental music) (I Corinthians 14) at the bishops’ discretion. (Acts 15:6-21)
- Prayer (I Thessalonians 5:17-18)
- Communion :
- Every first day of the week. (Acts 20:7)
- Partakers of the body and blood of the Lord. (John 6:53)
- Discerning the Lord’s body, till He comes again. (Luke 22:17-20), (I Corinthians 11:29)
- Giving :
- We do not teach tithing as a binding New Testament teaching.
- We teach giving as we have been prospered. (II Corinthians 9:7), (I Corinthians 16:2)
- Preaching and teaching the Word of God. (I Corinthians 14)
- Testimony service. (I Corinthians 14)
- Praying for the sick, anointing with oil (James 5:14-15), in the assembly, again at the bishops’ discretion. (Acts 15:6)
This pattern of worship may vary from fellowship to fellowship under the discretion or authority of the local bishop. (Matthew 18:18)
6. We do not teach the immortality of the soul. (Ezekiel 18), (Matthew 10:28)
- We do believe the righteous or the obedient shall inherit eternal life, and that this is the gift of God. (Matthew 25:34),
(Matthew 25:46), (Romans 6:23) - We also believe that the wicked shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire, which is the second death.
(Revelations 21:8)
7. We believe the church should be united and not divided into the many denominations we have today. (Ephesians 4:1-6), (John 17:11)
8. We believe there are a lot of things that we can accomplish to help people in our community if the church is united the way the Lord wants us to be. He does not want us divided. (John 17:11), (I Corinthians 1:10)
- We also realize that only Spirit filled, blood bought, dedicated children of God are going to come out to this message that we are preaching. Jesus said, “If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. (John 15:2)
- The Lord teaches us that they that have the Spirit of God will be able to discern the true teaching of the Word of God, and will obey it. (John 10:27)
Certainly the Lord would have his church to come out from among all the false teaching that is going on in the world today, and they will. (Revelations 18:4)
We have attempted to set forth some of the basic teachings of the Bride of Christ Fellowship of the Lord’s church so you might understand what we teach, and some of our goals. We feel we have the mind of Christ on these matters.
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelations 22:17)