*citylife church is a Church of God congregation, in full agreement with its teachings.
The church in its community and around the world is a clear and
concise presentation. The witness of the church to the world is
summarized in the following basic beliefs of the Christian faith:
We believe in the Bible as
God’s only inspired, inerrant and authoritative revelation of Himself
to man in written form (2 Timothy 3:16,17).
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7).
We believe in the deity of
the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1), His virgin birth (Matt 1:18), His
sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:21), His miracles (Acts 10:38), His
vicarious death as the only sacrifice for the sin of the world (1 John
2:2), His bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:39), His ascension
to the right hand of God as our intercessor (Hebrews 4:14), and His
future return in glory, first to rapture His church (1 Thessalonians
4:16-18) and second, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth
(Revelation 20:6).
We believe in the finality
of Christ’s mediatorial work for the redemption of humanity and the
present freedom of access to the Father (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25).
We believe in the new birth
as the only means of receiving eternal life. The new birth involves a
cleansing and deliverance from the penalty and power of sin. It is
effectuated through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance from sin (John
3:3,5,7; Ephesians 2:8,9; 1 Peter 1:18-20).
We believe in divine
healing for the total man, spirit, mind and body and that this healing
is accomplished in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross and
appropriated in the believer’s life through prayer (Isaiah 53:5;
Matthew 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24; James 5:13-15).
We believe in the baptism
in the Holy Spirit as an enduement of power for all believers (Acts
2:4,38-39; 10:44-46; 19:1-6; Ephesians 5:18). This baptism results in a
deeper expression of spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22,23), a greater
growth in Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18), a genuine manifestation
of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), and a more effective prayer
life (Romans 8:26, 27).
We believe in the process
of spiritual development (sanctification) wrought in the believer’s
life by the Holy Spirit. The growth involves daily dying to sin and
living unto righteousness (Romans 6:1-23), finds expression in a holy
life (Hebrews 12:24) and will be culminated at the return of Christ (1
John 3:2).
We believe in the
resurrection from the dead. First, the righteous unto eternal life and
second, the ungodly unto eternal damnation (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29;
Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15).
We believe in the
sacraments of the church established by Jesus Christ our Lord; the
Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) and baptism by
immersion as a symbol and witness of the new birth (Matthew 28:19; 1
Peter 3:20-22).
