Tenets of Faith
Canaan Community Church accepts the Scriptures as the revealed Will of God, the all sufficient rule of faith and practice, and for the purpose of maintaining general unity, adopts these fundamental Tenets of Faith and Doctrine.
The Scriptures Inspired The Bible is the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God. A revelation from God to man, the living, infallible, and everlasting rule of faith and conduct, and is superior to conscience and reason. (II Timothy 3:15-17; I Peter 1:23-25; Hebrews 4:12)
The One True Godhead The triune Godhead is comprised of 3 separate and distinct personalities, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, who are eternally self-existent, self-revealed and function as one entity. Jesus Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh, is the second member of the Godhead, co-equal and co-eternal with The Father and The Holy Spirit. (John 1:1-5, 10-14; Matthew 28:18-20)
The Incarnation of Jesus Christ “We believe that God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, came to our earth in the flesh, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect and sinless life, went to the cross to die and shed His blood for the sins of this world and then was buried. We believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day and then ascended into heaven where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father as Lord of lords and King of kings.”(Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, 1 Timothy 3:16)
Man, His Fall and Redemption Man was created good and upright, for God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” But, man, by voluntary transgression, fell, and his only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ the Son of God. (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21)
The Salvation of Man (a) Man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:24; John 3:3) On the cross Jesus Christ became sin providing salvation for all mankind, being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For by grace we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:8-10) (b) The Evidence of Salvation. The inward evidence to the believer of his salvation is the direct witness of the Spirit (Romans 8:16; I John 3:18-19, 24). The outward evidence to all men is a life of righteousness and true holiness. “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16-20) (c) Faith and Works. Salvation by faith in Jesus Christ and not by human works; however, our works will determine the rewards in eternity. (Ephesians 2:8-10; Galatians 2:16; II Corinthians 5:10)
Holy Spirit Baptism “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7) Conversion of the believer is the work of the Holy Spirit quickening the spirit of man and taking residence in man creating a new creature. (II Corinthians 5:17, II Corinthians 1:22, Galatians 5:22-23) Enabling the believer to live a holy life and operate in effective service. The gifts of the Spirit are manifested in the believer’s life for service in God’s kingdom and every gift works by love (I Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 13).
Baptism in Water The ordinance of baptism by a burial with Christ should be observed as commanded in the Scriptures by all who have truly repented and in their hearts have truly believed on Christ as Savior and Lord. In so doing, they declare to the world that they have died with Jesus and that they have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. (Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:4; Acts 10:47-48) Although baptism by immersion has no saving qualities, it is an outward testimony of what has taken place in the heart of the believer.
The Lord’s Supper The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper will be administered according to the example Jesus Christ left on record. “And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, and supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” (I Corinthians 11:24-25, 28)
The Church The church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the first born, whose names are written in Heaven. (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22; Hebrews 12:23)
Eternal Security of the Believer Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the Church and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. (John 6:38-40; 10:27-29, Romans 8:1, Ephesians 1:3-14, Philippians 1:6, I Peter 1:5)
Blessed Hope Jesus is coming again to gather all His Saints to ever be with Him. (I Corinthians 15:51- 52; I Thessalonians 4:16-17)
The Lake of Fire Those who have not accepted the redemptive work of Jesus Christ will suffer eternal separation from the Godhead. The devil and his angels, the beast and the false prophet, and anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life, shall be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20; 20:10-15)
The Millennial Reign of Jesus The Scriptures promise the return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His saints from Heaven to rule and reign for one thousand years on earth (II Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-6). After this, there shall be a new heaven and a new earth. (Rev. 21)
Marriage and Sexual Relations Canaan Community Christian Church shall not sanction or conduct any marriage between persons of the same gender. God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family, the basic structure of human society (Genesis 2:24). For this reason homosexuality, and all other “sexual preferences,” or “orientations” are unnatural, sinful, and unacceptable to God (I Corinthians 6:9-11; I Timothy 1:9-11). God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged other than in the context of marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 19:5, 26:8-11; Leviticus 18:1-30; Romans 1:26-29; I Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; I Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4) Persons who participate in open gay/lesbian relationships will not be allowed to operate in or allowed to hold any position at Canaan Community Christian Church, until they are delivered from the open practice. Anyone in an open gay/lesbian relationship will be able to attend service, will be loved, cared for, and taught the word of God.
Homosexuality and Other Sexual Perversions Any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, and/or pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex between a man and a woman in marriage. Homosexuality is sin, detestable to God, and inconsistent with the Christian life. (I Corinthians 6:9-10; Leviticus 18:22, 20:13)