Statement of Faith

Required Beliefs of Rose Creek Village:

By "required beliefs" we mean that these are the things that we believe and publicly proclaim as true, all of us agreeing that this represents Rose Creek Village. Even over issues as urgent and important as these below, time is allowed for us to talk, understand one another, and seek God together.

  1. We believe there is one God, who created the heavens and the earth, and who desires fellowship with all human beings.
  2. We believe in Jesus Christ, his Son and our Lord, eternally existent and divine, who came from heaven, was born of a virgin, became man, suffered, died, and rose again physically from the dead to sit at the right hand of the Father, from where he will return to judge the living and the dead.
  3. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the life and power of Christians, and God's children can only obey and please him by living by the Spirit.
  4. We believe that all who claim to be Christians must diligently obey Christ. Though we believe that "we all stumble in many things" (Jam. 3:2), "God is not mocked" (Gal. 6:7). All who know God work righteousness (1 Jn. 2:3; 3:7-10), but Jesus Christ is nonetheless the propitiation for our sins (1 Jn. 2:1) and our mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:4). When we sin he is our Advocate, not our accuser (1 Jn. 2:1), and if we confess our sins, God will both forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9).
  5. We believe in the church, that every Christian is commanded to be a part of and submitted to the local church, and that dividing from or dividing the local church is sin.
  6. We believe that the local church is the pillar and support of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), that God leads the church into all truth by his Spirit (1 Jn. 2:27), and that this is accomplished by the saints speaking the truth to one another in love (Eph. 4:13-16).
  7. We believe that God's primary testimony to the world is through his church, the city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14). It is the unity, love, and good works of the saints, brought about only by the Spirit of God, that is this testimony (Matt. 5:13-16; Jn. 17:20-23).
  8. We believe that Christians are to devote themselves to maintaining the unity of the Spirit and that unity of doctrine will follow as God himself teaches and guides the church by means of leaders appointed by God and the saints speaking the truth to one another in love (Eph. 4:11-16).
  9. We believe that the Scriptures are inspired by God, are able to make one wise for salvation, and can equip the believer for every good work (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
  10. We believe that the Scriptures are for producing righteousness before God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 1:5), and they are not for theological dissension (1 Tim. 1:4-7; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; Rom. 14:1).
  11. The Word of God is Jesus Christ and all that God has spoken. The Scriptures are the Word of God, but the Word of God is far more than the Scriptures. Christians are commanded to learn to handle the Word of God (2 Tim. 2:15), which lives and grows inside them (Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:20; 1 Pet. 1:23), for only as they speak from that Word will they accomplish the will of God. [Christians live by every word that is proceeding from the mouth of God, not only that which proceeded 2,000 years ago (Matt. 4:4).]

Statements we have to make in light of the present age:

  • Grace is the power of God to salvation (Rom. 6:14; Tit. 2:11-14), not justification for a life of licentiousness (Jude 4). A life of licentiousness is lived only by children of the devil who are not going to heaven (1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Jn. 3:7-10).
  • Denominationalism is sin. Division into groups of competing churches, even if they call themselves non-denominational, is also sin.
  • The local church consists of saints who are living for God. Those who practice unrighteousness, if they will not repent, are to be put out of the church (1 Cor. 5:9-13).
  • The modern doctrine of salvation by faith alone, if accompanied by the belief that what you do has nothing to do with whether you go to heaven, is a false gospel that has led many people away from the repentance that leads to life (Acts 11:18; 26:20; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2 Pet. 1:10-11; Jam. 2:24).
  • The doctrine of salvation by faith alone, as explained by the typical Protestant, is so entrenched in Christian culture that to question it is seen as questioning Scripture and the work of Christ on the cross. This is despite the fact that the only occurrence of the phrase "faith alone" in the Scriptures is in James 2:24, where we read that justification is NOT by faith alone. However, due to the very strong intimidation factor most born again Christians carry concerning the phrase "faith alone," we are both careful and tolerant in discussing this.
  • The doctrine of salvation by faith alone will only condemn people who use it to justify disobedience to Christ (Tit. 1:16). Those who live obediently to Christ will be saved (Heb. 5:9). We do, however, wish to make it clear that we diligently teach against this false doctrine, and we exhort all disciples to fear disobedience (1 Pet. 1:17) and to diligently "do these things" so that they may enter the kingdom of Christ (Matt. 7:21; 2 Pet. 1:5-11).
  • We reject eternal security as a false doctrine. God is able to work with, keep, and transform those who remain attached to the vine that is Christ within his church, but any saint is capable of departing, and if they depart they shall not obtain the reward of eternal life (1 Cor. 10:12; 1 Jn. 2:19).
  • The issue here is not the past. If a person falls away, it no longer matters whether he was saved and lost it or was never saved. The issue is the present and future. Christians are to be warned that they can fall away, and if they do not continue to the end, they will not be saved (Rom. 11:19-22; Col. 1:22-23; etc.).
  • Keeping the Jewish Law in its unfulfilled, literal form is not required of Christians. Christians today have long lost and forgotten the teaching of the apostles and the early churches that the Law of Moses is brought to fullness in Christ and is carried out spiritually by the Christian who walks in the Spirit. Christians keep perpetual Sabbath, entering daily into the rest of Christ (Heb. 4:1-11), and no longer maintain the fleshly rest of the weekly Sabbath of the Jews and the unfulfilled Law (Col. 2:16). Christians no longer keep fleshly food laws because food cannot defile, but they walk in the spiritual fullness of the Law, ruminating on the Word of God and parting from those who do not follow the Word.