DOCTRINAL STATEMENT
It is the commitment of Living Word Church of Open Heart to faithfully uphold the revealed truths of Holy Scripture. We therefore commit ourselves to the following summary statement of the vital teachings of scripture and the Christian faith. We believe that:
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The Holy Scriptures, comprised of the Old and New Testaments, are fully and verbally inspired by God and are therefore infallible in the original writings and completely trustworthy in all areas in which they speak. Their central salvation message and essential teachings are clear and accessible to all who follow the standard and self-evident rules of literary interpretation. They are therefore the supreme, unmediated and final authority of faith and practice for every believer.
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There is only one eternal, almighty and perfect God. Within the Being of this one true God exist three eternally distinct and coequal Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three Persons are the one true God.
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Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, who took upon Himself human flesh through the miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He who is true God became true man, uniting two natures in one person forever. Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, rose bodily from the dead and ascended into Heaven where He now serves as our High Priest, our only Mediator. He will return bodily and visibly to the earth as King of Kings and will judge every human being who has ever lived.
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The Holy Spirit is the eternal Third Person of the Triune, the Regenerator and Sanctifier of the redeemed, the Bestower of spiritual fruit and gifts, and the abiding Advocate who empowers believers for Godly living and service.
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In Adam, human beings were created in the image of God (i.e. they share in a finite way the communicable attributes of God, including personality, spirituality, rationality and morality). Through the fall of Adam, the image of God in humanity has been defiled, although not eradicated. Every human being is radically corrupt and estranged from God. Human beings are condemned by God because of their descent into sin, both through their relationship to Adam and through individual choice. The desperate need of humanity is forgiveness of sins and consequent restoration of fellowship with God; yet humans remain totally unable to atone for and restore themselves.
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Jesus' death on the cross provided a penal substitutionary atonement for the sins of humanity. In salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by His unmerited grace alone, through faith alone on account of Christ.
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Those who have received the free gift of salvation will live forever in the fellowship of the Kingdom of God (heaven). Eternal, conscious punishment apart from the fellowship and Kingdom of God are for those who have rejected Christ. Hell is the ultimate destiny of unredeemed humanity, Satan, and his entire angelic host.
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The Body is the temple in which the Spirit dwells. Individuals have the God-given right and responsibility to govern what they take into their body. If something is foreign to the body or not created by God, or has the possibility of being potentially harmful or dangerous, individuals may exercise their God-given options, as God's Holy Spirit directs them, and refuse these items. Whether they be in the form of food, medications, vaccinations, immunizations, artificial or natural devices, or other substances makes no difference.
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The Christian Church, which is the body and bride of Christ, is composed of all persons who through faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Ghost. Corporately and individually, its members strive to worship, serve and glorify God through prayer and praise, diligent study and application of the Scriptures, evangelism, sanctified living, good works and observance of the rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The ultimate mission of the Church is the proclamation of the Gospel, teaching the Word of God, the edification of the saints, and glorifying God.
Living Word Church of Open Heart is strongly opposed to the antichrist concept of a one-world government and a one-world Church. We never have, nor will be, a part of the World Council of Churches, National Council of Christian Churches, or any other apostate ecumenical movements.
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