We believe that the Bible is the only inspired, inerrant, complete, and authoritative Word of God that is sufficient for salvation and life in God. This includes only the canonized books of Genesis through Revelation and excludes all additional books or additions to the canonized Bible. (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) [Luke 24:44-49; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21]
We believe that other than Jesus Christ and the canonized Scriptures, no living human, writing, or document is or was divine nor able to inadvertently speak for God. [John 5:39-40; John 14:6; Hebrews 1:1-3]
We believe from the Bible that God is a tri-unity of three persons each existing separate from each other yet unified under one Godhead. He is the Creator of all things and has existed eternally without change, sovereignly controlling all things according to His purpose and will. As God, He determines all that is true and right and is in Himself all-knowing, all-powerful, all just, and all-merciful. He is a God of wrath, and He is love. He alone is holy God. [Genesis 1:1-3; Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Samuel 14:20; Psalm 119:128; Psalm 119:172; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1-3; John 3:16; John 3:36; Acts 4:24-28; Romans 9:15-16; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 1:15-17; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 4:16; 1 John 5:7 {KJV}; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 15:3]
We believe from the Bible that each person was created for God’s glory, has rebelled against this purpose, is totally depraved in sin from the time of their conception, fails to live up to God’s righteous standard, and is rightfully subject to God’s just condemnation and wrath. Each person is helpless to alter this bleak eternal status and must rely completely upon the mercy of God to save his or her soul from damnation. [Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 43:7; Isaiah 64:6; John 3:18; John 3:36; Romans 3:9-18; Romans 3:23; Romans 9:15-16; Ephesians 2:1-3]
We believe from the Bible that God graciously poured out mercy upon mankind by sending His Son Jesus Christ to live God’s requirement of righteousness. He willingly offered His life as a sufficient substitute sacrifice for the payment of people’s sin, was physically buried, was resurrected bodily from the dead, and ascended back to His Father in heaven. He will return for His church someday in the future. [Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 27:50; Matthew 27:57-61; Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:50-53; John 3:16-18; John 14:3; Acts 1:6-11; Romans 5:6-8; Romans 8:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Peter 2:24-25]
We believe from the Bible that each person must repent of their rebellion and sin against God and receive Jesus Christ to save them and rule over their life. Having done this, they receive the promised Holy Spirit of God, become adopted as children of God, are counted as righteous in His sight, and their salvation is secured. [John 10:29; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 8:1-4; Romans 8:37-39; Romans 10:13-17; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:13-14; Hebrews 6:9-12; 1 Peter 1:9]
We believe from the Bible that the Holy Spirit is part of the tri-unity of God and indwells the believer to mature his or her faith and to purge the mortal flesh of its sinful impulses and habits while working to convict unbelievers of their sin and future judgment by God the Father. [John 16:7-11; Romans 8:9-11; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8]
We believe from the Bible that there is a future resurrection for all mankind. Those who have received Jesus Christ will be resurrected to eternal life and will be rewarded by him in regard to earthly service. Those who have not received Jesus Christ will be resurrected to eternal death, judged by God the Father, and sentenced to eternal damnation in the lake of fire. [Joel 3:1-16; Matthew 25:31-46; John 3:36; Acts 17:31; Acts 24:14-16; Revelation 20:11-15]
We believe from the Bible that the Church is comprised worldwide of all races, tribes, and tongues who profess faith in Jesus Christ. They live on earth to glorify God and to fulfill the mission of his Son to make disciples of Jesus of all nations. [Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18; Luke 24:44-49; Revelation 7:9-10]
We believe that the term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. [Genesis 2:18–25; Ephesians 5:22-33]
We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We also therefore believe that God’s command is that there be no sexual intimacy outside of or apart from marriage between one man and one woman. [1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 7:2–5; Hebrews 13:4]
We believe that God wonderfully foreordained and immutably created each person as either male or female in conformity with their biological sex. These two distinct yet complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. [Genesis 1:26–27]
The SCS Statement of Faith is not exhaustive of all of our beliefs. The Bible, as the inspired and infallible Word of God, speaks with absolute authority regarding the proper conduct of mankind and is the unchanging foundation for all belief and behavior. The SCS Board of Directors holds final interpretive authority on biblical meaning and application.
